Published in the interim between camp seasonsby the Farm & Wilderness Foundation

illus

tratio

n by

Pril

l Hin

ckley

The INTERIM

The Feeling of ChallengeBy Zach Podhorzer, Flying Cloud Director

If you’ve heard anything about Flying Cloud, you’ve probably heard something about how simply we live. In fact, I imagine most people have Flying Cloud explained to them by what we don’t have, rather than what we do: There’s no electricity, no time, and no fire or water (unless you work for it!). We strive for a simple life. We hold a thanksgiving every morning to express our gratitude for the beautiful world we live in. Chances are, if you’re reading this Interim, you understand why the forests of New England are worth exploring.

There’s really nothing like waking up to the glow of sunrise, with the dappled patterns of shady leaves painted across the canvas of your tipi. Chickadees, juncos, and warblers are the first sounds you hear. There is a fire pit still warm from last night’s fire and the earth so close below your bed that is still warm from a night of sleep. From that peace a conch rings out, and there’s a piece of you that doesn’t want to leave those fleeting moments of natural beauty behind, but you can’t help but wonder what the day might hold.

Ultimately, it’s that wonder that keeps us coming back to this way of life. Certainly a desire to connect with nature is essential to our experience. We come back to Flying Cloud year-after-year because it challenges our feeling of comfort. A challenge that only the pursuit of the simplest life can give. It’s this challenge that we build our summer around.

It all starts with finding comfort in a different home. Ours is an unknown home with fewer amenities. Once we find that comfort, we seek to disrupt it. We create situations that

— continues page 3— continues page 3

Digital Gatherings Keep IBers ConnectedBy Emma Freedman, IB camper ’12-’13

Sitting in silence within a circle of community brings me peace. There’s no need to say anything funny, or be anyone other than the real me, breathing in the moment. For many kids our age, sitting still and silent for fifteen minutes sounds like torture, but for most of Indian Brook’s Upper Senior Lodge and me, it’s an experience to be treasured.

So we’ve decided to bring Silent Meeting into our lives outside of Farm & Wilderness.

Since August, I’ve been organizing weekly Silent Meetings through the computer from my home in Santa Cruz County,

Emma Freedman sharpens a tool; IB counselor, Dara Aber-Ferri, keeps her company.

fall 13 winter 14 volume 75 #1’ ’

INSIDE INTERIM Read about Carol Browner, F&W Haying, the TF Reunion, and more…

2 Interim fall/winter 2013-14

FARM & WILDERNESS 2014

CALENDAR

OVERNIGHT CAMPS Full Summer Session June 25-August 10 July Session June 25-July 18J1 Session June 25-July 6 August Session July 20-August 10 A1 Session July 20-August 1 Fair Weekend August 9-10Family Camp August 17-23

BARN DAY CAMPSession 1 June 23-July 4Session 2 July 7-July 18 Session 3A July 21-August 8 Session 3B July 21-August 1 Session 3C August 4-8

F&W EVENTS Annual F&W Celebration January 25 (Wash., D.C.)Ice Cutting Weekend February 14-17Spring Planting Weekend May 23-26Fair Weekend August 8-10 Harvest Weekend October 10-13

ABOUT The INTERIMThe Interim is the newsletter of the Farm & Wilderness summer camps. We welcome submissions from everyone. You may submit writing, drawings, cartoons, photographs, or other work. We may edit for content or space.

To submit your work to the Interim, email us at: interim@farmandwilderness.org, OR via postal mail to:

Interim Farm & Wilderness263 Farm & Wilderness RoadPlymouth, Vermont 05056

Help us BE GREEN: You can receive the Interim electronically instead if you wish; just let us know.

If you get too lonely for camp between Interims, visit the website at www.farmandwilderness.org. Check for Facebook updates, www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Farm-And-Wilderness-Camps.

LETTER FROM PIETERNovember 2013

Greetings F&W Community!Here at Farm & Wilderness, the fall months are all about celebration of what we did well, and reflection on how best to achieve our mission.

First let’s celebrate our 74th summer, which was by all accounts our best summer yet! This year, over 60% of our hard-working staff were either former campers, former staff, or both. Mixed together with some fantastic new folks, they took our programs to a whole new level of fun. Some highlights included a kybo built by campers (with a 360-degree rotating seat, an F&W first) and starting a cabin at Tamarack Farm; a 10-day Girls Wilderness pilot program; continued Cultural Competency and Inclusivity trainings at all of the camps; and a bountiful harvest of organic vegetables, milk and fiber from our farms.

We are still basking in the glow of our many great community events during Fair Weekend. We started with a door-busting 272 folks at the Community Dinner featuring Rich Parker, which led nicely to a sublime and very full Fair, followed that evening by a raucous party at Good Commons, and then a successful close to the summer the next day. Throughout all of this, our love for F&W, our families, and each other was palpable.

