Sow the Seeds: A Successful Spring Campaign

Our Sow the Seeds campaign was a wonderful success, thanks to everyone who joined in the fun and friendly competition! Together, our camp community raised an incredible $55,309 to help prepare Camp Nakanawa for another fun-filled summer.

The Amazons led the way in number of donors, with 63 supporters contributing a total of $20,900, while the Valkyries claimed victory in dollars raised, bringing in an amazing $34,409 from 56 donors! Congratulations to both teams!

We are deeply grateful to every alumna, camper family, parent, and friend who helped “sow the seeds” for another summer of memories at camp. Because of your generosity, camp is ready to welcome girls once again.

And as an added celebration — with the success of this campaign, we officially met and surpassed our $200,000 Annual Fund goal!

 

With appreciation to our Spring Campaign 2026 Contributors:

Carrie Accardi

Katie Arminio

Mary Baker

Claire Battle

Dana Beer

Anne Bergen

Mary Beth Berry

Emily Blake

Mary Blaydes

Laura Boteler

Lee Boyd

Susan Brown

May and John Bumpus

Nancy Burgess

Wyeth Burgess

Julie Burlingame

Embree Burvant

Ginny Carl

Kathryn Carrington

Macol Cerda

Molly Cook

Cilie Cowin

Allison Davis

Susie Davis

Patty Delony

Amanda Dempsey

Claire Dold

Sally Dunning

Cameron Estes

Mary Conly Fakier

Mollie Gaines

Linda Garrett

Ashley Geary

Lacey Gilliam

Mallory Gratch

Belle Jingle Hagey

Karen Hale

Mary Hall

Stirling Halversen

Lora Hammons

Brittany Hart

 

Elizabeth Healy

Fran Heller

Janet Heller

Elizabeth Hickman

Katherine Hill

Germaine Horner

Brook Howard

Bitsy Anne Hudnall

Margarita Inserni

Diane Irvin

Camille Jackson

Eleanor Johnson

Emily Jones

Kelly Kavalier

Frazer Kelly

Alex Kimbrell

Lucie King

Sydney Labuy

Shelly Landau

Margaret Leatherbury

Olivia Little

Priscilla Lupe

Twinker Mason

Georgia Mattern

Emily Maynard

Mary Margaret McCord

Carol McCormack

Julia and Doug McDonald

Terry McKee

Alison Meacham

Elizabeth Mercer and Samuel Hewitt

Lauren Mitchell

Sally Moore

David Moritz

Tricia Nelson

Lucia Outlan

Mary Lou O’Keefe

Pamela Pabian

Lolla Page

Brooke Parker

Karen Parrish

Amalia Pérez Del Pulgar

Margaret Phelps

Margaret Queen

Kimberly Regan

Alison Reilly

Anne Riegle

Blair Rissing

Sarah Robbins and Eugene Westphal

Sharon Roberts

Frances Roy

Ellen Ruffin

Eleanor Rushing

Virginia Russell

Elizabeth Ryll

Amy Scheiber

Sheldon Schmidt

Karen Schneider

Renee Seblatnigg

Brittany Settoon

Babbie Shelton

Blakeley Sisk

Camille Small

Lil Smith

Nan and Gilbert Smith

Margaret Stein

Carroll Summerour

Charlotte Taylor

Chris Thompson

Barbara Turner

Ann Upchurch

Amy Vanburkleo

Carol Vig

Shannon Walsh

Julia Walter

Sally Welch

Lynn Williams

Elizabeth Wilson

Service and Smiles: Another Successful Service Weekend in the Books

The weather was perfect for this year’s Service Weekend, welcoming alumnae back to camp with light breezes and beautiful sunshine. Almost 60 women, spanning Tent Rows from the 60s to the 2010s, came together to help prepare camp for the summer sessions. Tent Row ’81 joined us for their reunion, adding to the fun.

On Friday night Cindy DuBose briefed the group on exciting developments at camp: new security gates for Junior and Senior Camps, drainage and safety improvements in Junior Camp including new stairs alongside the Council House, a new Perry Weather system to alert everyone of possible dangerous weather, and improvements – already underway! – for Senior Egypt. All of this work will make camp safer and more enjoyable for our campers. 

