thefirecircle

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firecircle
Volume 7; Issue 1
a newsletter for parents, alumni, and friends of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting camping program
Catoctin Quaker Camp • Shiloh Quaker Camp • Opequon Quaker Camp • Teen Adventure
Catoctin Quaker Camp - 50th Anniversary Celebration
On the weekend of August 22-24, over 200 past, present and future Catoctin campers and counselors gathered for a
wonderful weekend to celebrate 50 years of Quaker Camping at Catoctin. Participants ranged in age from 6 months to
85 years. The summer of 1958, the summer of 2008 and most of the years between were represented. We reminisced,
reflected, caught salamanders, hiked, swam, and gathered at the fire circle. We also enjoyed unit activities, afternoon
activities and chores just like campers at Catoctin have been doing for half a century.
It was a great opportunity to rekindle old friendships, forge new ones and reflect upon the role Camp has played in
our lives and the lives of our families. Many of us talked about how the weekend met deep needs in us that had not been
met for many, many years. We all felt deep gratitude for the hard work and patience of a few recent Catoctin staff people
who put in huge amounts of work making the weekend possible. Dyresha Harris, Meghan Cassidy, Alison Duncan, and
Stephen Dotson were among the key organizers. They put together a weekend that went well beyond all of our hopes.
Plans are already being made for 2009. In fact the weekend of August 14-16, 2009 has already been reserved. So,
mark your calendars and join us for a Catoctin reunion and celebration. For information on participating or to help
organize, contact Chris DeWilde at dewilde22@gmail.com.
Several participants sent in their reflections on the celebration weekend at Catoctin. You will find them in the following pages.
Reflections from David Hunter
It was a shock to the
system to see people I last
knew as campers bring
their children to the 50th
Anniversary Celebration at
Catoctin on a late August
weekend this year. I guess
that I may not be as comfortable with the numbers
of years I have lived as I
thought. I observed that lots
of parents of young children
were a little uneasy as they
introduced their children
to camp. As I continued to
watch I began to realize that
they were not worried about
their children getting lost in the woods or being eaten by
the legendary snapping turtle at the bottom of the Lagoon.
They were worried that their children might not enjoy
their time at camp. I recalled how much I had invested
http://www.bym-rsf.org/camping/
•
in my children coming to love camp as much as I did; in
my mind nothing is more important than my kids having
good camp experiences as part
of their growing up.
We need not have worried.
The lagoon was constantly
surrounded with wading, exploring youngsters. Packs of
teenagers roamed from here to
there whispering their secret
thoughts to each other and
basking in the special glow
that becomes manifest when
kids who care about each other
gather. No one was lost in the
woods (who did not get found),
no one got wet (who didn’t get
dry) and the snapping turtle is
still at the bottom of the Lagoon
with an empty stomach. The next generation of campers
is vested and ready to go. We will just need to sign them
continued on page 2
jane@bymcamps.org
•
717-481-4870
Catoctin Quaker Camp - 50th Anniversary Celebration
continued from previous page
up when the time comes.
fun for all of us and the wild craziness that is scary or too
much for some of us. They are thoughtful and respectful
Something else became clear for me over the course
and carry all the hallmarks of “good camp folks.” “Hey,”
of the weekend as well. As a part of my work I have
I said to myself, “I do know these folks!”
lots of opportunities to visit the camp during the summer
and it is one of the greatest joys I experience in my job.
These are the same folks, playing the same roles that
Nothing puts the importance of camp in focus like seeing made camp such a special place when I was there. They
camp in motion. However, I am not completely immune may not have the same names, but I recognize every one
of them and the important and unique gift
they bring to the camp community. Over the
years we have all been drinking from the same
stream and each generation learns to use what
it finds there in a new way. I may not know the
individuals names, and I don’t mean to claim
to know how it feels to be in their skins, but
I think I recognize the gifts that they bring to
camp and for those gifts I am grateful and by
those gifts I know that camp goes on and on.
There is nothing more comforting and inspiring
to me as a former director or as a parent than
knowing that camp goes on.
Photo by Laura Goren
to experiencing the gap between the generations and I do
occasionally feel a little out of place on my visits. I do
not always see my peers at camp when I visit and I even
find that most of the campers and counselors who were at
camp when I worked there have grown beyond the age of
camp counselors. I am not really around long enough for
the campers to recognize me and believe it or not, they are
not always impressed with the fact that I knew their parents
20 years ago. I am no longer physically prepared for the
rigors of being a counselor and I have to wonder if I could
still handle the onslaught of the wild, wacky and wonderful
energy that brings such joy to campers and counselors, but
seems to be a little more stimulation than I can handle these
days. In short, I find that I am not always able to feel as
connected to the camp community when I visit as I would
like. That makes sense since I am not a part of the camp
community in the same way that I once was.
