Taking Foley Hill Road down to Camp Wa Wa Segowea.

Here's a video taken in October and November of this year 2010. It's a trip down Foley Hill Road in Southfield, Mass, that we've taken either just a couple times or too may times to count. One thing we know is that Camp Segowea is at the end of the road!

Happy New Year from Camp Wa Wa Segowea!

Happy Holidays from Camp Wa Wa Segowea!

There's snow on the ground now up at camp and as you can see in the latest pictures, the work continues! Thanks to Dianne for the pictures!




Looking up at the front of the house.




Looking at the inside of the right side.




The left side of the house.




It's a whole new look!



The left side.

Camp Wa Wa Segowea wishes you all the joys of a great Christmas season and the very best for the coming New Year!

The off season and cold weather work continues at Camp Wa Wa Segowea!

It was a cold and wintery day with just enough of a wind to bring the temperature down to a balmy 20 degrees. And that was a good day! That pretty much sums up every day now at Camp Wa Wa Segowea. And through all that, the work continues on the Camp's Property Director house, otherwise known as Norm & Dianne's home. The pictures below tell more than I can write in regards to the progress, but I did want to add a quick congratulations to Norm for being chosen as the "Capital District YMCA Employee of the Month" for October 2010 (and there's over 1500 employees in the Y!). Congrats to Norm!

Here's a few pictures taken over a couple of weeks on the progress-

Liz and Jeff up on the roof.

Norm finding an easier way to get the "walls" up to the 2nd floor...

...and it works!

Dianne documenting the progress too!

Lauren lending a hand as well.

Getting the back rafters up.

Seeing the progress from the road in.

Jeff holding up Norm, literally!

It's really windy up there.

Taking a look at the full front.

And a look at the back.

Almost all sealed in.

And it's already snowed!

Norm nailing down the roof.

Making sure it's lined up correctly...

...and I was there too!

Getting a couple minutes of warmth by the heater.

And the lake is already frozen!

Camp Wa Wa Segowea Holiday Help!

Just a quick post this time with 3 items on the menu, First, the reconstruction of Norm & Dianne's home is coming along nicely, but they can use our help. They'll be busily working on it this weekend and hopefully if enough people show, the roof could be completed! As it's December and snow is imminent in the Berkshires, it's crucial the roof be fully completed before the first big storm hits. Please consider taking a little time this Saturday to lend a hand.

Second thing on the menu are a couple of items that can help you with your holiday shopping! We're happy to announce that Friends of Segowea has teamed up with Zazzle.com to offer gift items featuring the Friends of Segowea logo. There's baseball shirts, hoodies, cell phone holders and more. Portions of the proceeds of each sale will be go towards the continued support of Camp Wa Wa Segowea's growth and progress. It's simple and easy! Go to http://www.zazzle.com/yoshason/gifts?cg=196345406223189204 or go to www.zazzle.com and search Segowea. If you have other ideas for items, please let us know in the comments here.

The second item for those shopping lists is the 2011 Wa Wa Segowea Calendar! It's currently available, but there's a limited amount, so get yours now! It's available directly on the Friends of Segowea website for $15 plus shipping. Order a few copies as they make wonderful stocking stuffers! All the proceeds of the calendar sales go directly to the continued support of Camp Wa Wa Segowea's growth and progress. www.friendsofsegowea.org.

Lastly, it's been noted before, but wanted to remind you that there's a Camp Segowea channel on YouTube now! There's a few videos up there now with more to come. If you'd like to submit a video to be on the Segowea channel, please let me know.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving from Camp Wa Wa Segowea!

As the months fly by to next summer, the projects continue to be worked on here at Camp Segowea. Property Director Norm Button and his wife Dianne are committed to the task of reconstructing their house log by log till completion hopefully in the Spring of 2011. Progress is happening with the near completion of the floor on the second floor. The front of the new place is mapped out. Next up is completing the walls and of course the roof! The Buttons welcome all who would like to lend a hand. Just give them a quick call or email to work out the details. 413-229-9110 or nbutton@cdymca.org. Also, just in time for the holidays, the new 2011 Wa Wa Segowea Calendars are in! Get yours before they're all gone! Go to the Friends of Segowea website to order. www.friendsofsegowea.org.

