Climbing Tower

Sorry I haven’t written lately.  Alba, my love and camp’s founder, had to be hospitalized again.  After two weeks, however, the good news is that she’s on the improve and should be home before long, perhaps even before our first training day for staff on May 22^nd.

I did start to discuss some of our innovations this year, and in this blog I want to tell you about an exciting new addition to Sewataro for 2010, a climbing tower.  It all started with our campers and the surveys they fill out at the end of the session about things they would like at camp.  The most repeated request was for a climbing wall.

So we started investigating the possibilities in the fall.  By the new year we were committed to making it happen, but wanted to check out as many varieties as possible first hand before deciding.  Christine told us about a climbing tower on the beach at her favorite vacation getaway, Aruba.  In January Mark, Rob, and I went to visit local climbing walls such as those at Lincoln-Sudbury High School and Bosse Sports.  We also trekked to Marblehead to inspect a tower built by the same company as the one Chris saw in Aruba.  And we ventured out to western Massachusetts to see samples at one company’s manufacturing site.  After all this investigation and multiple phone calls to various manufacturers, we decided on a permanent tower instead of a portable wall for both aesthetic reasons and because it more closely resembles the real thing.  Our criteria for our final choice were functionality, beauty, and authenticity. 

Mark scouted the property for just the right spot to locate it and found the perfect place on the hill above volleyball.  It needed some pruning and clearing, so, during their school vacation, our two youngest male Taylors, Cameron and Graham, with one of Graham’s camper friends, Josh, helped in the clearing of the site. 

Because the company that we settled on using is located in Colorado, there were logistic problems, such as getting it here and assembling it.  It arrived in sections about two weeks ago.  After making a concrete platform, Mark tackled the daunting enterprise of putting it together in less than a week with Rob’s skilled and my unskilled assistance.  Believe me, a project of this dimension does not go without challenges, but Mark is a genius of the practical, so all challenges were met and conquered.  Rob, calling on his vast experience in teaching climbing, has guided us in every step of the way, acquired all of the necessary ancillary equipment, and put together a training manual for the camp climbing staff.

We have an inspection of the tower this Friday, and on Saturday experts from Project Adventure are giving an intensive training course for all those involved with the activity. We are all excited as can be by this new adventure, and we are sure you all can’t wait to check it out.  So here are some photos of the process and the result.

New stuff at Sewataro--Two-week campers

Why Two-Week Camp?

In my last blog, I alluded to all the innovations Sewataro has committed to in 2010, and I promised to reveal some of our behind-the-scenes thinking about each change. Let’s begin with our initiating two-week sessions for the first time in Sewataro’s fifty year history.

For a number of years, we saw other camps go in this direction, but we were reluctant to follow their example because we felt that ideally the fullness of the camp experience required time for each of the groups to bond into a cohesive unit of friendship and cooperation, as well as time for children to discover a side of themselves that might be different from their school/home selves. Another reason we hesitated is that we believed that one of the goals of camp is growth in ability, i.e., a process of developing skills whether they be at tennis, swimming, archery, or any of the activities; and ideally such growth is more likely to occur in four weeks or eight weeks than in two weeks.

Although we still believe that the four and eight week camp experiences are ideal for children, everyone does not live in the ideal world. Increasing demands on our children’s time and competing attractions for our children’s attention during the summer do not always leave time for a longer camp experience. After talking with a number of parents, we came to realize that families’ schedules and commitments call for more flexibility on our part, and we need to support our camper families. Another aspect of less-than-ideal contemporary reality, of course, is economic. For some, the cost of camp has become a strain, and we wanted to find a way to share the benefits of Sewataro with as many as possible. Two-week sessions are a step in that direction.

So our offering of two-week sessions this year is a recognition of the reality of changing times. And yet, while we must be realists, we continue to be idealists, maintaining the same goals in our two-week program as we have always had in our four and eight week programs. It is only the degree of accomplishment that may be diminished. Two-week campers will experience the same degree of fun and be exposed to the same variety of activities as our four and eight week campers. And we are committed to instilling in the them our characteristic spirit of teamwork, cooperation, and unity, just in a more concentrated way. During counselor training this year, we will be addressing this very thing, exploring ways to accomplish our goals within the shorter time span.

Can we do more in eight weeks than in four? Sure. Can we do more in four weeks than in two? Of course. Regardless of how long the session, however, Sewataro will continue to be that special place it always has been: a spectacular place of natural beauty with a unique blend of spirit, variety, care, commardarie, and enthusiasm.

