What a learning experience for us all. Our last camp meal of the week was pizza and I perfected my whole wheat version—topped with whatever vegetables the campers didn’t finish that week. They loved them on pizza!
Years at Shaver’s Creek: 1976–1979
Positions Held: Cook for the Outdoor School
Current Company/Organization: Shepherding grandkids in Wyoming, Colorado, and Florida. Writing about food for the Centre Daily Times and blogging about food on Substack.
I’m still making whole wheat pizza and created many cooking camp programs for kids across the country, but the lesson at Shaver’s Creek was to get it on the table at the right time. A hundred hungry campers can only sing so many songs while waiting for their lunch. That was a huge lesson for me. And teamwork—how we all had our roles to play for the greater good. I could not have done it without my “steward,” Allen Will, who was also the camp nurse. Allen and I are still in touch, after he spent a few decades in Thailand. It was a very special time and those involved intersected, added their own special talent to the mix, and moved the mission forward. From the top down—Tom Wilson, Dale Roth, Corky Potter—there was a dynamism to the program that inspired and enabled everyone in the circle. And I was the lucky one who got to nourish those creative souls who, in turn, brought their light to the hundreds of campers who passed through the program. And it made me realize that anything with the word “camp” in it means that there is fun involved.