Thursday, February 21, 2008

Wohelo Comet Trails - WCT Alumni Association

Dear Wohelo, Comet and Trails Alumni:

Within the last several days, you may have received an email from Capital Camps, the current owner of the property where Wohelo, Comet and Trails were located. After many years of trying to keep our alumni group under their operational umbrella, Capital Camps recently realized that our group was better suited to operate independently. This email from Linda Epstein (our defacto database and communications coordinator) is our first effort to create a true Wohelo, Comet and Trails alumni group, the WCT Alumni Association, operating as its own entity controlled solely by alumni. We are pleased to announce that both Morgan Levy and Harry Pure have expressed their complete and unwavering support for this effort.

David Pure and I are hoping that we together can garner the interest of WCT Alumni and achieve a few simple goals with the establishment of the WCT Alumni Association. Not in any order of importance, our goals are to:

a) hosting annual events on the old camp property whereas any alumni, their friends, and family can escape for long-weekend retreats and enjoy the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains;
b) setting up some form of communications website whereas alumni can reach out to and re-connect with other alumni;
c) promotion our camp experiences through the sale of camp logo outerwear;
d) posting of memorabilia electronically for all to see and reminisce; and
e) establishment of an endowment that can be used to sponsor needy children to attend summer camp in the honor of our camp founder, Bertha Berkowich Levy.

While it is our desire to have a retreat this Labor Day, unless we have an immediate outpouring of support for the Association from you, it is likely that our first organized retreat will be in 2009. In the interim, our first order of business is setting up the entity, the WCT Alumni Association. Sometime in the next two months, after we’ve had opportunity to communicate and get our email contact lists in order, we’ll have our first formal volunteer board meeting. At such time, the entity’s first board of directors will be installed which board will set the direction for the Association.

Right now, it is our goal to get as many alumni email addresses into Linda Epstein’s database as possible. It is important that we have ample representation of all of our alumni so we are seeking both male and female Alumni representatives in the following age categories:

70+, 60's, 50's, 40's, 30's & 20's

It is our intention to organize the WCT Alumni Association as a viable, self-sustaining group whose main purpose is to give all of us an excuse, either mentally or physically, to get away from the rush-rush-rush of everyday life and journey back to the relaxing, exciting, and social days of summer camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Please let Linda Epstein l.epstein@verizon.net know about changes or additions to our email database.

Please let David Pure dtpure@aol.com know about your interest in helping us set up a website.

Please let me know barney@danzansky.com if you are interested in filling one of the spots on our leadership board.


We hope that you will get involved and join us and look forward to seeing, speaking and reconnecting with all of you.

Best regards,

Barney Danzansky
Camp Comet 1976-1989
barney@danzansky.com