Leadership
Our dedicated team of year round professionals are focused on creating a once in a lifetime camp experience for your son. It is very important to us that we create a climate of respect, cooperation, kindness, curiosity, and fun. As the oldest YMCA boy’s camp in the country, we are proud to carry on the Camp Abnaki traditions and always stand ready to “Help the Other Fellow.”
Jon and his son Peter after a candle light ceremony at camp
JON KUYPERS, CAMP DIRECTOR
Jon has been involved in YMCA Camping since his first 4 weeks at YMCA Camp Echo in Fremont MI as an 8 year old, and has spent over 33 years attending and working at YMCA overnight camps. He previously worked in various roles at YMCA Camp Echo and YMCA Camp Hi-Rock, and has been the director of Camp Abnaki since 2003.
Jon met his wife Tammy while studying education at the University of Vermont. Jon and Tammy have 3 sons–Jake, Will, and Peter and the family dog Manzou. The family lives in Burlington during the school year and at camp in the summer.
Contact Jon at 802-652-8129 or jkuypers@gbymca.org.
BILL McFADDEN, PROPERTY MANAGER
Bill has lived in the Upper Valley Region of VT/NH for most of his life, he is a graduate of Hanover, NH High School and Middlebury College. He brings a variety experiences and interests having been involved in recreational facility and operations management, the solar and alternative energy field and has run his own businesses in design/build construction and service/retail, a bike shop.
Although he never had the opportunity to experience a traditional sleep away camp, he has great appreciation for the value of that experience having witnessed the positive effects that the camp experience has had on his two daughters, both of whom are in there 20’s and still very much involved with “their camp”.
When not working around the camp property you will probably see Bill walking his dog Chance or heading out or returning from a bike ride.
ADAM MORENO, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Adam’s passion for working with children, teens, and young adults and his love of the outdoors have connected Adam to the summer camp life for over two decades. He learned a great deal as the Assistant Camp Director at Appel Farm Summer Arts Camp in New Jersey before moving back to his home state of Wisconsin to be a middle school Drama teacher and director for almost a decade. Being a teacher allowed Adam to reconnect to his first camp – Red Arrow Camp for boys in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where he served since the late 90’s as a counselor, on the leadership team, and most recently on the Advisory and Scholarship Board. Whether in the classroom, on stage, or at camp, Adam brings his enthusiasm for lifelong learning and a drive to create, explore, and discover.
Besides, teaching and camp, Adam loves superhero movies, NCAA wrestling, brownies, musical theatre, outdoor adventures, and board games. Since discovering musical theatre in high school, Adam loves performing, and in becoming a Drama teacher, he discovered a love of directing, playwriting, and choreographing. He also loves the outdoors: running, cycling, hiking, camping, canoeing, skiing – and has traveled all over the world to places like Mount Everest in Nepal and Patagonia in Chile. And then there are strategic board games – a passion discovered as an adult. Along with his best friend, Adam ran a game club at school and a board game camp during the summer. If you like games – Adam knows hundreds of them! He can’t wait to be able to safely meet all of the campers and their families. Adam is excited to learn more about the camp community and the summer traditions and maybe introduce a few of his passions into the vibrant summers ahead at Camp Abnaki!
