Archive: Around Town

Mendon, NY - Camp Good Days and Special Times’ Chairman & Founder, Gary Mervis, has announced that the Southern Tier Office has been relocated to Ithaca, New York.  Camp Good Days and Special Times is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, dedicated to improving the quality of life for children, adults, and families whose lives have been touched by cancer and other life challenges.  Camp Good Days was founded 30 years ago, by Mervis, following the diagnosis of his youngest daughter, Teddi, with a malignant brain tumor. 

What was started to provide a residential camping experience for Teddi and 62 other children dealing with cancer, has grown to become one of the largest organizations of its kind in the country and many of the programs and services started by Camp Good Days have been used as models by other cancer treatment centers and organizations all over the world.  Since its inception, Camp Good Days has had many campers, volunteers and supporters from the Ithaca and surrounding areas and over the past 30 years, Camp Good Days has served more than 41,000 campers from 22 states and 25 foreign countries.


So as not to place any additional financial burden on those families served, all of the programs and services provided by Camp Good Days are offered free of charge for the participants.  This is only possible because of the generosity of so many individuals, organizations, and businesses, and the success of special fundraising events.

Camp Good Days maintains their Headquarters & Volunteer Training Center in Mendon, New York, and the Recreational Facility, where all of the residential camping programs take place, is located on the shores of Keuka Lake, in Branchport, New York.  Camp Good Days also has office locations in Buffalo and Syracuse, New York.

While this is the first time that Camp Good Days has had an office in Ithaca, children and families from the Greater Ithaca area and throughout the entire Southern Tier Region have been a part of Camp Good Days’ programs and services for the past 30 years.

The idea for opening a Camp Good Days’ Office in the Ithaca area came about through discussions between Mervis and longtime volunteer and former staff member, Frank Towner.  Towner, who is the Associate Executive Director for the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County, has been a part of the Camp Good Days’ family since its inception 30 years ago.  Towner and his wife, Melanie, a Social Worker, met at Camp Good Days and now have three children and reside in Groton.


Most recently, as part of Camp Good Days’ 30th Anniversary Celebration, which is taking place throughout 2009, Mervis asked Towner to update the existing Camp Good Days’ logo, as Towner does some commercial artwork.  When Camp Good Days first began, the logo was a stick figure and following that first summer, Mervis asked a graphic designer, Sean McCormack, to create a new logo for the organization.  McCormack, going through photos from that first camping session noticed that there was a clown in many of the photos and asked Mervis if he could build the logo around that clown.  That clown, Crossroads, was Frank Towner, who at the time was a student at Monroe Community College and had volunteered to assist with that first program.

Towner arrived at Camp Good Days, held then at Camp Eagle Cove on Fourth Lake in Inlet, New York, as Crossroads the Clown and quickly became a fixture at Camp Good Days and a favorite with the campers.  McCormack created the Camp Good Days’ logo, with three main elements: Crossroads the Clown; a brick wall; and balloons.  Each element symbolizes an integral part of Camp Good Days.  The balloons represent the ever-present hope that exists at Camp Good Days.  The clown represents the campers, who never let go of that hope, and the brick wall represents the cancer each camper faces daily.  At Camp Good Days, clinging to that hope and faith, campers surmount their “walls” and are able to celebrate life with others who have learned to appreciate it the most.

Towner accepted Mervis’ request and designed the updated logo, which features Crossroads, the brick wall and the balloons, but demonstrates that the campers have now kicked through that brick wall of cancer and are now becoming long-term survivors of their battle.

In addition, Mark & Marcie Kreydt have been instrumental in driving these efforts to open a Camp Good Days’ Office in Ithaca.  Kryedt, Vice President at Tompkins Insurance Agencies, Inc. is the former Head Football Coach at the University of Rochester and was one of the key people involved with the development of the Courage Bowl, the annual football game between St. John Fisher College and the University of Rochester, dedicated to the children of Camp Good Days. This coming fall, Courage Bowl V will be played on Saturday, September 19, 2009 at Growney Stadium on the campus of St. John Fisher College.

Kreydt has also taken a week of his vacation time during the summer to volunteer at Camp Good Days’ Recreational Facility for one of the residential camping programs for children with cancer.  Kreydt, along with his wife, Marcie, and their three children relocated to the Ithaca area last year and have continued their support of and volunteer work with Camp Good Days.

 “The thousands of volunteers who help us do all that we do, for so many children, adults and families dealing with cancer have been and continue to be the lifeline of Camp Good Days,” says Mervis.  “With both Cornell and Ithaca College, the students, faculty and staff at these educational institutions, as well as the vibrant community in Ithaca and Tompkins County made this decision an easy one.”  “We are all very excited to have the Ithaca Office of Camp Good Days open and hope to increase the support of many more volunteers to help us continue providing our programs and services for all those who need them in Ithaca and the Southern Tier Region.”

Camp Good Days will host an Open House at the Ithaca Office on Sunday, March 1, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM.  The Open House will be informal, refreshments will be served, and attendees will have the opportunity to meet some of the staff members and volunteers, as well as to obtain more information about the many programs and services provided by Camp Good Days and learn about the different volunteer opportunities available. 

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