Archive for August, 2011

Walking through the cabin area, I can hear the wind in the trees. This is the last post of the summer. Some of you may not even read this because you have been reunited with your reason for reading - your child. I mainly wanted to thank everyone for a fantastic summer. Whether you are a member of the F&W community or a parent or a supporter, a whole lot of magic happened here  during these last seven weeks.

Closing days are always a good measure of how the summer went. And yesterday’s was a perfect indication. It was a sorrowful, tearful affair, and yet there was a mixture of real hope. I got the sense that the campers are going to continue to develop the relationships they forged here. This was not just a summer experience for many of them and I could feel the love flowing between them all. In today’s era of social networking, it is easier and easier to stay connected and having a strong person-to-person basis for those connections means that even potentially vapid Facebook notes carry heft. I find that important in terms of the support they can lend each other.

So, I feel good about the state of their friendships. Our last week leading up to Fair pulled everyone even closer together. The word “tenderness” comes to mind when I think back on that week. It was apparent that people were being very intentional about taking care of each other. Fair can be a stressful event to work toward and it takes a lot of teamwork to pull off. I was impressed with the degree to which the community rose (and far exceeded) the challenge. And Fair was a great day and it lead into a moving candle ceremony to close out the summer.

So, I thank everyone for a fantastic summer. I’ve been around for more than my share by now and I can honestly say that this was a very special one. We had an amazing group of staff and campers. I will certainly cherish the memories of Tamarack Farm 2011.

My Best,

Medicine Shield Dancer

For our recurring activity called ” The Human Experience,” which is part of our anti-racism events, we started our summer with the idea of an iceberg.

Icebergs have 10% of their mass bobbing above the surface while 90% lies submerged. Thus, the theory goes, every camper and staff person has an iceberg made up of things we may notice quickly — skin color, activity preferences, style, and temperament — and things that take time or we may never even know, like family histories, past experiences, and hopes or dreams.

When we all arrived at Tamarack Farm, our submerged ‘bergs bumped and jostled in our little pool. Throughout the summer, we have brought more and more of our histories and personalities to the surface. I believe that is a real reason that camp has been so smooth for the second half of this summer. The differences between us are celebrated and augmented by our common experiences here. The superficial has melted and we are seeing our true selves.

That smoothness has seeped into Fair preparations as well. As I mentioned last week, the campers have been stepping into these leadership roles and this past week they put the real work in. Every summer, we sew a quilt sell off in a raffle. So, campers have worked diligently to design it, piece it together, make the batting, and quilt it together. Another set of campers have been cutting and building 15-20 Adirondack chairs (refer to our website for details).  There also has been a dilly bean and general pickling bonanza in the garden and we will have a line up of hand silk-screened shirts.

In short, it has been a productive week. Work is love made visible, as we say, and the love is everywhere these days. I really have been touched by the work that has been done and by the care that all the campers are showing each other. I cannot wait for this one last week of magic.

Week 5 was a blur. Sitting and recollecting, I take that as a good sign.

This was a week of presence and presents.

I felt like everyone here was more present than ever before, especially the campers. Week 5 is the week when the TF staff take a step back and the campers run more and more of the show -  (Important note, this is from a programmatic and systemic standpoint, not a safety and supervision one.)  We talk a lot about leadership in this community and this is the time that it is most apparent.

A camper-led committee picked our Fair Chairs, the campers who are in charge of organizing all our booths and concessions at the end of the summer Fair. Campers took full responsibility for barn chores. And they are really taking care of each other.

So, that was the presence part of camp.

The present aspect comes from a gift we gave to a local farm. Every Saturday, we do an all-camp work project and this past one we moved past the borders of Tamarack Farm. We packed everyone into vans and drove to a local CSA. Evening Song Farm is a first-year farm bought by a couple of young and dedicated farmers. The connection to Evening Song Farm was formed during trips when one of our groups stopped by and helped them out. So, this project was a continuation of that contact. Our 80 or so community members flooded their fields with willing hands for weeding. We also dammed up a small dunking pool in a river that borders the farm. I think it was a special morning for us to see young people really excited about growing vegetables and putting in the hard work to make a successful CSA. One of the farm’s owners, Ryan, was very grateful and really quite moved by the gesture.

Our campers worked their butts off. This is a connection I hope can continue to grow over the years.

On Saturday night we had our Museum of Farm Art, or MOFA, party, which is a fantastic night of celebration. Every member of Tamarack Farm submits some piece of art and we turn our Rec Lodge into a fancy exhibit. There was a mix of hand drawn works and sculpture pieces and there were also some fine performances sprinkled in throughout the evening. MOFA is often one of my favorite nights of a summer and this one certainly did not disappoint. There were brilliant costumes complementing the decorations and hors d’oeuvres. We finished the night with a bonfire shaped like an octopus.

Any time you finish your week with a bonfire shaped like an octopus, you know it has been a good week.

My Best

Medicine Shield Dancer