Adirondack Nonprofit Makes the Most of Unusual Summer
Great Camp Sagamore, an educational nonprofit and tourist destination in the central Adirondacks, is making the most of a summer without guests by undertaking long-awaited renovations.
Great Camp Sagamore is an Adirondack Great Camp and was a summer retreat for the Vanderbilt family. Today it is the most accessible of the Great Camps, offering daily tours and stays for the public.
This week, Great Camp Sagamore is hosting a virtual gala and online auction. They ask that you join them while they pay tribute to music, and the artists who make it. You can register for free at the following link: https://e.givesmart.com/events/hgG/.
The online auction will culminate on June 24 with live, real-time countdown auctioneer Doug Stinson and special guests from 7:30 to 8 p.m. Also, tune into their website daily to hear a musical tribute to a Great Camp Sagamore honoree.
By Jen Maguder, Great Camp Sagamore’s Program Director
In mid-May, seasonal staffers Lily Whiteman and Charles Sykes returned to work remotely for Great Camp Sagamore. Their positions are supported by the Payroll Protection Program, introduced by the federal government to encourage workforce retention and hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lily and Charles are helping to upgrade our online resources for visitors to the Historic Great Camps Special Management Area (HGCSMA).
It’s a long title, so we’re calling Lily and Charles’ work the “trails project” for now.
Spending time at home lately? Maybe it’s an opportunity to pick up a musical instrument.
Good parties need great music, ‘twas always thus. If you can play, you’re the life of the party. Okay, maybe this was truer before the invention of DJs, but it’s still true.
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt grew up in the 1880s–1890s hearing superb orchestras play at lavish parties hosted by his parents and others in their social set. Years later, the parties Alfred threw at Sagamore, his Adirondack camp, would not have orchestras, but guests would play the piano.
And it appears that the host himself had skills. The photo is a little blurry, but just look at Alfred’s smile while he strums his mandolin, sitting on his Main Lodge porch in the summer of 1913. Let’s imagine the scene at the Playhouse that night: “Alfred, where’s your mandolin.” “No, no…well, ok!”
We take roads for granted. I sure did as a kid riding from Syracuse up to my Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Blue Mountain Lake. We drove on Friday nights with my parents and eight brothers and sisters, all stuffed into a station wagon (they were like minivans in 1960s and 70s). My grandfather told us stories about when he was a kid and Route 28 did not exist!
(updated on April 21, from original post where they had announced a delayed season opening)
From Great Camp Sagamore (Raquette Lake)’s Executive Director Emily Martz:
After careful thought, we have decided that Great Camp Sagamore will remain closed for the 2020 season. If you have signed up for a program this year, we will send you an email shortly about your registration.
This is a difficult decision. We know how many of you rely on Great Camp Sagamore to help disconnect from the white noise of everyday life. This is also hard because we know that instructors, seasonal employees, and local businesses depend upon Sagamore during the season.
But our first responsibility is safety. We must do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect public health. Our programs require people to closely interact – communal meals, lodging, and tours are essential and part of the fun.
We remained hopeful for a partial season, but new information shared by health experts confirms that encouraging people to gather would be irresponsible. The Centers for Disease Control and the New York State Department of Health have concluded that at the very least, reliable and widespread testing and tracking are required before people can safely gather.
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