In the summer of 1962 Mr. John Adams, the camp’s owner-director, decided that he could no longer continue running Mowglis as a for-profit business. After five years as Director he had come to love the Camp and wanted it to see it continue.  Joe Beckford, a recent Watermaster and Cub Director, contacted the formidable trio of J. Tyson Stokes, William I. MacDonald and William B. Hart. They were former campers and staff who were committed to keeping the camp open.  They gathered a group of like-minded people around them and created the Holt Elwell Memorial Foundation (HEMF), a 501c-3 nonprofit. In the next few months they also raised the money they needed to buy the camp from Mr. Adams.  Thanks to their work the Foundation was able to open Mowglis in 1963 with Mr. Hart as the first director.

In a business sense, HEMF “owns” the camp.  The Trustees hire the Director and provide general oversight for the camp program. But in reality our nonprofit status means that everybody who cares about Mowglis “owns” a piece of it.  Although camp tuition covers the bulk of our expenses, we receive hundreds of generous contributions each year from Alumni and friends. This money closes the rather significant gap between tuition and expenses.

The HEMF board of directors is made up of former Mowglis boys and staff along with current and former camp parents. They works hard to maintain the traditions of Mowglis and to give each boy an outstanding summer experience.

Our board of directors are:

CHRISTOPHER PHANEUF, President.  One of three brothers that attended Mowglis, Chris was a camper from 1974 through 1977 and a staff member in 1978 and 1979 teaching sailing and swimming.  He attended St. Sebastian’s School in Newton, MA and was graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.  Chris is currently Director of the Boston office of Eastdil Secured, a real instate investment banking firm.  Chris lives in Weston, MA with his wife Katie and daughters Emily and Abbey, both of whom attend Camp Onaway for girls, located on Newfound Lake.

JAMES WESTBERG, Vice President.  Jim attended Mowglis as a camper from 1965-1969.  He was a member of the Junior Staff and Senior Staff half summers in 1973 and 1975 when not training for the United States Marine Corps.  He graduated from Norwich University in 1976 with a Bachelors of Science in Engineering Technology, with an emphasis on Environmental Studies and spent over 6 years in the Marine Corps.  He has spent the last 29 years in technical sales of capital equipment, currently as VP of  Americas Sales for Solidscape, Inc. in Merrimack, NH.  Jim has been married for 33 years to Lin Westberg, who has grown to love to Mowglis and over the past several years has volunteered hours to help the Mowglis family. Jim and Lin have a 24 year old son, Doug and an 18 year old daughter, Caroline. Doug graduated as a Dennite in 2004 and was on the staff for two years. Caroline graduated from Camp Onaway and hopes to be a member of the staff this summer.

DAVID H. TOWER, Treasurer.  Dave’s two uncles attended Mowglis, and Dave first attended Mowglis as an 8-year-old Cub and continued for four years. When he was 12, he followed his passion (sparked at Mowglis) into sailboat racing. He graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, CT with a degree in art history and then received his MBA from the University of Chicago. Dave spent more that 30 years in senior management positions in medical centers such as New York University and Johns Hopkins. His specialty was turning around distressed organizations. Dave lives in Malvern, PA, and when not involved with Mowglis, he devotes himself to working throughout the world in missionary work.

RICHARD MORGAN, Secretary.  Rich came to Mowglis in 1965 and never left.  He plays the same trombone in the Mowglis Brass Choir at chappel that he used 45 years ago.  He graduated from the Den in 1968 and served on the Jr. and Senior staff for many summers, teaching bugling and photography and sometimes working with the cub program.  He has worked on the Mowglis telephone system since the telephones had cranks, more recently installed a modern key phone system. He currently managing the voice over IP virtual PBX that ties our staff together during the the off season.  Rich previously served as trustee from 1988 to 1994.  Outside of Mowglis, Rich graduated from the University of New Hampshire where he majored in business administration.  He has been involved with local government, serving as a selectman of the Town of Sandwich, NH, and a commissioner of the Center Ossipee Fire Precinct.  He currently works as a Service Manager for FairPoint Communications, the telephone company that serves Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

DAVID G. CONCANNON is a 1979 Graduate of Camp Mowglis. He was a camper from 1977 to 1979, earning a place in the Inner Circle, and a Junior Staff member in 1980, teaching red and silver ribbons. David is now a lawyer based in Wayne, Pennsylvania. His law practice focuses on business law and commercial litigation, with an emphasis in sports and recreation. He has served as General Counsel to, or a Director of, several non-profit organizations, including The Explorers Club, the Sea-Space Symposium and the X-Prize Foundation.  He also has been an advisor to, or participant in, several expeditions, including six Titanic expeditions and two expeditions to Mt. Everest. David lives with his wife Donna in Malvern, Pennsylvania. His son Ian is a recent Mowglis graduate.

