Sewie Spotlight: Gail Nozik
Apr 10 2016
Seventeen years ago, a friend mentioned to Gail Nozik that Camp Sewataro was looking for a new nurse. Working as a school nurse at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, and having sent her own son to Sewataro (she still has the pins to prove it!), Gail knew this was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. “So I met with Alba Taylor, and we just hit it off.” And the rest, as they say, is history.
Born and raised in the small town of Stamford, NY, (“There’s only one stop light!”), Gail is the daughter of florists, and the granddaughter of a hospital nurse. She earned her own Nursing degree at Cornell University, and thirty years ago landed the job at Lincoln-Sudbury. In her sixteen summers at Sewataro, Gail says a lot has changed…and stayed the same. “The grounds have changed a bit, and now there’s more up-to-date activities, like rock climbing and zip-lining, but the Taylors are still the same rock steady people I met back then, and their mantra of giving campers an exciting, fun, and most of all safe experience hasn’t changed one bit.” Gail also notes the downward trend in morning tummy aches once Instructional Swim was moved to the afternoons, and will be curious to see if the newly heated pools will eradicate the condition entirely.
This June, Gail will retire from L-S. She’s eager to travel (Australia and New Zealand are next on the docket), spend more time with her grandchildren in D.C., clean out her house (“I have more stuff than you can shake a stick at!”), read more (“I love ‘who-dunits’”), and get back to needle-pointing.
Rest assured, Gail has no plans to retire from camp. “I love being here! Every time I drive up the driveway, I feel like I’ve been transported to Maine or New Hampshire. And I love that we all get 8 hours a day free from screens…it’s a chance for kids to make real connections, to look people in the eye, and to work together.” Above all, Gail says Sewataro means family. “They’ve always been there for me. And we have so much fun! I wouldn’t want to spend my summers anywhere else.”
Top 10 Gail Nozik Fun Facts:
- Gail has never seen a moose. And she’d really like to.
- Gail prides herself on being Green (“I recycle, I compost, I drive a hybrid…I do what I can for my little world…”)
- Gail collects cookbooks (“I read them before bed, and go to sleep salivating!”)
- Gail grows indoor Amaryllis in the winter
- Gail collects Teddy Bears
- Gail named her dogs Teddy and Bear
- Gail wants to learn how to play golf
- Gail is a Green Belt in Judo
- Gail has traveled to 5 continents
- Gail’s goal for this summer is to go on the ZIPLINE!
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