History

Unirondack was incorporated on August 22 of 1966 for “religious educational purposes, including but not

limited to the ownership and operation of one or more religious educational camps and institutions

embodying the religious ideals of Universalism”. The incorporation was the culmination of three years of

work by the Unirondack Commission, a committee of the Department of Education of the New York State

Convention of Universalists, the founder of Unirondack.

Unirondack began, however, in 1947, when the New York State Convention of Universalists held a summer

institute at Oak Point. The committee charged with planning that first two week institute included the

Reverand Harold H. Niles of All Souls Universalist Church, Edna Bruner, Howard Gilman, and Hope

Reamon. The institute provided Universalist religious educators, ministers, and congregants the opportunity

for fellowship and spiritual growth beyond the walls of the congregation. In many ways it was the precursor

of today’s efforts to extend and enrich our faith.

From 1947 to 1951 NYS Convention of Universalists held institutes and retreats in rented spaces. Their

popularity grew quickly and the Convention recognized that a permanent home was needed. The first

summer institute held near our present site in the Western Adirondack’s was in 1950, at Beaver Camp (now

a Mennonite Camp), located across the lake from what would become Unirondack’s permanent home. It

was at that institute that it was discovered that the property that would become Unirondack’s permanent

home was up for sale.

The asking price for the nine acre property overlooking Beaver Lake in the forever wild Adirondacks was

$27, 500. It initially contained 8 buildings, including a lodge, a guesthouse and a boathouse. It was owned

by the Patterson family, founders of the National Cash Register Company. A committee led by President

Ralph Soddard, Treasurer Donald Bebe, and State Supt. Dr, Fred C. Leining of the NYS Convention of

Universalists negotiated a reduction in price to $19,000. The 125 th annual assembly of the New York State

Convention of Universalists approved the purchase with the understanding that the congregations would

raise an additional $7000 for improvements and necessary equipment. The congregations ultimately raised

$12,000 and the rooms in the guesthouse were named for those early contributors: Syracuse, Rochester,

Canandaigua, Floral Park, Oneonta, Schuyler Lake and Perry.

Zeke, our mascot, entered the picture in the very first summer. Some folks hold Fred Chadwick responsible

for our raccoon friend, as he was rumored to have fed the raccoons and nursed an injured Zeke back to

health while donating his skilled labor to help get the camp ready for its first season. No one knows how

Zeke got his name, but the name for the camp was suggested by John MacPhee, the minister of the UU

Church of Utica at the time. The MacPhee Artshop, in our beautiful boathouse overlooking Beaver Lake, is

named for Reverand MacPhee.

The campaign committee, still headed by Reverand Niles but now including Fred W. Chadwick of Syracuse

and Mrs. Edwin K. Haas of Pittsford, planned three weeks of institutes in the first summer at our permanent

site, including a Youth Institute, a retreat of the Association of Universalist Women and Religious

Educators, and an institute for Junior High Folk. The manager of the institute that first summer was Howard

Gilman, for whom our present dining hall is named.

Beginning in that very first summer, Unirondack’s institutes focused strongly on serving youth, a direction

which contributed to Unirondack becoming the only UU Camp and Conference Center that focuses

primarily on summer camp experiences for youth. That focus has undoubtedly contributed to Unirondack

having the highly developed and professionally run program that exists today.

Of course, summer camp for young people was never the sole focus of Unirondack. From the beginning, the

planners would offer institutes and retreats for religious educators, ministers, families and adults. Many of

those early programs have continued to this day in one form or another.

Following the purchase of the property, the camp continued to be operated by the New York State

Convention of Universalists until the 1961 Unitarian Universalist merger, when the St. Lawrence UU

District took over until Unirondack’s incorporation in 1966. Those years saw much growth and many

challenges that were met time and again by dedicated leaders and volunteers. Like many of the landed UU

Camp and Conference Centers, maintaining and improving the facility, while staying financially viable, was

perhaps the greatest challenge.

One of the unique challenges for Unirondack is that since it resides in the forever wild Adirondack’s,

expansion is carefully regulated, and that regulation has increased over the years. Therefore, after some

early building efforts, most of the improvement at camp has been in the renovation, repurposing and

replacement of existing structures.

Growth was slow, and often depended on a generous donation to proceed. Housing for campers and staff

was the first priority, and the first of what would later become Unirondack’s four Woods Cabins, Woodman,

was completed at the end of the 1962 season. Like many early projects at Unirondack, Woodman was built

by volunteer labor, led by Jonathan Guillaume.

