There is a particular kind of magic that happens when a young girl walks through the gates of Camp Nakanawa for the very first time, hand in hand with someone she loves.
That is exactly what Mother-Daughter Weekend is all about.
Each September, Camp Nakanawa opens its doors for a weekend built just for future campers, ages 5-11, and the special adult who wants to share it with them. Mother, grandmother, aunt, or family friend, this weekend welcomes them all.
What to Expect
Over the course of the weekend, girls and their grown-ups will:
Sleep in a real Nakanawa cabin
Take a guided tour of camp
Canoe across Lake Aloaloa
Ride horses
Roast s’mores by the fire
Learn a few beloved camp songs
Meet current campers and counselors who will show them what makes Nakanawa so special
For Every Family
This weekend is open to Nakanawa alumnae bringing the next generation, and to families who are brand new to camp and simply curious what it’s all about. However your family found us, you belong here.
For alumnae, it is a chance to pass down something that shaped your own childhood. For new families, it is a low-pressure, joy-filled way to see if camp might be the right fit for your daughter, without the commitment of a full session.
The Details
Dates: September 18-20, 2026
Ages: 5-11
Where: 1084 Camp Nakanawa Road
Register by: September 8, 2026
Spots are limited, so we encourage you to register soon to guarantee your place.
Camp Nakanawa has had exactly four directors in over a hundred years.
Colonel Rice founded camp in 1920 and led it until 1947. Elisabeth “Mitch” Mitchell followed, directing Nakanawa for more than thirty years. And in 1981, Mitch asked her niece Ann, alongside Ann’s husband Pepe, to take on the role themselves. Ann had grown up at camp, starting Junior Camp at age 12 and later chosen Lady of the Cup in 1967. Pepe came from a poultry family in Gainesville, Georgia. They were both just 30 years old when they said yes.
Ann and Pepe led Camp Nakanawa for the next 41 years. In 2022, camp transitioned to a non-profit, and they retired.
They didn’t go far. On the same 1,000 acres where they spent four decades building girls into who they are, Ann and Pepe built a home of their own. They call it Meadowview Lodge.
The Plan on a Napkin
There was no architect, no blueprint pinned to a drafting table. The whole house started as a sketch on a napkin, drawn in the back of the camp dining hall.
“We had a plan that we made on a napkin,” Ann says. “We drew it in the back of the dining hall, and we took that with us.”
Built From the Same Ground
The fireplace came first in their thinking. “We wanted a fireplace similar to the big house,” Ann explains, “because we love that fireplace, and it’s real special to be able to sit on the hearth.”
They found their stone close to home. Crab Orchard stone is native to the county, and Larry Kilby, a stonemason who lives just down the road in Mayland, specializes in it. He built the Meadowview fireplace and laid Crab Orchard stone across the whole exterior of the house. It wasn’t Kilby’s first project for Ann and Pepe. He’d also laid three or four hundred tons of the same stone at the Crow’s Nest, for camp’s Centennial.
The stone means something older than that, too. Pepe grew up in a Crab Orchard stone house himself, back in Gainesville. “My father got it from up here by the boxcar,” he says. “He had special masons come in, because everybody was used to bricks, they’re all the same size, and Crab Orchard stone is all different. So stone was important for my past, and our present, here at camp.”
Above the living room, the ceiling is timber frame, Douglas fir shipped in and assembled at the builder’s shop, then taken apart again and reassembled on site, joined the old way, with wooden pegs instead of nails.
Even the porch floor was a decision rooted in camp. “We didn’t want a wooden porch,” Pepe says. “It’s the same with Egypt. We wanted the concrete.” Any alumna who remembers camp’s bathhouse will recognize exactly what he means.
The Door That Took 45 Years
The front door has its own story, and it starts decades before the house did.
