A few weeks ago, Westporter Kristen Glosserman spotted an Instagram post that warmed her heart.
It was from Amanda Kloots, the noted actress, dancer, fitness entrepreneur and TV personality.
Her journey through grief has resonated with many. She lost her husband, Broadway actor Nick Cordero, to COVID in 2020, when their son was 1 year old.
But her post that day wasn’t just about grief. She wrote about chili — and about showing up for the people you love.
Kristen and her husband, Marc Glosserman, own Hill Country BBQ in New York City and Washington. They know a thing or two about slow-cooked meat.
Kristen and Marc Glosserman, at Hill Country.
Kristen also knows a thing or two about grief. When she was 13, her brother died in a ski accident.
Kristen messaged Amanda on Instagram. She then contacted fellow Westporter Sara Deren.
Sara and her husband Jon founded Experience Camps. Headquartered right here in town, the organization runs summer camps for children grieving the death of a parent or sibling.
Experience Camps has grown from 1 site and 27 youngsters in 2009, to a network of 7 camps nationwide. Each summer, hundreds of volunteers serve nearly 1,000 boys and girls ages 8 to 18.
Experience Camps also runs Grief Sucks, a digital platform for grieving teens, and Grief Quest, a virtual scavenger hunt that teaches kids how to support grieving people.
The timing was perfect. National Chili Day was coming soon: Thursday, February 27.
Two days ago, Amanda Kloots served bowls of chili at Hill Country BBQ on West 26th Street. She drew a large crowd.
And the restaurant is donating every dollar from those sales to Experience Camps.
How’s that for a heart-warming tale?!
After Amanda Kloots served chili at Hill Country …
… she posed with (from left) Kristen Glosserman and Sara Deren. (Photo/Jonathan Terrio)
Some people love the New York Yankees. Some hate them.
This story will make even the most rabid Boston Red Sox fan say: “Go Yanks!”
Last Friday, Sara Deren — founder and CEO of Experience Camps, the Westport-based program for youngsters who have lost parents or siblings — got an email from a Fairfield mom.
Her son Declan has spent 4 years at Experience Camps. She wanted to know if anyone, anywhere could give Declan a chance to go to the World Series.
The mom wrote:
Declan and his dad Matt never missed a Yankee game. The Yankees were a humungous part of Declan’s life with Matt. They watched all the games and did everything Yankee together.
When Matt’s life was tragically cut short, Declan found life unbearable. At 9 years old, his grief was so deep it was as if his heart was ripped out of his chest.
The Yankees’ making it to the World Series has been unexpectedly healing for Declan. I can’t quite explain it. I never realized the tremendous role the Yankees play in Declan’s grief.
Sara contacted some people at the Yankees. She met them in June, when the Yankees honored Experience Camps.
The next day, Declan and his older brother had tickets to Game 4.
Sara went to Declan’s house on Sunday. Pretending to interview him for social about his dad and the Yankees, she surprised him by telling him he was going to the World Series. (Click here for the video.)
Declan discusses his dad, for social media.
On Tuesday, the 14-year-old was at Yankee Stadium. He wore a photo of his dad around his neck — and a smile as wide as the outfield fence (even before the team won).
Parents sent their kids away for 8 weeks. They played sports, swam, did arts and crafts, had campfires, made new friends, complained about the food, and went back again, year after year.
Now there are lacrosse camps, water skiing camps, dance camps, adventure camps, write your college essay camps, music camps, riding camps, robotics camps, community service camps, and scores of others.
There are plenty of traditional summer camps, of course: all-boys, all-girls and coed. But 8 weeks has shrunk to 7. Or 6 1/2.
Or 3.
Some kids pop in and out. They’ve got travel baseball showcases, soccer tournaments, and many other demand on their limited summer time.
How can parents make sense of all the options?
They can call Melissa Post.
Melissa Post (far left) and Tripp Lake friends (from left): Alissa Tofias; Sara Immerman, whose daughter now goes to Tripp Lake with Melissa’s girls; Dr. Tracy Brenner, a Westport mom and child psychologist, who trains camp staffs on how to best work with today’s children, and helps kids with camp readiness.
