Former camper named director of Camp Louise

In her first week at Camp Louise during the summer of 1980, she began to miss home and sought the camp nurse, who called Berlin?s mother.

“My mom said, ?you have to

stay,? ” Berlin, of Owings Mills, recalls. “Once I heard ?you have to stay,? I started having fun. … I can?t imagine, if she did pick me up, what my life would be like now.”

Berlin would not have met her husband, a staffer at the nearby boys-only equivalent, Camp Ari, whom she married in 2004 and had twin girls with this summer. She might not have realized her heart was in teaching and pursued a career outside camp in the Baltimore and Howard county school systems.

Berlin said she has missed only two or three summers at the camp since that first tough week, moving up as a counselor, unit leader and assistant director.

Now in charge, Berlin said she wants to reach out to former staffers who have pursued other careers, and bring their real-world experience back to camp.

“I want to bring back some people who haven?t been there in a while,” she said “People who have been out in the world and have something to bring back.”

Mike Schneider, executive director of Camp Ari and Camp Louise Foundation Inc., which oversees the camps, said Berlin?s familiarity with the camp?s traditions and importance to campers made her the right choice.

“It?s more than the knowledge,” he said. “Its very personal for the kids that come up. You?ll hear campers and staff refer to it as their family. And Alicia understands that.”

Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen, a friend of Berlin?s who worked with her as a counselor-in-training, agreed but said traditions wouldn?t limit Berlin.

“I think Alicia brings a tremendous amount of creativity of the position,” she said. “She?s always had ability to look at a situation and find a new way, a better way to do something. I think she?s familiar with the traditions of camp, but she?s not bound by them and can find a better way to do things.”

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