If I were to pick two themes for the pre-camp weeks at Red Spruce Grove this summer, I’d say creation and collaboration. Our small-but-mighty staff team of five has been working hard at both, while we dream up new systems, rituals, and spaces for the newest F&W camp/program, and connect with our sibling camps to gather inspiration and friendship. We’re feeling the power and importance of Red Spruce Grove – a wilderness living program for girls and non-binary campers – as a member of the Farm and Wilderness family. In my first season as Assistant Director, I’m honored to be a part of the unfolding of Red Spruce Grove and so glad to bring another staff team into that process.
It’s exciting to be a part of making a home on our mountaintop meadow. The Red Spruce Grove staff team has outfitted our brand-new food shelter with built-in shelves and benches, nestled our canvas tents into new spots in the forest, made space for a large archery range, and re-designed our hearth fire. (We’ve also been getting to know the robin who has made a nest right above our bell in the food shelter and are considering naming the new building “The Robin’s Nest”) Long days of building, designing, and creating have brought our team together as we celebrate our successes. We can’t wait to fill up the new-and-improved Grove with campers!
Spending time with Flying Cloud, our sibling camp, has also been meaningful and full of learning. Red Spruce Grove tent counselors spent two days with Flying Cloud lodge counselors, learning earth skills like fir bark basketry, friction fire, and wild edibles. Flying Cloud also visited Red Spruce Grove for a shared inclusivity and equity training. We were able to share perspectives and ideas with one another, and develop connections that we hope will extend to our campers. We have also spent time with Indian Brook during staff training, which is our “parent” camp during the summer.
Building connections, community, and physical stuff helps us feel a part of a web here – from the web of our small staff community to the other-than-human community at the Grove, to the wider Farm and Wilderness family. Next week campers will be a part of that web too, as they contribute to our space through work projects, learn the plants and creatures we share our home with, and get to know one another.