Many Westporters know her as one-half of WestportMoms, the multi-pronged social media platform that keeps so many women looped in (and sane).
Westport contributes more than its share to that figure.
Melissa had just left a startup, and was raising twin 2-year-olds and a 6-month-old, when she went to the 100th anniversary celebration for Tripp Lake. She’d been both a camper and tennis counselor at the traditional all-girls Maine camp.
Melissa Post (far left) as a camper on Visiting Day at Tripp Lake, with her mother and younger sister.
A friend she met there who runs Camp Specialists needed a representative in Fairfield County.
Melissa loves camp. She likes to talk. She was a natural fit.
She spends hours with families of prospective campers. She learns their ages and interests, then dives deeper.
What kind of camp would be best: traditional, sports, arts, religious? Do they want a rustic setting, or a camp more upscale? How long a session? Single gender or coed? How much can parents spend? (“Camp is a luxury,” Melissa acknowledges.)
She then provides a list of 8 to 10 camps, out of the 200-plus she works with. She answers questions, as they help make decisions.
There is no charge. Camp Specialists is a referral agency. They earn a small commission for every camper who enrolls.
Melissa and Fred Post, with their daughters at Tripp Lake. They attend the same camp she did.
But why use Melissa? Why can’t parents just ask around?
“People don’t tend to go to camp with friends,” she explains.
“Camp is a special break from the regular environment. You can be a different person at camp. You make different friends.”
Plus, Melissa says, most parents don’t know all their options, or even what they’re looking for.
Since she began, she’s seen a “dramatic” change in the camp world. There are many more specialty camps, with new sports-specific ones cropping up constantly.
Westport families are taking advantage of camps’ new shorter options: 3 1/2 weeks, 2 weeks, even just 1.
The tightened school calendar, desire to take family trips, and demands of other activities like travel sports teams have all cut into the long-sacrosanct full summer camp experience.
A summer camp staple.
Still, Melissa says, “a lot of Westport parents want their kids to experience nature, in a setting without a lot of amenities. They want their kids to be around people who don’t judge them on what they have.
“People historically thought of camp as a Jewish thing,” Melissa notes. Now, she says, 2/3 of the campers she places are not Jewish.
The growth of technology has increased the need for camp. One mom told Melissa, “My kid is in the closet with his laptop. I have to send him to camp.”
“Kids are truly disconnected at camp,” Melissa says. “It’s an adjustment, but they love it. They don’t have to constantly check in.”
Especially since COVID, she’s noticed a rise in children’s dependence on other people to solve problems. “Camp is a place to gain independence, and learn to figure things out with just your counselors and friends.”
Post-pandemic too, parents are more safety-conscious than ever. They ask camp directors — and Melissa — about everything from food allergies to security.
Safety first, at Camp Laurel.
The camp season has begun. But Melissa is not chilling by the water, relishing a child-free summer.
This is the time when prospective families visit camps, planning for next summer. She helps them figure out where to go.
Melissa also visits camps, and talks to directors.
She knows 3 directors especially well: Jem Sollinger of Camp Laurel, and Camp Manitou’s Jon and Sara Deren. Both camps’ winter headquarters are in Westport — on the second floor of the same Brooks Corner building.
But Melissa does not push those camps to Westport parents. And the directors don’t, either.
“They’re very careful about over-extending their reach in this area,” Melissa says. “They don’t want their camps saturated with local kids.”
Sollinger and the Derens even encourage people to talk to her about options beyond their own camps.
They — and Melissa Post — pitch a big tent.
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Every elementary school kid in town, it seemed, raced onto PJ Romano Field yesterday morning, for the annual Day of Champions.
Their parents were there too. All were decked out in costumes — just one part of the offbeat, fun and very important competition.
A small part of the large Day of Champions crowd.
In just a few years, the Day of Champions has become one of Westport’s favorite traditions.
Jordan Schur’s GOATS team.
The event raised over $150,000 for Experience Camps, the Westport-based network of activities for children who have lost parents or siblings.
This boy named Will, his twin sister (not pictured) and younger sister lost their dad in 2022. Will gave an inspiring speech, about the importance of Experience Camps in his life.
