Our Team
Anne Henningfeld, MA, CTRS
Anne Henningfeld has over ten years experience directing summer resident, day, and travel camps for a variety of populations, including hemophilia, traumatic brain injury, and at-risk youth. Since 2014, she has spent her summers executing her favorite part of summer camp: staff training. Anne completed her Master’s Degree in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Toledo in 2011 and is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. A two-time recipient of the Health Education Award of Distinction from the National Hemophilia Foundation, and the 2009 Michigan Hemophilia Professional of the year, Anne is in demand as a speaker and presenter. She was the 1998 Central Florida Yo-Yo Champion and toured the United States doing motivational school assembly programs. Anne currently spends the off-season researching and improving her staff training modules while accompanying her husband Michael as he performs in the global tour of Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza.
Selected Publications:
Lessons Learned in the Dark: The Role of Practical Wisdom in Camp Staffing. Camping Magazine, August 2017
Transitional Objects: Creating Continuity with the Camp Experience. Camping Magazine, July 2016
Summer Choices for Teens. Parenthetical, February 2017
Achieving Summer Goals. Parenthetical, March 2017
Choosing the Right Summer Plan. Parenthetical, March 2017
Michael Jay Garner
Michael Jay Garner started his performing career like many who pursue this type of work: by accident. He received a BA in Psychology from Emory University, where he also learned how to juggle, play various musical instruments, and find comfort and joy playing on stage as a four-year cast member of the nation's oldest college improv troupe. After college, Michael worked in the corporate world, but took many side gigs as a performer. And while preparing an audition piece for The Big Apple Circus, he realized that by assembling this random assortment of skills, he had inadvertently been training to be a clown for ten years — without even realizing it. Since then, Michael's life has been a swirling vortex of clowning and circus arts — from working as a hospital clown with The Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit, to being the Resident Clown at The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp (a children's medical camp founded by Paul Newman). He has also toured with Britney Spears on her World Circus Tour and has been touring internationally with Cirque du Soleil since 2016, playing the Handyman clown in KOOZA. Michael is also very proud to work with Cirque du Monde, an outreach program of Cirque du Soleil that teaches circus arts to at-risk and underserved youth. And finally, he would like to apologize for the camera being too close to his face in the posted profile photo.
TRoy Davidson
Troy Davidson is an accomplished actor and clown, with a strong background in summer camp. He has served as Resident Camp Clown at The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, a medically specialized camp for children and families started by Paul Newman. Troy is also the supervisor of the South Florida division of Healthy Humor, an arts organization whose performers create moments of joy and laughter for hospitalized children. With Beyond Recreation, Troy presents summer camp staff trainings across the country. Troy is a graduate of The Acting School of South Florida and a member of the Actor's Equity Association. He is also a Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast.