Director of Camp Nakanawa
Cynthia Alexander DuBose
2025-Present
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 people 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.
Previous Directors
Karen Rathgeber Hale
2021-2025
Salado, Texas
Texas A&M University – B.S. Architecture
Karen Rathgeber first came to Junior Camp from Houston in 1974. During her Tent Row summer, she was elected Amazon Captain and then selected as Lady of the Cup, an award presented to her by “Mitch.” A graduate of Texas A & M, she returned to Senior Camp as a cabin counselor intermittently from 1982 to 1999, and led many activities including Horseback Riding, Softball, Climbing Wall and Sailing. Since 2000, Karen has served as Head Counselor in either Junior or Senior Camp, making her one of the longest tenured head counselors since “Wally” Hall. During this time she has led both Two-Week and Four-Week sessions. She has provided continuous, strong leadership in Senior Camp now for 14 summers, helping guide us through challenges that include dealing with technology, enrollment, staff, and COVID-19.
Karen, with her late husband Chris, operated a successful business in Salado, Texas, for over twenty years. Karen also served as property manager of their own 17-acre property and her family’s 500-acre ranch. She has worked on numerous boards and was a civic leader in her community. Her background in marketing, graphic design, social media and photography are yet another asset. She has acquired an intimate working knowledge of every aspect of camp operations, from the location of fuse boxes to the recipe for frozen fruit salad. She knows the history of Nakanawa from A to Z, understands the lineage of our four-generation camp families, and has been a key part of TIES and our great alumni volunteers. A section on leadership in the Centennial History reads: “Karen, valued for her upbeat personality, always takes time to listen. She works to ensure camaraderie between the Junior and Senior Camp staff. An avid outdoorsman, she encourages a love of nature and adventure. Karen brings a sense of fun and playfulness to Senior Camp to counteract the pressures that fill the lives of today’s teenagers. She values the transformative nature of camp and the role Nakanawa plays in shaping the characters of young women.”
Karen provides that rare combination of warmth, humility and strength. She inspires us, and those she leads, with her caring attitude, wise counsel and sensitivity to the needs of others. Her dedication to the values of camp and her generous and giving personality shine brightly to all. Karen is committed to the continuation of “Nakanawa being Nakanawa.”
Ann and Pepe Perron
1981-2021
Ann Mitchell
Griffin, Georgia
Converse College – B.A. degree in Art History
Pepe Perron
Gainesville, Georgia
Wofford College – B.A. in History
It was In 1980, when Ann was a head counselor in the Senior Camp that Mitch announced her plan to retire and “turn the keys of Nakanawa over to Ann and Pepe”. They then purchased the camp from Mitch and began their era as directors. As the years have gone by, many subtle changes and major improvements have occurred. Many of these have been made to maintain the natural beauty of the 1,000 acres and to add to it with the planting of numerous varieties of daylilies.
Old traditions have been restored with new ones added. Fun is always emphasized, but a focus on values and principles also continues to prevail. Pepe has brought to camp a remarkable insight into people, and expertise in business management, and scores of innovative ideas for the physical plant. Ann’s familiarity with the camp family, past and present, her dedication to the traditions of Nakanawa, and her love of natural beauty are invaluable.
Their unique combination of talents and abilities has provided loving and capable leadership for camp. As they hand the “reins” over to Karen Rathgeber Hale, the foundation of Nakanwa is secure heading into its second century!
"Mitch" Elisabeth Mitchell
1948-1980
Atlanta, Georgia
Alabama College – Physical Education Degree
Teacher’s College of Columbia University in NY – Masters degree
In 1926, a fourteen-year-old girl named Elisabeth Mitchell spent her first summer at Nakanawa. “Mitch”, as her camp friends called her, loved Nakanawa from the start, and it was to become a lifelong passion. A passion where she was chosen Lady of the Cup during the 1934 camp season.
Mitch returned to Nakanawa as a counselor after graduating from Alabama College with a degree in Physical Education; where she instructed Swimming, Archery, Tennis and Field Hockey for the next five years. Mitch later returned to school and obtained a master’s degree from the Teacher’s College of Columbia University in New York. In 1947, As if being called back home, she purchased Nakanawa with the help of her father, Mr. W.E. “Pop” Mitchell, who was a beloved figure to campers and whose guidance helped to develop Nakanawa’s physical plant into a showplace for the next decade.
Mitch was also supported by Helen Gates “Scooter” Carson, who was her assistant director for 27 of her 34 years of running camp; and by Carson Tays, who began with Mitch in 1947 as superintendent and remained with her until his death in 1980.
Every girl who passed through Nakanawa’s gates from 1947 to 1980 remembers Mitch: her tall, upright figure striding through camp with an Irish setter or black lab bounding at her heels. We remember her dressed for church in her trademark half-red, half-blue neckerchief, reading aloud from Bird Life in Wington.
The indelible effect Mitch has had on camp and on every one of the thousands of girls who knew her can never be measured.
Colonel Laban Lacey Rice
1920-1947
Dixon, Kentucky
Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee – Ph.D. in Latin, Greek and Sanskrit
Colonel Rice lived to 103, and while the founding of Nakanawa as one of the first girls camps for girls in the South was perhaps his most lasting accomplishment, it is certainly not his only one. He was recognized as a classical scholar and was considered the leading expert layman on the theory of relativity. A native of Kentucky, he served as headmaster of Castle Heights School for boys and president of Cumberland College, both located in Lebanon, Tennessee.
Colonel Rice’s daughter, Annie Hays Rice O’Neil, was a guiding spirit of Nakanawa in the 30’s and 40’s, serving as associate director during 13 of the Rice years. In 1946, at age 75, Colonel Rice decided to retire from both Cumberland College and Nakanawa, and was pleased to sell the camp to Elisabeth Mitchell, one of his campers and counselors.
Though Colonel Rice is only a legend to the campers of today, his legacy lives on in the Amazon and Valkyrie teams he created, and in the Spirit of Nakanawa he instilled in the first 25 years of campers. In his “Last Will and Testament,” which he read to the campers in 1946, he wrote:
“As long as there is a Nakanawa, my affections will center there, and – whether living or dead – my spirit lovingly will haunt this sacred spot.”
