Where is She Now: Liz Farley-Ripple
Came to Nyoda from: Glen Ridge, NJ (where my sister and father live now… along with my niece, who is now a Nyoda girl!)
Returning to Nyoda this summer from: Hockessin, DE where I’m a professor at the University of Delaware, doing research on education policy, working with educational leaders throughout the state, and teaching aspiring educators.
Memory of first summer at camp: Well, I remember the summer *before* camp. My best friend, Catherine Dimon, went and sent me a letter. I was so jealous and wished I had gone, so the next year there was no question. I remember we were in the big bung (eventually several times), and I remember loving my counselors, which in the early years included Patti Gallagher, Laura Holloway, and Laura Kane
Returned because of: Everything. The friends I made, the fun, the freedom – all of it. I have so many wonderful memories, even of the oddest things: getting a 10 in inspection; hiking through mud to horseback riding; rest hour; Christmas in July.
I was there through Witawentin, so I think that was six years. I got sick my Wita year and had to leave and come back. That year we moved down to the Jersey shore, and between the move, having missed part of Wita, and being in a new high school, I didn’t come back for Tiamalia. It was a tough decision, and I’m really sad I missed out on that experience.
That said, I don’t know how unique my time at camp was. I was only ever a three-weeker (my sister was in for the long haul). I was never a team captain, never a counselor, never got a medal. But I think my memories of camp are as fond and meaningful as probably anyone else’s. I adored my time there. I think the people and the traditions are what make those memories so strong. I adored my friends, even the ones I didn’t stay in touch with throughout the years, and I adored my counselors. The sense of belonging and community were so strong. I don’t know if I could have articulated it then, but I really feel like I kind of figured out who I was and the kind of person I wanted to be from going to camp. And the traditions! The songs, the signs, council fire, goodnight circle… it was like the glue that bonded us.
After my Wita year, I left camp behind in some sense to go out and do other things, but I have always had Nyoda in my heart. You know, the aspiration to have “Welcome Back” sung to you on a visit; of going up and singing with other alumni at Visiting Day; the pride of going to find the signs from your bungs. I have this loyalty to all things Nyoda. When the reunion was scheduled, I literally could not wait. I completely geeked out. I went to find all the counselors I had had and tried not to cry when I saw friends that I hadn’t seen in 25 years. I felt the same community, same connection to all of these people and to the place itself. It was an incredible experience to be back.
Favorite camp memory or things in life that bring out your Nyoda memories: Bug juice? Ha! The smell of the lake; the sound of a bugle; sitting on a big (not often orange, though) swing.
Nyoda traditions that you keep alive daily: There’s a way of life, maybe something like wo-he-lo, that I really want for my kids. Naturally, I have boys. There’s not a lot of comparable experiences out there for boys. About two years ago I found a 4-H camp that my older one attends. It is definitely not the same, but the spirit is there, the rustic rituals, the community. The first time I dropped him off (sight unseen!) I pulled in and started crying. My son was like, “I’ll be okay, Mom.” And I laughed. I said, “No, it’s not that. It’s just that it is so perfect!” I mean seriously: the bungalows, the dining cabin, the lake, the bathrooms in another building (far to boot!). There were words carved in wood expressing camp values outside the dining hall. The ropes between trees to dry towels. This was before the reunion, so it was just amazing to see it. My point is really that there’s something really important about having a Nyoda in your life, and I really want my kids to value that as well.