Then, October was packed with a beautiful Fall Harvest Weekend, followed by the 60th Tamarack Farm Reunion. TF Staff Alum Craig Line and former Executive Director/Alum Len Cadwallader facilitated a memorial service for Peter Fisher, which was simple and powerful and kind. This reunion gave us all the opportunity to reflect on how being a camper or staff member was and is a “core experience” in creating self-identity. For many of our alumni, this has been reflected in a lifetime of parenting, grand-parenting, and building careers which amplify our mission.

So now here we are in late fall, and as the leaves fade to red and yellow, we are all hard at work trying preparing to for our 75th Anniversary next summer. We do so with profound appreciation for the many folks who hold F&W in the Light, and also with the keen awareness that there is much yet to be done.

Thanks go to all of our staff, Board, parents and grandparents, alumni and donors, and even our livestock and gardens, for making 2013 another incredible year at F&W!

Warm regards,

Pieter Bohen is F&W’s President & Acting Executive Director

Interim fall/winter 2013-14 3

IBers Jordie Beresin, Rachel Varden, Michaela Regehr, Teale Bohen, Emma Freedman, and Mariah Mills-Andruk

— Silent Meeting, continued from page 1

continue to stretch that comfort. To show ourselves that, with continued exposure, we can find comfort in a moment we previously felt was unreasonable. And once we find ourselves comfortable with that challenge, we stretch it further.

It is this comfort in the face of a difficult situation that I hope our campers and staff can take away. It’s not only useful in the outdoors. Being able to confront difficult situations will always be a part of everyone’s life. Flying Cloud, and all of F&W for that matter, is simply trying to provide experiences that help you prepare. So think about when was the last time you chose to be leave your comfort zone because you wanted to challenge yourself? When was the last time you felt at home in a place you never thought you would?

To all the campers reading this, don’t let F&W be the only place you do this. To everyone else who dreams about going back to camp or embarking on another adventure, don’t hesitate, just leap in. *

— Flying Cloud, continued from page 1

commitment to the bonds that I have made at camp. It’s also a time for me to reflect on my week. The IB community is a safety net for me to rely on and fall back on when I've had a hard week.”

Lizzie Edwards from Portland, OR said, “Silent Meeting is one of the highlights of my week. I love seeing all my IB friends and reflecting with them. It brings us together."

Mariah Mills-Andruk from Glen Ridge, NJ said, “I go to silent meeting because I'm trying to bring a little of the IB joy to my normal life. [It] makes my Sunday a bit brighter each time.”

Every time we get together, we talk about what a great summer we had, and how important IB is to us. We’ll never forget the things we learned there, and we’re all so grateful to the staff at IB, and everyone who made such a beautiful experience possible. Thank you for creating such an incredible and joyful place for us to grow. IB will stay in our hearts forever. *

Flying Cloud campers stay warm by their morning campfire.

CA. While technology is not a part of life at camp, my friends and I are finding that it can really help us continue camp values. Every Sunday, some of us IBers—as far flung as from England to New Jersey to Oregon—get together on camera on Google Hangout and talk about how our week went, how school is, and how life in general is faring. Then we sit in silence for about 15 minutes to reflect on our week.

Although I’ve only gone to Indian Brook for two years, it is my home. This past summer I had the time of my life as a Pioneer; felling a tree, working on the Interdependence Day and Fair bonfires, going on a “get lost” hike, and completing a solo trip. While I was at IB, I developed more self-confidence, and continued on my path of learning what it means to be me. The IB community is a safe place where girls can live joyfully and discover their true selves. Although I’ve aged out of the program and have to move on, I’ll never forget the experiences I had there, and the friendships I made will last a lifetime.

Along with most of Upper Senior Lodge, I started high school this year. For many of us this has been a difficult transition, but fortunately we have maintained our IB connections and friendships, and every week we get together to recreate some of the IB joy that we experienced during the summer. The F&W values of a close-knit community, fulfilling work, and strong friendships are things that we all want to have more of in our everyday lives. For many of us, the tradition of Silent Meeting symbolizes a large part of what it means to be part of this community—it’s a safe place to reflect and grow. I thought that it would be a powerful way to continue camp traditions outside of IB.

When we were at camp, Silent Meeting was required. But in our everyday lives, we continue participating by choice. I asked some fellow Upper Senior Lodgers why they like to come to Silent Meeting throughout the year. Here is what they said:

Ali Pirl from Pittsburgh, PA said, “I like to come to Silent Meeting to catch up with camp friends. To me, it means a

4 Interim fall/winter 2013-14

of the whole weekend. We were reminded once again that all the connections and magic that happens at camp are anchored in these meetings. From this powerful place, all good things can spring. Many people spoke of how central the camps have been in their lives and in helping to form their identities.

At the end of the reunion, we laughed and cried and hugged as we said goodbye to each

other and to the place that means so much to us. What do you call a place that is home to thousands of friendships and countless acts of kindness?

