1993 ACA national conference highlights - American Camping Association

Camping Magazine, May-June, 1993

The 1993 American Camping Association National Conference in Pittsburgh offered ample proof that members are, indeed, "Bridging the Rivers to Quality Camping." Thanks to the hard work and careful planning of die Pittsburgh Conference Sterring Committee, attendees enjoyed a full schedule of keynote addresses, professional training, exhibitor displays, networking opportunities, and just plain fun. Since this conference marked ACA's fiftieth national conference, the event opened with a rocking fifties party complete with costumes, an Elvis impersonator and a fifties drive-in style menu. The "I Believe" extravaganza, held in a grand old train station, completed the fifties theme with a top-notch performance by Pittsburgh's premiere oldies group, the Vogues.

Throughout the week, the following ACA members were recognized for their contributions to the association and the field of camping.

Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor afforded to members by the American Camping Association. This year's winners are Jean and Andrew McMullan. The McMullans, individually and together, have been contributing members of our association, sometimes taking different paths, but always working together for the good of all.

Andy has served the ACA New England Section as conference exhibits chair, advisor on investments and endowment funds, and as chair of the search committee for the New England executive director. Andy has been an advocate for a sound financial basis for ACA and has strived toward that goal for many years. He was instrumental in the evolution of the ACA Board of Trustees into the American Camping Foundation and served as the foundation's chair until this past March.

Outside ACA Andy was, for 36 years, president and chairman of the Hanold Company and a professional French horn player with the Hartford Symphony and the Portland, Maine Symphony. He served Alford Lake Camp as a financial advisor as well. Today, Andy is the founder and conductor of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra in Vero Beach and Stuart, Florida.

Service and leadership have been in the forefront of Jean McMullan's career in ACA. She is a past ACA national president and currently serves the association as a member of the American Camping Foundation in her capacity as national "I Believe" chair. She has served New England as leadership chair, vice president, president, regional chair and chaired six section conferences. Before becoming national president, Jean also served as national vice president of field services and was the national leadership certification chair. Jean was the dean at four camp directors institutes and an organizer for the very successful conference, "Dialogues on Responsibility," in 1974.

From 1962 through 1992, Jean was director of Alford Lake Camp near Camden, Maine. On January 1, 1993, she assumed the advisory director's role as she turned over the direct management to Mark and Sue McMullan.

Hedley S. Dimock Award

The Hedley S. Dimock Award is given to "one who contributes to camping through related fields such as outdoor education, conservation, recreation, medicine, education, architecture, or the social sciences."

Innovator, educator, practitioner are all terms that describe Karl Rohnke, one of this year's Hedley S. Dimock award winners. Karl was one of the four founding staff members of Project Adventure in 1971, and has been the company's president and president of its board of directors for the past nine years. He has participated in many ACA section meetings as a resource person and has helped breathe vitality into camp programs by introducing the Project Adventure concept.

In addition to an already busy schedule with Project Adventure, Karl has publications that many ACA members use in their operations. Among these are Cowstails and Cobras, Cowstails and Cobras II, Silver Bullets, and Forget Me Knots. In 1992 Karl published Slightly Skewed Vignettes - Confessions of an Incorrigible Kid, an autobiographical series of short stories with an adventure twist.

Peter H. Fritts, another recipient of a 1993 Hedley S. Dimock award, has served ACA through the ACA Endowment Development Program. Head of the Real Estate Practice Group for Wildman, Harrold, Allen and Dixon, a firm of 195 lawyers in Chicago, Peter's sense of community service is widely encompassing. He currently serves as vice chair of the Lake Forest, Illinois school board, is on the Lake Forest Symphony Board, and serves the Duncan YMCA in Chicago.

Recruited to serve on the ACA Board of Trustees (now the American Camping Foundation) by Tom Curtin in 1978, Peter became chair of the endowment committee in 1987 and set up practices and worked with trustees to set up a sound financial base. Though his involvement as chair of the ACA Endowment Development Program ended in 1992, he remains a friend of the association for all times.

Lifetime Service Award

This award goes to Joseph Kruger. In 1930 Joe Kruger began serving the camp community through his involvement in ACA. From 1929 to 1983 Joe was the owner/director of Camp Mah-Kee-Nac in Lenox, Massachusetts; currently he is co-owner of Mohawk Day Camp in New York.