30 years later, to be young again.

Hey Folks,

Saturday I took a journey back 30 years. I went to Summer Camp since I was 9 years old. I started at Camp Monroe in the Catskills in 1976. In the summer of 1980 we combined two bunks of boys to create one big bunk of young men. We were all 15ish and full of energy. We had a counselor who walked on water to us, and a loose atmosphere without our parent to grow.

Camp was a phenomenon back then. 375 kids, 125 staff, and 8 weeks of summer. Our camp had a 96% recidivism rate in those days. It was not even a thought not to come back. We saw our parents one day mid-summer and tears on the last day till next summer.

We got together on Saturday at the counselor's house downstate, NY and 12 of us out of the bunk that summer showed up. What a blast, I have not seen some of these guys for 30 years, others at least 25 and one I keep in touch with almost everyday by phone.

Great memories, big laughter, and open hearts towards each other. It was 13 hours of food, talk, and playing in the pool.

I got there late because of work and left early due to radio the next morning but tons of fun and a promise of next year or sooner.

Here are some of the e-mails I got today from the gang:

Pool is Ready...Plenty of Towels...Pool Basketball...Floats...Food...Drink...Just missing You!!!

See you tomorrow.

Guys,

I made it back to Baltimore by 10:30 am today.

Yesterday was one of the the most surreal, memorable, and special days I've experienced in recent memory (except for my wedding day and kids being born). I felt like I was 15 all over again. All of you guys haven't changed a bit (except for looking a bit older and definitely more wiser). I never realized how much I have missed you all you after all of these years. All the experiences and memories came flooding back. Stuff I haven't thought about in years.

Billy - thanks for putting this wonderful party together. You have a great family. And thanks for letting me crash at your crib. I was exhausted beyond belief.

I think we all need to get together sooner than next year. Perhaps meet for dinner/drinks in NYC this fall.

I miss you all of you already.

Love you guys,

Rich

Words can't describe how special you all will always be be me...I love you guys so much.

Yesterday wwas one of the most special days of my life.

Paplin...First to Arrive, Last to Leave...13 1/2 Hours of consistency. MVP!

Hey Billy

What a fantastic day. You have a beautiful family and its good to see you so happy.

The get together blew me away. How great to catch up with buddies from so long ago. Please keep me posted with all future events,,and enjoy the rest of your summer

TO all who attended,,, I will always love you guys,,you hold a very special place in my heart,,,the memories are still flooding back,,Johnny on the pony,,,oh man,,,what times

For 13 hours we were 15 yrs old again. Was truly amazing how even with almost 30 yrs of separation we are still all connected by our wonderful memories. Thanks guys. Love you all. Jeff

An awesome day and one I will remember for a long time.Thanks Billy!!!Howie

There is so much to be grateful for beginning with Billy pulling all

of us together and hosting such an amazing event. Thanks to everyone

that chose to be at Casa Ruvolo and share your current life and past

life experiences from Camp Monroe. Thanks to Pearlmutter for updating

me on events that I never experienced the first time but witnessed

firsthand the second time. There is a special bond that makes each

one of us a better person from our experiences at camp both together

as a group and as individuals. I am just getting home from a day or a

late day from camp, spent with both Malcolm and the Hochmeister.

Paired with yesterdays gathering these two days were an incredible

trip into the past bringing many positive memories into the present

and what a great present it was to me. I was able to witness some

amazing cathartic release at camp today when a counselor was walking

his camper to the gate as the boy was leaving the camp for the

summer. Both the boy and his counselor were crying because the boy

was leaving before camp was over. I felt extremely emotionally

connected to both the boy and his counselor and told the counselor as

he was on his way back to the boys side how lucky he was to make the

connection with his camper. I'm sure this is something that we have

all felt during our experiences in camp and that emotional connection

from camp is what someone referred to as sappy. If this is sappy, let

me feel sappy everyday..................Did the Yankees win over the

Red Sox???? ...........Who was pitching?????

Love to all,

PEACE

I can hear summertime laughter up in treetops bent by snow toward the

icy ground. On a cold gray afternoon in January, I can see children

splashing in the sunlit, turquoise-blue water of a swimming pool. Just

beyond the pool, in the empty Palladium (Al Bass Hall) , I hear shouts

and a basketball bouncing on the hardwood, and then Louie and Dix are

arguing: they have the misfortune of being on the same team and there

is only one basketball and they both want to shoot it. Saltzman tells

them to be quiet and play. All three are middle-aged men nowLouie in

Florida, Dix in New York, Saltzman in Ohio. I can hear them anyway.

After all, I am a magician. And here is the secret of my magic: over

forty years ago I first went to Camp Monroe, and I have my memories

still. My memory is my magic.

It is no idle talent, my memory. It enables me, whenever the feeling

strikes, to live in the hot light and cool green shade of perpetual

summer. Alone in my office on blustery winter morning, I can go sit on

the steps of the mess hall after dinner and watch the twilight paint a

satiny blue sky with red and gold. I can see Larry and Steven and Doc

walking across the main diamond, little boys who are now husbands and

fathers, and there is Rickles, smiling, walking down from the waiter’s

bunks, and Sperbs is out on the court, holding the ball above his head.

The list of people I see is long, and sometimes, when I’m lucky, I

don’t have to rely on my magic. I can see them in person, talk about

our memories and create new ones and maintain friendships that parallel

the arc of my life. I saw Baskin a while ago: I hadn’t seen him in over

thirty years, and yet we might as well have sitting outside the Sub-CA

bunks, for it seemed that no time had passed at all.

The wisdom ascribed to middle age is overrated: life can be just as

confusing no matter how old you are, but this I can say with some

certainty. Live long enough and you will find your portion of joy and

sorrow, and the joy is sweeter if you can share it with long-time

friends and the sorrows are less burdensome.

Of course, I never thought about this years ago, when I was creating my

memories. I often think about it now.

Best,

Peter