Ann and Pepe had seen a door they loved roughly 45 years ago, long before they had a house to put it on. They kept the idea in the back of their minds. When it finally came time to build, they asked the timber frame company if they knew anyone who could build a custom door. The answer was yes: a Mennonite craftsman named Mr. Weaver, living in Spencer, Tennessee. He doesn’t drive, and he does extraordinary work by hand. Told what they had in mind, he said he thought he could do it in six months.
He did. A driver brought him and the finished door to Meadowview when it was ready.
The Everyday Things
Not everything about Meadowview is a grand story. Some of it is just the small, specific comfort of a house built by people who knew exactly what they wanted.
Ann loves the kitchen sink, a big farmhouse sink, sunk down into the counter. “It’s wonderful,” she says. “It’s really nice.”
For Pepe, the most important feature isn’t visible at all: accessibility. Wide double doors open straight onto the back porch, and the whole house is built to be handicap-compliant. “People can come here,” he says, “and it’s handicap-compliant, so we don’t have to worry.”
There’s also a quieter kind of legacy built into the garden. A young buckeye tree grows near the fence, a nod to a mentor of Pepe’s who was given a buckeye as a girl starting her career at a Gainesville bank, and who stayed there nearly fifty years. Buckeyes are said to bring good luck. “She taught me those,” Pepe says, “as I grew up along the way.”
And elsewhere around camp, 112 solar panels do their own quiet work. Together, they produce roughly 45 percent of the electricity that Camp Nakanawa itself uses.
What the Tree on the Door Means
The last detail is the one that says the most.
Carved into the front door is a tree. Its branches, Pepe explains, are symbolic: the different branches of their lives, the things they did along the way. And the leaves, if the tree were full of them, would be the children they hope they had a positive effect on, all along the way.
Forty-one years of campers walked through Nakanawa’s gates under Ann and Pepe’s watch. Now, every one of them walks past that tree, carved into a door that took 45 years to imagine and six months to build, every time they come to see the two people who built it.
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:
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nakanawa families, are you ready to gear up for Summer 2026? New Camp Nakanawa uniforms and spirit wear are now available in two camp stores so you can arrive at the Cove ready for all the fun, Wo-He-Lo, and traditions ahead.
From our TGI Store, you can order new uniforms, sweats, skorts and quarter-zip jackets in classic Nakanawa style. These items can be shipped to your home ahead of time or waiting for you at Camp when you arrive. All TGI orders are due by May 26, and the link is on our website.
Our Camp Square Store, also linked on the website, has fun new spirit items including embroidered sweatshirts, sticker packets, a pennant t-shirt and sweatpants—perfect for showing your Nakanawa spirit all year long. These items are pick-up only at camp, so you can scoop them up once you’re on the mountain with your cabin friends.
Stock is limited, and the order deadline is May 26 for the TGI Store, so be sure to visit the website, explore both stores, and get your camper (and alumnae and parents!) outfitted in team colors or camp green and ready to sing, cheer, and play all summer long. Wo-He-Lo—Work, Health, Love—see you at Camp Nakanawa soon!
Lolla Page’s beautiful new poem from Tent Row ’66 is a love letter to Lake Aloaloa, Council Ring nights and the friendships that have held fast for sixty summers and more. As you read their words about threads unbroken and “The Spirit of Nakanawa,” let it nudge you to reach out to your own Tent Row and make sure you’re registered to come back, sing together and keep those TIES strong at this year’s reunion events.
Sixty summers circle back to one bright place in time— Tent Row ‘66, still standing in the echo of our rhyme.
Pensacola gathers us again, not just to reminisce, but to feel the threads unbroken in every laugh and kiss.
Sixty-five years of friendship— a lifetime, and then some— woven through Lake Aloaloa’s shores where we first became “we,” from “one.”
Amazon fierce, Valkyrie strong, we carried banners high, not just in games or victories, but in the way we tried.
Council Ring beneath the stars, hands joined, voices clear, where stories shaped our younger selves and still draw us back here.
“The Spirit of Nakanawa”— our anthem, bold and true— not just a song we used to sing, but a promise we still do.
