“70 Years of Mountain Air Magic” Photos from the 2011 Reunion

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Sunday, September 4, 2011

Welcome to the 70^th Reunion of Arrowbear Music Camp. The memories we all share of Arrowbear have a special place in our hearts. It’s why we return. The people, the buildings, the view, the music help us reconnect with our memories, friendships, and the life lessons that camp taught us. Time and again, alumni write that the experiences they had at Arrowbear are still treasured even decades later. They credit Mr. Ohlendorf, Nicolas Furjanick, and many other Staff members with inspiring their lives and choices as adults. The magic has remained at Arrowbear for each new generation to experience. We’d like to honor and thank those people who started camp and worked to build it into something truly special. It was their vision, hard work, and the sharing of their art that lay the foundation for a music camp that has touched thousands of lives throughout its 70 years. Their legacy has been passed on throughout the world through three generations of educators who have all felt the same dedication to music that this mountain retreat inspires.

This is a day to reminisce and reconnect with old friends who were a part of our Arrowbear experience. It’s a time to continue the old traditions and embrace the new traditions that are created each and every summer. There are many alumni here today who didn’t have the opportunity to know Mr. O and experience the joy he had for music. By coming to this reunion, you help to keep his memory alive and help the younger campers understand how important he was to us all. The caring and supportive atmosphere and the dedication to striving for the best we could be that we learned from Mr. O and the Arrowbear Staff stayed with us and helped to shape our lives. We are a privileged “family” with a common bond: Arrowbear.

We are honored to acknowledge the campers from the 1940s who are here today. It only proves the power of Arrowbear that campers from 70 years ago think so highly of it that they are willing to come and participate in a celebration of its 70^th season.  

We dedicate this Reunion and this edition of the Note to the memory of Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader.

ARROWBEAR MUSIC ASSOCIATES (AMA) is sponsoring this 70^th Reunion as a fund-raiser to provide scholarships for students to attend a summer music camp.  AMA is a non-profit organization started in 1985 for the purpose of providing scholarships to needy young musicians for music camps.  Donations from alumni are our main source of scholarship funds.  AMA awarded $24,665 to 42 young musicians this summer.  Thank you for your generous donations the last 26 years!  All proceeds from this weekend will go into our Fred and Edna Ohlendorf Scholarship Fund for next summer’s recipients.  For more information, or to receive our Alumni Newsletter, please visit our website at http://www.arrowbearmusicassoc.org.  All donations are tax deductible.

Our 70^th Reunion Conductors:

Roger Johnson first attended Arrowbear Music Camp for a reading session in 1958 after graduating from Wilson High School in Long Beach.  He was asked to join the staff in 1964 and conducted the Junior High Band each summer from 1964 until 1984.  All three of his children were either campers or hung out at camp from the time they were four or five years old.  It was their favorite place in the world. His most famous moment would have to be talent night when he and his Chinese Pug named Pug, performed to standing ovations.  It was glorious.

Carole Parmeter Dyer attended Arrowbear from 1978-1986 as a choral camper, counselor and staff member.  Carol Ulvilden was her mentor and the reason she attended camp.    Carole studied music, with an emphasis on choral conducting, at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California State University, Long Beach and St. John’s University in Minnesota, where she became a member of the VoiceCare Network.  Carole holds a Master of Divinity degree from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California.  Carole and her husband Tom live in Long Beach with their seven-year-old son Aidan and dogs Cecelia (C.C.)  and Bojangles (B.J.). Carole’s current work is Intern Pastor at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Fountain Valley, CA.  Some of her best memories, friends and even her husband are from her time at Arrowbear!

Concert Program

Orchestra:
	Enigma Variations: Nimrod.....................................................................	Edward Elgar
	Dedicated to Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader
	Fugue in G minor – “Little” Fugue............................................................	J. S. Bach
	Symphony No. 2 in D major: Finale.........................................................	Jean Sibelius
Choir:
	Zion's Walls...............................................................................................	Aaron Copeland
	Elijah Rock an African American Spiritual.............................................	arr. Jester Hairston
	Simple Gifts Shaker Song.......................................................................	arr. Marie Pooler

In Memoriam

Arlyne Milbrad Luper	B.T. “Ted” Mills
Barbara Simmergren	Bill Mitchell
Byron Morihara	Carole Dockstader
Darrell Orwig	Dave Fraser
Jean Cox Selover	Jerry Winter
Jim Mitchell	Kathlyn (Katy) Henderson
Kathy Helvey Donaldson	Larry Blau
Lars Hansen	Marlene Judy
Rob Hooper

Our “Wall of Fame” Plaque Recipients:

Wall of Fame – We are pleased to honor Akira Endo, Jim Mitchell, Carl Lindgren, and Allan McMurray on our Wall of Fame. We started this tradition 15 years ago to recognize the people whose contributions to Arrowbear made the experience of a summer music camp session magical for the campers.

