Cary Croopnick writes:                                                                                                          May 7, 2004 About our time at North Woods. My brother Bruce was a camper for several years before becoming a CIT in 1970. I started as a senior counselor in 1970 for the intermediate boys. At that time, the intermediate director was Fred. (I had just graduated from Brookline High School.) After my freshman year at UC Irvine I came back in 1971 and was a counselor for a cabin of senior boys. Both summers I taught photography and printing/processing in a darkroom that I designed and built for the camp. Some of the other counselors who were at North Woods during my tenure were: My brother Bruce, who became a senior counselor, Lee Chase, the Turnbull brothers, John Buckley, Rick Gretsch and Hank Shacoy. And of course Marty Stanton, who remembered my face some 30 years later! I also have fond memories of some of the leaders: Tony Mirenda and Nate Todaro. Considering that we counselors were hormone-crazed teenagers and young men, they showed a lot of patience and wisdom for us. Of course, I also remember Shirley Goodwin. Some of the best times I had there: Sailing, waterskiing and canoeing on that beautiful lake. I once took my entire cabin to Joe's Island for one of the best overnight camping experiences of my life! Great food, lots of jokes and not too many mosquitos. When I took my senior boys over to the Pleasant Valley girls camp down the road, I saw some of them grow up before my eyes and summon the strength to ask a girl to dance. I'm glad I had the opportunity to share some good old fashioned summer fun with both the campers and the counselors. And if I made a difference in a boy's life by smoothing over some rough edges, I'm very pleased. As for myself, I started college in Biological Sciences but ended up with a fine arts degree from San Francisco Art Institute. I lived in an artists loft community (a converted factory that we all owned) for 14 years. During that time I worked primarily as an electrician and electrical contractor during the day, did theatrical lighting and design, and performed as an actor and dancer at night. (I was very busy!) Towards the middle 80's I also worked as a commercial photographer specializing in studio still-life and architecture. In 1990 I went back to school for the third time, this time to study industrial design. I earned an M.A. in industrial design at San Jose State University. (I also met my wife there!) My wife Monique is a meeting and event planner for a HP users group. I have temporarily slid back into the electrical business after practicing as a product designer and developer for about four years. That's it in a (large) nutshell!