As I was posting the photo from the early 90s in the previous entry, I noticed the grace board at the top of the shot. In 1999 the Windsong girls created three new grace boards; indeed, at the end of each sung grace, the campers and staff took to chanting, "Windsong '99!" Even those graces have been replaced (the boards, not the words--the words are the same as ever). But for many years all three graces were woven into a single home-made tapestry. The year (you can barely see it in this photo) was 1975 and the artist signed her name as initials in the bottom right corner: "DLZ" - Donna Zelaney (who was a staff member at Arts & Crafts and sister of Beth who was, I believe, at the waterfront). Donna's piece served as the grace board in the Girls' Dining Hall until the new main dining hall was completed in '86, whereupon it was moved over and was used until it frayed 24 years later and Windsong's artistry took over.By the way, the current grace boards make a mash of the final line of the dinner grace.
Tireless guardian of our way
Though has kept us well this day.**
While we thank thee we request,
Care continued, pardon, rest.
The final line is now rendered as:
care continued pardon rest
--which of course doesn't make any sense. Yes, the old Wawayanda graces are tortured syntax, made long ago to fit the meter and rhyme without much regard for easy understanding (such as ballads--and these graces are of course ballads). The final two lines mean: We're thanking You and while we're thanking you we might as well also make some requests. Please give us continued care, please also give us pardon (or: please pardon us), and please (since it's evening now) give us some rest. The phrase "care continued" is another way of saying "continued or ongoing care." Otherwise the final line is a list of three items: care, pardon, rest. Without the commas it means nothing. Maybe Wingsong '08 will get it together and make a new one, restoring the commas. Not to carp, but...maybe we can also return to quietly sung grace too! There's nothing quiet as easeful, especially at dinner after a long day of running around.
** Back in the day, the girls sang "today" and the boys sang "this day."
