Betsy and Roger Hall
Betsy and Roger Hall have had an affinity for Maine and the outdoors for as long as they can remember. So when the Los Angeles-based couple started looking for a camp for their then-10-year-old son Griffin, Maine was at the top of the list. After polling family and friends for recommendations, one camp kept coming up — Kieve.
The couple was impressed by Kieve Wavus Education’s tripping program and the emphasis on fun as opposed to competition when it comes to sports and activities. They were also glad to learn the organization was home to Wavus, a camp their daughter Caroline could attend.
“It was really fabulous to offer Caroline and Griffin something completely different than Los Angeles,” Betsy says. “And to meet a different community of people, to see a different part of the world — in a place that's as unbelievably beautiful as Maine.”
The Halls saw a difference in both their children almost immediately. They came back to school not only physically stronger, but with a strong sense of self and meaningful friendships.
“When they come back after those five weeks, they just feel so bulletproof. Their self-confidence has exploded,” says Roger, citing the sense of empowerment campers must feel after tripping. “The connection and the interconnectivity of nature and leadership and family is how KWE fosters growth in such beautifully powerful ways.”
And while both kids were usually too exhausted at pickup to immediately share all the tales of their summer, stories from their time in the woods and on the water with their cabinmates would carry conversations around the dinner table all year long.
Caroline (Wavus 2008-16, Kieve Council 2018, Wavus Council 2019) and Griffin (Kieve 2008–13, Kieve Council 2016–17) thrived as campers and counselors and they still get outside as much as they can. Caroline is spending the year in New Zealand, indulging in her love for wilderness and travel, and Griffin, who lives in Denver, goes camping and hiking all the time.
The family’s experience with Kieve and Wavus was so powerfully transformative that they bought a house in South Bristol, Maine and now live there six months out of the year.
Becoming Paddle & Pines members, and giving back to the organization and community that gave their family so much, was a no-brainer, according to Betsy, who added that KWE is now part of their children’s DNA and that the family feels strongly that the organization, along with future campers and their families, need to be supported.
“We have a whole new embracing community that we adore, and one of the small ways we can continue that is by putting KWE in our will. It's just a remarkably caring and thoughtful group of educators that have created this spectacular community, and it has changed our life,” Roger says.