It gives me great pleasure to announce that on December 5th “Guide” Aric Walton joined the Camp Agawam Leadership Team as our Director of Advancement. “Guide” was formerly the Assistant Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Bowdoin College. He served in that role for the past five and a half years, but was at Bowdoin for nearly twelve, having also held positions in their Annual Giving office as Assistant Director, Associate Director, and Director of the Alumni Fund. Prior to working at Bowdoin, “Guide” was the Director of Operations at Demont Associates. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and lives in Yarmouth, Maine with his wife Jess and two children.
I would like to especially thank the search committee, “Sparks” Chrissy Barnard, “Loot” Bob Fryer, “Bos’n” Frank Anthony and “JJ” Jon Sprole, who were incredibly helpful in this process. He initially came to our attention via “Capt” Pete Caesar, who worked with him at Demont Associates.
“Capt” began a conversation with “Guide” in order to get advice on our job search and job description and then used his “Capt” Caesar magic to convince him that he would be perfect for the role! “Guide” met with search committee members and me on multiple occasions over the course of several months as we discussed the culture and mission of Camp Agawam as well as details about his potential role. “Guide” originally learned about Agawam through “Capt” Caesar and “Coach” Bob Demont and was intrigued enough that he and Jess volunteered for Main Idea in 2007. Additionally, he was involved with multiple Golf Marathons. The Agawam mission and general Agawam spirit were driving forces in his decision to join our team.
We are excited for “Guide” to bring his development knowledge and insight to our community, which will help us continue our amazing momentum in the wake if our successful capital campaign. Of greater importance is the incredible enthusiasm and positive energy that he brings. Everyone who has interacted with “Guide” during this process has provided me with similar feedback: “this is absolutely the right guy,” or “he will be perfect.” Also, of significance is that “Guide” will be able to work with “Lt” Mike Bensen for the remainder of the year before “Lt” steps away to ensure a seamless transition.
