Remembering their summers at Camp Anawana

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Color War, making out and lasting friendships are part of the summer camp experience. Several former Camp Anawana campers shared their memories of the long-gone sleep away camp that was near Kutsher’s Resort in the Catskills Mountains.
North Woodmere residents Larry and Elysa Parker visited the closed campground this summer and collected the decorated plaques campers made. They posted photographs to a Camp Anawana Plaques Facebook page and gained many “friends.” The Parkers plan on posting individual photos of the plaques for auction and the proceeds would be donated to a charity for children. A specific one has yet to be chosen.

Amie Pillar Feldman, North Woodmere
Feldman attended the camp from 1972-’76 and ’79. Her memories revolve around “the intense camp spirit, the closeness of the entire camp … and the long-lasting friends.” “Will always remember Jerry Parker riding his golf cart and throwing candy onto the fields and to all the campers,” she said. “Gil Fershtman’s ‘upsky and outsky,’ Brooks and all his wonderful talks. Will always think back fondly to the wonderful days of my summers at Camp Anawana, and getting to go to Kutsher’s for special events.


Teri Weinstein Stein, Woodmere
A North Woodmere native, Stein, 58, remembers “boyfriends, raids, volleyball.” “When I was in Bunk B, the last bunk in the row, a whole bunch of us went to Camp Sherwood with our boyfriends. The bunks were empty and we were just making out; we were late for curfew. Got in trouble. Got docked from evening activities and were made to call our parents and tell them what happened.

Laurie Weissman, Hewlett
“I was lieutenant general of my color war team and I wrote many of the songs for color war sing,” said the Belle Harbor native who turns 50 this year. “I had to leave camp a couple of days early to go to college. I was so devastated that I couldn’t stay for sing. I was leaving that morning right after breakfast and I remember the entire dining hall sing, ‘We love you Laurie’ during breakfast. We just loved camp so much and we had such strong bonds that we still have today.”

Cheryl Gevarter Graber, Hewlett
The North Woodmere native attended Camp Anawana in the late 1970s and early ’80s. “As a young camper spending many hours getting my stuffed animals decked out for ‘Animal Lineup,’ being snuck out of camp by Larry Parker for exciting trips to Busby’s and the very much anticipated white glove inspections by Jerry [Parker]!” Graber, 44, said were her favorite memories.

Carolyn Ritterman Niederman, Lynbrook
The former Five Towner – Woodmere, Lawrence and Cedarhurst – said she remembers most of her color war songs. “I remember cooking Chef Boyardee in a hot pot and eating on the bunk floor,” said Niederman, 43. “The best was the summer we had a bat in our bunk, and slept with shorts on our head until Larry [Parker] let us sleep on his floor. Vivid memories of fireworks at the lake and trips to the hotel [Kutsher’s] for swimming and ice skating! I could go on and on!”

Robyn Karp, New York
The Lawrence High School graduate, class of 1997, grew up in Woodmere. Karp, 36, has lived in the city for the past decade. “My favorite memory was the very last night of camp ever, 1992,” she said. “No one slept, as if we knew it was our last chance to be there. My age group (12/13) hung around the pool in the darkness; singing songs, dancing and going over every private joke of the summer, so we wouldn’t forget it when we separated the next day. There was some traffic in and out of the boys’ bunks, but mostly we all laughed and cried together until the sun came up. I’ll cherish it always.”

Judy Brandt Fishkind, Durham, NC
A resident of Woodmere from 1962-’78, Fishkind, 60, began going to the camp in 1969, the summer after her mother died. “Anawana changed my life in so many ways,” she said. “So many memories, but one that stands out is after one visiting day, we had organized our candy in the bunk and Jerry Parker came in and did a running dive into it. But most of all the valuable friendships, which I still have.

Cathy Novick, Waltham, Mass.
The North Woodmere native remembered what happened after the movie “Strait- Jacket” was shown and Gil Fershtman dressed in a yellow rain coat with the hood up, a fencing mask and sword. He was seen crossing the tennis courts. “Everyone, but me, crowded in one bunk, I had been sound asleep, while a bat was being chased out with wooden tennis rackets,” Novick, 52. “They didn’t want to wake me up because I was on the top bunk, and they were afraid the bat would freak out and get stuck in my hair. I woke up thinking the joke was on me because I was alone. Joke was on Gil. He didn’t scare us at all.”

Laurie Chizever Cochin, Manhattan
Cochin, 62, lived in Woodmere for 15 years. Her camp memories include: making out at the trees after co-ed socials in the field house; going to Kutsher’s for ice cream sundaes and a day at the pool for winning girls’ sing; Friday night services (dressed in white) listening to Brooks’ wonderful Bible stories, and attending the Maurice Stokes basketball game and hanging out with Wilt Chamberlain before tip off.

Lisa Novick Goldberg, Miami
Goldberg, 57, a North Woodmere native went to Anawana from 1964-’73. “It was a time to test myself in sports (AIT girls’ volleyball tournament), in plays, tribal war sports and color war game,” she said. “I wrote my college essay for Vassar on my camp experience, and I got in!”

Seth Richter, Albany

Richter, 47, grew up in North Woodmere and attended Anawana from 1979-’85. “Too many memories to list,” he said. “One that I recently remembered was watching Jerry [Parker] strike out my entire bunk during a softball game, while pitching from second base. Wish it was still open, so I could send my kids.”