By Adam Gelroth, Instructor

I always figured that coming to work for Pok-O-MacCready would be a magical sort of experience, but little did I imagine that, as one of the latest batch of Outdoor Educators, I would be stepping into a fairy tale.

I met Devin Winter when I first arrived in August. She is in her inaugural year as Director, and her last name is nothing if not suggestive of snow. It’s unclear whether an evil queen and a magic mirror were behind her decision to move from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the woods of the Adirondacks. However, Devin does spend her time trying to be the fairest one of all (interpret as you will).

The dwarves of this fairy tale are the seven camp animals I met when I arrived who, though not necessarily as diminutive as their counterparts, could definitely be their namesakes: Sleepy, Sneezy, Happy, Dopey, Doc, Bashful, and Grumpy.

Skyla is the German Shepherd who belongs to Shai, and she loves to sleep. She follows Shai everywhere, and while he’s working, lies down in the sun for a nap. She is totally unresponsive to anyone except Shai. And, unlike other dogs, she merely yawns at a game of fetch.

Sneezy is Chef Aja’s cat, Sabbath, a loveable black fur ball whose only flaw is that he seems to be allergic to himself. He loves having his tummy rubbed and will purr up a storm…then shower you with snot. Sabbath would probably catch more mice if he could sneak up on them without sneezing. But Aja loves him anyway.

Despite her German Shepherd/Pit Bull breeding, Luna Bear has to be the sweetest, happiest dog I’ve ever met. She’s friendly, gentle, and has those big brown puppy dog eyes that always seem to say she’s happy to see you.

The dopey dog around camp is Ouluska, whose owner is Executive Director Sharpe Swan. He’s a happy-go-lucky, silly, slobbery Black Lab who is always getting into trouble for eating things he’s not supposed to. He also has a knack for running in the wrong direction when playing fetch.

By comparison to Dopey, Sharpe’s other dog, Mackie, must be Doc. Mackie always wears a serious expression, and it’s evident that he thinks he’s boss. Whenever someone plays fetch and holds the ball too long, he lets out a bark to tell the thrower to hurry it along.

As one might expect, I didn’t meet Bashful when I first got here. It was a couple weeks before I knew Felix existed, and another week before I first caught a glance of him, peering out of Fiona’s apartment window. Felix, you see, is the indoor cat, shyly watching the world go by from behind the Venetian blinds.

That leaves the seventh camp pet, Rufus, the notorious grumpy old man. He doesn’t get along with the other animals. He also doesn’t like to be petted and will growl if you try to be too friendly. Rufus’s one love in life is tennis balls, and he is very possessive of them. If there’s a ball somewhere he can’t reach, he’ll whine until somebody fetches it for him. He is an incorrigible beggar and never wants to share. If you’re sitting on the half of the couch he wants to be on, he’ll climb up on the other half and grunt and groan like a hungry walrus until you give up your seat.

The fairy tale only breaks down when it nears the end. Snow White was entranced by a poisoned apple into a deep sleep. But with Aja in the kitchen upholding the New York State Department of Health codes, poisoned apples haven’t got a chance. ■