Camp was abuzz Saturday with projects. From planting and weeding to painting gates and cabins, attendees pushed up their sleeves to make Nakanawa look her very best. We also took time during the day to write notes of gratitude to our counselors who will guide campers through their camp experiences. 

Whether first-time attendees or Service Weekend regulars, everyone headed home with new friends, special memories, and a renewed connection to the spot we all hold dear. Save the date for next year’s event: May 14-16. We’d love to have you join us!

Cheerio, Ching-Ching… Thank you, Britney!

Britney Sink

We are saying THANK YOU and farewell to Nakanawa’s first ever Development Director, Britney Sink. Under her leadership, Camp has run two awesome campaigns for our annual fund – “Fall in Love With Camp” and “Sow the Seeds for a Successful Summer,” helping us exceed our $200,000 annual fund goal.  Additionally, she has organized and streamlined our processes, cleaned up our database, made connections with Camp supporters, raised funds for capital improvements, and laid the foundation for future fundraising success at Nakanawa. She did all of this with grace and energy while also learning the esoteric vernacular and unique traditions of Camp.  Though we will miss her, we wish her the best in her new opportunity with a community college near her hometown!

With Britney’s departure, we are looking for the right person to step into her role.  Here is the link to the job description: DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT. Please share with anyone you think would be a great fit for this position on the Nakanawa team.

One Hundred Summers, One Hundred Junior Stories

For a hundred summers, the lake at Junior has been teaching young girls who they are — one counselor, one cabin, one tiny act of courage at a time. As we celebrate 100 Years of Junior Camp in 2026, we’re inviting every camper and counselor who ever called Junior home to add her voice to the story.

This summer, Nakanawa is celebrating the 100th birthday of Junior Camp, with alumni events during Reunion Weekend, July 17–19. The first edition of the JUNIOR BIRTHDAY BOOK is going to press now so it can be in camp this summer, dedicated with love to three longtime Heads of Junior: Katie Moise, Casey Fisher, and Louise Boteler. Inside are 65 pages of Junior history, Mitch and Ann Perron’s memories of Junior, songs and poems, and a range of stories from 100 years of Junior campers and counselors — and we’re already planning a second edition after camp, with even more voices included.

Stories we’re already carrying

Our new centennial video, “100 Summers at Junior Camp,” gathers a few of the stories that show what Junior Camp really is. You’ll meet:

  • A small, determined swimmer named Katie, whose counselor Maria Kane stayed with her in the Pen, stroke by stroke, until she could pass the swim test — a memory she still calls a “core” part of her life because she felt so deeply loved.

  • Karen, who flew in from Dallas in 1976, only to have her trunk fall apart on the baggage carousel — and Casey quietly gathered her things, found another trunk, and had it waiting in her cabin before she ever had to worry.

  • Alumnae, Flossie Sonneland and Nancy McDonald, remember their fellow camper, Debbie, born with a heart defect, whose parents were brave enough to send her to Junior for eight weeks; she swam in the lake until she turned blue, let her counselors care for her, and kept coming back year after year.

These are only a few of a hundred stories, and they all circle the same truth: at Junior Camp, a counselor’s steady presence can be the difference between a scared girl and a brave one. Now we want your story to stand alongside theirs.

Share your Junior Camp story

We are creating the Second Edition of the JUNIOR BIRTHDAY BOOK, and that means we are actively collecting new stories right now. Here’s how to add yours:

  • Who can submit: Any current or past Junior camper or counselor.

  • What we’re looking for: Stories that describe an important person or tradition, or that remind us of a special time in Junior Camp — life‑changing or light‑hearted, both are welcome.

  • Length: Up to 500 words (space is limited), but every story will be saved whether or not it appears in the book.

  • Next deadline: July 30, 2026.

Please email your story to one of our editors:

Questions about the book itself can go to Margaret Matens at margaretmatens@gmail.com.

Watch the video and then add your voice

One hundred summers deserve far more than one book and one film — they deserve a chorus. Help us fill the next edition of the JUNIOR BIRTHDAY BOOK with the people, traditions, and moments that made you who you are.