Time has weathered, softened, changed, yet something holds us fast— a lake, a song, a circle wide, where present meets the past.
Nakanawa Sponsors Fifth Annual Crossville Character Banquet
A crowd of outstanding young athletes, their coaches, families and banquet sponsors filled the Cumberland County Community Center on the evening of April 11 for the Fifth Annual Character Banquet. The event honors character with college scholarships awarded to nominees from Cumberland County and Stone Memorial High Schools. Camp Nakanawa’s name and directors were prominent on this special evening, an initiative of Pepe and Ann Perron, to promote values we share: team over self, sportsmanship before score, hard work with personal integrity.
Keynote speaker Chris Lofton, University of Tennessee All-American basketball star and recent Hall of Fame inductee was a focus of the festive evening. Tennessee orange was prominent in the room, but Nakanawa provided table runners in sky blue and gold for the CCHS Jets and black and gold for the SMHS Panthers. The Nakanawa office crew extraordinaire including Program Administrator Corie Wilson, Registrar Rene’ Smith, Executive Director Cindy DuBose and David BuBose were vital to set-up and clean-up as they greeted local leaders from the education, business and health care sectors of Crossville. Master of Ceremonies Pepe coordinated introductions and thank-you’s. Cindy DuBose gave the blessing before dinner.
Twenty-three nominees representing all high-school teams submitted essays on character; three athletes from each high school were chosen to receive $500 college scholarships. Their honors extend a different kind of win, $500 to their teams. This year’s cross country, soccer, girls’ flag football, tennis and basketball teams have double victories.
Chris Lofton recounted stories of dedicated practice, clutch-victories, lonely disappointments and challenges to his faith in times of adversity. The grit and work ethic Chris brought to his team delivered great wins and long after the buzzer, his humility and grateful attitude exemplify character-based leadership for which Nakanawa is proud to stand.
Shelly Landau recently returned from CU Boulder, where she recertified with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Wilderness First Aid program. This two‑day course prepared students to assess, treat and make critical decisions for injured or ill people in remote environments—skills that fit hand‑in‑glove with Camp Nakanawa’s long commitment to safe outdoor adventure.
Note Taking
Shelly's studious scribing during the two day event.
NOLS Handouts
Illustrations of specific wraps for injuries while in the wild.
Workshops
First person POV at the National Outdoor Leadership School Wilderness First Aid
Shelly brings this knowledge back to camp to help educate and train her fellow counselors. During counselor training, Shelly and Margaret Matens give “an overview of basic hiking first aid while at Nakanawa,” which reminds everyone that our safety practices are rooted in the real places our girls explore—from trails around the lake and the Dam to nearby Cumberland Cove, “only a 15 minute drive from camp… at the edge of the Cumberland Plateau.” Using slides filled with familiar photos and stories, Shelly walks counselors through the everyday issues we’ve quietly managed for generations: dehydration, sunburn and heat illness, insect stings and ticks, blisters and the occasional sprained ankle.
She gives simple but powerful habits—packing water, hats, sunscreen, insect repellent and closed‑toe shoes; drinking before you feel thirsty; and treating every sting with care, including knowing when an epi‑pen and 911 are needed—showing how good planning makes adventure possible. In this way, today’s training echoes the example set in the 1920s by Col. Rice, who first inspired our Bold & Ready outdoor education by leading campers on long trail walks from camp to Cumberland Cove, where they camped out and explored the Plateau. His spirit of preparation, resilience and love for the woods still motivates us every time we lace up our boots and head down the trail with our girls.
Shelly, Margaret and the entire Bold & Ready team continue Nakanawa’s long history of pairing outdoor exploration with thoughtful, up‑to‑date safety. For more than a century we’ve taken girls into the woods, along the trails and out onto the water, always with trained counselors, on‑site nurses and doctors and clear protocols guiding each step. As Shelly says, we are “really looking for some young blood to start taking this on,” and we are still seeking active, enthusiastic Bold & Ready counselors who feel called to carry this legacy forward for the next generation of Nakanawa girls. That legacy continues in our Bold & Ready program, where campers hike to places like Cumberland Cove, play in the waterfalls and learn to love wild spaces—backed by leaders who know that “YOU set the tone” and that true boldness grows best in a carefully tended, safe environment. Wo‑He‑Lo!
