Memories of happy times, wild adventures and great friends there are still a big part of my life. I think of you guys all the time. In many ways my life has been framed by my experiences there from the ‘sunshine with magical forests’ to the ‘Spirit of Chanco’.

What a great childhood, I feel like I grew up at the old Camp Chanco from an eight year old PK staff brat in 1970 to Program Director in 1986. My Dad was Father Jim Mathieson, one of the many session Chaplains to frequent Chanco in that confusing era. My older Brother was ‘West Nature’ and I later became ‘Brian Counselor’ following the family tradition. My last summer was my Program Director year 1986.

I think I was the first camper to break an arm at camp. As a camper they called me ‘Powerhouse’ for dominating the kick-ball tournament in 1971. As a staff member I was called everything from ‘Superman’ to ‘B Cubed’ (Big Bad Brian). As Program Director, I think my imagination was bigger than my ability to do the job. I hated doing the announcements, but I totally got carried away with the evening program. I think one of my legacies to summer programming is the ‘Outdoor Adventure Game’ I brought to camp during Sissy Alley’s year as PD. That next year, Dave Balote called me to ask how to do it. Earlier I laughed at Dave Davenport’s picture of him scratching his head as he talked to me when I was program Director (1986 Photo Album). I think I had some kind of crazy outdoor game going on every other night that summer. Later my little brother Cooper (now a pilot for US Air) told me it was the only summer he remembers that we almost never went inside.

I’ve often thought I could have stayed at Camp Chanco forever, but after the summer of 1986, Dave Davenport was leaving, there was talk of moving the camp, and I think I just felt like it was time to move on from my Peter Pan existence. It just seemed like the mists of Avalon where calling me away. I think that last staff meeting was the only time I ever cried uncontrollably at the ‘time to say goodbye for the summer’…

After camp, I mostly worked around Virginia and North Carolina as a chef and kitchen manager. I finally graduated from UNC in 1995. It seems silly now, but I wanted to write scripts and work as a film director. However, I ended up as a TV production engineer for Teletechnet at ODU, Norfolk. I later went back to school for Information System Programming and Web Design. I graduated Summa Kum Laude in 2005.

Today, I work with ‘at risk’ kids in a small charter school in Chapel Hill, NC. I teach computer science and theater arts. My experience working with kids in EYC and at Chanco really called me to my current incarnation.

Love and Spirit! – B)