Alumnae Spotlight: Caroline Hallemann

Caroline Hallemann, TR 2006 and former counselor, has turned the quiet reading and writing habits she honed at camp into a career in media. She is now an editor at Town & Country and the author of The Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made. Caroline shares more about the role Nakanawa has played in her life and work.

For Caroline Hallemann TR 06, the path to Nakanawa began with a simple visit to Lake Aloaloa alongside her childhood friend, Lauren Riegle (Mitchell), and Lauren’s mother, Anne.

“I just loved it,” she recalls warmly. That initial spark turned into a decade-long tradition. “Every summer, Lauren and I would drive to Nakanawa together with our moms, starting with the two-week session before eventually transitioning over to the full four weeks.” Though she was the first in her immediate family to become a Nakanawa girl, she quickly discovered that camp would become one of the most formative chapters of her life.

“I not only made amazing friends, but it taught me independence and how to live and work with people different from myself,” she reflects.

During her ten summers, she fully immersed herself in camp life. She proudly repped the Amazon team, happily sang in Glee Club, and discovered a deep passion for Arts & Crafts, eventually becoming the Arts & Crafts medalist during her TR 2006 summer and going on to teach Arts & Crafts as a counselor. But camp also offered her some early lessons in perseverance.

If anyone from TR ’06 is reading this, they know it isn’t an exaggeration to say that I wasn’t the most athletic camper,” she jokes. “But that didn’t stop me from playing softball and tennis and swimming in the lake. That grit has become essential to my work ethic.

When she looks back, her most treasured memories are a beautiful mix of performance thrills and quiet, soulful traditions—from the excitement of performing the TR 06 camp dance to the peaceful magic of Valkyrie Vespers. “The Valkyrie Lullaby is still one of my favorite camp songs,” she shares. And, she admits with a smile that few things matched the collective excitement of walking into the dining hall on pizza lunch days.

But there was another, quieter camp tradition that quietly shaped her future: Rest Hour. “I might not have fully appreciated it then, but what a gift it was to take an hour every day for rest, reading, and writing. I’ve always loved books, but having that dedicated time only solidified an early passion.”

That passion beautifully foreshadowed her professional path. During her college years at Wake Forest University, she resisted her father’s practical suggestions to take business classes, trusting her instincts instead to major in English. After exploring internships across newspapers, university press publishing, and public relations, she found her true calling in digital journalism in New York City.

Today, she channels that lifelong love of words into her role as the Digital Director and Editor for Town & Country magazine, leading the editorial vision for their website.

Fulfilling a long-held dream, she is also about to become a published author. Her non-fiction book, The Kennedys and the Windsors, hits shelves this summer on June 2. The book—a dual biography of the Kennedy family and the British royals—is the culmination of years of hard work, and her favorite chapter to research feels remarkably connected to the spirit of camp.

One I loved researching follows Jacqueline Bouvier—the future Jackie Kennedy—as she covered Queen Elizabeth’s coronation for the Washington Times-Herald,” she shares. “Back then, they were two young women on the brink of exceptional lives, which reminds me a lot of Nakanawa girls and all their potential.

Today, life is a beautiful, busy balancing act. When she isn’t editing or writing books, she loves to read, watch TV, and spend time with her husband and their two-year-old son, Tommy, who keeps her on her toes.

Though she lives a fast-paced life in the media world, the bonds formed on the shores of Lake Aloaloa remain unbreakable. She returned to camp in 2019 for the unforgettable Centennial Celebration, and the old magic is very much alive this season as she prepares for her twenty year reunion. “I wish we talked more often, but we are currently planning our TR reunion for this summer, so I can’t wait to catch up with everyone,” she says.

Decades after those childhood road trips from Nashville, the lessons of grit, creativity, and community continue to guide her. For this TR 06 alumna, the spirit of Nakanawa remains a grounding force—a reminder of the potential inside every young woman, and a spark she carries into every story she tells.

Caroline’s first book, The Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made, will be released on June 2 and is available through Penguin Random House and Amazon. She is looking forward to returning to Crossville this summer to celebrate her 20th Tent Row reunion with TR 2006. If you would like to mark your own Nakanawa reunion year, you can learn more and register on our Ties, Reunions, and Events page here.