Ann and Pepe have always shown us what it means to carry Nakanawa’s spirit of service and leadership out into the wider world and now that light is being seen and celebrated beyond the shores of Lake Aloaloa.
The Tennessee Board of Regents has honored Ann and Pepe Perron with the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy for their decades of vision, generosity and hands-on support of Roane State’s Diane and Jay Brown Campus in Crossville. Since 1995, they’ve helped remove barriers for local students by backing the first permanent campus facility, championing expanded health science and nursing programs, and offering matching gifts to grow a new health science wing. Through The Ann and Pepe Perron Annual Scholarship more than $240,000 has been given for students, they continue to build pathways for the next generation—just as they have always encouraged campers to be brave, kind and ready to lead for decades.
Please join your Nakanawa family in celebrating Ann and Pepe’s remarkable example of living out camp values in their community,and in cheering them on as they help shape so many young lives for the better. Read more about this special honor and their incredible impact here.
Though we have standard Service Weekend projects (wood burning name tags, cutting team ties, sweeping cabins), we often complete a unique task. One year, we finished restoring the mural in the Senior Dining Hall, a piece of history that every camper remembers.
In 1934, the Valkyrie team gift to Camp was Masonite panels on which counselor Edith “Ely” Mahier drew a panorama depicting Valkyrie Rock on one end and Amazon Rock on the other. In addition to the lake, cabins and key buildings, she included Colonel Rice, Annie Hayes and Mrs. Martin. Along the lower edge, Ely added native Tennessee plants and wildflowers. She selected Senior campers to help fill in the colors. They spent weeks painting the mural and were allowed to sign their names. When the old Dining Hall was replaced, Ely’s mural was carefully saved and installed in the building we know today.
Ely’s Mural Restored: Fast forward to 1979-80, a gap year I spent at Nakanawa while my husband Jack finished a master’s degree at Tennessee Tech. One project on Mitch’s list was a restoration of Ely’s mural. Its colors had faded over the decades in the weather. Working in mittens during wintry months, I retraced Eli’s outlines and added back bright camp colors. The scenes came to life with white-white shirts, true red and blue ties, green canoes and colorful details. I added a legend to record a bit of the history.
Service Weekends Matter! 2010 provides an example of a particularly worthwhile Service Weekend for our mural. Across the bottom of the panels, the Tennessee plants and flowers, along with the artists’ names, had also faded beyond recognition. A group of artistic Service Weekend volunteers repainted the Tennessee flora I had come to know and proved their sleuthing skills on missing artists’ names.
Nakanawa catalogs from the 1930s helped us “break the code.” We made a list of fragments we could decipher: “First name starts with G or C and ends in a T! Last name ends in LY!” We cheered as we solved the puzzle, identifying and repainting every name, including that of Elisabeth Mitchell, a camper at the time of the mural’s creation.
One July Reunion Weekend years later, I noticed an older Nakanawa alumna studying the mural. Her mother had helped paint it, and she hoped to find her name. Sure enough, there it was, bright and clear! She took a photo of the mural and a close-up of her mother’s name. That encounter shows how Service Weekends matter.