Akira Endo was a camper and conductor at camp during the 60s and 70s and is particularly remembered for leading the Reading Sessions and his skill at playing ping pong.

Jim Mitchell was the Dean of Boys and Mr. O’s assistant during the 1940s and 1950s, a job that would later become Joe Burger’s.

Carl Lindgren was on the Faculty at the very first session of Arrowbear in 1942. He worked at camp until 1947.

Allan McMurray was conductor during Senior Session for ten summers. During several of those summers he offered a conducting class at camp for his students from the University of Colorado, Boulder, who came with him to work with the campers.

Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader Garden Dedication: We are planning to remember Carole by dedicating the garden next to the camp porch in her name.

Memories of our Honorees Shared by Campers

I was an Arrowbear camper from 1949-1956. My mother, Helene Maier, worked in the kitchen at Camp along side Mrs. Ohlendorf for numerous summers, and always had a wonderful time. During my years there, I fondly remember Carole and Ricky Ohlendorf running and playing around the camp.

Marianna Maier Hoff

I remember accompanying Akira Endo at a recital of some kind the day before my wedding in June 1967. I was one of the fortunate ones to work with him as an accompanist as well as playing bass in his orchestra while I was at Long Beach City College from 1965 to 1967.

Bobbette Brock Cameron

I remember thinking at the time how great it would be to be taught by Jim Mitchell as a teacher at junior high school. He was a super teacher, such a likeable guy. I enjoyed learning from him at camp.

Mike West

Carole and I met at Bancroft Jr. High in Long Beach in 1959 band/orchestra. She was one of those “instant” friends that I couldn’t live without. You know, the bond of puberty, if you will. Growing up required a lot of “phone time” between girlfriends, talking everything from hair styles, music, suntans, music camp, boys, boys, and boys! We talked every day. We shopped for lipstick at Lakewood Center and walked to her house on Heather Road for a lunch of Kraft macaroni & cheese. Her house was always so busy with music, of course. Two pianos in the living room and more sheet music than I had ever seen before. Mr. O bestowed the title of Junior Counselors upon Carole and me. Wow, we were now officially really cool! Even had matching shirts! We even got to make a dorm room in the attic of Mr. & Mrs. O’s house. How absolutely great was that? Carole and I got to run the “candy” store too. We had fun, girl memories I’ll treasure forever.

Glenda Broughton Jackson

Jim Mitchell was our music director at Franklin Jr. High in Long Beach during the 1940s. The school had just finished the new music room and Mr. Mitchell sent four of us ninth graders to get something out of the room. He said, “Be careful about the room,” because it was brand new. We entered the room and found a new teacher chair on wheels and were pushing each other all over the floor. Mr. Mitchell opened the door and found us and then proceeded to send us to the print shop teacher, Mr. Buchanon, for a swat as punishment. As an aside, he earlier had convinced Gary Wrench and myself to change over from playing trumpet to the French Horn when we were 7th graders. We continued with the horn for the remainder of the school years.

Marvin Sippel

I first met Mr. Mitchell in 1949, my first year at Arrowbear. He was my first conductor at Jefferson. Mr. Mitchell was very kind to me since I was shy, and when we had dances at the camp, I was the wall flower. He always came and asked me to dance. Being quite tall, I was a bit overbearing, but he took it all quite calmly. One of my memories when I became a counselor was that Mr. Mitchell made the most wonderful enchiladas. Usually on a Wednesday or Thursday night, he took over the kitchen and cooked up his specialty for the staff. As a counselor we were not allowed to join in since we were supposed to be overseeing our charges in the dorms. One year I couldn’t resist and made my way to the kitchen where I cajoled him into making some extra enchiladas for the “lowly” counselors. He did just that and we sat out on the rocks near the girls’ dorm to eat and enjoy.

Dolores DelComa

When Carl Lindgren returned after World War II from an extended USO tour, there wasn’t a place for him at Jordan High where he’d taught music, so he came to Wilson and was assigned classes in social studies. Not surprisingly, Carl was outstanding as a civics teacher—knowledgeable, funny, demanding, but flexible. He conducted class discussions according to parliamentary procedure, leading to considerable critical thinking. Once he invited a classmate and me to spend the day with him at his apartment on Ocean Blvd. overlooking the beach. Dinner, I’ve never forgotten, was filet mignon sautéed in butter. In 1948, Henry Wallace, former Secretary of Agriculture under FDR, campaigned for President as a fringe and ultimately unsuccessful candidate. Carl took me and another student to Hollywood for a Wallace rally. Carl didn’t care what we thought of Wallace, but he wanted us, his civics students, to get an up-close glimpse of the political process. Whether he held a baton in his hand or a piece of chalk, he was a class act.

