Meet Our Staff

Jennie Griffin
Senior Program Director, Jennie Griffin, grew up in New York City where she came to appreciate her summers at sleep away camp in the country.  After graduating from New York University and teaching on the Lower East Side Jennie found herself yearning for the country.  After a quick trip to career services at NYU she learned about the wonders of environmental education.  In March of 1992 Jennie began her career at Fairview Lake YMCA camps as a young naturalist with a desire to learn everything anyone would teach her.  As the years progressed, she thrived on the diversity of programs every season, never mind day of the week, offered at Fairview Lake.  Jennie has found a new home with new challenges and opportunities each day.

Colin Campbell
Colin has been part of the Fairview Lake Staff for nine years.  He is part of the diverse group of program instructors that help deliver the programs at camp.  In the summer months he is in his second year of overseeing ETC, the adventure camp program where campers partake in backpacking, canoeing, climbing and caving.  Colin has worked at other YMCA camps around the country and abroad.

Ron Thoenig
Senior Naturalisit Ron Thoenig has worked as a naturalist at Fairview Lake YMCA Camps Environmental Education Programs for over 16 years and has shared his love and knowledge of the environment with more than 100,000 people that he has instructed at the camp. His love for the outdoors, its protection and preservation are conveyed in his everyday interactions with children and adults alike. With the use of his calls, imitating a coyote or calling in a screech owl on a night hike, he engages those who are his companions on the trail, giving them an excitement that makes them want to return and find out more! Ron has a unique talent for being able to make even the most complex ideas in ecology, biology and botany easy for any student to understand through his use of concrete examples and real-life experiences. He is well respected and an inspiration to students and teachers alike.

Sara Galuska
Conference Director, Sara Galuska, grew up in Havertown, Pennsylvania where her love and appreciation for the outdoors began. Inspired by ecology classes in high school, Sara went on to earn B.A. degrees in Environmental Studies and Geography from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Sara joined the Fairview Lake team in 2008 and continues to treat every day as a learning experience. Sara spent much of her youth on the softball field and volleyball court and has continued to share these passions with friends and youth. Sara has a great appreciation and love for nature and all outdoor activities, particularly hiking and backpacking. Sara has attended Appalachian Trail Conferences and has hiked sections of the Appalachian Trail in five different states. Sara also enjoys cooking and baking. Her baking talents shine through her favorites: coconut macaroons and homemade chocolate cake.

Steven Michaelis
Steven Michaelis has been employed as the Facility Manager at Fairview Lake YMCA Camps since January of 1997.  He came to us from Speers-Eljabar YMCA Camp in Pennsylvania where he began his YMCA career in 1985.  Steve has an extensive background in property management, maintenance, and construction.  He has successfully completed a variety of major renovations and new construction projects over the years, which have positively impacted the organizations he has served.  Steve is originally from the southern New Jersey area where he worked in the forest products industry while attending a county community college.  Steve also attended course studies at Penn Academic Center in Philadelphia, and Burton Seminary in Vermont.  Steve has a great love of nature, and enjoys working and pursuing recreational activities in the outdoors.  He also enjoys listening and playing a variety of music.

Don Sienkiewicz
Food Service Director, Don Sienkiewicz, grew up in Sussex County.  After graduating from high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he was trained as a cook while stationed at Fort Carson Colorado.  After the Army, Don attended Rutgers University and graduated with a BA in economics and a minor in corporate finance.  After college, he returned to the food service industry working mostly in corporate dining as a chef/manager or food service director.  Most of his career before joining the YMCA in 2002, was spent with Sodexho Marriot, ASI and Whitson’s Food Service.  Don also managed corporate dining halls in companies such as Baxter Health Care, USPS, Tommy Hilfiger and Agilent Technologies.  Don currently resides in Fredon with his wife, Michele, and four year old daughter Madelyn.  His older son, Tommy, is away at college in San Diego.

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