[Updated to correct Gwen's address and the information regarding her children's association with the camp; 8:00 a.m., Tuesday, June 8]
The following email was sent to the First Selectman, Dan Jerram, and was also forwarded to us for publication.
Mr. Jerram,
I am writing to express my overwhelming displeasure at what has been done to our summer camp at Brodie.
Dennis Minor has built up an impressive summer camp over the decade or more that he has been here.  Campers who started camp at age 5, went through the ranks to become CIT’s (and worked for 2-3 summers with no pay) in hopes of getting hired as Counselors, were very proud when they got hired. They put much effort into doing the best job possible for the good of the campers under their care. The Counselors’ community was a close and wonderful thing to watch. The campers benefited from the closeness and team work amongst the counselors.
Then a new administration comes into Town and basically rips the entire Camp apart: cutting the budget and the camp to shreds. All of those long-term counselors are cut out and a skeleton staff of 10 is put in place to run the camp and keep the campers safe. The morale of the Camp is so low, and all of the hard work that Dennis and all of his staff put into making Camp something we can all be proud of, is lost.
I think that whoever had a part in this very poor decision should be very ashamed of themselves. A gem of a program, cut to pieces. It is awful.
Sincerely,
Gwen Steadman
Town Hill Road
All three of the Steadman children have worked at Camp Brodie; the youngest child was not rehired for a counselor position this year.
At the end of th annual camp party last August, some of the counselors shared a few minutes together. Photo: Maria Moore
