Written by a councilor named Mouth in 1995 ..or 1996 for a no-doubt

amazing Staff Intro!

THE 12 DAYS AT LITTLE NOTCH

One the first day of Little Notch, Mouth said to me:

“Hello, I love you won’t you tell me your name?”

One the second day of Little Notch, Mouth made for me:

Two Exploding Eggs!!!!!

One the third day of Little Notch, Stevie said to me:

“Little Tiny Rocks.”

One the fourth day of Little Notch, We said to Mouth:

“Let’s hike up Buck!!!”

One the fifth day of Little Notch, we found a baby mouse:

“His name is “E.” “Eeee, he is soooo cuuuuute!!!!”

One the sixth day of Little Notch,  Weed gave to us:

“Peanut butter and Jelly!!”

One the seventh day of Little Notch, CJ said to us:

“See my luscious locks?”

One the eighth day of Little Notch, Mouth said to me:

“I never saw an angry fish.”

One the ninth day of Little Notch, Gabi said to Mouth:

“I’m chewing tree soup.”

One the tenth day of Little Notch, we all exercised:

“Aerobics with Streak!”

One the eleventh day of Little Notch, We did PA:

“Ready.         Ready.                   Falling!”

One the twelfth day of Little Notch…….:

We didn’t want to go!

Contact Lindsay at seneca@friendsofcln.org or 518 300 6586 with questions or for details

Thank you very much!

P.S.... HEY LN historians: what is your definition of "S"? When did they start? Who started them? Leave a comment here!

Après means after.

The day started with chalky skies and bunnies

Absent from their tracks in the snow.

A ghostly deer ballet indented itself across the

Empty carpark, fringed with snowshoe tracks and snow angels.

Snowshoes removed, glasses steamed,

Boots off, grilled cheese hello spiced with hugs

In a cross- log pocket of warm.

Après, through dark trees suspended

Between milk sky and milk ground,

To gray rocks by a frosted lake,

Still as before a storm, I lit incense,

Placed a love-warm, whisperful pebble

Onto the pad of snow top the small memorial.

Après, the brief naked sun

Lifted white from the snow,

Spun it to veils of cloud,

And she danced, slowly, low to the ground,

Peeking through trees, making

Shadow bunnies to fill empty tracks,

And light sang as she step, step, step to the west my darling…..

Après, through horizontal bars of shadow,

As snow fell, and dusk fell, and my snowshoes

Went from shush to squeak as the clear sky

Went cornflower, slate, royal, navy, indigo, violet.

Behind me an owl called, just once.

Ahead of me Venus reclined against purple.

I leaned back on my cold, cold car as all

The other stars came out to play.

Tess Lecuyer

Friends, this is really happening—after three years of passionate belief, dedication and hard work, we are getting ready to welcome campers to Camp Little Notch in exactly 155 days! Something that has seemed like a far-off dream is becoming very real. To be sure, the number of things on my to-do list gets more real every day!   

With that in mind, we thought you might like a glimpse of a couple of very concrete things that are happening right now in the very real world of opening a summer camp. Just yesterday we took delivery of 2500 of our gorgeous camp brochures. If you’re on the mailing list, you can expect one to show up in your mailbox very soon. If you know someone who might like one, let us know – you can use the handy brochure request form on the Friends of Camp Little Notch website. When I think back on all of the meetings, workshops, conference calls and Google docs that led up to this moment, I gotta say—it’s pretty wonderful. I hope that when you get your copy, you’ll be able to see a little bit of yourself, and a whole lot of the Little Notch you love, in its pages. I’m so excited to be able to tuck a handful of these beauties into my bag so that any time the subject comes up I can say, “Here – take a look at this incredible thing we’re doing! And tell every girl you know and everyone you know who knows a girl that we’re doing this!”

Another very real thing that’s happening right now is that our very own Kitty Cole, webmaster par excellence, is hard at work on our new Camp Little Notch website. A separate site from the Friends of CLN main site, the new site will be all about our girls’ summer program. It’s a work in progress—in fact right now it’s only one page—but there will soon be loads of helpful information for prospective campers, parents and staff! You can check it out at www.camplittlenotch.org, and watch it grow along with us.