So who was the big winner, when all the games were over?
Experience Camps, for sure.
Crushin’ it, at the Day of Champions. (All photos/Dan Woog)
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A few yards away from Winslow Park — and just a few hours later — Bernadette Peters wowed a sold-out Westport Country Playhouse crowd.
The Tony Award-winning stage, film, television and recording star gave shout-outs to the historic Playhouse (where she has performed before), as she offered unique interpretations of beloved Broadway songs by Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers & Hammerstein and others.
Her haunting “Send in the Clowns” was a special highlight.
Peters referenced the Dog Festival, when she talked about co-founding Broadway Barks with Mary Tyler Moore. Unfortunately, she said, she didn’t make it over to the park; she was doing her sound check.
It was a warm, wonderful evening. And one more sign that the Westport Country Playhouse’s 93rd year will be one of its best ever.
Bernadette Peters (Photo/Dan Woog)
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The Westport Sunrise Rotary Club joined Saturday’s international Day of Service.
Working with Westport’s Department of Human Services, volunteers cleaned up a Westport yard that needed help. They filled 30 large lawn and leaf bags — a small act that made a big difference.
Sunrise Rotarians (from left to right): Bob Galan, Bruce Fritz, Rob Hauck, Bruce Paul and Ted Freeman.
Also yesterday: the Staples wrestlers’ car wash, at the Shell station across from Winslow Park (and the well-attended Dog Festival).
Many high school teams raise funds this way.
But not many do it with the grapplers’ style: They all wore their singlets.
At least, they started out that way.
(Photo/Jennifer Rosen)
PS: This is not the only way the wrestlers help the community. They’re well known for taking on a variety of heavy labor tasks, like moving furniture or hauling rocks. Whatever people pay goes right back to their program.
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Meanwhile, some folks are not contributing to their community.
Cindy Blount send this photo …
… and writes: “Walking my dog in Winslow park on Saturday, I was astounded to find a number of dog poop bags left on the side of the trails in the woods.
“I picked them up. How about a reminder to dog owners to either drop them in the trash cans provided at the park, or take them home and toss them?”
It is astonishing that people will take the time to clean up after their dog — perhaps because someone is watching — but can’t be bothered to carry it a few more minutes, or yards, to a trash can.
I’ve written about this before. It doesn’t seem to make a difference.
Also yesterday: the Sound Cyclists Bicycle Club’s Bloomin’ Metric event.
There were 4 rides — 25, 40, 75 and 100 kilometers — starting and ending at Sherwood Island State Park.
Attendees enjoyed food trucks, bike inspections and vendors.
Among the booths: Bike Westport.
Markus Marty, a founder of the local group — which advocates for safer streets throughout town, for riders, pedestrians and drivers — brought his “smoothie blender bike.”
He gave out free smoothies, to raise awareness of the cause.
Well, Markus, notes, “they weren’t completely free. People had to work for them.”
How? As the photo below shows, the smoothie blender worked not on electricity, but on people pedal power.
Which made the drink even more enjoyable.
(Photo/Markus Marty)
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There hasn’t been a lot of sun for the past few days (weeks) (months).
But when there is, this green frog (rana clamitans, according to Morgan Veltri of Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center enjoys it.
And — while posing for our “Westport … Naturally” feature — also blends in well with the surroundings.
And finally … on this date in 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets. Strauss went on to form a company to manufacture them, which is why today they are called “Levis,” and not “Jacobs.”
(Another week of Roundups begins. “06880” keeps you up to date on everything happening in town — and we do it 24/7/365. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
For 6 years, Westport has supported the Day of Champions.
The spring event draws a few dozen teams — families and friends, kindergarten through adult — to PJ Romano Field.
They compete on an obstacle course, doing hula hoops, dancing and more. It’s like a family-friendly, fiercely competitive (and fun!) camp color war.
The Day of Champions raises over $200,000 for Experience Camps. Since 2009, the Westport-based non-profit network of summer camps and other resources has provided a way for boys and girls who have lost a parent or sibling to share their grief with peers, volunteers and trained professionals who understand, in a loving, supportive (and fun!) environment.
