In 1946 Shari “Tres” Sigoloff’s grandparents, “Honey” and “Speedy” Altman, established Camp Thunderbird for Boys. With Thunderbird for Girls opening in 1970, Honey and Speedy’s daughter and son-in-law, Carol and Allen Sigoloff, took over both camps and carried on the traditions of Thunderbird for the next 40 years, providing thousands of young boys and girls with a positive camping experience. Today, Shari and her husband Michael Rawitscher continue the legacy of Shari’s parents and grandparents as the third generation of family owners/directors.

Shari grew up at Thunderbird as a camper and counselor, learning the values of community, friendship, leadership, positive role-modeling and the outdoors. For a brief time, she pursued a career as a Speech-Language Pathologist only to discover that her true passion was in camping. In 1996, she returned to the camping industry full-time as the Associate Director of Camp Thunderbird for Girls.

Shari and Michael live in St. Louis, Missouri, with their two children, Daniel and Paige. Both kids enjoy carefree summers at Thunderbird as day campers. Although not a Thunderbird camper as a child, Michael also grew up with a passion for what camps have to offer. While balancing his young family and a job as a high school math teacher, Michael works mostly behind-the-scenes for Thunderbird and can be found throughout camp in the summer months helping out where needed and acting as the primary caretaker of Daniel and Paige.  Shari and Michael are raising their children with the same values that Shari herself learned at Thunderbird.   “Every time I reconnect with an alum and they speak of the profound impact Thunderbird had on their lives, I am reminded of how fortunate Michael and I are to be able to continue the legacy of Thunderbird for our own children and future generations of campers.”

Roger “Brick” Bristowe first arrived on the shores of Lake Plantagenet in  1993, coming to Camp Thunderbird from Bournemouth, England.  Starting out  as a cabin counselor, he went on to lead the Junior Leader, Pacific Northwest  and Counselor-In-Training programs and also served on Supervisory Staff. In  2000, Roger joined the year-round Thunderbird staff as the Boys Camp  Associate Director, working alongside then Director Allen “Moe” Sigoloff. In  more than two decades, Roger has never missed a summer at Thunderbird,  though he took a brief break from year-round work to start a family. During this  time, he helped develop the not-for-profit organization, Open Roads, an  adventure program that gives inner-city children the opportunity to experience  the outdoors. Today, Roger remains an advisor to the Open Roads program. In  May of 2008, Allen “Moe” Sigoloff retired from his director role and named Roger as the new Boys Camp Director. 

Today Roger lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife Juli and daughters Haley and Jessica. Roger and Juli first met as staff members at Camp Thunderbird in 2000. After those early summers together they both worked in experiential education in the Northeast for the organization, Nature’s Classroom.  Juli has continued to teach and is currently a high school science teacher in Portland. After enjoying many summers as a counselor and trip leader, Juli returns each year as an incredible source of support for counselors and staff and often becomes an on-call summer mom for our young boys.

On the birth of his daughters, Roger says: “My outlook on everything in life changed the moment I became a parent, and it has given me a renewed appreciation for what we have at camp. My daughters have been at camp since they were six weeks old and I have realized there is no better place to grow up. In this day and age, we need places like Thunderbird where our young children can experience adventure in the Outdoors while still in a safe, fun and nurturing environment.”