Greeting, Woodstockers! I’m excited to be writing this, but I’m more excited for the chance to meet each of you as your schedule allows. My name is Jackie Orlowski and I am the (fairly) new alumni relations officer for Camp Woodstock. I come to serve Camp Woodstock with a professional background in volunteer management and alumni engagement with the goal of creating space and opportunity to bring people together. Before my role here, I served for just over 4 years as the hospice volunteer coordinator for Middlesex Health and then for just over 3 years as assistant director for alumni engagement at the University of Hartford. I love community, I love service, and the chance to combine those loves for SUMMER CAMP feels surreal.
I jumped on board with the team in early June of 2022, just in time to see the Summer 2022 camp season begin and to join in on the celebration and energy of the Woodstock 100th. I had the chance to tag along to a bit of support staff training, and I have never felt so welcomed and included by a group of people before. I was immediately captivated by the Spirit of Woodstock. I had the pleasure of attending Closing Campfire during session 4 and was surprised with the opportunity to lead the day campers down to the Council Ring with a torch and about 250 high fives. I left that evening with a candle, the smell of campfire and fresh summer air, and a conviction that this camp will bring magic and meaning to the days I get to serve this community.
Outside of work, you can find me spending time with my husband Rick and my pug Ender. We are pretty laid back and love being at home, but we also love camping. Fun fact; over the summer we camped at Odetah in Bozrah and a major thunderstorm came through. The next morning, management came to check on us because a tree was hit by lightning 100 ft from our tent! I love to read, particularly thrillers and romance. I love running, I ran my first marathon in 2022 and am excited to do the Woodstock Marathon relay with our very own Lauren Remillard and a few other folks.
In closing, I want to invite you to come to Camp Woodstock and give me a reverse tour. What does that mean? I want to walk down memory lane with you! I want to learn about your experiences at camp, what cabins you were in, what has changed, what your favorite activities were, and what parts of camp mean the most to you. I invite any alumni who have the time and would like to come visit Camp to come join me for a cup of coffee and a literal walk down memory lane (ok, Camp Road). Please feel welcome to reach out via email or phone- Jackie.orlowski@ghymca.org or 860-488-3155, and check here for upcoming alumni events.