Meet the Directors

Page Ives Lemel, Camp Director

Page is Florence Ellis’s (original founder of Keystone) great great niece and a fourth-generation Director of Keystone. She is a graduate of Duke University and assumed the position of Director in 1984. Her father, Bill Ives, ran the camp from 1961 until 1984. Page grew up at Keystone and spent her summers as a camper, counselor, and Head Counselor before taking over the Director’s position.

Page currently lives at Keystone with her husband and three children. She serves on various community boards in Brevard. Her love of Keystone is contagious!

Debbie (Deb) Knight, Associate Director

Deb joined the Keystone Team as Associate Director on August 5th, 2006. Deb brings to Keystone six years of administrative camp experience. Previously she was an Assistant Director and CIT Coordinator at another Western North Carolina camp.

In the off-seasons Deb stays busy doing camper recruiting and program planning. During the summers, her primary focus is on the campers and their families as well as program scheduling and daily website updates. Deb currently serves on the American Camp Association Southeastern Section Board of Directors as Vice-President.

Deb grew up in the Crescent City, New Orleans area and completed her studies in Recreation Management at the University of South Alabama. She lives in Pisgah Forest with her Golden Retriever "Gracie".

Elizabeth (Liz) Preston, Associate Director

Thanks to her mother’s attendance and love of Keystone Camp, Liz became a camper here in 1991 and continued until 1994. She was counselor from 1999 to 2001, teaching a variety of activities. After graduating from Sewanee: University of the South in 2001, Liz joined the Peace Corps and moved to Mozambique, Africa. Following her stint teaching English overseas, she returned to the U.S. and began a year-round position at Keystone Camp in 2004. Her primary work through out the off-season is hiring the staff for the summer and traveling for camper recruitment. During the summer, Liz coordinates the counselors and their daily schedules. She loves Keystone, the campers, and of course, all the crazy fun that comes along with it!

Jessica Gallagher, Associate Director

Gallagher began her camping career in 2000 as a counselor at an area camp. Her love of camp and Western North Carolina brought her back for 5 summers. She grew up in Russellville, Arkansas and graduated from Hendrix College in 2003. Gallagher served as a youth minister and worked as a chemical analyst in an environmental chemistry lab before returning to the mountains permanently. She began the year-round position at Keystone in September of 2006. During the off-season Gallagher manages the database and some camper recruiting. Her summer work includes managing the leadership programs and the waterfront.