Watching the generation of Catoctin people who are
now of counselor age at the celebration this summer it came
to me like dawn breaking over Old Marblehead. These folks
are having a wonderful time with each other and intentionally teaching others (younger and older) how to go about
having a good time with each other as well. They are being respectful of the line between the wild craziness that is
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Reflections from Chris DeWilde
I wondered, sitting at the fire circle, if the leaves felt our
presence as I did theirs. Did they feel the tingling energy
that pulsed with our every breath? I did. And I felt the
quivering of the leaves as they dappled the light through
its canopy above us.
So many stories were shared around this fire, so many
souls exposed, so many thoughts offered – and the trees
stood witness and cradled it all. The canopy had hovered
above the fire years before I ever entered the circle, and
has continued to hover, though higher, every year since I
left. It felt so good to be back! I felt as though the circle
welcomed me home and was glad that I had returned. I
felt an incredible sense of gratitude toward the leaves –
gratitude for coming back, again and again.
Every time I entered the fire circle that weekend I found
a new place to sit, each with a memory of having sat there
before, long ago. I enjoyed the familiar notches of the logs,
the patches worn smooth through the years, the dips and
humps, and experienced flashes of memories. But there
was more than just memories. It felt new too.
Continued on page 3
CQC - 50th Anniversary, continued from page 2
When I left camp, 17 years ago, it was
because it was time for me to go. I had
spent 13 glorious summers in the camping program and had grown up by the
hands of my counselors, Barry Morley,
my friends, my campers, my summer
romances, and, of course, the fire circle.
I had been camper, counselor, staff, and
the last summer I remember knowing it
would be my last. I was ready to head
out into the rest of the world. But I did
not go alone. I carried camp with me
wherever I went. It wasn’t something I
could put on or take off, like a sweater,
it was part of me – and still is.
The reunion of old friends was sweet
and tender and perfect. Watching my
son, Jackson, explode with enthusiasm
was pure pleasure. This was how it was
new. And on the last morning, when we
gathered for fire circle, Jackson led me
to our seat and I noticed I had never sat
in that spot before.
Reflections from
Tom Gibian
I was ten years old when my family
moved to Sandy Spring. We had been
living in the Boston area and when my
Dad learned that he was to be promoted
and transferred, he came down and
picked out an old farm house not all that
near his office in Clarksburg, Maryland,
but only a mile or so from the Meeting
House. He had grown up in Prague,
a definite city boy, but thought my
Mom, who hailed from a coal mining
community in Southwest Pennsylvania
would like it. Once settled in, we spent
successive Sundays visiting different
churches in the area. Perhaps it was
because ladies with surnames that go
back to the first days recorded in the
Sandy Spring Annals called on my
Mother, in a formal sort of way that
she found charming, that we became
attenders and then members of Sandy
Spring Monthly Meeting. That was
45 years ago.
As a child, I struggled mightily in
Meeting for Worship and did only a
little better in First Day School. So
my memories of that time include
the sheer boredom of sitting on hard
benches (never, thank goodness, on the
facing rows) trying to make my twin
brother laugh while not succumbing
to his attempts, often
successful, to do the
same to me. In the
winter we would count
the number of teeth
on the zippers of our
parkas till we saw the
first move toward hands
being shaken. On occasion we would be eldered on the front porch
of the Meeting House
generally for being too
noisy in the graveyard
or playing football in
the space between the
Meeting House and the
Community House. I
look back on all of this
fondly now. Still, I would be transfixed
by those who rose, sometimes leaning
on canes, often with large hands from a
life of farming, and spoke. I also came
to like the smell of the place which
to this day I find unique and which I
associate with men and women sitting
in silence patiently waiting to discern
the soft still voice of God.
I didn’t know Barry Morley all that
well as I went to the public school and
couldn’t carry a tune. It is true that we
were both Baltimore Colts fans. Still,
it took a football injury which knocked
me out of summer practices for me to
say yes when Barry asked me to be a
counselor at Catoctin. That was 1969
and for the next four summers and ever
since, camp (what I mean is the experience of grace that permeates camp) has
been present in my life.
There are lots of different ways and
different vocabularies that we use to
describe the camp experience. This is
always apparent around the fire circle
when people draw on metaphors, song
and symbols encompassing nature,
friendship, community, magic, courage, forgiveness and, of course, love.
The richness of the experience, one of
the ways we know it is real, that we
did not just imagine it or experience it
in isolation, is that all of these different means of expression are perfectly
understandable to all within earshot.
