Alums Reunite & Reconnect at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
On August 6th, a record number of SCA alumni came together in the New York City region to reunite and reconnect with SCA.
More than 80 alumni, supporters, and current members gathered for the day at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Teddy Roosevelt’s “Summer White House” on Long Island. After a lunch reception on the lawn with introductions from SCA staff, board, and Alumni Council members, the group toured the newly restored Roosevelt home and grounds and hiked along the waterfront of Oyster Bay to admire the trail work completed by this summer’s SCA crew members.
“Welcome to my little piece of heaven!” said Sagamore Superintendent Kelly Fuhrmann. “Where most people only go on vacation, I get to go to work every day. I have the best job there is, and it all started with SCA.” Superintendent Fuhrmann — who launched his National Park Service career through an SCA internship — thanked SCA for its long partnership at the site. After serving as one of SCA’s original office locations decades ago, Sagamore Hill now hosts an SCA Centennial Volunteer Ambassador year-round in addition to a summer community crew, making it a superb location to celebrate the continuing legacy of SCA.
Many of the summer’s recent community crew graduates were on site for the event, joining alumni whose service spanned six decades. Alum Nancy Allen sported her original name tag from her Grand Canyon internship in 1975, while fellow alum Thomas Schwind presented Alumni Council Chair Tina Walsh with his SCA patch from his 1967-1968 hitch right there at Sagamore Hill. The full Honor Roll of SCA program years represented at the event included 1967, 1968, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1992, 1993, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
“I hadn’t reconnected with SCA since I finished my internship at Coronado National Forest in 1992,” said alum Joe Xuereb, who attended with his family. “But when I heard that SCA was having an event right here, it was a great chance to come out. My son is an avid Scout, and seeing all these other alumni and hearing their stories is definitely going to inspire him to apply for an SCA crew in the future.”
See more photos from SCA’s Sagamore Hill Alumni Event.
Stay tuned for updates on upcoming SCA Alumni Events at www.thesca.org/events.
