GREAT FALLS — Tim McGonigal presents his latest "McGonigal's Chronicles" podcast - his guest is Kathy Van Tighem, camp director of Camp Francis, a child bereavement camp held each summer in the Little Belt Mountains.
Van Tighem has been an integral part of the program for most of its 32 years. She says she's amazed at the transformation children dealing with the grief process go through during their time at camp.
"They do start to open up. We find confidence. We see smiles come back, time and time again," Van Tighem said. "We've had parents who, when the campers return to the parents during the final parade, and there's this joyful radiance and the kids will share with us. This is the first time my child has smiled or laughed since their parent died, or since their grandparent died."
Listen here:
The "McGonigal’s Chronicles: Making Montana Connections" podcast is available on Omny.fm, iTunes, Spotify, Google, and Stitcher.
Previous guests include:
- Jeff Ament of the rock band Pearl Jam
- Sarah Calhoun, creator of the Red Ants Pants Music Festival
- Jamie Ford, Great Falls-based NYT best-selling author
- Nada Bakos, former CIA operative
- John Cameron, retired Great Falls police detective
- Dava Newman, former deputy administrator of NASA