They each have the ring of truth. Nevertheless, for me, maybe more so as I
have gotten older, the camp experience
is, at its essence, a spiritual experience
and I am most comfortable describing
it using the language of the spirit.
Continued on page 4
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Below are listed the members of the
Camping Program Committee and Camp
Property Management Committee. Feel
free to contact them if you have any
thoughts or concerns about the camping
programs or properties. Call the BYM
office for contact information, or consult
the 2007 BYM Yearbook.
Camping Program
Committee
Anna Best (Ashland) - co-clerk
JoAnn Dalley (Charlottesville)
Kate Davenport (Richmond)
Chrissie Devinney (Goose Creek) - co-clerk
Jim Dickson (Friendship Prep)
Dave Diller (Adelphi)
Andrea Givens (Charlottesville)
Nathan Harrington (Sandy Spring)
Carol Hurst (Charlottesville)
Lynada Johnson (Annapolis)
Betsy Krome (Williamsburg)
Betty LaBua (Balt., Stony Run)
Michael LaBua (Balt., Stony Run)
Debbie Legowski (Sandy Spring)
Karen Stone (Goose Creek)
Clare Voss (Sandy Spring)
Tasha Walsh (Maury River)
Ex Officio:
Jane Megginson, Camp Admin. Sec.
Linda Garrettson, Director, CQC
Elaine Brigham, Director, OQC
Riley Lark, Director, SQC
Jen Schneider, Co-Director., TA
Dave Gregal, Co-Director, TA
CQC - 50th Anniversary, continued from page 3
The philosophy or idea or notion
or wish that is expressed when we say
there is that of God in each of us became real for me at camp. It happened
in many ways and because of many
things including a, well, fall of the
horse-type revelation. Mimi Ligon,
my co-counselor, had sprained her
ankle and the doctor in the emergency
room was insisting that she stay off it
and, in fact, return home to recuperate. This was a disaster in more ways
than one. As a last measure, Barry
had Mimi and me and 4 or 5 others
gather after fire circle for the nights
that we had left together. We prayed,
in silence, holding hands and channeling all the love we could imagine back
into that swollen ankle. It was one of
those nights, in front of the lodge near
where Thorny Brown used to set up
his pop-up camper, under a Catoctin
sky bright and crazy with stars, before
stepping into the pop-up for another
try at the ankle, that I felt God’s grace.
It called me and it was loud, clear and
unmistakable.
Yes, Mimi hiked out of camp
with us the next Monday after the
same doctor declared her now-healed
ankle a miracle. We were teenagers,
we healed fast. I don’t recall but we
Paul Buchanan-Wollaston (Deer likely used a lot of ice and for all I
Creek)
know Mimi might now have a differDon Crawford (Valley)
ent explanation informed by her PhD
Allen Fetter (Balt., Stony Run)
Wayne Finegar (Sandy Spring)
in microbiology. For me, especially
Tina Grady Gibian (Sandy Spring) - now, it really is beside the point. The
clerk
reality was the knowledge that no
Tom Gibian (Sandy Spring)
matter what, even should I be taken in
Charlie Greene (Sandy Spring)
that moment, God was love and God
Ted Hawkins (Annapolis)
Ron Lord (Sandy Spring)
was near. We didn’t have to look any
Greg Tobin (Frederick)
further. It is all within each of us.
Camp Property
Management Committee
Ex Officio:
David Hunter, Camp Property Mgr.
Wes Jordan, Stewardship & Finance
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the firecircle
In the intervening years, I have
gotten off track and, at times, way
off track. Or so it seemed. Now it
feels more like a journey with different stops, different lessons. But the
experience of grace still happens. It
often feels like an embrace, a sense of
pure happiness for no reason. Sometimes more a sense of contentment.
Sometimes simple joy. Sometimes
it feels like sharing a familiar inside
joke - really inside.
There was never any question about
whether Kiah and Nathan would go to
camp. They neither one had a choice
in the matter. And it has been a potent
joy for me that they were Catoctin
lifers. Kiah is a counselor now and
is forming her own vocabulary, along
with her camp soul mates, to describe
and to deepen their camp experience.
Nathan, too, became a Quaker at camp
and is now looking forward to Teen
Adventure Leadership Training.
When I returned home after that
first year as a counselor to start my
senior year at high school, I tried to
tell a friend about what had just happened. He wrote down a poem on
a little piece of paper that I kept in
my wallet until it, for lack of a better
word, biodegraded. Now I keep it in
my heart.
One climbs,
One sees,
One descends,
One sees no longer, but one has seen.
There is an art to conducting oneself
in the lower regions
By the memory of what one has
seen.