One legacy of Tamarack Farm’s magic is that it has provided this special place year after year and will welcome a new crop of “farmers” next summer. *

Tamarack Farm Reunion was a BlastBy Sam Arfer, Registrar

From barn chores to conversations about escaped pigs and late-night pranks, the recent TF reunion was a full and amazing weekend! About 70 alumni enjoyed beautiful weather, homegrown food and each other’s fabulous company. Time seemed very fluid as we greeted friends, including former campers, counselors, cooks, directors, crew and year-round staff, many of whom we hadn’t seen for five, 10, 20, even 50 years!

We relived camp with activities of silk screening, hiking trips all over the Plymouth Valley, craft projects, baking pies, and even a traditional TF town meeting! Moderated by former Executive Director Len Cadwallader, this meeting revealed that the Tamarack Farm alumni still feel passionately about the place and what goes on there. Strong opinions and good listening skills combined to make a lively and respectful meeting that brought us closer together. We also paddled canoes on Woodward Reservoir and explored Tamarack Farm’s cabins on foot.

As always, TF wouldn’t be TF without work projects. These included barn chores, threshing beans, helping to put the garden to bed, and moving firewood. The weekend’s main activity was connecting; both meeting new people and reintroducing ourselves to old friends. The sunny porch of the farmhouse (the NEW farmhouse to those of us who were at TF before 1988) got heavy use as we recalled transformative work experiences, moments of discovery and joy, as well as funny stories about escaping pigs, late night pranks, and hiking trips that went awry. (I’m looking at you, Bromley-to-Camp 1982!)

Other activities included a contra dance, lots of singing and picture taking, and a meeting to recall former counselor and crew member, Peter Fischer, who died last winter.

Silent Meeting happened both days (once in the meeting circle, once in the farmhouse) and this was perhaps the sweetest part

Someday…By Megan Chamberlain, Indian Brook Director

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” –Plato

This summer, Indian Brook camp continued to focus on creating a space where kids can just be kids. These Special Days continue to produce the most joyful zany, and out-of-the-norm programming at Indian Brook. There are certainly plenty of days and activities that provide campers and staff with an outlet to be silly and creative, including Garden Afternoon, Interdependence Day, Adventure Day, Country Fair Day, Dr. Seuss Afternoon, Harvest Afternoon, and the F&W Fair.

{ {

Indian Brook campers reach for the pudding falling from the sky during this summer’s Someday.

Interim fall/winter 2013-14 5

Every summer, IB celebrates one of our most favorite holidays, “Someday” when the ordinary routine of camp is set aside! On this day, counselors plan happenings that result from someone saying, “Someday…” Take a bath in the giant dish-washing sink? Maybe Someday. Green eggs and ham for lunch? Someday. No bells to follow during the day? Chocolate pudding falling from the sky? Definitely Someday. The campers never know exactly when Someday occurs, but it is quickly realized by the unusual behavior of their counselors and the camp setting. The day becomes a camper-driven, creative fun mess! Someday enforces creative play through programmatic silliness and a little extra camp magic. Check out what happened this summer as described by Madelyn ‘Maddie’ Sovern, Senior Lodge Staff:

On this day, nothing is as it seems and the joy of being an IB camper shines bright! Campers woke up in their cabins to find that their counselors were missing, and a full bagel breakfast had been left for them in a box outside!

It was so fun to observe from afar how the different cabins reacted to having missing counselors. While there was the initial excitement at realizing they were unsupervised, the campers soon realized that their lack of counselors gave them greater responsibility.

Some cabins put off this realization longer than others—

enjoying the novelty of waking up by themselves—but other cabins immediately started doling out bagels and decoding their scavenger hunt clues. It was a privilege to watch campers step into a leadership role, organize their cabin’s breakfast, and search for their counselors. After searching high and low, campers finally found their counselors hiding up in our adventure course. Here, campers were greeted with a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.

This was the perfect way to kick off a most whimsical day. Our morning activities included bubble baths in the bed of our pickup truck, jazzercising to some favorite tunes, tie dying, and climbing our rock wall to reach candy at the top!

Someday food was the most creative. For lunch, we all became giants and ate people-sized food! Miniature hamburgers and hotdogs (and their veggie friendly alternatives), baby corn, and veggies were all fun-sized!

Sustaining the energy of the day meant afternoon activities that included dying our hair with Jell-o, covering our bodies with chocolate pudding, and taking showers in our Hobart dish sanitizing room. At dinner time, we shrank back down to human-size, and ate giant sized food. It was breakfast for dinner; giant sized pancakes, bacon, and fried eggs! It was quite the exhilarating, zany, and very magical day at Indian Brook. *

our roots. Parents, campers and alumni expect the contact with nature, the freedom and the acceptance that is associated with Farm & Wilderness. Yes, “wild” can be negative as well as positive—and that’s what keeps camp interesting. Boys are attracted to nature, to the wild.