E. FOSTER CONKLIN, Jr.

JAMES GRAFF is a third generation Mowglis alumni, first attending camp in 1974 and graduating as a member of the Den of 1978.  Following graduation he served as a staff member through the summer of 1985.  He has worked in the technology field for large financial institutions throughout his career and today he is a manager of a technology team for Ally Financial in their Fort Washington, Pennsylvania office.  He lives in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania (approximately 50 miles west of Philadelphia) with his wife Carolyn.  They have four children; Amanda, a graduate of Gordon College, who is currently teaching English abroad, Hillary and Meredith who are currently in high school, and James who started attending Mowglis in 2007 as a Cub and will be a member of the Den of 2012.

ROEL HOEKSTRA joined the the Board with a long Mowglis history. His grandfather J. Tyson Stokes was a camper from 1914 to 1921 and continued as a counselor.  He then served as assistant Director to Colonel Ellwell while he was in law school. In the 1960s, Tyson Stokes was instrumental in establishing the Holt-Ellwell Foundation with Mr. Hart and built a family compound on Plymouth Mountain across the street from camp.  East Hebron, Newfound Lake and Camp Mowglis have been a major part of Roel’s life for as long as he can remember. He was a camper from 1969 through 1976 and served on the Junior Staff in high school and one summer on the Senior Staff after college in 1984.  After 20 years as a management consultant for Mercer Consulting Group, Roel is now an entrepreneur with several small finance and investment banking companies. Roel is an active sailor, racing one design boats (J22) and distance ocean races including the Newport to Bermuda race and the Annapolis to Newport race with his father Djoerd Hoekstra on his Swan 43, apply named Akela III. The first Akela was owned by Tyson Stokes in the 1930s.  Roel has three children, all of whom have either attended Mowglis or Onaway. Roel’s eldest, Christoffel was a camper from 2000 through 2007 was on the Junior Staff for two years. His youngest son, Carter is currently a camper at Mowglis.   His daughter Kelsey was a camper at Onaway for six years.

MARGARET POMERY HURDMAN grew-up in South Bend, Indiana and spent many happy summers at Camp Eberhart in Three Rivers, Michigan. Meg was a Presidential Scholar in 1981 and graduated from Colgate University in 1985. Following college, she spent five years in the Special Events Office at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In 1993 Meg and her husband moved to Maine where she currently works as a sales associate for Thos. Moser in Freeport. Meg is married to Charlie Hurdman, a marketing executive, and they have four children aged 21,18, 16 and 12. All 3 Hurdman boys are recent Mowglis graduates and her youngest child, a daughter, is a camper at Onaway.

ERIC LOVE

STEPHEN MINICH

GREGORY PHANEUF

DIANE SEARS is a graduate of Wheaton College and has her M.Ed. from Lesley University.  She spent years in Cambridge, Massachusetts teaching 6th grade.  Diane, her husband Cameron, and three boys, Manning, Nicholas and Jack live in Marblehead, Massachusetts where Diane is involved in the local community. Having three boys, Diane and Cam are committed to the Mowglis experience. Manning came to camp as a first year Cub in 2007, Nicholas joined in 2010 and Jack can’t wait to arrive in 2012.

CHARLIE WALBRIDGE was a Mowglis Camper from 1959-62 and on the Mowglis Staff from 1963-72. After learning to canoe at Mowglis, and paddling whitewater seriously as a college student, he became an active slalom and wildwater racer. He paddled rivers throughout the US and Canada, including several first descents, and worked as a professional river guide. His company, Wildwater Designs, developed the HiFloat life vest and the throw-line rescue bag. He served as safety chair for both the American Canoe Association (ACA) and American Whitewater, and has compiled yearly reports on U.S. whitewater fatalities for the past 35 years. He helped develop the ACA instruction program and continues to serve as an instructor-trainer. He’s written many magazine articles and produced or contributed to numerous books, including The Wildwater Canoe and Kayak Guide to West Virginia and The Whitewater Rescue Manual. He works as an independent sales rep. and consults on river safety for outfitters, organizations, and attorneys.