Camp Administrative Secretary's Report, 2008
by Jane Megginson since 1988, and directed Shiloh since
Camp Administrative Secretary 1996. Like Dave and Jen, I worked
It has been one year now since I with Dana at Opequon and Shiloh since
started telecommuting. At first, there we were both teens. So for me, this
were lots of technical bugs to work is a bittersweet moment of change in
out, which eventually, I figured out our program. I am grateful for the 20
how to fix. That was very empower- years of service, love, care, compasing, since I am not an IT person by sion, and centered leadership that Dana
training. I have marveled again and has provided our program. I am very
again, though, how one can really excited for her that she is moving on to
learn anything they want by searching do something she has wanted to do for
the internet. I can learn how to access a long time, managing the livestock at
my desktop computer in Maryland Scattergood Friends School. I am sure
from my home in Pennsylvania and she will bring the same level of comI can learn how to make backpack- mitment, humor, and love to that new
ing stoves that weigh less than an role as she has brought to our program
ounce out of used aluminum cans. I these past 20 years. We will certainly
enjoy working from home, although miss Dana.
at times it can be lonely.
The e-mails, phone calls,
and my trusty sidekick,
Max, keep me company.
Although you might not
guess it, one of the biggest challenges of working
from home is remembering
to eat.
This past year we have
witnessed some big changes in the Camping Program
as we welcome a new co-director to Teen Adventure, David Gregal. David joins Jennifer Schneider in
ably leading the shenanigans we call
TA. David grew up going to Shiloh
as a camper with Jen Schneider. Both
Jen and David worked as counselors
and staff together at Shiloh for many
years. They ran an excellent program
at TA this past summer and I am looking forward to many more years of
smooth TA sailing with Jen and Dave.
On another note, this past summer
was the last summer that Dana Foster
directed Shiloh Quaker Camp. Dana
has worked in the camping program
Late last year all of my time was
consumed with re-doing the camp website. We now have a website dedicated
to the Camping Program that is better
organized and hopefully easier to navigate. Our camps are really a business
and I realized that we were not competing well with all of the other camps out
there to get the attention of potential
customers. The changing market is a
big reason we are not fully enrolled at
half of our camps. Now, every private
school has a day camp program in the
summer. Since 9/11/2001, the summer
camps market has changed dramatically.
Many parents want to keep their children closer to them at all times. Our
society has been driven by fear and the
desire to control our environment, thus
the boom in the day camp market and
the decline in enrollment at residential
camps. Another factor in declining
enrollment at very rustic camps, such
as ours, is the boom in technology. We
have become a culture of people driven by our gadgets, our constant contact
with each other through e-mail, cell
phones, instant messaging, and television. Oddly, though, this contact
with others now is mediated through
the internet, and airwaves. We are becoming less comfortable and practiced
dealing with each other face to face.
We are further
removed from
creating communities with each
other based on
substantive human interaction.
We spend less
time playing outside, interacting
with each other in
person, and being
in nature.
Competing in this market with
so many new camps is a challenge.
We have changed our approach to
recruiting campers with print ads and
websites but I still believe that our
best advertising, our most convincing
testimony, is our campers. We need
more campers at Shiloh and Opequon,
and I think the best way to get them
is from current and past campers (and
parents) recruiting new campers for
us. So please help us out by mentioning our camps, Shiloh and Opequon,
to young people you know. Now,
continued on page 6
the firecircle •
5
Camp Administrative Secretary's Report, 2008, continued from page 5
perhaps more than ever, it is critical
for kids to get comfortable being in
nature and creating community with
other young people.
Teen Adventure and Catoctin
continue to be fully enrolled, which
helps us stay within our budget. I am
pleased that once again, the Camping Program has not run at a deficit.
Through careful stewardship, and in
spite of skyrocketing food and fuel
costs, the camps have stayed within
their overall budget. Fiscal responsibility is something I take very seriously. I know that the Yearly Meeting
has been struggling the past several
years to keep within its budget. This
coming year, camp fees will increase
by $50 per week for BYM campers in
an effort to keep up with the increasing food and fuel costs, and to help
the Yearly Meeting make a balanced
budget. I want Yearly Meeting members and camp families alike to know
that the Camping Program is not a
drain on the Yearly Meeting finances
but an important source of cash flow
and outreach for our Yearly Meeting.
The camps are the main source of
income sustaining the properties that
the Yearly Meeting owns.
I’m planning a few changes for the
coming camp season: an enroll as we
go system where spaces will fill up
and close out (like reserving a seat
on an airplane); signing up for work
grants this year will be just like signing a camper up for camp and will also
enroll as space is available; Shiloh will
have one week sessions for the first
time this year in an effort to increase
enrollment in the third session; and
we will be hiring a new director for
Shiloh.