The first major improvement at Unirondack took place in 1964, with construction of the recreation hall. But

long before the building was completed, it was a dream in the minds of the camp’s leaders, as the idea is

mentioned as early as 1958. The main reason it took years to realize the dream was undoubtedly limited

financial resources. The operating budget for Unirondack in the 1950’s was often in the range of $1500 for

the season.

Even as it was finally being approved, the plans were being adjusted to lower costs so other projects could

be funded. The Board of Director’s voted that year that the new rec hall would have a stage but no

extensions, no bathrooms, no kitchenette, a fireplace with stone inside and block outside, and

an oil space heater. By deferring some planned items to later funds would be available for

erecting more cabins similar to Woodman.

Prior to and just following Unirondack’s incorporation in 1966, building projects abounded. In

short order three more Wood Cabins, Zigmund, Smith and Chadwick, the showerhouse, and an

expansion of one of the original buldings, Manwell cabin, were completed. Many of these

projects were championed by Jay Carncross, a key leader at Unirondack at the time. Other

luminaries who contributed tirelessly to Unirondack in the early days and onward included the

Reverend Dick Gilbert, Lucille Smith (for whom Smith Cabin is named), and Dick Fitts.

After incorporation in 1966, Unirondack’s programs evolved into the full 7 to 8 week program of weekly

children’s summer camps, family camps, and trip camps that we see today. In addition, Unirondack

continued to host congregational retreats, retreats for UU leaders and other adults, and targeted weekend

programs for groups.

The New York State Convention of Universalists continued to play an active role in assuring Unirondack’s

success, creating a $150,000 endowment for the new corporation and helping the fund improvements to

camp at key moments of need. The facility in 1966 included 10 buildings, some of them new but

some aging, and every penny the endowment earned would be needed over the years to

maintain the camp’s infrastructure.

But sometimes, even the best laid plans are challenged. At the end of the first week of camp in 1976,

tragedy struck. The largest building on the property, the lodge, burned to the ground. The lodge had

housed the dining hall and it was uncertain if camp could proceed that summer, or ever again.

As often happens in times of crisis, people rallied from throughout the growing community of

Unirondack’ers. A plan was quickly made to repurpose the Gilman Recreation Hall as a new dining hall.

A kitchen was installed, tables and chairs purchased, and the word went out: camp would continue. Eric

Nasemann stepped in as Camp Director for the departing James Garbarino. His appointment was

followed in 1977 by the return of former Director, Joe Malewitz. Surprisingly, only one week of camp

was missed in that eventful summer.

Still, the loss of the lodge was devastating. It was a building of unsurpassed beauty, a favorite place of

most Unirondack’ers and in many ways the heart of the camp. In 1977, the impact of losing the lodge

and the many other changes hit camper enrollment, as registration for the senior high school sessions

dropped precipitously. That was followed by such low senior high school session enrollment in 1978 that

the sessions were cancelled and the junior high school sessions expanded to four weeks.

Meanwhile, efforts were stumbling to address the loss of the lodge. The insurance payment from the

fire was dwindling rapidly due to the low camper enrollment, and the camp’s leadership was frustrated

by a lack of donations to rebuild the lodge. The Board of Director’s largely dissolved and was replaced

by a combination of long-time supporters of Unirondack and new leadership with a commitment to

keep the camp going. Their commitment to covering the cost of the lodge, coupled with a loan from

VEATCH, enable the work to proceed, using the design of architect Hugh Anderson from Rochester.

However, monies were limited and so the decision was made to keep the kitchen and dining hall in

Gilman, making the lodge primarily a gathering and office space. This left camp without a recreation hall,

a gap that continued to exist until 2010. The new Lodge was completed in 1980 and the names of those

leaders were engraved on a plaque to remind us all of what they did for Unirondack.

The next 10-15 years after the lodge burned down were lean ones, but the summer camp program

continued to flourish, touching the lives of UU youth and families. And the challenge of maintaining the

facility was met through a combination of volunteer labor, occasional loans, and withdrawals from the

endowment. In 1978 the crumbling boathouse/artshop was renovated, although the roof over the water

could not be saved. In the mid-80’s a fire pump system, championed by Jack Osborne and carried

forward by Brian Kress, was added to camp.

