Senior Staff

For Mitch Goldman, our Director and Owner, Camp Chateauguay has been a centerpiece in his life for the past 40 years. His camp connections go back to its very beginnings in 1946, when his relatives attended the camp. Mitch’s mother was a camper in the 1950’s. Mitch then followed in her footsteps and became a camper and then a counselor in the 1980’s and 1990s. After a career in the entertainment industry, Mitch returned to Camp Chateauguay in 2016 as Camp Director and bought the camp from its previous owner, Hal Lyons, in 2022. 

Through the years, Mitch has watched thousands of children laughing, playing, and growing up on the pristine shores of Chateaugay Lake. His mission is to continue this circle of life, creating a supportive community where kids learn to thrive in the areas that are important to them, as well as acquire important life skills like effective communication, self-reliance, empathy for others and self-esteem. Mitch is passionate about our youth and passionate about camp. He lives at Camp Chateaugay all summer with his wife, Ashley (a therapist who serves as a camper advocate at Chateaugay) and his 2 children.

Blane Stewart, the Co-Director of Camp Chateaugay has come full circle and returned to camp full time after previous roles as counselor and videographer for several years. Since moving to New York from England in 2013, Blane has trained to work with children with special needs and mentored underprivileged youth through the Boys & Girls Club and Lifeties. He is a graduate of Winchester University and after being an Au Pair for 2 years, he went on to become a successful manager of a leading fabrication company in the entertainment industry for the past 7 years. Blane is so excited to be a part of the Camp Chateaugay legacy and having returned to his roots as runs all Staff hiring and helps oversee the day-to-day operations of Chateaugay. Over the summer, he will fill every day with adventures for campers and create an environment where campers and staff from different cultures become one community by the end of summer.

Blair DeMaio, the Camper Experience Director at Camp Chateaugay, has an unwavering passion for camp life, cultivated through her journey from camper to counselor to head staff. Her profound connection to camp is rooted in years of immersive experiences, as she grew up attending Chateaugay with her two older siblings for many years before returning to be a staff member and take on new roles. In her previous roles at camp she worked as our Camp Photographer, a Canoe/Kayak instructor, a Wilderness counselor, and a Unit Leader.

Formerly a tech recruiter in New York City, Blair now brings her enthusiasm and people-focused background to foster a vibrant camp community. In this role she will manage our Social Media team, work on Camper Recruiting, and oversee Alumni Relations. Additionally, while at camp she is the go-to person for all camper related issues.

Candi Poitras, our Office Director, is the glue that keeps our daily operations running smoothly. She is in charge of enrollments and will be a point of contact on organizational emails and outreach from Camp Chateaugay. She also oversees Chateaugay’s human resource management, business operations, and makes sure the camp office is running effectively and efficiently. With past experience in the hospitality industry and financial sectors, Candi, a Chateaugay local, is passionate about working with people, putting a positive and understanding attitude above all else. She loves the outdoors, and her favorite part of spending the summer at Camp Chateaugay is watching campers build lifelong friendships.

Adam Hampton is our Special Interests Activity Director. His experience runs from athletics counselor to A-Field head to Unit Leader. He is involved in the day-to-day scheduling of camp, logistics, human relations and advises and assists Mitch & Blane in whatever capacity they need. 

Camp Chateaugay is near and dear to his family, and this season will be his 17th at Chateaugay! Both his children have attended Chateaugay as campers and it has been a pleasure for him being able to work with them now, both as counselors. Adam even met his now wife, Wendy at a summer camp in Maine in 1993 and has since gone on to be married for 25 years. He is currently a middle school English teacher and has been at the same school in Covina, California for over 30 years.

Wendy Hampton, our Leadership Director, has been a part of the Chateaugay family since 2006. Prior to joining Chateaugay, Wendy spent 25 summers at a camp in Maine where she met her husband Adam, (our Special Interest Activity Director) and had a camp wedding and proceeded to have “camp” children who are now 23 and 21 and also a part of the Chateaugay family. Wendy is a middle school special education teacher in the off season. Her most loved part of camp is being on the lake and connecting with the campers and staff. 

Lauren Davies is currently our Head Counselor at Chateaugay. She has been a part of the camp family since the summer of 2018. Lauren spent two amazing years as a Unit Leader before becoming the Head Counselor. She is originally from a small town called ‘Burry Port’ in Wales, UK, but currently lives in Dubai, UAE. She is the Lead Mathematics Teacher and Netball Coach at a British International School. Lauren is Swansea University graduate and has degrees in business management and teaching, but for Lauren, Camp Chateaugay really has (as we say) become her home away from home. She couldn’t think of any other way to spend her summer than with our ‘favorite people’ in our ‘favorite place’.

Josh Blumkin, our Mental Health Director, is excited to be back at Chateaugay, the camp he has called home for more than 20 summers. He began his Chateaugay journey back in 1981 as a camper and then went on to become a staff member for several years.  His love of working with children was created in large part due to his experiences at Chateaugay and helped lead him to his current profession as a school psychologist in the Rochester, NY City School District.  He has worked as a school psychologist for 15 years and is blessed to bring many of these skills and knowledge to camp in our Mental Health Program.  Prior to returning to Chateaugay, Josh was an assistant director at a day camp in Rochester for 10 summers where he focused on the well-being of campers and the creation of a special needs program for children with autism, anxiety, ADHD and other special needs.  He believes there is so much to love at Chateaugay – the spirit, the special days, the independence that the campers have – but his favorite part is walking around camp and feeling accepted and appreciated and seeing that reciprocated by so many in our camp family. 

Jen Reynolds has been part of the Chateaugay family since 2004. Her experience at camp has included Swim Staff and Bunk Counselor, Unit Leader, Waterfront Director, and most recently, Pool Director in which she runs our swim program. She met her husband, Chris (our current Waterfront Director) in 2004 at camp. They then went on to get engaged at camp in 2005, and have returned to Chateaugay every summer since! Camp Chateaugay is their summer home and favorite place for their three children Jack (11), Charlie (9), and Josie (3) and their dog Rue. Every summer is a journey for each of them and an exciting opportunity for their children to have fun with their favorite friends and activities along with learning new skills!  During the year, the Reynolds family lives in Plymouth, MN. Jen is in her 16th year of teaching high school Health and Physical Education.

Chris Reynold is our Waterfront Director who has been a part of Chateaugay since 2001 as a bunk counselor and then sailing instructor.  This will be his 20+ year at Chateaugay and he currently runs the waterfront with his wife Jen, who is our Pool Director. Chris actually met Jen at Chateaugay and has gone on to have 3 beautiful children who have all grown up at camp from babies, and are now campers themselves, getting to experience all of the amazing things Chateaugay has to offer. Chris states that he loves spending time on Chateaugay Lake “there is nowhere else I’d rather be in the summer.  I instantly loved the lake and community that Chateaugay offered my first summer.” Chateaugay, Chris says, has been the one constant in his life, through teaching, moving from the Middle East, Germany, and now Minnesota where he is navigating family life and being a Physical Education teacher in Wayzata.