archery awards, 1971

Bill Madden dug up his archery awards from the summer of 1971. The archery director that summer was Ko (Jakob) Van Wouwe, as you can see from the "membership" card Bill received. These awards was (time-consumingly) handed out at each session's closing campfire.

stars in the sky

A few days ago I mentioned that Katie Kelly, Tacoma VC in the mid-1990s, had shared with the current Tacoma staff some of her old weekly program schedules and was teaching them a song Tacoma used to sing a lot. It's "Stars in the Sky" and - guess what? - the Tacoma staff sang it as Hird's closing campfire last night! Unfortunately, Katie was sitting in a hospital waiting room at the time, having driven a camper to see a doctor. So she missed this reprise. I was quick enough to catch the second half of the song, and here it is.

Eric Blum provides some context:

Just watched the video of "Stars in the Sky" by Tacoma Village at closing campfire and I just thought I would give you a little history of this song. Of course this is my memory and it may be a little foggy but this is how I remember the arrival of this song at Frost Valley. "Stars in the Sky" was first sung at the second closing campfire in the summer of 1986. It was brought to the Valley by Rob Sherman and Dave Bieler (both Forest staff) that year, it was Dave's and mine first summer. We were sitting around the CQ fire one night and Dave and Rob were discussing this song that they had learned while in the Mitzvah Corp, they both thought that it would be perfect for the Forest staff to perform this at closing campfire, our VC Frank Degraw agreed, so the entire Forest staff sang this song for the closing campfire. This song became a staple of Wawayanda closing campfires throughout the mid to late 80's. "Stars in the Sky" almost replaced "Four Strong Winds". It was generally sung in 3 part harmony by Dave Bieler, Susie Sunshine and Rob SHerman with Rob playing the guitar. It's good to see this song once again being sung. Thanks KT for bringing it back.

closing campfire

Camp Hird's closing campfire a few days ago, the final night of session 1. It was a gorgeous night. After a while, the sun all the way down, a full moon rising over Wildcat, and plentiful stars, the songs got even sweeter and the sentiments rose - with the finale being (of course) the VCs each saying a final word about the session and then singing together (with a little help from yours truly) "Four Strong Winds."

the grass down below (audio)

Listen to former long-time camper and counselor Kenny Abbott sing a song--"The Grass Down Below." Kenny and I used to sing a Dylan song (one of several, actually) at closing campfires, "You Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go." That song has a phrase in it: "the grass down below." So I like to think that years later, when Kenny was writing this song, he was thinking about those nights around the fire with everyone sad about leaving and we'd tune up and belt out the sentiment: you're gonna make me lonesome when you go.

Hearing Kenny sing this song makes me nostalgic--truly--for the era when singing songs (and really working to get them right, and teaching them to everyone) was a major tradition.

Above: Kenny Abbott in 1984, a counselor, with two of his campers, at the Castle. Kenny's twin brother, as most know, is Bill Abbott, now a resident, with his brother and sister, of Bozeman, Montana, after a big move from NYC. And with the aforementioned sister, Ann Abbott Klaas, also a longtime camper and staffer, these Abbotts made a huge impact on FV. Here's to them!

"that was my first deer"

Jeff Daly tells his staff the moving story of a boy's first deer. This was the final gathering of the staff at the end of session 1, before they went off for 2 days off prior to the hectic start of session 2.

perfect spot

Wawayanda held its closing campfire Thursday evening at a perfect location - at the eastern edge of Big Tree Field. I took this photo just before the proceedings got underway.

hallelujah

A mixed group of Hird staff (a core of them were Sacky and Hemlock staff from '08) sang "Hallelujah" at the final closing campfire tonight. Here is an mp3 recording. Download it. Drag into iTunes and sync your iPod and you can have a little bit of closing campfire with you any time.

if you want to leave I can guarantee / you won't find nobody else like me

The just-mentioned (in the previous entry) closing campfire staged another return of the appropriately beautiful and sentimental song to FV's traditional farewell event. (I credit Kam Kobeissi and Emma Conniff for urging this restoration of quiet feeling to the campfire--a really important way, for some young people, of pondering an actual turning-point.)