Herb Guthmann

I think he put the words to the Arrowbear song (We love life . . . ) and applied the Boy Scout motto to camp life that Mr. O always used, “Be at the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment and the right attitude.

Bernice Mitchell Hallam (Carl’s niece)

At the first camp in 1942, “Lindy” was the camp truant officer or “Major-Domo” who handed out the pogo-sticks to those of us who somehow seemed inclined to bend the rules. I don’t know how long this custom existed, but in addition to being treated as a badge of honor they, the pogo-sticks, really helped keep the grounds litter free.
My special memory of Akira was his prowess at ping-pong. I also remember watching him conduct the orchestra when it started to rain gently and some of the students started to cry. They were overwhelmed by the beauty of the Schumann Symphony they were playing with nature’s own accompaniment.

Alayne Abbott Armstrong

This story happened, I think, during choral session. Carol O. was a beautiful young woman and, in those pre-sunscreen days, very solicitous of her tan. It was her habit to swim and sunbathe up at the pool in the late afternoon. I don't recall the exact schedule, but I believe there was an hour or so reserved for the staff after the campers completed their recreation time.

One afternoon, Carol, a couple of male counselors and I remained at the pool after everybody else had departed to get ready for dinner. I was out of the water and had picked up my towel when Carol arose from her lounge chair and walked to the diving board. She performed a neat dive and swam underwater to the far end of the pool. Unfortunately, her bikini top had parted company with her during the dive. Carol surfaced to shoulder depth, folded her arms across her chest and asked, "Could one of you guys get my top for me?"

Good question. I believe it was Jared Ryker who retrieved the wayward garment from beneath the diving board. It usually was Jared's kharma to end up in possession of that which somebody else most needed or wanted at a given moment. He, a world-class tease, also usually extracted a maximum price of frustration from whoever wanted whatever it was back. He did so on this occasion.

Carol said, "You can toss it to me."
Jared grinned. He was in no hurry.
The expression on Carol's face went from mild embarrassment to exasperation.
Jared continued to grin.
Carol said, "Please."
Jared waggled the bikini top as if testing its potential use as a flag.
Carol, the best natured of human beings, went from being exasperated to being angry. "I've got work to do!"

Once she became angry, something none of us had seen before, even Jared was cowed. He tossed the top to her. She adjourned underwater and put it on. Then, still steaming, she exited the pool.

Carol refrained from diving for at least the rest of that session.

Bob Walton

A (concise, but interesting) HISTORY OF ARROWBEAR MUSIC CAMP

1928    Emma Schinnerer wins a small lot of land in the mountains by completing a crossword puzzle.  Her husband, F. J., decides to buy a few more small lots of land.

1932    Arrowbear Camp is opened to a group of Lutheran young people who are members of the Walther League.  The “staff cabins” (the only original buildings left in camp) are used.

1933    More land is purchased by F.J. Schinnerer, and the Lutheran church camp continues at Arrowbear from 1932 to 1944.

1939    Fred Ohlendorf meets Edna Schinnerer.

1941    Edna and Fred are engaged in April and married on June 22, 1941.

1942    The Long Beach All-City Junior High School Orchestra comes to Arrowbear for one week in August.  Food and gas stamps are used and food is brought up from Long Beach’s Farmer’s Market.

1944    A one-week Senior High Session is added. (The original junior high school students are now in senior high.)

1945    The two sessions are extended from one week to ten days.

1946    The two sessions are again extended from ten days to two weeks.

1948    A second Junior High Session is added.  All the camp buildings are condemned, but Arrowbear is allowed to use the buildings for the summer sessions.

1949    The Boys’ Dorm and the Orchestra Bowl are constructed.

1950    The Girls’ Dorm and the Dining Hall are constructed and electricity is installed!  Reading Session has its first one-week session.

1951    A Benefit Recital is given in Long Beach prior to camp raising money for camper scholarships. The fireplace is added to the Dining Hall.

1951    Another Benefit Recital is held to raise scholarship money.  The two Girls’ Cabins are constructed and a P.A. system is installed.

1953    The Band Bowl is constructed and the Camp Porch is leveled.  Fran Harding (Sarge) suggests the Ohlendorfs have a logo designed for Arrowbear Music Camp by a man who works for the Long Beach Unified School District.