In my work and in this report about
my work, I see a theme that is paradoxical. I am running a business using
all of the latest technology available
and I am a minister leading a religious
education program that takes place
outdoors. I constantly struggle to find
the balance in these sometimes opposing forces. I watch our budget like a
hawk, warning the staff to be careful
with money at the same time I try to
remain flexible enough to find a way
for kids with little or no money to be
able to attend camp. We try to keep the
fees low for camp but we also need to
balance that with paying our staff a
fair wage and keeping our properties in
good repair. My perpetual goal in my
role as camp administrative secretary
is to be a good steward of this program, serving all of the constituents of
BYM and the camps with a balanced
outlook.
What We Have Done - What We Look Forward to Doing
by David Hunter
Camp Property Manager
We have been working hard to
improve the facilities at our camp
properties over the last year and
there is much that we are still looking forward to doing. Below you
will find a sampling of some of the
things we have accomplished over
the last year and some of the things
we look forward to doing soon.
Catoctin Quaker Camp
The woodland wild flowers
bloomed with a little more majesty
this spring, and the bell sounded
with an especially rich tone. We
suspect that this was due to the fact
that in the end of March 2008 the
Catoctin Pond Water Quality Proj-
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the firecircle
ect was completed. The reports are in,
and it is clear that more children than
ever enjoyed swimming and canoeing
in our beloved lagoon this summer.
Furthermore, the bacteria levels were
consistently well below safe levels
and the water clarity was significantly
improved.
ment for swimming. We were able to
accomplish these goals in a way that
detracted as little as possible from
campers' perception of the lagoon as
a natural bathing beach environment
and we have been pleased to discover
that the flora and fauna in and around
the pond are recovering quickly.
The last phase of the work involved regrading the banks of the
pond to minimize erosion, and create
a freeboard around most of the pond
to enable children to get in and out of
the pond safely and to control plant
and algae growth. This work also
involved lining the pond with stone
and washed stone dust to improve
water clarity. This will allow sunlight
to penetrate the water, reduce bacteria
populations and create a safer environ-
As you can imagine, a great deal of
mud and sediment was removed from
the pond. Discussion about what to
do with this rich material will be on
going. Possibilities include improvements to the Fraz Field and creating a
glen behind the pond for small group
activities, tenting or worship. These
are nice, unforeseen opportunities that
undertaking the work on the pond has
provided.
Future Plans
continued on page 10
Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
BYM Summer Camping Programs
Catoctin Quaker Camp • Shiloh Quaker Camp • Opequon Quaker Camp • Teen Adventure
December 2008
Dear Friends,
In darkness around the fire circle, the silence is anything but quiet – it rings with life. Young
campers listen to the crackling fire, the shuffling of sandals, the sound of crickets and – when we’re
lucky – an owl. In the dimly lit circle of faces, the children’s eyes glow. Their muscles are sore, their
bug bites itch, but their hearts are warm and happy. A girl speaks out of the silence. She thanks the
campers who shared a tarp with her on the trail–they let her sleep in the middle because she is afraid
of the dark. She thanks her counselors for believing in her—now she knows that, yes, she can carry
that pack up that mountain. She scratches her leg and shrugs, then expresses that she is grateful to be
a part of the camp community. She knows that she can be herself here and trust that she will be loved
and supported.
This is the Thank You Circle. It’s a little like Thanksgiving, except folks at BYM camps get
to do it many times each summer. Thank You Circle is a celebration of gratitude at a special kind
of camp experience – a nurturing, creative and adventuresome community deeply rooted in Quaker
values. At BYM camps, all of a child’s strongest attributes are developed and strengthened by fellow
campers and supportive counselors, and reinforced by the Quaker testimonies of Integrity, Simplicity, Peace, Equality, and Community. Plus, they’re immersed in a beautiful natural setting for several
weeks at camp. That changes a kid, and for the better.
In order for the BYM Camps to continue to provide our outdoor spiritual education, we need
help. That’s where you come in. BYM seeks support from former campers, parents, and Friends to
run our programs and maintain our properties. We need groceries and gasoline. We need lumber and
toilet paper. We need backpacking stoves and canoes. We need electricity and clean water. We need
to pay all of our amazing staff, and we need to keep the camp fees affordable for as many families
as possible.
With frugality in mind and a Quakerly eye for simplicity, BYM makes prudent decisions that
keep our campers safe and comfortable. The Camp Properties team is working on improvements at
Shiloh, Catoctin, and Opequon. We recently celebrated finishing the new Lagoon at Catoctin! It is
clean and wonderfully refreshing, and each time we swim in it we appreciate being able to make
the needed repairs. In order to encourage our current campers and to entice future ones, the Camp
Properties team has decided to create a pond at Shiloh, too. All three properties need new cabins as
well. We’re gradually replacing them with the goal of one cabin per year per camp.