My challenge is to lead towards the uncultivated and natural “wild” and away from the uncontrolled “wild”. I am 100% committed to the experiential education principles we are founded on, but will not confuse that with loose and free actions that have no distinguishable outcome. One example of this was the Fair Fire. There was a palpable sense of teamwork and

— continues next page

By Tulio Browning, Timberlake Director

As director of Timberlake I find it interesting to run a camp for boys when you don’t believe in classic gender norms. I believe in a camp where everyone gets to be more of a “quirky boy” and to have the opportunity to be as unusual, exuberant and unique as they like. I also firmly believe that many of us have steered clear of some classic male activities—team sports, tools, axes, etc., because we lacked the desire to carve through a thick layer of testosterone to reach the activity itself. We were put off by the posturing and fronting. I believe in goals that are larger than me and which can be found within these two qualities:

wild /wīld/1. (of an animal or plant) Living or growing in the natural environment; not domesticated or cultivated.2. In an uncontrolled manner: “The bad guys shot wild”.Note the difference between the definitions. The former is our goal. The latter we avoid.

wor·thy /w rTHē/1. Deserving effort, attention, or respect, “generous donations to worthy causes”.Synonyms: virtuous, righteous, good, moral, ethical, upright, upstanding, high-minded, principled, exemplary

To be worthy of the continued effort, attention and respect we receive from staff, parents and campers, we need to honor

Timberlake campers enjoy themselves at a recent Banquet.

e

6 Interim fall/winter 2013-14

— Timberlake, continued from page 5

Hayloft with Locally GrownBy Chantal Deojay, Farm Manager

For the first time in recent memory, F&W’s barn is filled with about 1,900 bales of our locally grown hay. This means we no longer have to purchase organic hay for $10,000 or more. Our haying also offers campers a memorable experience while giving us first-hand knowledge of our hay quality and growing conditions.

In August, about a dozen Tamarack Farm campers and staff hoisted bales of hay onto trucks from acreage on Plymouth Notch, which affords wonderful views of Killington Mountain. They helped gather and stack the 100-pound bales in the fields. Farm crew trucked the bales about eight miles to our barns. There, another group of TF campers and staff unloaded the bales onto the hay elevator and then stacked the bales tightly in the hay loft.

“Haying is a perfect example of the work we offer Tamarack Farmers. It’s a big task with significance (we need it done so our animals can eat all winter) which needs a lot of hands,” said Tamarack Farm Director Amy Bowen. “When it’s time to hay, we all drop everything and head to the barns and fields. It’s beautiful to see our young people working hard together for the place and people they love.”

Farm & Wilderness, historically, has hayed its own fields—dating back to the days of using a scythe on the knee-high grass on the fairgrounds. These days, the farm crew, staff and campers—as well as whomever else we

Campers Help Fill F&W’s Hayloft with Locally Grown Hay

can entice from the community—travel to four fields in the area to hay on F&W and privately owned lands. We produce our certified organic hay in two “cuts” from about 32 acres and work intensively from July to September. “Bales of organic hay can be a remarkably precious commodity here in Vermont and our farm team has found a great way to ensure we have sufficient quantities of hay to get us through our long winters and to save us considerable money at the same time,” said COO Jonathan Wilson. “While this reduces our expenses, it does add more time to our farm

camaraderie resulting from the hard physical work necessary to build that fire, and the process had structure and led to an outcome that made everyone proud.

Other accomplishments were building new bookshelves for each cabin, building wooden dulcimers, and building a regulation basketball backboard out of wood. (See photos and videos on Facebook’s Timberlake Summer Camp page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Timberlake-Summer-Camp/154303474619212)

There were 159 long distance swims completed, including seven Grand Circuits around the entire lake.We created a spiral herb garden and enjoyed a six-course meal harvested from F&W.

Here are some statements from 2013 campers on what they have learned: • Whittle, canoe, pack my backpack for an overnight, build a fire, identify edible plants. • How to better light a fire, to use the primitive kiln, how to play the dulcimer. • I learned how to be more open minded about people and how to become friends with kids I’had previously written off. • Like every year, I came back more mature and closer to becoming an adult.Timberlake gives each camper a judgment-free space to get creative and unique and also a chance to get in touch with his inner lumberjack. *

“I am also glad that he again had the opportunity to be with a group of boys and men in a positive atmosphere that counters the typical macho/aggressive male stereotype in our society -The camp seems to find a way of acknowledging and fostering the energy and interests of boys—being loud, vivacious, physical, liking knives, and wood and mud and water and banging on things, being rowdy and moving a lot—while avoiding the obnoxious behavior and attitudes that so often come out when groups of boys get together.” —Parent of 2013 Camper

Interim fall/winter 2013-14 7

team’s already busy summer schedule. It takes a dedicated team to pull this off and I’m grateful to Chantal and Rachel for finding creative strategies to make our farm even more successful.”

