Throughout my years in public service and non-profit work I have met some truly incredible people, but few can measure up to Sharon Rivaldo. When I first met Sharon, I was working for the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. At the time I oversaw the local office in Rochester and Sharon was running for a State Assembly seat. I was immediately impressed by her commitment, dedication, and work ethic. Although she did not get the seat in the assembly, she went on to make a great impact in others’ lives through her volunteer work and career. Sharon retired as a Lieutenant from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and was heavily involved in many local organizations like Italeo, Camp Good Days as well as the Annunciation Church senior group.

Sharon and her husband Phil became great friends of mine and were instrumental in the success of Camp Good Days. In the first few years of Camp Good Days, everyone involved was a volunteer, as we had no paid employees. This meant that we were always looking for more help. We had some great volunteers who did everything from fundraising, organizing programing and even coming down to camp and working hands-on with the campers. As we were preparing for camp a younger male volunteer called me to let me know he was unable to attend due to a minor automobile accident. When Sharon heard of this issue she suggested that I write a letter to Xerox, Phil’s place of employment, to ask if he would be able to take the time to volunteer that summer. They allowed the time off and Phil came to volunteer at camp that summer. Because of his passion for fishing his main responsibility for the summer was to teach the campers how to fish. With many of our campers spending so much of their time in bed or at a hospital, few of them had ever had the opportunity to fish on a lake before, and they loved it! The campers soon nicknamed his Captain Phil as he will forever be called at camp.

While Phil was off reeling in fish with the campers, Sharon helped wherever she could, whether that was serving the campers lunch in our dining hall or in the arts & crafts cabin. And as Camp Good Days grew Sharon and Phil remained, helping in any way they could. They were both always looking for ways to help in our community and were always there for me when I needed them. They both became vital members of the Camp Good Days family, and I am not sure that I would have been able to build such a successful organization at the time without them.

Over the past three years life has been difficult for Sharon and Phil. But even then, she was always just a call away, ready to help in any way she could. All the time I knew her, if she knew that anyone was struggling, she would step right in to help, you never even needed to ask. Both her and Phil were always there for those that needed it. Sharon was truly a beautiful person inside and out. Her passing will leave an impossible void in not only our organization here at Camp Good Days but also in the community. I will be forever grateful for having Sharon Rivaldo in my life. 

I had the honor of attending calling hours on Sunday with my wife, Wendy, for a man who dedicated his life to serving others, especially the youth in our community, and someone who I always admired. Ed Nietopski, a beloved, friend, coach, mentor, father, and athlete sadly passed away last week at the age of 95 years old. Ed was a successful pro baseball player for various minor leagues, including our own Rochester Red Wings for almost ten years. After he retired from baseball he reached to his calling, working with our youth as a coach. He coached at the high school level for 47 years at Catholic schools in our community like Cardinal Mooney and Bishop Kearney. Ed built a distinguished career where he received many awards and honors including becoming a member of the Section Five and National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He became not only a very successful coach to his team but a teacher, someone for his players to look up to and learn from. Even when he retired, he found time to volunteer for organizations like Holy Childhood and Camp Good Days. For a number of summers Ed would come out to our recreational facility on Keuka Lake to help our young campers bake cookies.

This community will certainly miss Ed Nietopski. The good lord blessed him with a long life, beautiful marriage of 72 years to his wife Betty and seven children, one of which has been a longtime friend of my wife. Both were great female athletes and I remember Teresa and Wendy always fighting like sisters and Wendy saying “your dad likes me best”, that I will never forget. He was a rare breed in which service to young people was first and foremost in their lives. I and the children at Camp Good Days will miss him but I know he is in heaven doing what he does best, teaching and coaching.

February 27^th is a day of love, remembrance, and courage, for Camp Good Days. 41 years ago, today, Teddi Mervis, daughter of Gary Mervis, gained her angel wings. Teddi fought a grueling battle with cancer and fought it with strength beyond her years. With over 4 decades since her passing Teddi’s memory still impacts children and families all over the world. Because of Teddi, Gary Mervis founded Camp Good Days, an organization that since her passing has helped and supported more than 50,000 children that are dealing with similar battles that Teddi herself faced.

On Friday, February 17 at 8:00 PM, hundreds of students, faculty, and community members gathered in the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Athletic Center at St. John Fisher University to raise money for Camp Good Days by dancing the night away at the 41^st Annual Teddi Dance for Love. 

