We’ve had our first snowfall and today’s wintery chill makes summer seem so distant. Yet, what a summer it was!
Our camps were filled with the sounds of laughing, energetic children as they explored the wilderness and embarked on adventures.
We welcomed a new location and name for our primitive-living program for Indian Brook campers, Red Spruce Grove. The name reflects the program’s natural setting, as the sun glows red on a grove of spruce trees at dusk.
Several all-camps events were especially powerful. Summer 2016 included the joyous discovery of a Farm & Wilderness time capsule during the Saltash Mountain Camp’s Fair skit, and speaks to the persistence of campers and staff alike who were determined to unearth the 2006 capsule.
At Interdependence Day, Tamarack Farm youth offered a poignant outcry against the lives lost in racial violence. Encouraging youth to take peaceful stances against racism, intolerance and unkindness is a worthy effort for social justice. We continue to seek ways to educate staff and campers in guiding and participating in conversations that require taking risks and stretching beyond comfort zones.
Those themes of affirming the individual, and supporting change in policy and practice, surfaced in a regional camp consortium gathering this fall. We shared our process in affirming transgender youth and staff, and addressing topics of cultural appropriation. The tweak of our F&W logo to reflect a move away from tipis to canvas structures exemplifies how we consider what and why we do things that might be offensive.
In this ever-changing political climate, F&W’s values of peacemaking, equity, and service are vitally important. Please take a moment to practice an act of kindness, generosity and friendship, and open your hearts and minds to better understand the perspectives of those with whom we may differ in opinion. Farm & Wilderness is organizing a group to join the Women’s March on Washington January 21st, so please keep an eye on our Facebook page for details.
Just as the squirrels, deer, bear and other wildlife are preparing for the winter, we’re planning, too, and refining camp programs for Summer 2017.
This summer will focus on the Farm in Farm & Wilderness. Chantal Deojay, our farm manager, and camp directors are developing some interesting projects and updating programs to reinforce the special place our organic farm has at the F&W camps. Feel free to email me your stories and reflections on how our farm has inspired you in the past or currently.
This summer we will have two Long Trail Quester trips. Red Spruce Grove will have two sessions and is already filling. Enrollment is already active for other F&W camps, so register soon before all the spots are taken.
Wishing you a fantastic New Year and looking forward to seeing you and your campers when camps open.
In peace,
Rebecca Geary