Pokey-Totem for the 90s

Karen Carnegie Johnson ("KC") has scanned and put up on Facebook a number of weekly village schedules for Pokey-Totem from the 90s. Above is one of them.

the weekly VC meeting

I've written here before about the weekly program meeting of the village chiefs. In precisely the same format, this remarkable confabulation--operating very much like a bazaar in which program staff are the vendors and VCs are the chaotic buyers of services, spaces and equipment--has been taking place weekly in the summers since 1976, Yes, the format is exactly the same as it was 34 years ago. This video was shot just after the round of long announcements ended, just as the VCs jumped up and began rushing to sign up program areas and program people. You'll see the manager of the theater space show us his already filled-up calendar. You'll hear the assistant program director remind everyone to make suggestions for Olympic coaches. Etc. If you've ever attended one of these meetings in the past, I think you'll be so struck by the similarity here to your own experience that the nostalgia will flow. Things are getting done. Through the chaos is a great deal of charm.

If you're not aware of the history of the way we manage our program schedule, please read this full description.

the VC key

Once VCs were given keys to program areas (a BCB key originally), the dispensing of keys became a tradition. Chuck White's stern lecture about the responsibility of carrying a key was legendary. At the first VC meeting of the summer Chuck would come, give this talk at great length, and then folks would line up, have a piece of synthetic cord cut off a spool by Chuck's pocketknife, the key would be slid along the cord and then the ends would be tied into a Chuck-special knot, then melted slightly at the end of a flame produced by a lighter. These cords and the knot lasted forever, I always thought--but never really had the proof. Until last night, when Eric Blum stopped by at 11 PM to chat, and I noticed he was wearing his key on an old Chuck White-style cord. It was the very same cord Chuck had given him 22 or 23 years ago. Unreal. Some things just last and last. And of course I don't mean just the cord or key.

the village chief

This, I think, is a classic shot of the Village Chief - always equipped, always needing things on the fly. An administrator who carries her office on her back. The clerk, manager, and psychologist all in one. And remarkably young for such a convergence of high skills. Once they've done this, these people can do anything.