Some of us have been fortunate enough to attend a BYM camp. Many of us have seen the
difference this experience has made in young peoples’ lives. We believe there aren’t many investments as satisfying as donating to the BYM Camps. Your gift will support adventurous, spiritual,
community-centered experiences for someone’s child. Maybe even your child. Where else can you
see this kind of return on investment? Camp changes kids. If you want to know more about how camp changes lives, listen to stories from Catoctin’s 50th
Anniversary Reunion in August. The reunion was conceived, organized, and run in a grassroots effort
by Young Adult Friends who were former campers and staff at BYM Camps. Each day of the weekend
was structured just like a camp day at Catoctin, complete with the Meeting for Worship, work crews,
and afternoon activities that we all love. “The Catoctin reunion gathered the past, present, and future
keepers of camp’s magic,” wrote Meghan Cassidy, former Catoctin camper and staff, who helped to
organize the reunion. She continued, “It is powerful that so many people are still so committed to this
place.” Please help us care for our campers and our camps by making a gift today. With your help, we
will be able to continue to offer this incredible camping program.
In the Light,
Anna Kathryn Myers Best Tina Grady Gibian
Chrissie Devinney
Clerk, BYM Camp Properties Committee
Co-clerks, BYM Camping Program Committee
-----------------------------------------------------------detach and mail------------------------------------------------------
Yes,
I/we would like to make a gift in support of BYM Camps!
Please direct my gift to:
 Enclosed is my Check
Amount $______________
 Scholarships for summer 2009 campers
 Facilities upgrade and maintenance
 Wherever it is needed most
 Please charge to my Credit Card (circle one)
Card Number ____________________________________Exp. Date____________
Signature of Cardholder________________________________________________
Your email address:___________________________________________________
Your Monthly Meeting (if applicable):____________________________________
Mail to: Baltimore Yearly Meeting, 17100 Quaker Lane
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the firecircle
Sandy Spring, MD 20860
Work Weekends
by David Hunter for the first time and circle up. Now
Camp Property Manager we are able to see all of the folks who
have come to help
After lunch on Wednesday, I turn for the first time and
"As I watch folks around the fire, two things are clear
my attention from the routine and mun- smiles pass around
to
me.
First, there is a Gathered Community that holds
dane to begin preparing for another the circle as people
the
care
of the camps in their hands. Second, delegation
whirlwind work weekend packed with recognize each othis a joy that I have reveled in all day and, lastly, there is
energetic F/friends from all walks of er and note others
nothing more satisfying than being bone tired from real
life and all areas of the BYM camps who look like some
and meaningful work."
community. Plans for projects need to one they would like
be finalized, material lists compiled, to get to know.
registrations updated, address list and
Afternoon is filled with more
projects lists printed, forms gathered
and a final e-mail to the registered projects and after I help get people
started I am able to settle in to some
participants sent.
work on the new cabin myself. Some
Thursday is dedicated to gathering of the younger kids are getting tired
and purchasing material, borrowing of working and engage each other in
or renting the tools we will need and making some new houses for the fairy
Spring 2009Work Weekends
getting equipment lined up. Once ev- village. One of the moms and a TAer
Opequon Quaker Camp
erything is lined up we are ready for take another group of youngsters on a
April 24 - 26, 2009
Friday when I will join a few members hike to the creek and the food coordiCatoctin Quaker Camp
of the committee and a contractor to nator invites folks to help make some
May 2 - 3, 2009
go over jobs for the weekend and do pies for dinner. Later in the afternoon
Opequon Quaker Camp
some preparation work so that we I pass a group of YFs sitting around
May 16 - 17, 2009
will be able to make the best use of and talking and I get them to agree to
Shiloh Quaker Camp
our volunteers on Saturday morning. build a fire and think of some songs
May 30 - 31, 2009
Friday night is a relaxed time together we can sing without songbooks.
Opequon Quaker Camp
for those who have come early while
June 6 - 7, 2009
Before we know it, the dinner bell
we sit around a fire and tell tales.