In the meantime, we wish all Friends of Segowea a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's some recent pics of the progress so far.

The "new" front of the building.

Norm working on the 2nd floor.

The front without a door...

...and now, with a door!

Norm and Ben working (there's a nice breeze up there!)

And now, the first wall!

Norm, Ben & Dianne and the new wall.

At least there's a little protection against the wind!

And a couple other pics from camp-

Can you guess where this was taken?

The lodge in November time.

And the actual raising of the wall!

Camp Wa Wa Segowea Leadership Rally takes place!

It was an afternoon filled with good news, great news and a call to action! The Wa Wa Leadership Rally took place in the Capital District YMCA Administrative office in Albany and was attended by many Friends of Segowea, including campers from 1937, all the way up to 2010! It started with the good news of all the accomplishments we've seen at camp in the past year and a half or so. George Painter, the Executive Director, showed a wonderful presentation of pictures of all that's been happening at camp. Then came the first ever Leadership Awards presented to Norm and Dianne Button, as well as some nice gifts for them including winter jackets (complete with the Segowea logo!). Amy, a Smith Park Board member (and camp volunteer this past summer) did a wonderful job in presenting the awards. Then came the great news - Registration of kids for the summer of 2011 is now officially open! Forms are available to fill out and online registration is right around the corner.

Lastly the call to action is very clear. We've raised $600,000 in the capital campaign since its beginning, but we're still looking to complete that $Million dollar goal! With projects continuing (like the reconstruction of the property directors house), we have set a short term goal of raising $150,000 in the next 5 months. With the Wa Wa Magic alive and well, we know we can do it. If you can contribute, now is the time. (Simply contact George Painter or send me an email and we'll get the ball rolling). In the meantime, here's some shots of the Leadership Rally!

George getting things set up.

George giving his presentation of the accomplishments that happened at camp.

Charlie (WWS 37') and Matt (WWS 2010), Wa Wa Campers!

Enjoying a nice lunch!

Boo, thinking of getting that cookie!

Darlene & Dianne discussing something camp related, I'm sure!

Rachel feeling that Wa Wa Spirit with a Rally sign!

Dianne and Norm in their new Wa Wa jackets.

Also, there's now a Camp Segowea Channel on YouTube! There's only a couple videos up there now, but more will be added soon.

Camp Wa Wa Segowea Raising the Roof, Rally and Skip - What does it all mean?

It's three posts for the price of one! The first part of this post is Part Two of the conversation with Skip Falk and it's ready to view, this time on YouTube. In this edition, Skip talks about the hurricane that hit Segowea in 1976, resident camping for kids and reflects on another Camp director, Beth Koloski Hodos (now on the Smith Park Board). It's about 12 minutes in length and takes a little time to download, so please be patient! The link for that is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K75wQ8SnNw

The second part of this post is it's just a couple days before the Wa Wa Leadership Rally coming up on Saturday! It will take place in Albany at the YMCA Administrative Office on New Karner Road starting at noontime. Hope you can make it! For further details, please see the previous post in the blog.

And the final part is to report on the progress that has been taking place in the reconstruction of the Property Director's House. Norm and Dianne have been really busy! This past weekend, we were able to gradually lower the roof to actually become the second floor and hope to begin shortly on building the new roof. It's taking quite a bit of time and effort and will be well worth it when complete! Here's just a few pictures to see the progress.

Norm & Dianne stopping for a pose.

Norm hanging around!

Get to work Norm!

Norm can move fast if he wants to!

Half of the old roof - new second floor is down.

Looking down from the 2nd floor.

Looking down to the first floor.

Nice view up the camp road!

One side down, one to go.

Dianne working inside and out.

A view from inside.

Removing nails is very tedious work!

A view from the outside.

We're just about ready to bring down the other side.

A view from inside with a flat second floor!

Another view inside with the second floor down.

And now, the making of the second floor!