Many friends of Thunderbird from the '80's remember a spunky, fun-loving staffer, Beth Donovan. Beth has been battling cancer for some time. I am writing to share her current status with those who, like me, share fond memories of Beth. On April 24, Beth was ruhed to the hospital to begin radiation, following an MRI. Her spine is covered with tumors. These are being treated as they are causing trouble. As difficult as this sounds, Beth feels that she is blessed. Her cancer metastais to her bones two years ago. Metastais to the liver occured three years ago! As challenging as this sounds, Beth assures friends that she is in joy. In her own words, she states, "God loves me."

Beth assures friends that she is not living in gloom. She looks forward to hearing from friends as she is presently staying at the home of her parents I've included Beth's e-mail address in the event that well-wishers may seek to contact her. Please keep Beth, her husband, and her two sons in your prayers.

Beth's e-mail: bdonovanwalter@fuse.net

Once a year, Thunderbird alumns and friends gather to contact former staff members seeking support of the campership program. The program, funded by donations, allows children from challenging backgrounds the opportunity to experience summer camp. This year's event will be held on Tuesday evening, May 22, at 6:00 p.m. Participants will gather at the camp office for fellowship, pizza, and manning the phones. Alumns available to man phones are invited to contact either Andy Kane or Kaye Carraway. Help is needed for this worthwhile event!

Andy Kane was honored during Christmas on the Point for his 20 years of service to YMCA Camp Thunderbird. Andy began his tenure at Thunderbird as director of the Environmental Education Center. He eventually moved on to serve in his current role as Vice President in charge of Camping Services. Many Labor Day camping families have come to know Andy for his involvement and support of that gathering.
Andy received a clock celebrating his years of service as well as a scrapbook of letters and photos from Thunderbird alumns.

The 2006 Christmas season was officially ushered in at Camp Thunderbird on December 3. Staff members, alumni staffers, and other friends of camp gathered in the camp dining hall on Sunday evening for an evening of fun and fellowship. This year's event featured music by Leon Patillo, Craig Thompson, Bennet Tompson, and Brad Baldwin. Of course, no Christmas gathering would be complete without both a visit from Santa Claus as well as the telling of the Christmas Story. The camp chapel provided the perfect back drop for Christmas Story as told by the "children of camp." Special thanks to Margie Purcell for her efforts in making the event special. A word of special thanks to Teresa Davis and her staff for preparing this year's Christmas feast.

Sadly, I have just received word that Marjorie Cox passed away today, November 8, 2006. Marjorie's parents were able to make the journey to Prague prior to Marjorie's passing, which gave them great comfort. Please continue to remember both Marjorie's parents as well as Ann in the days to come. As additional information becomes available, I will post it to this site.

I recdeived the following note today related to Marjorie Cox's status. I know all will continue to keep Marjorie and her family and friends in their prayers.

Betsy Niblock says Anne spoke with Seth and Claudia who have arrived safely in Prague. They've met with the doctors at the hospital. Seth says that Marjorie's care there has been nothing short of wonderful, and the doctors have been very thorough and compassionate. They have confirmed that there will be no recovery for her, but she is in no pain, and they will let nature take its course and in the next few days Marjorie will slip away on her own.

Seth said that visiting with her was a great relief. She appears to be very at peace, and looks just like she's taking a nap. He and Claudia are hanging in there, surrounded by Marjorie's many friends in Prague who have taken them in as their own and held their hands every step of the way. Anne is doing well also, with Betsy and Pooh Toms by her side. I know she would want me to tell you all that it is your thoughts and prayers that have made this go as well as it has. Please continue to keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.

Alumni staff members from the 1970's may recall a young ski boat driver named Marjorie Cox. (Marjorie's sister, Ann, also worked at camp for several years.) For the past several years, Marjorie has been working in Progue. On Friday, November 3, Marjorie collapsed while riding a bus home from work. Her heart stopped, but she was transported to a hospital. Marjorie was suffering from a high blood pressure and had had an aneurysm. Marjorie's parents are enroute to Progue. Though Marjorie's outlook is bleak, I am sure they would appreciate our prayers. I will update Marjorie's condition as I hear additional news.

On Saturday, October 21, members of Camp Thunderbird's Alumni family participated in the first bike trip scheduled for the Virginia Creeper Trail. A total of 14 riders made it to Abingdon, Virginia on Friday evening. They met for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Saturday morning greeted the riders early with a brisk 35 degree temperature. Fortunately, things warmed up to 60 degrees by lunch. The Blue Blaze shuttle bus left the outfitters at 9:30 a.m. and arrived atop the mountain by 10:15.
The scenic trek down the mountain was breath taking. Stops included a visit to Green Cove train station for a snack and Taylor's Valley for lunch. Todd Low said it's tradition to stop for ice cream at the foot of the trail. Of course those who participated in the ride have a tremendous respect for tradition, so they saw no reason to part with this rite of passage.
Please watch the web for the possible announcment of a second trip to be planned for the spring.