Soon, the tight connection between our town and this national organization headquartered here will grow even tighter.
Experience Camps’ 7th location will open in the summer of 2025, at KenMont and KenWood in Kent, Connecticut. It will offer local youngsters — who previously had to go to Maine or Pennsylvania — a chance to appreciate the compassion, connection and play of Experience Camps, and find a life full of hope and possibility.
KenMont and KenWood’s grounds include a lake for swimming, canoeing and kayaking; athletic fields and courts, a ropes course and go-kart track.
Sara Deren — founder and CEO of Experience Camps — is excited that children and teenagers from Westport and nearby towns will benefit from the organization that over the years has enjoyed so much support from residents here.
The pool of potential campers is large. Deren says that 1 in every 12 people will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the age of 18. Experience Camps has a wait list of 200. 90% of campers return each year, drawn by the power of a week with other kids, counselors who have also lost loved ones, and therapists who help them process their feelings (while having a ton of fun).
The Connecticut camp is the first in a series of expansions. Deren says they’ll open 1 to 2 new locations each year, after KenMont and KenWood in 2025.
Running those camps takes money. This year’s Day of Champions — a major fundraiser — will be more important than ever.
It’s May 19 (8:30 a.m., PJ Romano Field). Click here to register. Volunteers are needed too, to help the event run smoothly. To help, email gerygrove@gmail.com.
For more information about Experience Camps — including volunteering as a counselor, medical professional, social worker or another capacity — email sara@experiencecamps.org.
Last year’s Day of Champions, at PJ Romano Field.
ONE MORE EXPERIENCE:Experience Camps works year-round to help grieving children and teenagers.
Their newest project is “Grief Sucks.” Aimed specifically at teenagers — and with the tagline “join us in a movement to make it suck less” — the website says,
“Screw school pamphlets, unhelpful grief groups, and people saying ‘sorry for your loss.’ It’s time to get real about grief. We’re in this together.”
The platform offers videos and posts on subjects like “Why the ‘5 Stages of Grief’ is a Big Fat Lie,” “Is it OK to Experience Joy When I’m Grieving?” and “Super Cringey Things People Said to Cheer Me Up.”
It strikes just the right tone for teens. And it’s a great way to reach the many youngsters who cannot attend an Experience Camp.
Early fog could not obscure the smiles on the faces of hundreds of children — and adults — this morning at PJ Romano Field.
And it sure could not hide the joy of organizers. The “Day of Champions” returned after a 2-year COVID hiatus. And everyone was a winner.
Jumping through the Ninja course. (Photo/Amy Shapiro)
The event is a fundraiser for Experience Camps — the national network of summer camps and year-round programming for children grieving the death of a parent or sibling.
Founded by Sara Deren and headquartered in Westport, it’s a national non-profit. But today’s “Day of Champions” — bringing together a couple of dozen teams, competing in a “color war” with games, contests, dancing and more — had a distinctly local flavor, with hundreds of participants and volunteers.
The “En Fuego team” was on fire. (Photo/Amy Shapiro)
Each team committed to raising $1,000. But the total for the day — $150,000 — blew that goal out of the water.
Grief knows no socioeconomic bounds. Every child attends Experience Camps for free. Events like today’s make that possible.
The “Day of Champions” is a family (and friends) affair. (Photo/Amy Shapiro)
Another Ninja. (Photo/Amy Shapiro)
Another (hungry) team. (Photo/Amy Shapiro)
Volunteers included (from left) Jen Tooker, Candice Savin and Andrea Moore. Westport’s 3 selectwomen “womanned” the welcome table. (Photo/Dan Woog)
In the past 2 years, over 200,000 children lost a parent or caregiver to COVID.
One in 13 children experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18.
Those statistics are sobering. So is the realization that most surviving youngsters feel different, isolated and alone.
Since 2009, Experience Camps has provided a way for boys and girls to share their grief — and move on from the trauma of losing a loved one.
The project grew from 1 site and 27 kids, to a network of 7 summer camps in 5 states serving more than 1,000 children, plus year-round programs. Because death and grief touch youngsters in all socioeconomic brackets, the entire week is free.
And it’s headquartered right here in Westport.