Windsong is one village, for sure, that has never flagged in its tradition of bringing good songs to the campfire. Last night the Windsong campers sang a song they'd practiced that afternoon, dedicating it to their counselors - who, in the audio, can be heard legitimately sighing upon hearing the dedication.

The lyrics to the song are below and here is the recording - in mp3 format, and downloadable, and import-able into your iTunes. What self-respecting former camper or staffer - out there in the midst of their non-camp summers - won't want to drag it into iTunes and put it on his or her mp3 player/iPod. Why? Because: Don't know how you met me, you don't know why / You can't turn around and say good-bye / All you know is when I'm with you, I make you free. Couldn't have said it better than that.

- - -

You don't know how you met me, you don't know why
You can't turn around and say good-bye
All you know is when I'm with you, I make you free
And swim through your veins like a fish in the sea

Chorus:
I'm singin' follow me everything is all right
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

I'm not worried 'bout the ring you wear
Cuz' as long as no one knows than nobody can care
You're feeling guilty and I'm well aware
But you don't look ashamed and baby, I'm not scared

Chorus

Wont give you money, I can't give you the sky
You're better off if you don't ask why
I'm not the reason that you go astray and
We'll be all right if you don't ask me to stay

I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you want to leave I can guarantee
You wont find nobody else like me

Don't know how you met me, you don't know why
You can't turn around and say good-bye
All you know is when I'm with you, I make you free
And swim through your veins like a fish in the sea

- - -

The photo above was taken last night at this campfire, but is not Windsong; it's Mac Boys staff singing "Wee-ma-way" by The Weavers, with lyrics specially adapted to say farewell to their remarkably venturesome campers.

thank the lord for the roof that's over you

1960s closing campfire favorite makes a return.

Tom Paxton's "Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound" was a favorite song around here from around the time of its release in the early 60s through at least the late 70s. I can remember singing it, guitars a-strummin', around campfires on hiking trips and around CQ fires and of course at closing campfires. This week I teamed up with a Windsong camper, the very talented Kira Metcalf-Oshinsky, and prepared to sing it at this session's closing campfire. We sang it tonight and here is a recording. Our voices are compromised somewhat by post-Olympic strain, but the "voice comes ringing through" (as the song goes) nonetheless.

Above is a photo taken at the CIT Point campfire just before the campers arrived.

Here are the lyrics (and chords) to the Paxton song.

three strong voices

Serenading campers arriving at Hird closing campfire, session 1 - rehearsing our three-part harmonies for "Four Strong Winds." Photo by Sandy Shapiro Bohn.

comes a time: camper to staff

CIT Point, Thursday night. Sky had partly cleared, Kam Kobeissi, Hird's director, kept adding big logs to fire. It roared and the campers and staff started into it, looking out over the quiet lake at dusk. They were asked to come in quietly, and did. Amazing. Session 1's CC isn't always the most sentimental. But this one had its many moments. Kam paid attention to a few key solemn details and it worked. Yes, it's true that the Hemlock staff did a skit-like song, in which, at each chorus, which was something about how we were going to do something "once again," two of them ran to the lake and jumped in (cold!). But even in this antic contribution, they finally all stood in the water, arm in arm, singing the chorus. Even the craziest non-CC-style stunt had its sentiment. The girls of Windsong, all of them in their final year as campers, sang a song by Youth Group called "Forever Young" (not, to be sure, the Dylan lyric of that title--also apt for CC). If you click here you can hear a recording of this good moment. Afterwards, the Windsong and Pac campers and staff went up to the old Wawayanda chapel for a vespers during which many of them spoke individually about the big transition ahead. Good stuff. It makes you want to be forever young.

Forever young I want to be forever young,
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, forever
Forever young, I want to be forever young,
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, forever
Forever young, I want to be forever young,
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, forever
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, forever...