New stuff at Sewataro--Elk saga continues

I’ve been remiss in blogging lately because we’ve all been busy planning all the changes for next summer that you may have read about in our latest Sewataro Newsletter: the introduction of two-week sessions, the pre-camp two week “Sewataro Sprouts” half-day program for pre-schoolers, the half-day option for our youngest campers during the regular camp sessions, our extended-day option to accommodate working parents, and the box lunches offered to busy parents by Concord Teacakes. All of these are NEW! You have to wonder if we are crazy, don’t you, taking on all this innovation at the same time.

And this doesn’t even include the additions to our regular camp programming that we are planning as well: Rock Climbing, the resurrected Sewataro Garden, the Frog Pond, Fire-Building Instruction, Overnights for older campers, and the Sewataro Music-in-the-Woods Studio. All of this is hard to explain in one gulp, much less accomplish, but we are ambitious and, in the spirit of our dear Alba Taylor’s passion for making Sewataro the best summer camp in the world for kids, we are excited about forging ahead. In my next few blogs, I thought I would tackle these innovations one by one, explaining our behind-the-scenes thinking on each.

Meanwhile, of course, let us continue our saga of the Elves of the Land of Three Ponds.

The Challenge of the Sorcerers

     At the conclusion Shallimar’s speech, a stunned silence was broken almost immediately by the pops of scattered clapping, which spread like a growing groundswell into a wave of applause and cheering with even some high pitched whistling. The crowd of elves had clearly spoken their mind, allowing their enthusiasm for the perfomance to spill over into their acceptance of Shallimar’s request. When the “Daily Elf” carried the story the next morning, and Dragoric and Tifallel read in the cold light of day what Shallimar had said and how positive the Elvish reaction was, they almost at once headed in each other’s direction, in their haste and consternation almost bumping into one another on the road. “What should be done?” asked Tifallel. “We must immediately call a meeting of the Council,” answered Dragoric, “This is more serious than I imagined. I thought they would be gone by Monday.”

     The Council elected a new President every three years, almost always choosing a leader from a different clan than previously in order to avoid any bias from developing. Currently it was Samiton of the Makers who presided over this emergency meeting. He got quickly to the issue at hand, allowing Dragoric to outline what he considered the serious and immediate threat to their community that this band of Sorcerers presented. “The trick Shallimar performed at the pond,” warned Dragoric, “was more than sleight of hand or an illusion. It certainly derived from the dark arts. Now the ordinary elves think his powers are so great that he should be welcome among us, but I fear this kind of power will corrupt us. It will lead us down paths we have long ago rightfully forsaken.”

     Some of the Council were less alarmed, asking what harm indeed had the Sorcerers done. The most vocal in support of the Sorcerers’ request was Familor, the Players’ representative who had arranged the week-long performances and who was secretly conspiring with Shallimar. Most of the representatives, however, were persuaded by Dragoric’s logic and Tifallel’s questions. A vote was taken. Seven voted to refuse Shallimar’s request; four voted in favor.

     Shallimar had anticipated this outcome, and frankly he was pleased that the vote was as close as it was, a fact he had learned from Familor in violation of the Council’s policy of secrecy regarding vote count. This closeness boded well, Shallimar thought, for his follow-up plan to call for a public referendum to overrule the Council of Elders.

     Only twice in Elf history had this procedure been enacted, for to bring it about required that a written petition be signed by one quarter of the elves of the Land of Three Ponds. The Sorcerers asked each Elf to sign the petition as he or she entered their final performance on Sunday evening. At intermission the petition was passed from row to row. The drive was enormously successful as the crowds were awed by all the Sorcerers could do. Many secretly wondered if, in fact, they would be an even more effective safeguard against internal and external discord than the clan of Protectors.

     Frequently families were divided according to age in their reaction to the petition that was being circulated. The younger members seemed to favor welcoming the Sorcerers as more modern and hip than the stodgy leadership of the village. The older family members were more cautious and suspicious, remembering past disruptions in Elf history and concerned about the nature of the Sorcerers’ magic powers.

     Despite the disagreement that the petition occasioned in the village, the Sorcerers had little trouble collecting the requisite number of signatures given the popularity of their performances and their support among the young. Some even signed the document simply with the hope of regular Sorcerer performances after they settled in the Land of Three Ponds. Dragoric, Tifallel and the other concerned members of the Council were alarmed, for this nearly unpresidented petition to overthrow their decision meant that the outcome would be determined by a popular vote of the entire village.

     What methods would each side use in trying to influence the outcome of this election? And who will win? Find out in the next installment.