Clearwater Camp Management
At Clearwater, the lasting bond of friendship is a gift shared among the campers as well as the staff members. This dedicated staff comes largely from a loyal core of campers and counselors that have “grown up” at Clearwater and look forward to reuniting each May to plan, train and prepare for the camping season. The purpose and opportunity counselors and staff share draw many back year after year. This returning staff lends consistency that helps perpetuate the unique culture, traditions, and values of Clearwater and many among this team have years of experience in education and administration. We are fortunate to include the following dedicated, caring and able people among the management and administrative team of Clearwater:
Sunny Moore - Executive Director/Foundation Board President
Laurie and Perry Smith - Co-Directors
Melinda Edgerly Pearce -
Office Manager
Bill Otto -
Finance & Facilities Manager
Karen Heymann Close -
Director of the Waterfront
Sylvia “Sunny” Moore
Executive Director/Foundation Board President
Sylvia Sommer Moore earned her nickname “Sunny” during her first year as a camper at Clearwater. Sunny continued attending Clearwater for a period of ten years as a camper, leadership, and counselor under the direction of Founder, Sara Holiday Sprague, better known as Halokwe.
At the age of eighty-three Halokwe knew it was time to find a successor. She told Sunny in the fall of 1969 that she must be the next director of Clearwater Camp or it would close. With five children, three daughters already at Clearwater, a son at Camp Minocqua, a younger daughter, and a husband whom she loved, the assignment seemed impossible to her. With the support and encouragement of her family, she consented to try it while Halokwe was living so it could be sold as a “going” camp. God blessed their efforts and in 1975 the Moore family and a few other investors purchased Clearwater. The untimely death of Sunny’s husband the following year changed their lives and as a family the Moores plunged headlong into the challenge.
With her sense of deep dedication and sincere stewardship, Clearwater has been fortunate to have Sunny provide leadership to Clearwater for the past 36 years. During these years Clearwater’s numbers have increased, our facilities have been well cared for and preserved, and we enjoy a fine reputation in the camp community.
The very same grace, commitment and intelligence that enabled Sunny to accomplish so much has moved the entire Moore family to believe that this timeless tradition carry on as our treasured Clearwater Camp forever. It is with the deepest gratitude that past and present campers and staff look forward to “spanning the generations” with this momentous effort under the stewardship of our beloved Sunny Moore.
Laurie and Perry Smith
Co-Directors
Laurie and Perry Smith have a combined 19 years experience as Clearwater counselors and administrators.
After spending every summer vacationing in the Northwoods of Minocqua Laurie Helling Smith joined the staff of Clearwater in 1989 while studying for her Bachelors degree in Communicative Disorders. During those first five years Laurie proved her value, dedication and sense of fun to Clearwater in many capacities: as the head of a number of activities, as a unit head, and even as Santa Claus one “Christmas” when camp was in a pinch. Between ’92 and ’98 Laurie took some time to entrench herself in her masters program, her work as a speech-language pathologist in a Wisconsin school district, a variety of coaching, advisory and volunteer activities, as well as meeting her future husband, Perry Smith.
Like Laurie, Perry Smith has an incredible affinity for the outdoors and takes pride in witnessing the achievements of a child. Prior to teaching elementary school and coaching in the school district where they met, Perry was a full-time staff member at a camp in California and spent two summers as a cabin counselor at another camp in Wisconsin. In 1998 Laurie returned to Clearwater as a cabin counselor. After camp that summer, Laurie and Perry were wed at Clearwater’s Sunday Service and honeymooned paddling in the Boundary Waters.
Laurie and Perry have since returned each summer to meet new and bigger challenges with dedication and creativity. Perry joined the Clearwater staff in 1999 as a sailing instructor and advanced tripping leader with Laurie. From 2001-2003 Laurie and Perry worked together as co-heads of the tripping program, and in 2003 Laurie became the program director, scheduling campers and staff on a daily basis. With a clear illustration of their commitment and immense dedication to the Clearwater values Laurie and Perry were named co-directors with Sunny Moore in 2004. Since then their “summer job” has become a year-round passion, attending ACA training conferences, like the New Director Orientation and Standards courses, and seizing every opportunity to continue Clearwater’s standards of education, safety, and purpose.
Melinda Edgerly Pearce
Office Manager
At the top of a list describing the ideal attributes of a Clearwater staff member Sunny has written, “A high level of energy and a willingness to spontaneously join in.” It had been 27 years since her summer as a counselor at Clearwater, however in 2003 Melinda was able to prove once again, her “willingness to spontaneously join in” first when she lent camp the help it needed in the kitchen, and later that fall by accepting the position of office manager. Melinda’s history and affinity for the Northwoods and Clearwater run deep. During Sunny’s tenure as a counselor Melinda’s mother, Barbara Lasier Edgerley, was the head of sailing and summers were always spent at Melinda’s family cabin just down the shore from camp. Melinda received her Bachelors degree at Colby College in Maine, and earned experience in the research department of a hospital before she and her husband began raising their two sons. Today, Melinda’s invaluable work year-round in the office at Clearwater keeps campers, parents, alumnae, staff, and administration connected and informed. Melinda also makes some time to get out in her kayak or with her beloved black lab and enjoy the wonders of the Northwoods.
Bill Otto
Finance & Facilities Manager
Bill Otto moved to the Northwoods 18 years ago after growing up in the Milwaukee area. He has been at Clearwater full-time for the past 9 years after spending the previous 20 years in the management of businesses in Milwaukee and in Minocqua. Bill's responsibilities at Clearwater include site management, maintenance, contractor oversight, as well as budget and financial management. Bill enjoys all of the wonderful opportunities that the Northwoods has to offer and appreciates working at Clearwater where every child that comes has the opportunity to experience the blessing of this place. Bill lives twenty minutes from camp on the Wisconsin River with his wife of 25 years and their four children.
Karen Heymann Close
Director of the Waterfront
Karen Close’s relationship with Clearwater offers two remarkable examples of “Spanning the Generations” at camp. As a camper, leadership and counselor for eight years in the ‘70’s and 80’s Karen witnessed and assisted in the transition between Sarah “Halokwe” Sprague and Sylvia “Sunny” Moore’s stewardship of Clearwater. Then, just as today, loyal campers and staff helped maintain the familiar and traditional feeling of Clearwater. Throughout a decade of pursuits away from Clearwater, including a Bachelors in Forestry, marriage, motherhood and a Masters in Teaching & Learning, Karen’s love of sailing continued to be a passion. A visit in 2001 reminded Karen of the love she had for camp, sailing on Tomahawk’s cool clear waters and helping youth grow into leaders. In 2003, she rejoined the staff. Today, Karen’s own family spans the generations, as her three daughters Jenn, Kaitlin, and Lindsay are also campers. Karen returns to camp with a lengthy list of safety and sailing certifications from the Red Cross and U.S. Sailing that help maintain the levels of excellence of Clearwater’s Sailing and waterfront programs.