Robert "Chic" Cicchillo

Counselor, Group Leader (1964-1971)



Bob Cicchillo is regarded by many from his generation as the greatest Color War general in the history of Tyler Hill Camp. But his arrival at camp was certainly a humble one. In 1964, Bob was delivering vegetables to the summer camps in Wayne County, for a Scranton-based company. While Bob was making a delivery to Tyler Hill Camp, before the season started, he met Eleanor Bernstein. The two of them hit it off and Eleanor convinced Joe and Bill to hire Bob as a counselor in the youngest division, the Rovers.

Bob was an immediate hit with the kids and his charismatic personality made him popular throughout the camp during that first summer, in 1964. Over the next several summers, he gained a great reputation for his remarkable songwriting skills, for the group sings as well as for Color War. His legendary Ranger march was fashioned to the theme from the old TV western, Bonanza. The opening lyrics, "We are, we are, we are, we are the Rangers. We are, we are, we are, we are the Rangers of Tyler Hill..." got stuck in the heads of nearly every camper and counselor who heard it that night, where it remained forever for some of us, most of whom weren't even in that group.

He was the first counselor who earned the pre-Color War general chant in the dining room, "Cichillo for general, Cichillo for general!" that became a standard for decades to follow. When Color War was in session, Bob was immediately pressed into action, as a songwriter, and for his amazing and inspiring rally speeches. There was always the sense that with his leadership, you couldn't lose when "Chic" was on your team.

In the summer of 1967, as the General of Blue Hawaii, he culminated a week of inspiring speeches with one of the most memorable Color War sings ever. His team lost the Color War, but enjoyed a crushing win on sing night, leaving people from both teams singing his songs for years. For the record, his co-general on the Girls' side was a whirlwind named Marian (Heft) Bongino, helping to create one of most the memorable pairs of Color War generals of all time.

Throughout most of the sixties, Bob was a popular part of the camp culture, where he also met his wife, Audrey. In 1997, he attended the famous 1997 weekend reunion, where he joined many of his peers in reliving the golden age of camp, if only for a couple of days. He is still regarded by the Tyler Hill Camp family as the true embodiment of the Tyler Hill Camp spirit.