History
Seeking a cure for his tuberculosis in the fresh mountain air, Julian Reiss and his family moved to Lake Placid from New York City in 1925. After living in Lake Placid for many years, getting cured, and engaging in various business pursuits (including the founding of Santa’s Workshop, the nation’s first theme park, at the base of Whiteface Mountain), Julian established a summer camp so that boys from the city could enjoy and benefit from the Adirondacks as he had. For over forty years after Julian Reiss’ death in 1959, the Julian Reiss Foundation and its sponsorship of summer camp programs was managed by one of Julian’s sons, Dr. Paul J. Reiss. Dr. Reiss, a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross who earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University, and went on to a career as a college professor and administrator, including service as Executive Vice President of Fordham University and, from 1985 until his retirement in 1996, President of Saint Michael’s College in Vermont.
When Dr. Reiss took over responsibility for the camp from his father Julian, he sought to sponsor not just a one-time summer vacation for children, but rather a program and an experience that would have a longer-term positive influence in their lives. Around the same time, Father Walter Janer, S.J. had begun a program for boys at Nativity Mission Center on the lower east side of Manhattan and was looking for a summer camp facility. Together in 1962, they established Camp Monserrate, which provided a full summer-camp program for the primarily Hispanic boys of Nativity Mission Center. The camp proved very effective in advancing the students’ academics, self-confidence, and educational aspirations. In 1993, the Foundation, under the leadership of Dr. Reiss, constructed a second camp facility on its property in Lake Placid and partnered with the Sisters of the Holy Child to develop a similar summer program for middle-school girls from the Cornelia Connelly School in NYC, which ran continuously through 2019, when the school chose a facility closer to home.
The Nativity School, after gentrification of its NYC neighborhood, closed in 2012. For four years, the Foundation hosted kids from the St. Aloyisus school in Harlem, which also closed. Since then, the St. Ignatius School of the South Bronx, a member of the nationwide Nativity Network of schools, has been our NYC partner for its full summer camp programs for both girls and boys. The pandemic forced suspension of camp by St. Ignatius in 2020 and 2021, but the Foundation instead supported St Ignatius’ summer programs in the city both years. Camp will be back in full swing in Lake Placid in 2022.
Today, the Reiss Foundation is managed by a Board of Directors, each of whom is a descendent of Julian Reiss. One of them is Mary Watson Seybold, daughter of Julian’s late daughter Mary, and both have been dedicated supporters of the Foundation.
The immediate former Chairman, Dr. Paul J. Reiss, MD, of Williston, VT handled the operations of the Foundation for over 10 years and remains active in the mission. Under his leadership, the Foundation forged new partnerships with City Squash, The Foresight Project, and Families First, and co-created the St. Agnes School Day Camp program, which is open to all elementary school aged children in Lake Placid and operating since 2018. A partnership with Families First of Essex County was developed in 2017 to host an annual outing and picnic for local families with children experiencing mental health issues, and now is held several times a summer. City Squash, a year-round program based at Fordham University that encourages and develops young student athletes, holds its annual late August retreat for over 100 students and coaches, hosted by the Foundation and spearheaded by David Reiss and Greg Reiss. The Foresight Project is a service organization of Nativity and Monserrate alums working together to support the next generation as they navigate their college application process and college career. Their leadership team hosts their annual summer strategic planning retreat at Camp Monserrate.