Finding Pvt. Harris is one of many stories slated to appear in the book to be titled "Only At Camp." This story is included in hopes that Thunderbird Alumns will share stories of their relationships that have developed as the result of their summer experiences at Thunderbird. Please consider taking the time to e-mail your story to Kaye. Her e-mail address is: camping@bellsouth.net

Finding Pvt. Hartis

As told by Todd Low
(1980-1987)

There are some things that one will do in their lifetime that shall never be forgotten.

I would like to share one of the many experiences I had with the world famous Ernest Hartis. Before doing so, I find it necessary to share some background information on Ernest. To the best of my knowledge, Ernest began working for Camp Thunderbird in the late sixties or early seventies. He was hired to be the Maintenance Director by the now retired Bill Climer. Ernest and his wife, Maxine, raised three boys in the Maintenance Director’s house located in the middle of camp. Every staff member that ever worked for Camp Thunderbird during Ernest’s tenure (and that would be several hundred) heard his speech on how to cut grass and how to return tools to their respectful place in the shop…. a wonderful man!

Ernest retired from camp sometime after the year 2000.

While working maintenance week just prior to the 1980 summer season, I had my first of many encounters with Ernest. I was one of the privileged few who got to really spend time talking with Ernest. Ernest mentioned to me that he was the baby of five children, and that his older brother, Tom, had practically raised him. Ernest and his brother, Tom, were very close. Ernest told me of the last day he saw his brother. It seems that Ernest walked Tom to the train station to make the trip to Europe during World War II. Tom was in the U.S. Army, 13th Infantry 85h Division. He was a foot soldier.
Tom Hartis was killed in action, 30 days before the end of World War II, as his division was about to cross the Rhine River and make the push to Berlin, Germany. Previously, Tom had been awarded the Purple Heart three times during World War II. He died defending our freedom.
Ernest told me that he had a dream to some day make a trip to Europe to find his brother’s grave. It was a dream that he had carried with him for quite some time, but it was also one that would not die.
I had the chance to come to camp a little early in the spring of 1981 to work maintenance for Ernest Hartis. I wasn’t in camp long when Ernest started talking again about making a trip to Europe to find his brother’s grave. All of the guys that worked maintenance would joke with Ernest about going with him to Europe. It seems that every year Ernest would tell his same story to a few of the staff that came to work maintenance. By the summer, 1984, I had heard this story about Ernest going to Europe to visit his brother many times. By the end of the summer of 1984, I told Ernest that we, (meaning he and I) were going to Europe to find Tom’s grave!
I spent some time and research finding Tom’s grave site. Plans were made and airline tickets were purchased. We were ready to go! (Just a quick note of thanks to the Camp Thunderbird Board of Directors for the purchase of Ernest’s plane ticket. That was a nice gift.)
Ernest and I were both excited about making the trip to Europe. The many folks at Camp Thunderbird shared our excitement. I still had not realized how much the trip was going to mean to Ernest. The trip of a lifetime was about to begin. We would leave Charlotte, North Carolina on Delta Airlines, April 25, 1985. Our mission…. to find the gravesite of Tom Hartis.
Our flight from Charlotte to Atlanta was pretty smooth. Now one must keep in mind that travel by commercial airlines was not an everyday event for Ernest. Our flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt, Germany was a little different from the first leg of our journey. Ernest and I had to sit in the smoking section in the rear of the aircraft so Ernest could smoke to relax from the stress of flying. (This was before the no smoking on any flights went into effect.) This also put us closer to the flight attendant work area.
Once we were airborne out of Atlanta, the flight attendants came through the cabin with headsets so one could listen to any type of music and watch a movie later. Ernest was so funny sitting with his head set on listening to country music, his favorite beverage in hand. When I would talk to Ernest in a soft voice, he would answer loudly enough for the entire flight to hear him-due, of course, to the head set on his head. Everyone got a good laugh and that began to break the ice with the folks sitting around us. It was not long before the entire flight crew on this Delta flight knew Ernest and the story of our trip to find his brother’s grave. They wished us the best of luck.
We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany and met Bill and Kathy Matthews (former Camp Thunderbird staff). Ernest and I had made plans to spend our first night in Europe with Bill and Kathy. (Bill and Kathy were school teachers on a US Army base just outside of Frankfurt, Germany.) Frankfurt, Germany would also be our departure point for our return trip home. We would spend the next two weeks visiting the cemetery of Ernest’s brother and traveling around Europe.
Ernest and I had purchased a 14-day Eurail pass to get around Europe. During the next 2 weeks we saw ten different countries, and we met all kinds of people. The most important and touching part of the trip, though, was arriving with Ernest in Margareten, Holland.
Margraten, Holland is home to the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. Upon our arrival in Margraten, via the train, Ernest wanted to stop and get fresh flowers for his brother’s grave. While Ernest purchased the flowers, I got directions to the cemetery. The local bus ran about every hour to the cemetery and for some reason I decided to get a cab for us. A short cab ride of about 10 minutes was all it took to get to the cemetery. I had the cab driver drop us off on the highway in front of the cemetery.
The setting for this visit is hard for me to put into words. If you close your eyes and picture beautiful green rolling meadows out in the country, with large oak trees lining the fence rows, you might envision the landscape as we saw it, The weather that day was a high overcast and the temperature was in the mid 40’s. As Ernest and I got out of the cab, and the cab pulled away, we were overcome with silence. The joking and cutting up we had enjoyed since leaving camp came to a halt. I felt as though the Second World War had just ended... and yet I was not even born then. There was an eerie feeling in the air, one that was hard to explain, as Ernest and I walked to the entrance of the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. I allowed a little space to distance Ernest and me as we walked to the entrance. I wanted Ernest to have this moment he had waited for for so long. It had been 40 years and 29 days to the day that Tom had been killed in action.
As Ernest walked to the gate, a lump began to form in my throat. Lay out in front of us were 8,300 white marble crosses-one for each soldier buried there. The white Italian marble crosses were in perfect rows as far as one could see. It was hard for me to believe that there was a man lying beneath each cross. It brought cold chills to me. I looked over to see Ernest staring out over the field of crosses. I noticed that he had small tears running down his cheek.
Ernest and I just stood at the entrance for what seemed like hours, just looking over the white crosses. The superintendent of the cemetery approached and asked if he could be of any help to us. Ernest was still in a little shock, so I began to tell the superintendent our story. I told him that we were looking for the grave of Tom Hartis. He left us momentarily before returning with the information we were seeking. Tom, he told us, was in plot A, row 7, and grave 13.
The walk from the superintendent’s office to the site was a slow one. The paths were all out of Italian marble and liked with memorials showing the movement of all of the allied forces into Europe. As we entered plot A, I dropped back from Ernest once again. I could see him counting the rows until he came to row 7. He began counting over to grave 13. This was the moment that Ernest had been dreaming of for over 40 years. Ernest reached Tom’s white marble cross and dropped to his knees. As Ernest placed the fresh flowers on his brother’s grave, tears began to flow.
I was standing about 20 yards away from Ernest to give him some time and space. After a couple of minutes Ernest looked over and motioned for me to come look at Tom’s marker. It read:
Pvt. Thomas B. Hartis
13th Infantry 8th Division
North Carolina April 6, 1945