Sloan Mulloy, TR ’19, found a way to incorporate a special Nakanawa symbol into an exhibition for her graduate program. What may at first glance look like an ordinary pair of shoes holds a much deeper meaning for her. The exhibition was curated by the NYU Costume Studies’ Exhibition Praxis class. DIY Grrrl: Constructing, Disrupting, and Reclaiming Girlhood in the 1990s pairs archival material with contemporary works that demonstrate how girls and young women engage with do-it-yourself practices to form both personal and collective identities. According to Sloan, “From the beginning of this process, we as a team were always focused on the theme of girlhood and its expressions in material form. My memories from ten summers at Nakanawa helped shape this exhibition; during my Tent Row summer, I asked all my friends to sign my sneakers as a way to commemorate my last year as a camper. When we were first brainstorming ideas of what objects we wanted to include in our exhibition, I brought in a picture of my shoes to show the team. My professor fell in love with them and thought they embodied our ideas of girlhood and DIY, and our team decided they needed to be included in the show. I find it so special that these shoes were with me throughout the entire process of creating this exhibition, and they truly serve as a testament to Nakanawa’s role in the experiences of girlhood.” The display includes the description below:
Vans (1966 – present) Signed Sneakers belonging to Sloan Mulloy, 2019 Cotton, rubber, plastic Personal Collection of Sloan Mulloy
This pair of size 5.5 high-top sneakers features the signatures and drawings of nearly thirty teenage girls. Created over the course of a four-week summer camp session, the act of inscription transformed these shoes into a repository of their memories. Both a personal object in their own right and a historic relic frozen in time, this pair of shoes embodies collective memory, the desire for close-knit connection, and an expression of female friendship.
If you find yourself in New York City before March 7, you can visit the exhibit at 80WSE Gallery at 80 Washington Square E, New York, 10003.
When the South Loudoun Youth Chorale (SLYC) dismisses for the evening, the energy spilling out of the rehearsal space is palpable. Students hum melodies as they shuffle out the door, still buzzing from practice. For Artistic Director, Laura Layman Lazarevich (TR 03), this is the clearest sign that the organization she co-founded just three years ago has become something more than an after-school program. It’s a community.
With Elizabeth Tual Hobbes and Catherine McPhillips Inge in 2000.
Laura, a former high school choir teacher with fourteen years of experience, launched SLYC at a pivotal moment. In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, school choir programs across Northern Virginia were struggling to regain their footing. Enrollment had dipped, student confidence had faltered, and many music educators were facing unprecedented challenges rebuilding the collaborative culture essential to ensemble singing.
“I realized that to truly support students and strengthen school programs, we needed an opportunity for young singers to connect outside the school day,” Laura said. “They needed a place where they could feel safe, grow their confidence, and develop as musicians.”
That realization became the foundation for SLYC. Today, the nonprofit serves 165 students in grades 3–12 across six ensembles, supplemented by summer camps and audition workshops aimed at broadening access to music education. The organization’s mission rooted in four values, Serve, Lead, spread joY, and Care, reflects Laura’s own upbringing and early exposure to the power of collective singing.
Raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, she grew up in a deeply musical family and spent nine summers at Nakanawa as a camper and three years as a counselor thanks to the women in her family who paved the way. Laura’s grandmother, Page Hart Boteler (TR 42 & 43), her mother Alice Boteler Layman (TR 69), and her two aunts, Louise Boteler (TR 70) and Laura Boteler Butchko (TR 76) were all Nakanawa girls. Laura credits her years at camp for “helping shape my leadership style and my understanding of what young people gain from shared musical experiences.”
Playing cards on the Crow’s Nest, making up a form swimming song to the tune of the alphabet song with Catherine McPhillips (“Breast stroke, side stroke, elementary back, this is why we love Camp Nak!…”) and being crowned prom king and queen with Garland Quinn, “are some of my most treasured memories from camp,” Laura shared.
Career photo @choirwithlaura
She was a member of Octet alongside her sister, Martha Layman McKechnie (TR 06), taught choir and glee club, and embraced the close-knit environment that encouraged personal growth alongside artistic development. “Those traditions and values stuck with me,” she said. “They’re part of why I believe so strongly in the role the community plays in music-making.”
