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:
Laurie and Perry Smith - Co-Directors
Melinda Edgerly Pearce -
Office Manager
Bill Otto -
Finance & Facilities Manager
Karen Heymann Close -
Director of the Waterfront
Ruth Igoe - Director of Development
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 had 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 has spanned the generations, as her three daughters Jenn, Kaitlin, and Lindsay have also been 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.
Ruth Igoe
Director of Development
A Chicago native, Ruth Igoe was a camper, leadership and counselor at Clearwater Camp for a decade.
After graduating with honors from Georgetown University, Ruth enjoyed a seven-year stint as a journalist for several newspapers, including the Kansas City Star and the Chicago Tribune. Ruth has since shifted to a career in nonprofit work. Previously, she served in various public relations roles, including as the director of communications for Chicago's nonprofit food bank where her duties included managing the web site, newsletters, media relations, the organization's annual report to donors and other communications activities.
Ruth is proud to be part of a three-generation camping tradition on Tomahawk Lake. Her father, Michael Igoe, was a Camp Minocqua camper from 1940 to 1945. All three of her older brothers followed in his footsteps at Camp Minocqua. Her sister was also a Clearwater camper, as were four of her nieces.
When Camp Minocqua closed in the 1970s, Michael Igoe purchased the caretaker's cabin along with three screened cabins along Junior Hill. Since then - as a tribute to the traditions of stewardship and respect for nature instilled by their shared camping experiences - the Igoe family has donated easements for the wooded property surrounding the cabins to a nature conservancy.