Sara Deren traded a career in financial services for the challenge of developing Experience Camps. (Her “experience”: Her husband Jon owned Camp Manitou for boys in Maine.)
Today she oversees all the camps, along with weekend retreats, leadership training and online sessions, from an office in Brooks Corner. She is proud that through friendship, teamwork and the common bond of loss, thousands of youngsters have gained confidence, regained hope — and begun to laugh and love life again.
The pandemic hit Experience Camps especially hard, though. In 2020, at the same time more children than ever were losing loved ones, the in-camp experience had to move entirely online.
Last year brought a limited program, with many restrictions. The fear of more illness was hard on kids who were already suffering. But they found joy in being together, with others who knew what they were going through.
A week at Experience Camp is filled with fun.
COVID also shut down Experience Camps’ fun — and important — fundraisers.
In 2018 and ’19, the first Day of Champions was held at Camp Mahackeno. Twenty teams of 12 to 15 people each — kindergarten through adult — competed in sponge races, an obstacle course, toothpick pickup contest with oven mitts, archery and other activities. It was like a huge camp color war.
Each team was asked to raise $1,000. Sara expected to make $20,000.
But the 2019 Day of Champions brought in $150,000.
“I was amazed and awed,” she says. “They blew it out of the water. Everyone was incredibly committed — and very competitive.”
On May 15, the Day of Champions returns. From 9 to 11:30 a.m., at a new site — PJ Romano Field, between Saugatuck and Kings Highway Elementary Schools — kids and adults will run, dance and hula hoop their way toward victory (dressed in vibrant, creative gear representing their team colors).
It’s family-friendly — and fiercely (but fun) competitive.
The Day of Champions is filled with fun …
Michelle Yanover is among the Day of Champions’ strongest champions.
The Westport mom has spent 31 years without her own mother. Laurie Goldfarb died at 33, after battling leukemia. Michelle was 7 years old.
“Over the years, I’ve learned you never get over ‘it.’ ‘It’ becomes part of your story, woven into the fabric of your whole being,” she says.
“But given the right chance, love and support from unimaginable loss there grows strength.”
Four years ago Michelle volunteered at Experience Camp. She experienced the magic that happens when a grieving child gets a week to be “normal” — while also getting support for their loss.
She was inspired by the work of the staff and counselors, and gratified by the smiles on campers’ faces.
Michelle has already signed up a team for the May 15 Day of Champions (and wants hers to become the top fundraising team of all). She’s eager to help the 7 summer camps (and other activities, including a meet-them-where-they-are moderated online space in Minecraft, that replicates camp).
… and games.
“Our fingers are crossed for a pretty normal summer ,” Sara says. “There is a huge need. A lot of grief has been sitting in people’s homes.”
In addition to COVID deaths, more youngsters than ever have lost parents and siblings to suicide and overdoses.
“Those are alarming trends,” Sara notes. “It’s especially important, with stigmatizing types of death, for kids to have a place to go.”
Which is why she urges as many people as possible to form teams for the May 15 Day of Champions.
“Two years off has built an amazing amount of anticipation,” she says. “This will be one of Westport’s first big post-pandemic events.
“It’s spring. It’s outside. It’s a large gathering of the community, returning to joy, fun, silliness, costumes and music. That’s such a great parallel to grief.
“And it’s what we do every day at Experience Camps.”
(For more information on the May 15 Day of Champions — including creating, joining or registering a team — click here. For more information on Experience Camps, click here. For a very cool trailer, click below.)
Westport is awash in organizations that benefit young people — here, in the rest of Fairfield County, the country and the world. It’s one of the strengths of our community.
Many throw fundraisers. Westporters support them generously, with time as well as money.
But most of these kid-focused groups’ events don’t actually involve young people themselves.
That’s why Experience Camp’s Day of Champions is so wonderful.
Not to mention unique, cool, and tons of fun.
Experience Camp is the Westport-based network of summer camps for youngsters who have lost a parent, sibling or primary caregiver. The program builds confidence, encourages laughter, and allows them to navigate grief through friendship, teamwork, sports and the common bond of loss.
This year, Experience Camps will serve 1,000 boys and girls, at 5 locations from Maine to California.