1954    The Trolley is built by Bob Gibson and Hal Fraser. Twenty campers attend the first one-week Choral Session.  Arrowbear plays a concert for the opening of Highway 30 in Running Springs.

1955    The Bridge and the Dorm Porch are constructed.

1956    A third two-week Junior High Session is added.  The First Aid Building is constructed where the Ohlendorf’s original home sat.  The O’s move to a two-story building (where the Camp Porch is now).

1957    The Maintenance Building (aka Humidifier/Cello Building or Snack Bar) is constructed.

1959    Shuffle Board courts are constructed in front of the First Aid Building.

1960    The “A” Building is constructed with the help of a $1,000 donation from the Musical Arts Club.

1961    Choral Session is extended from one week to nine days.  The first “Second Generation Campers” arrive at Arrowbear.

1963    The first Junior High Session becomes ten days, and the second and third Junior High Sessions become two weeks.  Choral Session is again extended from nine to ten days.

1964    The new Staff Building is constructed.

1965    The 25^th Year is celebrated at Arrowbear Music Camp and the “O” Building is constructed.

1966    Lee Smith is the main drive behind the construction of Arrowbear’s swimming pool and the camp gets its first walk-in refrigerator.

1967    Rick Ohlendorf designs the cover for The Note.  (If you look closely you will find an “RO” hidden in the feathers on the arrow).

1969    The “Red Truck” is used to bring campers to camp for the last time.  Heavy snows collapse the Boys’ Porch and it is replaced by the “L”.

1970    A forest fire burns within twenty feet of the Trolley Porch and the Staff Cabins.

1971    The Snack Bar is added to the Maintenance Building.  The retaining wall for the landfill where the ping-pong tables are located is built.

1973    Camp installs a new flagpole on July 4^th.

1974    The Girls “L” and bathroom are built.  The Porch is built around Cabin 2.

1975    Choral Session is extended from ten days to twelve days.  The sewer replaces the septic tank.

1977    The “E” building is purchased.

1978    Reading Session is replaced by a one-week Elementary Session.

1981    A 40^th Reunion is held at the beginning of August.  Cabin One is moved and expanded.

1985    Arrowbear Music Associates is established to raise funds for music camp scholarships.  The Dockstader family takes over running the camp.

1986    Mr. Ohlendorf passes away.  A 45^th Reunion is held and construction begins on the Ohlendorf Bowl on Happy Gap.

1988    Two more one-week Elementary Sessions are added.

1989    The Girls’ Dorm is refurbished.  Happy Gap is purchased.

1990    “Opus” Chamber Music Session is started at Camp by Rosemarie Kravoza.

1991    The 50^th Reunion is held. “Fifty Years of Music, Music, Music”

1995    In December, Mrs. Ohlendorf passes away.  A beautiful service with hundreds of guests is held.

1996    The 55^th Reunion is held. “Wall of Fame” plaques are dedicated to Joe Burger, Frances “Sarge” Harding, Bob Gibson, and Dr. Michael Pappone. “55 Years of Music, Memories, and Friends”

1996    James Selover encourages 1940s Alumni to attend the 55^th Reunion and, along with Jack Crawford and Paul Feller, asks the 40s Alumni to donate toward a memorial plaque from them honoring Fred and Edna Ohlendorf

1997    1940s Alumni attend a special presentation at Camp in June where a beautiful brass plaque dedicated to Fred and Edna Ohlendorf is presented to the Camp.

2001    The 60^th Reunion is held. “60 Years of Friends Making Music Together”

2003    In October, a huge fire engulfs the San Bernardino mountains. Arrowbear residents are evacuated, but Camp is spared any danger. Seth Dockstader passes away and a touching memorial service is held at Camp.

2004    The recommended ages for sessions are revised to better meet the musical, social, and emotional needs of the campers.

2005    The Dockstaders buy a Knabe grand piano for recitals in the dining hall.  A Jazz Improv Session is added to the summer program and is quite successful.  The aging Staff Cabins are reinforced.  Close to 100 huge pine trees died and have to be removed from the Camp property due to the Bark Beetle Infestation.

2006    The 65^th Reunion is held and 95 alumni and their families attend the Reunion. Dr. Clarence Sawhill and Mr. Phillip Ellithorpe are honored on the Wall of Fame.

            “65 Years of Music and Friendships So Dear”

2007    Camp extends their Advanced Session to three weeks.

            Fire again breaks out in the San Bernardino Mountains. 168 structures were destroyed in and around Running Springs. Camp is saved from any damage.