Fall 2009 Work Weekends
rings and we are able to convince most
Young and old begin to arrive everyone to stay for dinner. After
Opequon Quaker Camp
around 9:30 Saturday morning full of we have cleaned up we get together
September 12 - 13, 2009
enthusiasm. Groups begin to form and around the fire and some spontaneous
Catoctin Quaker Camp
chose projects to work on. I am able story telling begins. After all the tales
September 19 - 20
to greet most of them and help them have been told we sing a few camp
Shiloh Quaker Camp
choose appropriate projects. A few favorites and a silence comes over
October 3 - 4, 2009
nervous first time camp families arrive the group. We watch in silence as the
Catoctin Quaker Camp
and I hook them up with some older fire burns down but revive for a smore
October 10 - 11, 2009
campers for a tour of the camp and a or two before it burns too low. As I
Catoctin Quaker Camp
painting project in the bathhouse.
October 24 - 25, 2009
watch folks around the fire, two things
Opequon Quaker Camp
There are several projects going on are clear to me. First, there is a Gath
October 31- November 1, ered
Community
that
holds
the
care
at once and I am able to drift from one
2009 (?)
of
the
camps
in
their
hands.
Second,
to the next helping people find the right
tools and supplies and offering a little delegation is a joy that I have reveled
Please come! If you plan to
instruction where it may be helpful. in all day and, lastly, there is nothing
attend please visit: http://www.
The food coordinator arrives around more satisfying than being bone tired
bymcamps.org/work_weekends.
mid-morning and I am able to send from real and meaningful work.
htm. For more information and
a few of the younger participants his
send an e-mail to:
way to help get lunch ready. Lunch is
<davidhunter@bym-rsf.org>
a real celebration. We come together
Work Weekends 2009
the firecircle •
9
What We Have Done
Certified site plan
Frederick County MD is requiring
that we obtain an approved site plan
for Catoctin. A great deal has been
accomplished in this area; however,
there remains a great deal to do. A first
draft of a site plan has been submitted,
reviewed and the extensive revisions
that the county asked to be made are
being addressed along with other issues that were raised.
Regrettably, we were not able to
build a cabin this fall. We are looking
forward to resuming the schedule in
the fall of 2009 when we look forward
to having an approved site plan.
The County Fire Marshal’s office
raised several issues during their
inspection of the camp property this
summer that will need to be dealt with.
One issue we will be addressing this
winter and spring is the installation of
an adequate exhaust hood and fire suppression system over the stoves in the
kitchen. Bids on this work are already
being sought and we are in discussion
with trades-people that may be willing
to donate components of this system or
give of their time in an effort to address
this issue. We are confident that this
issue will be dealt with before camp
opens in 2009. The installation of the
exhaust hood will take a lot of work,
but it will make the kitchen a little
cooler and the facility a lot safer.
We are also working with the Fire
Marshal’s Office to determine the capacity of the existing dining hall and
will address any issues that come up
in this regard.
Opequon Quaker Camp
The most exciting thing happening
at Opequon will begin in the spring of
2009. The Camp Property Manage-
10
•
the firecircle
ment committee is prepared to replace
two of the camper cabins and looks
forward to having them ready for the
2009 camping season. We have settled
on a design that is quite similar to the
cabin that was built at Opequon in the
spring of 2004, but this cabin has been
designed to be built in sections and
erected on site. We are looking at bids
from several companies who would
like to fabricate the walls in panels,
build the floor framing and build the
roof trusses as well as providing many
of the other materials needed to build
these cabins. Then the prefabricated
components and materials will be
delivered to the site and erected by
work weekend volunteers. It is evident
that this method will prove to be quite
cost effective since the prefabricated
components are less expensive than
all of the materials would be if we
bought them ourselves. This is because the companies that build these
components are able to buy materials
is such large quantities.
We are planning three work weekends this spring (April 25-26, 2009,
May 16-17, 2009 and June 6-7, 2009)
to erect these cabins. We are very
excited to see these cabins go up and
hope lots of folks will express their
support of the camping programs by
coming out to enjoy the fun!
Shiloh Quaker Camp
Two of our favorite swimming holes
in the river at Shiloh are no longer
available to us due to properties changing hands and the new owners discomfort with allowing public access to the
river. We have discussed building a
pond at Shiloh for several years now
and the loss of these swimming holes
is making the pond at Shiloh feel like
a more urgent need. We feel that we
continued from page 6
could build a pond at Shiloh for approximately $75,000 and have already
begun looking into possible sites and
designs. We have learned a great deal
in our experience working on the pond
at Catoctin and would love to be able
to put that knowledge to use at Shiloh.
All we need is adequate funds.
What can you do?