Of course, running such a life-changing program costs money: $1,000 for a week at camp.
For much of its first decade, Experience Camps — founded by Westporter Sara Deren — relied on gala fundraisers in big cities, and foundation grants.
In 2017 Deren asked fellow Westport resident Gery Grove to help raise funds here. She teamed with Melissa Post, who like Grove loved the idea of the camp.
They thought about the usual events, like cocktail parties. But they realized the best way to raise money for kids was to involve kids themselves.
Together with a hard-working committee, they launched the first Day of Champions in 2018.
Fun at Experience Camps’ Day of Champions …
Camp Mahackeno was the perfect venue for the camp-like color war/field day. Twenty teams of 10 to 15 people each (kindergarten through adult) competed in sponge races, an obstacle course, toothpick pickup contest with oven mitts, archery and others activities. Many wore costumes.
Points were awarded for spirit, fundraising, cheering and more. It was a joyful day — and it brought in over $150,000.
… and funny hair …
To participate, teams had to raise at least $1,000. Some were well over $25,000.
Organizers feared the first year might have been a fluke.
It wasn’t.
Last year’s Day of Champions brought in more than $225,000. Over the past 2 years, Westport’s Michelle Yanover — who lost her mom at 7 — has raised over $45,000. Working with his New York Life firm, Grove’s husband Matt added another $40,000-plus.
… and a tug-of-war …
This year’s 3rd annual event is Sunday, May 17 (8 to 11:30 a.m.). Due to construction at Mahackeno, it’s moved to another great location: Fairfield County Hunt Club.
Yet as fun and financially important as the Day of Champions is, there’s another element that makes it special.
… and more fun. (Photos/Stephen Dodd)
“It teaches kids a lot,” Grove says. “They learn there are other kids who need their support — kids who don’t have their entire family here anymore.
“Kids get a chance to raise money for a resonant cause. And they have the best time doing it. Our lives are busy, but families come and do this together. Kids, teachers, parents, town officials — everyone puts concerns and differences aside for the day. It’s a great time!”
(Click here to register a team. Spectators are welcome too.)
Experience Camp — the life-changing summer program for youngsters who have lost a parent or sibling, based in Westport and directed by our neighbor Sara Deren — held its 2nd annual Day of Champions yesterday, at Camp Mahackeno.
Over 450 kids and volunteers had an amazing time. And, amazingly, they raised over $183,000 for this great cause.
Whether you love the New England Patriots or loathe them, you gotta like this story.
Last Sunday, during halftime of the regular season finale versus the New York Jets, the team honored volunteers who make a difference in the world.
During every home game this year, they recognized a “Patriots Difference Maker of the Week.” On Sunday, each received a $5,000 grant to support the nonprofits for which they volunteer.
And guess who got a special $20,000 grant — sort of a Super Bowl championship for all Difference Makers?
Jon and Sara Deren, and their children, at the Gillette Stadium halftime ceremony last Sunday.
She and her husband Jon founded Experience Camps. Headquartered right here in town, the organization runs summer camps for children grieving the death of a parent or sibling.
In just 10 years Experience Camps has grown from one site and 27 youngsters, to a network of 5 camps nationwide. Last summer, 200 volunteers served 600 boys and girls ages 8 to 18.
Doing all the typical camp activities — and, guided by clinicians, remembering the loved one who died while developing the tools they need to work through grief — Experience Camp campers enjoy life-affirming, life-changing opportunities.
The New England Patriots Foundation receives hundreds of nominations for Difference Makers each year.
When the Foundation — along with Pats chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Andre Tippett — honored Sara on Sunday, it was a moment when, for once, Patriots and Jets fans could stand and cheer together.
Sara Deren is definitely a winner.
PS: So were the Patriots. They beat the Jets 38-3.
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Her son Declan has spent 4 years at Experience Camps. She wanted to know if anyone, anywhere could give Declan a chance to go to the World Series.
The project grew from 1 site and 27 kids, to a network of 7 summer camps in 5 states serving more than 1,000 children, plus year-round programs. Because death and grief touch youngsters in all socioeconomic brackets, the entire week is free.