2010    Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader passes away from liver failure. A beautiful memorial service is held at camp.

2011    The 70^th Reunion is held and the garden next to the camp porch is dedicated to Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader. “70 Years of Mountain Air Magic”

THE ARROWBEAR MUSIC MAN

A child of five beloved and mild, an Illinois farmer’s son. His hands were meant for different work, and his heart was known to none. He left his home and went his lone and solitary way. And he gave to us a gift I know we never can repay. His family’s lives were different for they didn’t hear the call. They stayed in Chicago, and then he left that fall. And he’s in California, at his mountain music home. A quiet man of music, denied a simpler fate. He tried to be a farmer once, but his music wouldn’t wait. He earned his love through discipline, a thundering velvet hand. His gentle means of sculpting souls took us years to understand. We thank you for the music, and your stories of the past. We thank you for this camp you made, this treasure that will last. We thank you for your kindness, and the times when you got tough. And Mr. O, we don’t think we said, “We love you” near enough. The leader of the band won’t time, and his eyes will not grow old. But his blood runs through our instruments, and his song is in our souls. Our lives have been a poor attempt to imitate the man. We’re just a living legacy to the Arrowbear Music Man.

Author unknown

I traveled to Arrowbear Music Camp earlier this summer at the conclusion of the Elementary Session to find out what has changed since my last time at the camp, nearly 10 years ago. Not much has changed at the camp since the 1990s when I first became a camper. There have been a few improvement projects around the camp, but I did notice a couple of areas where improvements could still be made.

KC Still, a camper, counselor and staff member from 1970s and present, has set up the Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader Memorial Fund. The purpose of the fund is for restoring the camp and to provide Dennis & Larke the ability to hire professionals to make repairs and improvements to plumbing, electricity and buildings.

Reunions are for friends, reconnecting, and reminiscing. While you reconnect with old friends and remember the great times you had while you were at the camp, please take a look around the camp and see what has changed since you were last here. Please consider making a donation to KC’s fund to help Arrowbear make some needed improvements around the camp to benefit future generations of campers.

Jim Garrecht, Arrowbear Camper 1994 – 2001

The Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader Memorial Fund
c/o KC Still
1110 Stannage Ave. #D
Albany, CA 94706

Please make checks payable to: Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader Memorial Fund. Sorry, donations are not tax deductable.

This project is completely separate from Arrowbear Music Associates. None of the funds donated for this project will go toward music camp scholarships

70th REUNION COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Cliff Kusaba	Laura Kusaba
Virginia Lee Frazier	Jeff Haberman
David James	Ken Olson
Dolores Loera Toth	Jean Mahnken Prendergast
Jim Garrecht	Kirk Watilo
Kate Conroy Hernandez

MEMORIES

Reveilee	The Note counselor gossip
Taps	Dances on the volleyball court
The Bell	Table games
“O Give Thanks”	Musicals
Singing in the dining hall	The “Ghost of Arrowbear”
Singing in the Orchestra Bowl	Stunt night
Volleyball tournaments	Talent shows
The snack bar green building	The Coconut Bear
All-Camp clean-up	Hikes to Inspiration Point
Table relays	Hikes to Keller Peak
Carnival	Hikes to Happy Gap
Snow Valley swimming	Junior Kitchen Staff
Slumber music	“Hot Lips” LaRue
Sweeping the volleyball courts	Assigned tables
Blowing the fuse	Sarge’s “Five minutes, girls!”
The Kitchen Symphony (Sawhill)	“Goodnight My Someone” serenade
Lions’ Club Dinners	Concerts on the barge at Lake Arrowhead
Boating at Green Valley Lake	Ice-skating at Blue Jay
Horseback riding at Santa’s Village	Concerts at Big Bear
Sudsy Bell Laundromat	“Camper of the Week”
Wanda and the camp picture	Roller skating at Big Bear
The “leech lines”	Rick yelling, “Get up you lazy bums!”
Mr. Burger’s red convertible	Cold showers
Rawhiding	Hanky-panky patrol
“Journey’s end”	“Knights in White Satin”
K.P.	Weekend Fall & Spring Reunions
Campfires	Swimming relays
“Highway to Heaven”	The deer flies
The “Loo”	The raccoons
Yellow jackets	The “cattle” truck
“Inspection!”	Mr. O’s Sunday Inspirational
Strolling violins at Lloyds	All Camp Choir
“Just for Today”	Husking corn for the barbeque
“The Cat Came Back”	The mouse in the dining hall
The bat in the “A” building	Arrowbear romances

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Photos from the 2006 Reunion

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