Laura has attended reunions, Service Weekend, and Mother-Daughter weekends with her daughter Claire (TR 35), sister Martha and niece Louise McKechnie (TR 36.) Her daughter and Martha’s daughters (including Page McKechnie, TR 41) will become fifth-generation Nakanawa campers, continuing the Boteler tradition. Laura’s nieces, Lindsey and Christina Butchko (TR17) filled the gap between Laura’s camping years and her daughter’s first summer. Seems there always was and always will be a Boteler at camp!
Tent Row 2003 – I am in the middle row center with braided pigtails.
Away from rehearsals, Laura leads a busy family life. She and her husband, Pete, a civil engineer, are raising their two children. Carson is a fourth grader who enjoys piano and sports, and Claire is a second grader who divides her interests among gymnastics, animals, and singing. Their family spends much of their time outdoors, traveling, and staying active, often juggling a hectic but fulfilling schedule.
As SLYC expands, its role in the region’s musical landscape continues to evolve. Laura and her team are already looking ahead, aiming to increase outreach, support more schools, and provide additional pathways for young musicians to grow. “Seeing these kids thrive reminds me why this work matters. Music builds resilience. It builds community. And right now, that feels more important than ever.”
The echoes of campers laughing and the sunlight shimmering on Lake Aloaloa carry more than nostalgia for Mariela Moscoso, TR 90. Those echoes carry the voices of three generations of women whose lives were shaped by the same summer magic.
Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mariela’s journey to Nakanawa began long before she was born. “My mother passed on the tradition to me,” she recalls warmly. “And she inherited it from my grandmother. I’m a third-generation Amazon. That connection makes our bond to camp even more special.”
Mariela spent “six unforgettable summers” at Nakanawa. “I loved tennis, horseback riding, and arts and crafts,” she says, smiling at the memory of her hand-made lap desk and her first cross- stitch project. “And Casey’s leadership and Jeep’s fabulous sense of humor made everything magical for me.”
The memories she treasures most are soulful. “Singing under the stars by the campfire, the thrill of riding horses in open fields, and the excitement of getting the yearbook with everyone’s addresses. Those small, perfect moments shaped me.”
Mariela’s path led her to The Catholic University of America, where she earned a BA in Archaeology and a Minor in Art History, followed by a Masters in Arts Education from NYU. Her professional life has been an extension of what Nakanawa taught her — leadership, creativity, and service.
She has spent years uplifting young voices through the arts and engagement in cultural diversity as Executive Director of YEAH! (Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities), as a youth advocate at Monroe Harding, and as a champion for Latino communities with HOLA Indiana. “My love for developing storytelling, culture, and community was fostered at camp,” she reflects. “Art builds confidence, empathy, and connection, the same values I learned at Nakanawa.”
After fifteen years in New York City, Mariela moved to Franklin, Tennessee, in 2017 and now calls Spring Hill home. There, she and her husband are raising their two children, a son in high school and a daughter preparing for her fourth summer at camp, plus two cats who, as Mariela jokes, “rule the household.”
Returning to camp as an adult felt like stepping back into a cherished photograph for Mariela. “I was not able to attend camp as a counselor, but after we moved back to the area, I was overjoyed to stop by and show my family where I spent so many summers; and my favorite return to camp was dropping our daughter off for her first summer.”
Even years later, Mariela keeps in touch with camp friends through reunion chats and old photo swaps. “We may not see each other often, but the bond is still there,” she says. “Those friendships and the lessons behind them last a lifetime.” Between her work, her family, and her love of tennis and gardening, Mariela continues to live out the spirit of Nakanawa. “Camp taught me to find joy in community and confidence in my voice,” she says. “Now I try to pass that same spark to every young person I meet.” For Mariela, the magic of Nakanawa isn’t just a childhood memory, it’s a legacy, stitched carefully into every story she tells, every lesson she teaches, and every song she sings beneath the stars.
The Executive Director Search Committee has spent the past few months meeting and interviewing a talented pool of candidates. While their respective backgrounds and experience were varied, they all shared one important trait: love and respect for Nakanawa, her traditions and her values. We are grateful for those who expressed such a deep commitment to camp and are fortunate to count them as part of our Nakanawa family.
