wintry scenes

Tom Cometa, who was visiting Frost Valley this past weekend with his family, took these photographs.

same as it ever was

Any former camper or staff member who spent time here between 1961* and now will instantly (or almost instantly) know this scene: yes, it's Sunday morning at the Wawayanda chapel. The shot was taken as I walked up the steep path to the chapel through the woods, while the morning reflection was already in progress.

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* That was the year the Kilbourne Chapel was built here. (A chapel area of the same name was at the Old Wawayanda site at Andover, according to a map that is hung on the Ad Office wall right behind me where I type this now.)

weddings, yes

Frost Valley couples...have you considered having your wedding at Frost Valley? FV is now really set up to make this possible. Click on this PDF and see the details.

chapel in winter

The chapel under snow - as caught earlier this winter by Tom Cometa who was up at FV for his annual snowy weekend.

we can work it out

The theme of this morning's Morning Reflection was peace. These two Tacoma girls chose to sing "We Can Work It Out," because--indeed--it often feels here that we can.

Dave King on diversity (video)

Dave King at Morning Reflection, July 20, 2008.

tribute to mom

The theme at this morning's Morning Reflection was "tribute." CIT Briana (Bri) and her sister Kira, a Tacoma camper, sang a song together in tribute to their mother. Everyone there was much moved by it.

morning reflection

The photo was taken mid-morning on the middle Sunday of session 1 this past summer: Wawayanda has its Sunday Morning Reflection at - where else? - Reflection Pond. The Susquehanna staff leads a song.

The middle Sunday during summer camp has always been a blissfully slow day. Late wake-up, no flag raising, a late breakfast (these days an actual brunch), a chapel service or "morning reflection" organized by the CITs, and an afternoon of cabin activity or possibly an all-camp program. No regular activity periods. Remember all this?

Old-timers reading this will already be asking themselves, "Hey, why not in the beautiful outdoor chapel?" No worries. One of the camps uses the outdoor chapel - it used to be called "the Wawayanda Chapel." The other will typically use Reflection Pond. For many years there was a Girls' Camp Chapel. It was a clearing in the woods below and to the east of cabins 6-10 (now 36-40). It's long gone, having first fallen apart (the benches were not well made) and then bisected by the large trail that runs from above and behind Hird Lodge straight over to the dining hall. So now we have two chapels - the already-mentioned original outdoor chapel which seats about 250 people (named in 1961 [?] for the Kilbourne family - there's a stone marker indicating this in the back) and more recently the indoor Ketcham Chapel, which seats perhaps 90 people.

What did these counselors sing that morning? Well, it's not Kumbaya, that's for sure (no typed-out lyrics needed for that one). I overheard my daughter this past Sunday humming a tune that I know, and I asked how she knows it. "Oh, we sang it at Morning Reflection," she answered instantly, "and I can't get it out of my head." It's called "The Christians and the Pagans" and it was written by Dar Williams--very, very ecumenical. Here's the chorus:

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able
And just before the meal was served, hands were held and prayers were said
Sending hope for peace on earth to all their gods and goddesses

I asked her what core value this expressed and she looked at me as if I was an idiot: "Inclusiveness, of course!"