In past years, we’ve only been able to grow a quarter of the hay needed to feed our animals during Vermont’s long winters. Part of our responsibility when we use the hay from these fields is replenishing the soil and helping ensure that the land stays open. For some private landowners, our haying keeps them in compliance with Vermont’s Current Use plan, which provides property tax breaks for family farms and lands kept in production agriculture. Other land owners are spared the expense of having to pay someone or buy the necessary equipment to mow down the grasses. Farm & Wilderness knows exactly what goes into every bale that we are feeding our animals, keeps track of the soil composition through soil tests, and makes sure that the land is replenished. For example, one year after we added some compost, fertilizer and seed to the fields, we increased our yield by 125 bales.

We enjoy seeing improvements happen when our farm activities are done nearby, plus this work helps us retain good community relations. The other good thing about the fields we hay around here is that they have incredible views. So, please join us if you’re around when we’re picking up our bales. *

— continues next page

COMMUNITY PROFILE: Carol BrownerCarol Browner remembers the first time she really understood the impact that Farm & Wilderness was having on her son.

It was dinnertime, and he’d just come home from his first summer as a Timberlake camper. The unplugged, earth-aware experience was wholly different from the family’s frenetic life in Washington, D.C., where Browner was serving as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Clinton administration. She’d heard about the camp from friends, about how it might be a good option for her son, an only child who was athletic but not drawn to organized sports.

As they finished their meal, Browner’s son stood up and demonstrated some of what he’d absorbed living in the Timberlake community. As expected, the camp had connected him with the physical rigors of the outdoors. But it had also left a deeper, interior influence she saw evidence of that night.

“It's a little thing, but he got up and did the dishes without asking,” she said. “I'll never forget it. “He saw that within the family we all had responsibilities, and he was owning that role.”

As it turns out, the impact of F&W has been far-reaching on Browner and her family. Her son continued as a camper in subsequent summers, progressing from Timberlake to Tamarack Farm. Along the way, he became more thoughtful and confident, she said. “It gave him another community—not just a community of kids, but of adults.”

Today, the connection with F&W is even stronger. Her son, Zach Podhorzer, is a year-round staff member as the director of Flying Cloud.

Browner, who most recently served as the “Climate Czar” in the Obama administration, has purchased 200 acres and an old farmhouse “a few towns over” with a pledge to remain close to the Farm & Wilderness community. She is a member of the Visitor’s Circle and the featured speaker at the Annual Celebration of F&W taking place Saturday, January 25 in Washington, D.C.

Browner said she has been inspired to support F&W because “I saw what it meant in our lives, not just for our son but more broadly—the Quaker influence.” The campers “learn to listen, and to be a servant, and to hear,” Browner said.

Browner began her career as an environmental leader in fast-growing Florida in the 1980s. As a child in South Florida, she grew up a bike ride away from the Everglades and with professor parents who encouraged an appreciation for the state’s natural beauty. With a law degree in hand, she went to work on the D.C. staffs of two environmentally minded U.S. senators—Lawton Chiles and Al Gore.

By 1991, she was back in Florida leading the state’s Department

a

8 Interim fall/winter 2013-14

of Environmental Regulation during a time of explosive growth and accompanying pressures on Florida’s natural resources. In 1993, President Clinton appointed her head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a position she held until 2001. At her swearing-in ceremony, Browner spoke of her goals as an environmental leader: “I want my son to be able to grow up and enjoy the natural wonders of the United States in the same way that I have.”

At the time, Browner was raising Zach in Takoma Park, MD. Farm & Wilderness opened his world and left him a young man committed to environmental stewardship. Sending him away to camp that first summer wasn’t easy, Browner said, “but of all the things I did as a parent, this is probably the thing I’m proudest of. ”

Browner said she enjoys the sense of community she’s

personally found at F&W. She’s seen families return year after year, with siblings following siblings to camp. “There’s this way in which it’s an ever-growing community,” she said.

Browner today still participates in Work Weekends, which she views as a welcome change to “that modern, fast-paced, technology-driven lifestyle that we all partake in.”

Joining in on Ice Cutting Weekend, hauling the ice up the hill, building the ice house—these are moments where we take “a step back, make things simple and engage in community,” she said. “For us, this really has become a family experience.”

Browner said the camp’s values of self-reliance, service and simplicity provide a foundation for creating future environmental leaders. “As much as I’ve been honored to do things on a very large scale, at the end of the day people like me are only successful because individuals make good informed decisions on a daily basis,” she said.

Farm & Wilderness gives campers “a relationship to the outdoors that isn’t just about the outdoors—it’s about a whole way of thinking about where you are in the world, what you’re doing and how you’re interacting with other people.” *

— Browner Profile, continued from page 7 AN OPEN LETTER ON F&W PHOTOS AND THE GENTLE ART OF LIVING IN THE MOMENT

Dear F&W Community—Parents, Relatives and Guardians:

Farm & Wilderness began using a photo-sharing site called “Smugmug” in 2012 with the intention of sharing high-quality images from the summer and our year-round events. You can download the photos and print them yourself or you may order prints directly online, in either case there is no charge from Farm & Wilderness.

During the summer, the site is password protected and after the summer the photos are unlocked.

