Dorinda Dohner (not to be confused with Debbie Downer) and I go so far back during our weeks at Camp Woodland Altars that I can scarcely remember just when we first met. She was two years younger than me so it is likely that we shared a lodge camp in 1983. We know from photos that she has that we were at lodge camp together in 1984. But it was not until our days in Eco-Adventures in 1985 and (as she appears above right) 1986 that we finally became friends.
Of the ‘girls from Troy clique’ – which also included Mandy and Amy Angle, Wendy Johnston, and Kim Littlejohn – Dorinda may have been the quietest of all of them…yet the one most closely aligned to my offbeat sense of humor.
Among the male contingent of our ‘group’ which included Darin Anderson and Eric Hubble, Darin came up with the unfortunate nickname of ‘Bob’ for Dorinda. He did this because Dorinda included too many syllables (and he loved Bob Dylan). The Troy girls took that name home with them and she was referred to as Bob for several years, often confusing other teams during soccer games.
Although Dorinda was present for the reunion in Troy during the late Summer of 1987 as seen in the now-officially-most-used-picture-on-this-website, she and I never exchanged letters or phone calls outside of camp the way that I did with several of the others. No doubt, my loss.
1986 reunion in Kim’s backyard: Eric Hubble, Amy Angle, me, Kim Littlejohn, Mandy Angle, Darin Anderson (hidden), Wendy Johnston, and Dorinda
I had already tracked down and met up with Eric and Darin, but I will have to credit Dorinda for getting in touch with me and putting me in touch with both Kim and Wendy. I had no idea where to find any of them, but Dorinda actually contacted me through MySpace after stumbling on my web posting of Eco Adventures camp from 1985. Needless to say, I was most excited. And the rest, as they say, is history…
Ironically, however, Dorinda was the third girl who I was actually able to meet up with. This had more to do with the fact that she no longer lives locally, but in in Bloomington, Indiana, working as a graphic designer for Hallmark. Her times in town were usually relegated to her family, so it took until Saturday, April 11, 2009, when she was heading into town for Easter that we were able to get together for lunch at Max and Erma’s on Miller Lane in Dayton.
We spent a good three hours over cheeseburgers chatting about travel (and her lack of it), work life, other camp friends, and of course reminiscing about our years at Woodland Altars, the hub of our Christian teen communities. She still had the sense of humor, but it was hard to believe that she had been ‘the quiet one’ in the past – as we certainly never ran out of things to talk about.
As always, it is so cool to meet up with former campmates whose lives brushed up against mine during some of the most memorable weeks of my life. Dorinda and I will naturally stay in touch through Facebook and other means, and again having the hopes that one day we can all meet up again on one day in one place. How cool would that be?
Return to Easter week…
Continue to the next reunion…
Very nice Bradley! 🙂 I appreciate you making me sound less boring than I really am!! HA Did you share this with Darin? He was in question of it… I did write back and forth with him… I think I have a letter here somewhere, I should scan in it in because I think the envelope is addressed to ‘Bob’. Thanks had a great time! We’ll have to work on that group reunion… see if we can double team and get everyone together in one spot!
Dorinda Dohner
April 26th, 2009
Ah Bob! So wonderful to be back in touch after all these years 🙂 You were always such a good sport about the nickname we (or should I say I) bequeathed on you, never got annoyed – always smiling from what I remember. Here’s to a reunion!
Darin Anderson
April 26th, 2009