On behalf of the search committee, we are excited and honored to officially welcome Cindy Alexander Dubose ’86 as our next Executive Director. As a former camper and longtime counselor, she brings a deep love for camp and a spirit of mentorship to help counselors and campers experience their best selves through camp and throughout the year.
You can learn about Cindy below and will hear more from her throughout the year. Thank you for your shared enthusiasm as we carried out this important search.
The Executive Director Search Committee
Pamela Griffith Pabian ‘03 and Alex Seblatnigg ’88, co-chairs
Wyeth Burgess ‘75
Ginny Bass Carl ‘79
Georgia Graham Mattern ‘81
Lori Wagner ‘86
Cynthia Alexander DuBose grew up in deep South Texas along the border with Mexico. Her experiences in the small town of Edinburg taught her to enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of many cultures and appreciate the beauty of nature. Her mother, LuAnn Alexander, was a Nakanawa counselor in the 1950s and encouraged Cindy and her older sister, Sharon, to join the fun at camp. In 1980 as a Junior Camper, Cindy first experienced the joy of a summer at Nakanawa. As part of Tent Row 1986, she was elected Amazon Secretary. While attending the University of Texas at Austin, Cindy served three summers as a cabin counselor while teaching tennis and sailing at Nakanawa. She returned to camp in 2015 as a tennis counselor. Since 2016, Cindy has served as Junior Camp Head Counselor for the Two- and Four-Week sessions.
For 30 years Cindy taught social studies, served as an instructional leader and coached tennis in Texas public high schools. She recently retired from her role as Instructional Dean for Lady Bird Johnson High School in San Antonio. During her teaching career, she received several recognitions including Johnson Campus Teacher of the Year, Lady Bird Johnson Legacy Award and McAllen ISD District Technology Teacher of the Year. Her husband David also recently retired after serving as a Licensed School Psychologist in several middle and high schools for over 30 years in the San Antonio area. Cindy and David have been married since 2008. They both share a love of working with students of all abilities and all ages. The DuBose family would not be complete without their dog, Lulu, an energetic six-year-old Vizla who is definitely going to enjoy her time at camp. She looks forward to making many new friends at Nakanawa.
Cindy loves all things outdoors and looks forward to being in the beauty of the Cumberland Plateau. She grew up playing tennis and other sports. Recently, she has caught the golf bug and competes in LPGA Amateur events and her team has qualified for several national tournaments. At camp, Cindy loves opportunities to sail, canoe, hike, fish and simply watch the starry sky at night.
Cindy is a natural camp counselor. She can plan a day of activities then pivot when rain threatens to cancel the fun. Her talent for making learning experiences fun is rare. As part of the Nakanawa leadership team for the past decade, Cindy considers herself fortunate to have been mentored by the outstanding leaders that have shaped Nakanawa’s transition to a non-profit organization. She is grateful that Karen, Ann and Pepe have generously shared their knowledge and expertise regarding camp. Cindy looks forward to working with the Nakanawa Board of Directors, leadership team, staff, alumni, parents, counselors and especially the campers to build on Nakanawa’s strong history to provide a joyful and transformative experience. Her favorite line is “Nakanawa girls can do anything”. She believes camp prepares young girls for life’s challenges and offers lasting relationships that will carry them through good and bad times. Cindy is humbled and excited to continue the traditions of camp, serve our Nakanawa community and provide summers of joy for many years to come.
The “Hats Off to Karen Hale” campaign has been a joyful outpouring of gratitude, with a sea of hats—caps, visors, cowboy hats, and everything in between—tipped in Karen’s honor. It has been moving to see so many current campers, alumnae, counselors, staff, and families pause and send their love and heartfelt messages to Karen as she steps away after a lifetime of commitment to Camp Nakanawa. Each tribute is unique, but every single one brims with appreciation for Karen’s courage, humor, hospitality, and unwavering dedication.