We find that many parents are regular, often daily visitors to the photo site in the summer hoping each day to see a few pictures of their son or daughter. It can be a disappointment to not see their digital image smiling back and reassuring you that they are having the time of their life. You may wonder “Why can’t I see a dozen or so decent pictures of my kid at camp?”

Ah, if only it were that simple!

First, there are the logistical questions. A camp like Timberlake or Indian Brook has 120+ campers, and a dozen photos of each camper would add up to taking, organizing and uploading over a thousand photos. Most importantly, it is unlikely a photographer would be able to organize the taking of those photos to achieve a balance; so some campers will inevitably be more present, while others practically absent or in worst case…totally absent in those hundreds of photos.

Secondly, there is the important modifier “decent” before that dozen picture request. Our expectations for photos are high. We want to see our kids, but we want to see them as they are in our mind and we want to see an image of the best of them. Poor photos happen to everyone, yet they are not much fun to

Farm & Wilderness gives campers “a relationship to the outdoors that isn’t just about the outdoors—it’s about a whole way of thinking about where you are in the world, what you're doing and how you’re interacting with other people.” —Carol Browner

Interim fall/winter 2013-14 9

Come Join our Team! FARM & WILDERNESS IS NOW HIRING A CAPITAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Job Responsibilities: • Implement and manage Capital Campaign • Manage campaign prospect lists and research • Recruit and manage campaign volunteers • Manage the Capital Campaign budget • Manage prospect and donor tracking • Writing and development of capital campaign print materials • Oversee communications, talking points, integrate milestones • Develop and execute targeted cultivation plans • Establish campaign solicitation priorities and strategies • Participate in solicitations as appropriate • Other responsibilities geared to ensuring a successful Capital Campaign

College graduate preferred, experience required. Competitive compensation and benefits.

Contact: hr@farmandwilderness.org Farm & Wilderness is an equal opportunity employer.

Snacks Ahoy!By Sam Arfer, Registrar

A healthy chip? Is that an oxymoron?

From recent articles in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere, it seems that new versions of the classic potato chip are all the rage. Chips made commercially from kale, beets, peas and other vegetables, however, may not offer big improvements in nutrition. See more at: WJS article 9/24/2013 (http://on.wsj.com/18llDAm).

With that in mind, we’re offering you a simple recipe for a healthy, home-made kale chips. In the F&W gardens, we grow the Red Russian and Lacinato varieties of kale.

These chips are delicious, easy to make, and good for you!

BASIC RECIPE:• Wash and dry with a kitchen towel one bunch of kale (preferably organic), remove lower part of stem and chop into bite sized pieces.• Toss in a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Transfer to a cookie sheet or two. Try to keep the kale in one layer.• Bake in at 250 degrees for 10-15 minutes, tossing them every five minutes. If they’re not crisp, cook a little longer. Kale chips keep well in any airtight container, but it’s unlikely they’ll last very long before being consumed.VARIATIONS:You could also add a little bit of one or more of the following:Balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, black pepper, sesame seeds, hot sauce, nutritional yeast, smoked salt, etc.Salt could be replaced with soy sauce and you could also use sesame oil in place of olive oil. If you come up with a great flavor combination, please let me know by emailing sam@farmandwilderness.org.Happy snacking!

look at. Think of wedding and event photographers and how many pictures they take to compile one good album.

Finally, there is the cost to the campers from the adults being behind a camera instead of in front of them. Summer camp is often thought of as a tranquil place but, as it is full of young people, it’s actually quite busy. The calmest moments are our Silent Meeting and other moments that recharge us and have a sacred quality to them. We don’t usually pull out cameras at that time but take that time to reflect and be in nature. Or it’s rest hour, which doesn’t make for exciting photos. The other moments are full of organized activity, games, songs, chores, spontaneous fun and all the necessary conversations and interactions that build and hold our community together.

If you can imagine you and a friend taking eight of your friend’s kids on an exciting weekend that included organized morning, afternoon and evening activities, you could imagine how taking photos, and making sure they were getting uploaded in a timely way would be a distraction from actually caring for those kids and being present.

During the summer, you can expect that residential camps will do our best to provide you with cabin or group photos that are uploaded early in the session. We’ll also post photos each week that show typical scenes and camp activities that all campers are experiencing.

After the summer you can expect to get updated photos every few weeks shared through social media such as Facebook. You don’t have to join these sites, and you can view them as other web pages. We find this is a great opportunity for creating conversations with your child—seeing photos of events at camp may prompt stories that you wouldn’t have heard about otherwise.

Our dedication to simple living during the summer is essential to continue to provide intentional and uninterrupted care for campers.

Thanks for letting go of the momentary gratification of instant photo updates to allow your child to experience personal connection in an unplugged environment! *

10 Interim fall 2013

Dear F&W Community,

On June 15, our dear Anna Lytton was killed while riding her bicycle in East Hampton, New York. She had just finished her exams, and was preparing for the last week of school with a field day, awards and her 8th-grade graduation. Saturday was her first day of work, running the office and boutique at a local yoga studio. She rode her bike to town for some errands before meeting friends at the beach. It all happened so fast, an SUV ran into her in the turning lane, and she was airlifted to the hospital critical ward...with injuries too great to survive.

