For new Frost Valley CEO, camping is special 

A former camp counselor himself

By Mio Moser | Manor Ink

Claryville, NY – Well-known throughout the county and neighboring regions, Frost Valley YMCA provides visitors with a taste of the unique Catskills experience. Recently, the organization named a new CEO, Riel Peerbooms. Peerbooms was born in a small village in the south of the Netherlands, and it was his passion for camping and his love of the Catskills that brought him to Frost Valley.

Peerbooms got his first taste of the camping experience when he worked as a camp counselor at a camp in Europe about 30 years ago. At the age of 21, shortly afterward, he was offered the chance to work for one season at a summer camp in the Catskills, about half an hour away from Frost Valley where Peerbooms now works. 

It didn’t take long for Peerbooms to fall in love with the Catskills, and he moved to New York City shortly after. There, he worked as a school teacher, spending his summers in a Catskills summer camp. “My goal was to work in camping,” Peerbooms said. He spent 15 years employed by this camp before he was able to finally fulfill his dream and work in camping full time.

He was appointed as the CEO of a smaller camp, known as Trailblazers. After another decade and a half of work as the head of Trailblazers, Peerbooms heard about an opening at Frost Valley and he applied.

Offering camping to everyone 

Peerbooms now works as the CEO of the Frost Valley YMCA, and he hopes to use his experience with other camps to usher in a new era at Frost Valley. One of Peerbooms’ main goals is to make camping available to everyone. “Everybody should have an opportunity to participate in a Frost Valley program,” he said.

As of now, Frost Valley offers two main branches of participation. The first runs through camps. Many campers are brought to Frost Valley each year for summer camps, winter camps and day camps where they participate in a variety of different activities. However, school visit programs are also offered, giving schools the chance to have classes make field trips to Frost Valley. 

“It shouldn’t have to matter how much money your family makes. Every child should now have an opportunity to pick a program at Frost Valley and participate,” Peerbooms expressed. He wants the camp experience to be available to everyone because he believes it is truly something special. “Frost Valley really does its best to create a very diverse experience with people from all backgrounds,” Peerbooms said. In his many years of working at camps, he has met people from all around the globe that share his interests. 

Participating in the community, too

Despite lots of international engagement, Riel Peerbooms understands that, for a camp to truly be successful, it must integrate itself into the social fabric of the community it sits in. “If you are in the community, then you have to be of the community,” he said. Consequently, Frost Valley invites members of the local community to work at the camp or participate in its activities. “One of the things that we are going to focus on specifically is to figure out how we can be a great community partner,” Peerbooms said.

As the newly appointed CEO of Frost Valley, Riel Peerbooms has many plans for making the camp better known and respected within the community. “I really love summer camp, and I think every kid should be able to go to summer camp,” Peerbooms said. Fueled by his own passion and love for camps in the Catskills, Frost Valley is sure to become even better in the coming years. For more information about the camp, visit frostvalley.org.