As you can imagine this is all expensive work and your financial gifts to
Baltimore Yearly Meeting are critical
to helping us continue to make Quaker
Camping experiences available to as
many young people as possible. We
also work hard to create opportunities
for friends of the camping programs
to give of their time. Your participation in work weekends and in other
volunteer roles is critical to helping
us control the cost of these important
projects
Finally
As I have for the last 5 years now,
I thank the Yearly Meeting and everyone involved in the Camping
Programs for the opportunity to serve
in such a meaningful and rewarding
position. It is a rare opportunity to be
able to work with such a committed
and enthusiastic body of Friends. The
depth of Baltimore Yearly Meetings
commitment to its camping program
and to its young people is unique in the
world and provides everyone involved
with opportunities that are just not
available anywhere else. I believe that
it is that same commitment to outdoor
religious education and to our young
people that makes us the unique and
vital body of Friends that we are.
Our Incredible Caretakers
We are fortunate to have two caretakers that are willing to take on so
much and do it with such a high degree
of commitment. It is often a lonely
and under appreciated job but we are
blessed with two individuals who are
willing to take on the work for love of
the place and love of the programs we
are able to offer there.
Our gratitude is due to each of these
individuals. Thank you and blessing
to you
Camp Enrollment
Begins
December 15, 2008
Stephen Dotson
is our caretaker
at Catoctin and
renters continue to enjoy
his friendly,
care filled and
unobtrusive presence at camp. He
has done a great job of coordinating
many of the projects that have brought
us into closer compliance with the fire
safety codes that the fire marshal has
brought to our attention. He has also
worked hard to ensure that materials
and projects were available for work
weekend participants and other volunteers.
Ralph Reed
continues to
watch over
Shiloh on
behalf of
the Yearly
Meeting.
He has put
in many hours
caring for our canoes and getting the new canoes,
purchased for all of the camps, ready
to use. It is because of his ongoing,
Herculean efforts that the Kudzu at
Shiloh is coming under our control.
He has also worked long and hard this
year to ensure that there is an adequate
supply of clean water for our camping
programs.
Rentals
Did you know that Catoctin, Opequon and Shiloh are available the off-season for groups to use and enjoy? In
April, May and the first half of June and again in the end of August, September and October groups large and small
can rent camp for a weekday, over night or for the weekend. Learn more by visiting http://www.bymcamps.org/
Sweet Potato Biscuits, that’s
what I said, Sweet Potato
Biscuits, dancing through
my head…
****************************
Sweet Potato Biscuits for 100
Extremely Hungry Campers
Sift
30 cups unbleached flour (7 ½
quarts)
Some kids complain about camp food, 1 cup baking powder
but at BYM camps, there are many 5 Tbsp salt
delicious dishes that kids yearn for 6 cups sugar
once they’re back home. Sweet Potato Combine
Biscuits have got to be one of the top 18 cups mashed sweet potatoes
3 cups canola oil
– both the song and the food!
The Camping Program Committee is Combine wet and dry ingredients. It
undertaking a BYM Friends Camp will be a sticky mess. Pat the dough
Cookbook project this year. It will in- out in flat pans (greased well). Keep
clude many recipes prepared at Shiloh, a bowl of flour next to you to flour
Catoctin and Opequon as well as pack- your hands. Cut with dough knife
out recipes plus Teen Adventure. Here’s before baking.
an example of what recipes look like Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, serve
at camp:
hot.
Photos by Laura Goren
We know most of you don’t cook for
100, so these recipes will be scaled
down to what most home kitchens can
handle! We may throw in the words to
a camp song or two. Watch for these
cookbooks available for sale next summer – and if you want to be sure your
camper’s favorite is included, send an
email to tasha@corehappinesscoach.
com
Sweet potato, sweet potato
biscuit on the run,
Gotta find me a biscuit,
gotta get me some…
****************************
the firecircle •
11
Baltimore Yearly Meeting
Camping Programs
17100 Quaker Lane
Sandy Spring, MD 20860
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Sandy Spring, MD
Permit No. 112
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Address Service Requested
the firecircle is published annually by the Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. If you’d like to submit an article or have a comment, please direct it to BYM Camping Program @717.481.4870.
Changes in the 2009 Camp Season
ENROLLMENT BEGINS DECEMBER 15, 2008
This winter, when you sign up for camp, the spaces currently available will be shown
online. You reserve your spot when you sign up. In the past, we took applications,
then accepted campers out of the complete pool several months later. This resulted in
some people getting sessions other than the one for which they had signed up. Now,
you will get the space you sign up for and when a session is full you will no longer be
able to sign up for it. You will be enrolling when you sign up.
Along with signing your camper up, you will now enroll yourself for doing a work
grant just like you sign a camper up for camp. When work grant spots fill up, they will
no longer be available and you will know this in real time. So if you need a particular
session, make sure you sign up for it early.
Another change this coming season is that we will offer one week sessions at Shiloh.
Many people have requested this option. So if you want a one week session option,
they are now available at both Opequon and Shiloh!