Anna was an exuberant, brilliant girl who was ready for graduation, high school, beginning a new phase of life in a new school and, of course, SO excited to come to Indian Brook for the August session.

But it was not to be. We have lost her, one of our own. Hundreds of people gathered the next week in her memory. The school acknowledged her, calling the field day the “I Run for Anna” day. There was a butterfly ceremony where we said a Native American prayer and let butterflies go off into the sky. She had countless awards from school, and attending her graduation was deeply moving.

We as a family, James from Saltash Mountain, Ramesh and I as parents, have been held dearly by family friends and community.

During the summer break, I invited all her friends and classmates over to our house to do a project painting journals with their art teacher. I made some of Anna’s favorite food (guacamole and chips, fruit and chocolate brownies) set out drawing, painting and collage materials, and gave each of the kids a journal for their own. Anna was an avid writer and journal keeper, so it is meaningful to pass that tradition onto them. I also encouraged them to write down any of their feelings about her, even in the form of letters, which I am doing myself. She may even answer.

I was so moved by what they created, five hours later, with the most expressive paintings and messages to and about Anna.

When it was time for Anna to go to camp, I thought it would be appropriate to bring this project to Indian Brook, too. I didn’t know how the kids were dealing with the news. At that age, I didn’t know anyone who had ever died. So I called Pieter Bohen and Megan Chamberlain from IB, and they were very willing to let us visit. I also called Sam and Jeff from Saltash Mountain camp, who know James very well. They were so present with us, and particularly with James, who has been a camper there for years.

During a weekend in the second session, Ramesh (Anna’s father) and I arrived at IB with a bag of art materials and journals.

We were greeted by her friends, and counselors; we were surrounded by their love and tears and feelings. It was not easy to be reminded of this death, but it feels like the right thing to look it straight in the eye. Essentially, we were saying “say this is what happened, and we will go beyond our idea of Anna in the body, to Anna in essence of spirit.” We had a nice lunch together and everybody shared memories of Anna.

Then we went to Silent Meeting. It was silent, so silent. I was so moved by what the people at IB were capable of doing; of just being with themselves and others. There was also the sweetness of the wind and the sun and the moment.

We told the story of the accident, in case some people didn’t know already, and asked if anyone wanted to share anything. It was still quiet. I spoke about how I feel that some of the best of Anna, her love of life, her commitment to having people get along and accept each other for who they are, came from F&W. She had all of this at home, but to have it reinforced by another community takes these sentiments to another level. Anna is known for her smile, and her love of everyone without judgment.

Looking around at the girls in the circle, I had a profound realization: How is anyone memorialized? I think, basically, we memorialize

someone not in the visual sense by holding onto how someone looked or by the physical memories of them. Instead, how does Anna live on in each one of us? Essentially, who are with that person, and how do they affect us to be the best we can be? I know Anna is in each one of the IB campers and counselors, her friends at school, and, of course, in her family.

Thank you for helping me to understand this.

We walked from the Silent Meeting to the art room, and the girls set into all the art materials on the table. Their journals

became works of art, inspired by Anna, and reflecting how wonderful they are in themselves. Their words became stories, and songs came out of the silence of their time together. There was laughter and tears... a chance for me to fall in love with Anna’s friends... as much as I loved her.

I wish everyone great healing. Whatever it takes is a very personal journey, to let go of a loved one and take that love into everything else we do. Instead of shutting down, we open up to another level of who we are as people, community and citizens of the earth.

F&W is part of what is changing this world to be a better place, to instill the best of what it is to be human to everyone... and everyone they touch.

Love to you all,Kate Rabinowitz, Rameshwar Das, James Lytton

Interim fall/winter 2013-14 11

WHAT WE ARE DOINGErik Nelson (Flying Cloud ’77-’79; F ’80) writes: I am wording for the Division of Capital Asset Management, a MA state government agency which handles buildings and real estate for other state agencies. I am helping them build a digital archive of documents about buildings. I write poetry and fantasy fiction, and I found a guitar on the street that someone was throwing away and am learning how to play it. I still read my poetry at open mikes, and have discovered the cultural phenomenon that is science fiction fandom. I would be happy to hear from others in the Boston area who knew me when I was at camp: eriknelson2002@yahoo.com

Jenna Paul-Schultz (IB ’01-‘06; TF ’07) and Gerry Rosenberg (current Trustee, term ’08-’11; TL ’66-‘67; TF ‘68; TL Staff ’71, ’73, ‘76; BDC parent: ’98-’99, ’01-’02, ‘04; IB parent ’04-‘05; TL parent ’05-‘08; TF parent ’07) got together for dinner

in Kathmandu, Nepal! Jenna is spending the year traveling, and is currently living in Kathmandu volunteering for an NGO that runs a shelter for women who are victims of sexual exploitation, and their children. She is attempting to trek as much as possible, learn Nepali, and teach herself ukulele while there! Gerry spent 20 days trekking in the Himalayas. Despite being hit with the first major snowfall in October since 1995 (3-6 feet!), he made it to the Everest Base Camp. He is spending the year as a Visiting Professor at the National Law School of India, University in Bangalore.