With well over 25 hat tips pouring in from Tennessee to Texas and far beyond, this campaign is a true reminder of how many lives Karen has touched. Click to see the video tributes and relive the Nakanawa spirit we all share.
With 75 campers, 68 mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and friends, and 28 smiling staff, camp was alive with laughter and fun. Families enjoyed horseback riding, a lively Nature class featuring Toadally Awesome, the toad, Charlie the snake, and baby raccoons, plus camp songs, arts & crafts, and—of course—s’mores! The highlight was a spirited mother–daughter game of Double Trouble that had everyone cheering. New friendships were made, memories were shared, and the camp spirit shone brightly all weekend. Best of all, the weekend sparked 15 registrations for the 2026 camp season!
A big thank-you goes to Blair Mayfield Rissing, Ashley Thomas Smith, and Samantha Lunn for their wonderful planning and leadership. Special thanks to the campers and counselors who gave their time and energy to lead activities and groups—you made the weekend truly unforgettable! And a heartfelt thank-you to Chris and Nicole Deluzain Dezendorf TR ‘89 for cooking such delicious meals that kept everyone fueled and happy.
All attendees reported that they enjoyed MDW, and 100% would recommend MDW to others. Mothers’ comments included enjoying “spending time with my daughter and making new friends. Her favorite was the nature lessons.” Other highlights were “Canoeing and swimming, evening entertainment, time at the Crow’s Nest.” Our staff were just as positive: “This MDW went so smoothly, well paced and with genuine hospitality all around. Keep it just like this one!”
Mother Daughter Weekend 2025 was a great success! Every Senior cabin was in use, and the sunset cookout was picture-perfect. First-timers did not want to go home. Stay tuned next spring for registration details! Mother-Daughter Weekend returns September 18-20, 2026, inviting new and returning families to experience our special camp community.
I think this MDW went so smoothly, well paced and with genuine hospitality all around. Keep it just like this one!
With tremendous excitement we introduce to you Camp Nakanawa’s Director of Development, Britney Sink! Were it July in Mayland, Britney Sink might hear the above ringing through the dining hall –with the clinking of glasses — to greet her at her first meal at Camp. Alas, it is September, we are not at Camp, so this introduction will have to stand in for our singing.
Britney has more than sixteen years of experience driving growth, engagement, and impact for purpose-driven organizations. Her superpower is strategy. Skilled in both high-level planning and hands-on execution, Britney is a natural problem solver, known for taking complex challenges and turning them into clear, actionable solutions. Passionate about building stronger, more effective nonprofits, she thrives where she can apply her expertise to create sustainability.
A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with degrees in International Studies and Spanish, Britney received her Master of Public Service degree from the University of Arkansas William J. Clinton School of Public Service. Britney has served on various nonprofit boards and enjoys being involved in her community. She has been recognized in Knoxville Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and is a graduate of Leadership Blount and Leadership Knoxville. Originally from High Point, NC, Britney, her husband, and their daughter just moved to Greensboro, NC from Knoxville, TN.
Britney has been working with the Nakanawa Board and has met with our development committee. She has jumped right in and is excited to get to know more of the Nakanawa community. Those of us who have already had the pleasure of working with Britney cannot say enough good things about what she has contributed, in a very short time, to Camp’s mission and development strategies. We are so fortunate to have her join our team.
When asked what drew her to Camp Nakanawa, Britney replied, “I want to support and promote the development of women and girls so they have the best chance to make an impact in our world. Camp Nakanawa is building up girls in such a meaningful way, and I’m excited to use my skills to share that impact. With greater support, we can grow even further.” She added “Everyone I’ve met speaks about Camp with such passion. I’ve been impressed by the commitment of the board and alumnae who give their time and energy to make sure each summer is the best one yet. It’s clear Camp Nakanawa is a special place people care deeply about and are proud to carry forward.” WoHeLo, Britney!
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