During much of Unirondack’s history, leadership turned over often, with the longest terms of Camp

Director’s lasting just a few years. In 1990, with the hiring of Dan Gottfried to assume both the

Administrator and Camp Director positions, that began to change. Dan has served Unirondack as

administrator, camp director and finally executive director, for 17 of the last 27 years. Leadership has

solidified in other ways as well, with Nat Shed serving as Camp Director and Administrator from 1997

until 2003. The present Camp Director, Kris Fiore, has been in camp leadership since 2009 and has

served as Camp Director since 2012. The Camp Manager in the Spring and Fall, Elizabeth Bashur, has

been with camp since 2007. And the Facilities Manager, Peter Howlett, has been with Unirondack since

2011.

This unprecedented consistency in leadership, coupled with an extraordinary Board of Directors led by

Joyce Gilbert in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, and Devin Hollands in the period from 2007 to 2015,

has provided Unirondack with the opportunity to grow into the flourishing camp it is today.

Unirondack has had two successful capital campaigns in that period and also successfully fundraised for

several major projects. It has created a new endowment, which is a third of the way to its million dollar

goal. And the facility improvements are impressive.

In 1994 the Gilman dining hall was expanded to allow Unirondack to utilize all the available bed spaces

in camp to serve more campers. In 97, Upper Sweet, half of the main housing space, was renovated.

Also, in 1997, the maintenance crew shop, called Wayne Manor, was built. In the early 2000’s, thanks

partly to a grant from the NYS Convention of Universalists, Zigmund and Woodman cabins were

renovated. All of these additions were done through the volunteer labor of former and present staff

members including Michael McCarthur, Marc Guillaume (son of Jonathan), Matt Catlin, Devin Hollands,

and Vanessa Holtgrewe, among others.

In the early 2000’s, the first successful Capital Campaign allowed the camp to rebuild the Leining

Infirmary, redo the septic system, including installing a leech field and a bathroom in lower camp, and

renovate the kitchen.

In the period from 2007 to the present, under the leadership of Dan Gottfried and Devin Hollands, and

utilizing the extraordinary skills of Pete Howlett, the improvements took another step up. In 2007 the

Morse meeting room was added to the Sophia Fahs cabin. In 2009 the boat docks were replaced. In

2010, thanks to a donation from Sarah Stevens-Miles, the Stevens Performing Arts Pavilion, was built on

the lower field adjacent to the lake, finally replacing the recreation space camp lost when the lodge

burned down and Gilman was re-purposed as a dining hall in 1976. IN 2011, Chadwick cabin was

completely renovated and transformed. In 2012, the MacPhee Artshop was renovated and a skylight

added.

In the midst of these physical changes, Unirondack also underwent an organizational change. In 2011,

the member congregations voted to change Unirondack’s bylaws to open voting membership in the

corporation to Unirondack alumni. In many ways this was the culmination of Unirondack’s evolution,

from an extension of the NYS Convention of Universalists to an independent Unitarian Universalist Camp

and Conference Center. Congregational Members can now combine in strength with all of the people whose

lives Unirondack has changed.

Then, in late 2012, the NYS Health Department told Unirondack that it would be unable to open the

following year unless plans were in place to significantly upgrade the aging showerhouse. Unirondack’s

Board of Director’s saw this as an opportunity to address a multitude of pressing needs in camp, and to

carry out Joyce Gilbert and Nat Shed’s earlier vision of a more comfortable lodging space to

accommodate more adults, including staff. A grant of $100,000 from the Unitarian Universlaist

Congregation at Shelter Rock Large Grants program moved the project into overdrive. Fundraising for

the building was undertaken with the goal of paying for it in full out of a combination the the grant,

donations, operating income, and a small withdrawal from the endowment. In many ways, this was the

first test of the strength of Unirondack as an organization with membership open to all its alumni.

Thanks to the herculean efforts of Peter Howlett and a small hired crew of dedicated builders and the

fundraising efforts of many alumni, the three story building was completed in a little over a year and

paid for in full. Containing 10 bedrooms, a meeting room, a lounge, a large bunkstyle room, a basement,

a private handicap accessible bathroom, a half bath, and two shower and bathroom facilities with

private stalls for up to six people at a time, the new building is beautiful, as well as utilitarian. It was

christened Evelyn Anderson House in 2014, in honor of our beloved former cook.

Not content to rest on it’s laurels, Unirondack completely renovated the boathouse in 2015, thanks to a

donation from Devin Hollands and the rest of the Hollands family. Their vision of restoring the

Boathouse to its former glory was completed, and the building was christened the Hollands Boathouse

in honor of Dan Hollands, who had played a key role in leading Unirondack as Board President in the

years after the Lodge fire.