Michael Forster Rothbart (TL ’82-’83, ’86; TL Staff ’91-’92, ’97-’98, ’10, ’13; FC Staff ’93; BDC parent ’10) wrote: My photography book about Chernobyl and Fukushima just came out. It was published by TED Books. Here is a link to the book: www.ted.com/pages/tedbooks_library; an interview I did

about it on NPR, www.thetakeaway.org/story/would-you-stay/; and a Washington Post story: http://wapo.st/HByenU.

Gloriann (Glo) Styer, (IB Staff ’79-’80, ’82) is enjoying retirement on the eastern shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Life is good in Rock Hall, MD! I can be reached at: glostyer60@gmail.com.

Here is some news from Ellen DeBenedetti (EJ Glaser) and Gil DeBenedetti about their growing family: Jenya DeBenedetti (IB ’94-’97; TF ’98) married Eric Hansen on August 27, 2013. Abe DeBenedetti (Flying Squirrel Asks the Sky: FC ’92-’95; TF ’96-’97; TL Staff ’99) and Emily Rook-Koepsel (IB Staff ’99) had their second child, Simon Sergio DeBenedetti, on August 14. Their first child, Robert Isaiah DeBenedetti, turned three in September.

“Perpetuating this place has done so much for me and I want as many people as possible to experience it.” —Kelly Davis (SAM Staff ’13)

THANK YOU KURT! Farm & Wilderness extends its gratitude to D. Kurt Terrell, who joined F&W in 2002, and left in late August to become the Director of Advancement at North Country School and Camp Treetops in Lake Placid, NY. Kurt will lead a $30 million campaign, along with a $1 million annual fund, in his new position.

Pieter Bohen, president and acting executive director, credited Kurt’s energies and initiative for helping F&W thrive.

Among his accomplishments, Kurt helped increase Annual Giving from $212,000 in 2001 to $682,000 in 2012. This allowed 80 more campers to attend F&W camps on campership since his arrival.

Bohen also noted Kurt’s other milestones, including:

• Completed a successful $4 million Camperships, Cows & Community Campaign from ’02-’07;

• Established the Visitors’ Circle Advisory Board, the Circle of Light for distinguished service and generosity, and the Legacy Circle for planned giving donors and to recognize and engage volunteer leaders;

• Led 20 to 25 regional and local constituent events and the SAM and IB alumni reunion weekend in 2012;

• Oversaw the creation and publication of the F&W Annual Report from 2008 to 2012;

• Grew the endowment from $500,000 to $4 million with 6 new named funds; and

• Collectively secured over $8 million from more than 3,000 donors.

Kurt grew up in Southern Ohio on his family’s farm and in the town of Wilmington. He was active in his Friends Meeting and the YMCA, and spent summers at Camp Celo in North Carolina. He earned a BA in politics from Earlham College in 1995. Since 1996, Kurt has worked in various advancement positions, first at his college alma mater and later at World Learning in Brattleboro, before he directed development operations for a decade at F&W.

F&W has benefitted greatly from Kurt’s hard work and many accomplishments. His twins, Harper and Crosby, will be missed at the Barn Day Camp. Everyone wishes him great success in his new position. *

SAVE THESE F&W DATES

2014 Family CampLOTTERY REGISTRATION IS OPEN

Ice Cutting Weekend FEBRUARY 14-17, 2014 (President’s Day Weekend)FLYING CLOUD & TAMARACK FARMJoin Campers, alumni, parents, friends and neighbors for the time-honored tradition of cutting pond ice to store in the ice house. Your hard work will provide the sole source of refrigeration for Flying Cloud’s food next summer!

Run don’t Walk…Register!Although it looks distinctly wintery outside (at least it does here in Plymouth, VT), registration for the overnight camps for summer 2014 is open! Because there were waiting lists at almost all the camps last summer, we are strongly encouraging all returning campers to register early. Families should also note the December 15th deadline for our Early Bird Discount. For more details, please check your re-enrollment packet or call Sam Arfer or Linda Berryhill in Admissions.

In fact, if you have ANY questions about re-enrollment, campership, where the Questers will be hiking next summer, or the secrets of applying online, please contact us! We really do love talking about camp. And if you know anyone new who might benefit from a summer at Farm & Wilderness, now is the time for you to direct them to us. We’re in the office 8-4 Monday through Friday. Feel free to call at (802) 422-3761 or email us at: sam@farmandwilderness.org and linda@farmandwilderness.org.

HERE IS SOME REGISTRATION POETRY: Roses are red, The lake is quite damp, Register now or you won’t be at camp!