AGBU’S Camp Nubar Celebrates 50th Anniversary Weekend

Global Alumni Reunite in New York

Generations of AGBU Camp Nubar alumni had the chance to relive five decades of memories this summer during the camp’s milestone anniversary weekend. From July 26 to 28, 2013, close to 600 guests joined together to celebrate Camp Nubar’s 50th birthday in New York. The weekend marked the close of a year of fundraising activity and events that generated a record $400,000, ensuring that thousands more youth will enjoy Camp Nubar in the years to come.

The festivities kicked off at a sold-out New York City reunion where the attendees, some of whom had traveled from as far as Canada, Holland, Switzerland and several U.S. cities, were welcomed with a replica of the Camp Nubar Buddy Board that has greeted campers at Lake Arax for decades. All guests received buddy tags, which were worn with pride, and were encouraged by the Masters of Ceremony, Armen Mirakian and Greg Yazujian (better known in camp as Armen and Yaz), to “buddy up,” a common waterfront refrain. Throughout the night, Armen and Yaz, who were both campers and head counselors in the late 1970s and early 1980s, continued evoking the camp spirit, leading the crowd in favorite camp songs, introducing the speakers and presenting slideshows.

Camp Nubar Committee Chair and alumna Sarah Partin, who spent ten summers at camp, opened the evening by gratefully acknowledging the 50th Anniversary Committee for making the weekend possible, and took a moment to recognize the volunteers who have contributed to Camp Nubar through the years. Partin also thanked the many donors whose generous support will help camp continue to grow.

Early in the 50th anniversary fundraising campaign, an anonymous pledge was made to match the first $100,000 raised, and it quickly encouraged donations of every size. Partin revealed that AGBU benefactors Mr. and Mrs. Nazar and Artemis Nazarian were responsible for the matching gift, which will be used to establish an endowment for camp’s Nazarian Center. Partin thanked the Nazarians, as well as AGBU President Berge Setrakian and his wife Vera, who created an endowment to maintain the Director’s Cabin, which was rebuilt with their funding in 1999.

The endowments were among the many significant contributions to Camp Nubar this year. Additional donations from the Toufayan, Apelian and Margossian families for camp improvements will help give youth a priceless experience: unplugging from technology and connecting with each other. It is an experience, Partin noted, that has remained constant throughout Camp Nubar history: “No phones. No television. Just friends, nature, and traditions that make summers last a lifetime.”

Both Sarah Partin and Dr. Barry Halejian, the program’s second speaker, grew up in Camp Nubar, and have watched their families do the same. For years as a child, Halejian attended the “old” AGBU camp in Grahamsville, New York, before his father Zaven scouted the current location. Within a few short years, camp had made a seamless transition; as Halejian detailed, “The Camp Committee quickly began the ongoing process of capital improvements and programming innovations that continue to this day. What you see nestled in Delaware County is the culmination of 50 years of unwavering love and devotion on the part of our committee, staff, campers, parents and especially AGBU. Thanks to AGBU, Camp Nubar holds a special place in our lives and within our hearts and will continue to do so.”

Halejian was among many who fondly recalled “old camp” and the early days on the “new” property. The event’s final speaker and second-generation alumna Christina Lalama emphasized that though the camp’s buildings have changed, the memories haven’t faded—her mother’s stories from the camp’s beginning years are still retold in their family. Lalama also took a moment to present Camp Nubar’s inaugural class with handcrafted gifts made by children currently enrolled at camp. Following the evening’s program, alumni were able to reconnect with each other and bid on silent auction items that included stays in Las Vegas and Paris.

With AGBU’s support through each decade, Camp Nubar, one of the world’s first Armenian sleepaway camps, has maintained a focus on Armenian culture by offering regular classes in language, history and the arts—while at the same time keeping its doors open to youth outside the Armenian community. Speaking on Friday night, AGBU President Berge Setrakian commented on the camp’s universal appeal by stating, “The world can change, but the pleasure of being at camp will always be there. That is why AGBU stands behind Camp Nubar and each of our camps around the world with this philosophy: that by strengthening the character of all youth at camp—notwithstanding if they are Armenian—we will create good citizens of the world.”

Camp Nubar’s Friday night program drew close to 400 alumni, but it was the Sunday Open House that brought over 500 back to camp’s home in the Catskills. It was an Open House unlike any other: alumni musicians played live music, campers performed Armenian dances around the flagpole, children lined up for face painting and cotton candy, and many took hiking tours throughout the grounds. Everywhere Camp Nubar families turned, there was a buzz of activity. Some had never thought they would have the opportunity to return to camp and they took full advantage, building more Camp Nubar memories along the way.

Throughout the day, there were two very familiar faces greeting alumni: Reverend Father Vertanes and Yeretzgeen Anahid Kalayjian, who devoted a combined 20 years to Camp Nubar. Both spoke with pride and emotion as they addressed the crowd. Yn. Kalayjian, who served as the camp’s nurse, expressed gratitude for being able to attend to campers’ medical needs and provide spiritual guidance summer after summer. Fr. Kalayjian recognized the hard work of all those who have served camp and asked alumni, parents and friends to join him in raising funds to establish a scholarship endowment that will allow every child to experience Camp Nubar.

The highlight of Open House was the blessing ceremony and rededication of Lake Arax, presided over by His Eminence Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), on the great lawn overlooking the lake. Fr. and Yn. Kalayjian joined the services along with campers and counselors, who not only participated in the blessing, but also shared personal notes with speeches before ending with a rendition of Friends—a Camp Nubar tradition since the 1960s.

For Ani Manoukian, the 50th Anniversary Committee Chair who spent a decade as a camper and a counselor, seeing everyone return to Fall Clove Road for Open House was a day she will never forget. Speaking on behalf of the Camp Nubar Committee, she stated, “We started planning with a vision to bring together different generations to the place that bonds us in a way that no other can. When the weekend finally arrived, we could not help but feel emotional, especially during the blessing ceremony as Camp Nubar director Jennifer Omartian addressed our special guests—past directors, camp leaders, beloved former caretakers and countless alumni with their families. Watching them all standing alongside each other locking hands, just like the old days around the campfire, was a moment that will last a lifetime—like Camp Nubar itself.”

To learn more about Camp Nubar, visit: www.campnubar.org.

To view photographs from Open House and Friday Night’s Photo Booth, please visit www.campnubar50.shutterfly.com.

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