 To think that we as a society have whittled down the gift of life to mean so little that we quickly take it away with the pull of a trigger over meaningless disputes. The need for love and prayer has never been greater. In 2023 we need to reinvest in our humanity and change the way we handle conflict and respect. Maybe this should be a goal for all of us in this new year; to restore respect for human life.

The last couple of months has been extraordinarily hard on not only me but our Camp Good Days family as we have lost friends, campers, and beloved volunteers. Between Christmas and New Year’s, we had to say goodbye to our 6½-year-old English Bulldog, Invictus. Invictus, or “Vic” as we called him, joined our family when he was just a puppy after we returned from a trip to Florida.

Tilahun “T” Gushish was a beloved member of the Camp Good Days family and a very special person to me. I first met T several years ago when a friend of mine, Dr. David Korones, asked me about our international campers’ program. He asked me if we would accept children from Ethiopia that were struggling with cancer. Dr. Korones had a patient that he was treating at Golisano children’s hospital that he helped bring over from Ethiopia. We had hosted children from all over the world but never had the opportunity presented itself to host a child from Ethiopia. I was very excited to be able to expand the program to more children. We knew we were blessed when T arrived that summer to attend Camp Good Days International Camp. Tilahun’s love of life and hope were contagious. He could truly light up any room that he entered. I marveled at the fact that such a young boy that had already survived poverty, homelessness, and now struggling with cancer was so strong and joyful.

With this year coming to a close I have been reflecting on the past year and the blessings that I have been gifted; something that I think we should all do more. All too often we let our hardships in life outshine our blessings. When in life more often than not our blessings exceed any hardships, we face. When we look at it we all have so much to be thankful for. I have been taking some time to reflect on all the wonderful people the good Lord has put into my life to build and keep Teddi’s dream alive. I have met such remarkable people every step of the way that were able to step up, share their skills, and fill every need within Camp Good Days.

November is a month dedicated to gratitude, family, and giving thanks. Obviously, I have plenty to be thankful for this year, including all of you. The Camp Good Days community has been so kind and thoughtful during this difficult time of recovery and healing. I, for one, am still getting used to not running around from meeting to meeting every day. However, I’m enjoying spending more time reflecting on this past year, my life, and all that Camp Good Days has done for so many families, including my own.  

Sometimes, I feel like the luckiest person in the world. Why you may ask? For the last 43 years, I come into my office and I’m excited to continue changing the lives of children affected by cancer and sickle cell anemia. No two days are ever the same–one day, I could be hearing updates about how one camper is in remission, while the next day, I’m sitting on the sidelines of the Courage Bowl, watching our honorary coaches and cheerleaders in awe as they experience their first collegiate football game. After this year’s game, it became quite clear to me just how lucky I am to have started something so special, so close to my heart. I think Teddi would be proud of what Camp Good Days has become.

I am so happy to report that just recently, I have been discharged from my at-home care, and I am finally starting to get back into the swing of things. I'm still doing out-patient PT twice a week, so we're not completely out of the woods yet, but I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have reached out to Wendy and I. The notes, thoughts, prayers, check-ins...they all meant so much and have certainly played a huge role in the process of getting me to where I am today. It's been a long couple of months, but I'm making improvements and am grateful for each day that I'm here, doing what I love. 

As many of you know, since March of this year I have spent the majority of my time and efforts dealing with an enlarged prostate and all that goes along with that and I wanted to give you all a quick update. Dr. Louis Eichel, Chief of the Division of Urology at Rochester General Hospital will be performing the necessary surgery this
coming Monday, June 28, 2021.

During this time of uncertainty, we don’t know what the future might bring. We have a dream of normalcy that might never come to fruition. At Camp Good Days, we have been using the phrase that one of my staff members created, “Cancer doesn’t stop during a pandemic and neither do we.” At Camp Good Days, we are committed to helping the children and families in our community who need us the most. This time has been very busy despite changing schedules and working with 50% of the staff in the office at any given time, but I am blessed with a dedicated staff who have never been more challenged than they were during these past few months. 

Who would believe that what started 38 years ago to give the youngest of my three children, Teddi, who was nine at the time, and 62 other children, a residential camping experience, would turn into what Camp Good Days is today.