It was hard for me to believe that we were standing in front of Tom’s marker. It was harder, still, for me to believe that Ernest had kept the dream of finding his brother’s gravesite alive for so many years. Tom was 20 years old, and Ernest was just ten years old the day they walked to the train station to say good bye to one another.
We spent most of the day looking over the American Cemetery and talking to the superintendent. The superintendent indicated that Ernest was the only visitor to the Tom Hartis grave on record. The superintendent also filled out some paper work for Ernest. The paper work would allow flowers to be placed on Tom’s grave at different times during the year. The army would pay for the expense involved.
The superintendent also had a file and a copy of the Purple Hearts that Tom had received. The filed indicated that Tom was killed in action by German mortar fire about 5:30 a.m. along the Rhine River. The 13th Infantry was to cross the River at or about 6:00 a.m. to start the push to Berlin.
Ernest and I made our way back to Margraten to spend the night. The next day we made a second trip to the cemetery. Ernest used about a dozen rolls of film at the cemetery. That was fine.
The remaining part of our two-week adventure was filled with some of the funniest stories one could ever imagine. I’ll save these stories for another writing.
I’m so glad that I was able to help a friend make a dream come true. Little had I known that taking a job for a YMCA camp would introduce me to so many people and take me all over the world. I’ve made many, many, good friends and had many great experiences over the years through my association with Camp Thunderbird. One of them was with my very good friend, Ernest Hartis.

Many 80's alumni staff members may remember Betn and Leslie, two side kick counselors in cabin 25. Leslie returned to Thunderbird during Alumni Family Camp '06. Those in attendance were amazed to find that Leslie now a published author!
Leslie grew up in south Louisiana. She has degrees in illustration and Advertising Design. What started as a book collaboration with her father, led to a rediscovery of the power of learning through story and the joy of a child's viewpoint.
Leslie now lives in Michigan with her husband, three children, a dog, and a large collection of books. She divides her creative time between painting, writing, and reading. For a preview of Leslie's work, visit her on line at: helakoskibooks.com (Leslie's full name is now Leslie Helakoski.) Two of Leslie's recent titles include "The Smushy Bus" and "Big Chickens."