Meet the Team
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Caitlin Thorington
Camp Director
Caitlin has a deep love for Camp Winnataska and has been a camper, leader, Comanche, Program Specialist, and Chico Weekly Director. A graduate of Auburn University, she has been a Special Education Teacher for 9 years. Caitlin met her husband at Camp Winnataska; he can often be found volunteering at Camp. They are also parents to three children. Caitlin's passion for the Lord shines through in all she does.
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Mary Owen
Camp Registrar
Mary Owen (Mo) helps register campers and answer parent questions. She retired as a teacher for Birmingham Public Schools and now volunteers in addition to working as Camp Registrar. For Mo, serving at Winnataska is a family tradition. Her grandfather, D.R. Price, was instrumental in making Winnataska successful during its first decades. Mo can be found giving tours during the off-season and greeting parents on check in days.
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Graham Ryan
Caretaker
Graham first came to Winnataska as a leader in 2005, was a Blackfoot for three summers, and, after working in industrial sales for nearly ten years, now works full-time at Camp, maintaining the facilities and grounds and overseeing a wide range of projects. Graham resides at Winnataska, year-round, with his wife, Tina (a former Comanche), and their three girls.
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Joesph McKinley
Program Director
Joseph plans and facilitates Winnataska’s exciting summer programs and he is always on the lookout for new ideas. Joseph is a graduate of UAB’s school of Arts and Sciences, and during the year is a computer science educator in Birmingham. In the past he has worked for the non-profit, Equip. He is continuing his family's tradition of working at Winnataska and has been coming to camp almost his entire life. Joseph’s great grandmother was the camp dietitian for 25 years. He is always excited for new campers to experience camp for the first time each summer.
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Hannah Gagnon
Operations Director
Hannah Gagnon has been coming to camp for 12 summers as a camper, leader, Comanche, and Program Specialist. She was born and raised in Birmingham and graduated from Auburn in 2019. When she’s not at camp, she works as a real estate agent in the Birmingham area. Hannah is excited about adding her skills in efficiency and organization to Camp Winnataska’s summer operations.
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Julie Cochran
Development Coordinator
Julie has worked as a middle school Math teacher, and has taught in the private schools of Nashville, TN and Vestavia Hills City Schools until staying home with her children for the past several years. Her love of Winnataska started as a Chico camper, and she have been active almost every summer since. She as served as a Program Specialist and Weekly Director for Winnataska, and most recently is serving as the Development Coordinator for Friends of Winnataska. She met her husband at camp, and her love of Winnataska shows in her dedication to her work.
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Susan Thorington
Healthcare Coordinator
Susan has worked in the healthcare industry for over thirty years, and currently works as a clinical trial coordinator with the Alabama Cardiovascular Group. Her job at camp is to oversee the Health Hut and the nurses who serve there. She makes sure all of our campers and staff members are healthy while at camp. Her children and husband grew up attending camp, and there's usually a Thorington some where on campus at any given time! Susan is a valuable resource for parents who have questions concerning their child's medical care at camp.
Summer Staff
Hut Leaders
Our Hut Leaders live in the huts with the campers and take them to their daily activities. These high-energy high-school-aged leaders serve as “older siblings” to our campers. They are the mentors that are campers see the most in their day-to-day camp life. They have all finished at least 10th grade or up. Some college students also serve as Hut Leaders or Senior Hut Leaders, which have more leadership responsibilities in the hut. We also have a college-aged staff member in the hut at all times when campers are present.
Program Staff
These college-aged staff members work in our program areas to teach campers skills in Boats, Pool, Horses, Crafts, Recreation, Shooting Sports, Ropes, Outdoors, and Sustainability. The also make camp work by acting as supervision in huts, cleaning crew, dining hall, office, maintenance, and photography. They run our Night Activities and serve camp in so many ways! They will happily tell you that their summers on staff are some of the most rewarding years of their life.
Adult Summer Positions
Our Program Specialists oversee the staff and execution of a program area for the summer. They are responsible for safety, supervision, and planning of the activities in Boats, Pool, Horses, Crafts, Recreation, Shooting Sports, Ropes, Outdoors, and Sustainability. Maintenance Assistants work closely with Graham Ryan, our Caretaker to upkeep our facilities and grounds.
Weekly Directors
Each week during our summer camp season, a group adult volunteers serve Camp Winnataska as Weekly Directors. These adults have many years of experience at Camp and in the community in education, health care, ministry, and other areas. They serve as your camper’s trusted adult, and will be present for issues that may arise. They are well-versed in homesickness, behavior problems, camper relationships, and have many tools in their toolbox to help your campers have a wonderful and successful week.
Camp Winnataska staff and volunteers are under the guidance of a Board of Directors. This volunteer Board consist of camp alumni who contribute their expertise in the fields of education, law, health care, ministry, accounting, and business to help camp succeed. Many of them volunteer at camp on a weekly basis during the summer, and spend untold hours during the off-season preparing camp for the summer ahead. They dedicate themselves selflessly for the greater good of Camp Winnataska, and all of camp benefits from their leadership.
Officers
President: James Barnes
Vice President: Kenny Keith
Treasurer: Karen Moore
Secretary: Catherine Bentley
Chaplain: Elin Glenn
Class of 2024
Clay Cochran
Lindsay Powers
David Glenn
Elin Glenn (FOW Board Representative)
Class of 2025
Kenny Keith
Ann Pickens
Wilson Yeilding
Class of 2026
James Barnes
Catherine Bentley
Matt Graffeo
Bill Jordan