And speaking of staff, and things that are becoming very real, the first things that will appear on the new website, (after the very fun and inviting home page and our nifty flip-book brochure) will be a whole section devoted to  staff and what to do if you think you’d like to work at camp this summer. To all of you who’ve been asking about the staff application process, this is for you—and we’re ready for you!

As you know, we are doing all of this in the midst of our Phase 2, “For the Love of Little Notch” fundraising drive. As I look at the long list of staff to hire, supplies to purchase, menus to plan, boats and tents and fairy wings to acquire, I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say that none of this—not one Hershey-covered marshmallow or tippy test or friendship bracelet (let alone the life-changing experiences that campers gain from going to camp) would be possible without the love and commitment from every single CLN supporter. Thank you for once again helping to make that possible.

It’s not every day that you get to be a part of building something this wonderful, this special, and this worthy, and I really do wake up every day saying "Really? I get to go back to camp? Really?? Yippee!!!" Being a part of the rebirth of CLN is definitely a "pinch me so I know I'm not dreaming" sort of adventure. Getting to spend another summer there, and being a part of the magic-making—that is truly the all-organic icing on the gluten-free cake!

Counting down...

Jimi

Julie Schwartz

CLN Director

It is with heartfelt thanks, respect, and appreciation that I am writing to notify you of a shift in my involvement with the organization.

I'm grateful and honored to have had the opportunity to serve the membership and community of past and new friends of Little Notch in the capacities of both vice president and member at large. It has been a joy getting to know and work with this vibrant, powerful, creative community as we build a new Little Notch together. However, due to current health related issues, it is now time to pass the board member torch, so to speak, and I am resigning from the Board of Directors.

While I am no longer able to fulfill obligations as a board member, I remain dedicated to the mission of FoCLN. I will be continuing my involvement with this project in other capacities and it is my intention to keep nurturing and developing newly formed relationships with the membership and other advisors, specifically regarding development of financially and culturally accessible programming and practices related to holistic health, spirituality, and wellness (yoga, meditation, music, drum and dance, recovery retreats, etc.) for both youth and adults.

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind all of you of the many rewards that giving service to such an amazing organization can bring. There are still many unfilled seats on the board and in various committees and plenty of work to be done! If interested, please email jo@friendsofcln.org.

Again, I thank you and look forward to all the adventures to come in our piney wood home.

Best,
Lisa (Clementine)

Suigee asked about it and I ended up writing a bit more than I had anticipated.

The memorial.

[photo posted 11/21/11]

I had been thinking about it all summer since Binker had suggested I do it. I had placed it - on the left as you go into Green Cathedrals, there is a clearing and an old, old fire circle, now overgrown and sprouting small pine trees. As you put the Green Cathedrals logs to your right and look at the small clearing, the old fire circle is on the left edge. The memorial is in the center.

I took a rock from each unit, some almost too big to carry and some smaller. It was an education in burdens.

I found 3 large flat rocks, one from the trail up by Tall Timbers and two way up the logging road. The 2 were hanging out on Hojo's porch for much of the summer. I had placed 4 rocks in the clearing as a start of the memorial in the middle of the summer and gathered rocks on other trips. 

I didn't have enough rocks. I knew I wanted to keep the old fire circle as it was. I poked around the edges of it yesterday, not wanting to scavenge it but not being able to build what I needed with what I had. 

You see, I needed to finish the memorial so I could use it.

When I showed Dave the 2 flat rocks I had gotten from way up the logging trail, he noted that they were rocks that had been blasted. At the time it was an interesting rock fact, but at the funeral home, it seemed to me to be the perfect metaphor for losing someone to death.

We talk about losing people we love. This is a given, and we will remember it because it hurts as the distance of death stretches the ties and love weighs more heavily. Mary hugged me for a long time and said, “She loved you.” Such a gift, to be loved!

And I didn’t have enough rocks.

But around the outside of that old fire circle, under about 4 inches of leaves and loam, were the rocks I needed. I dug each one out and I built as I dug, incorporating the unit rocks. Two stacked columns, one higher than the other, each topped with a flat stone, the higher stone overlapping the space of the lower by a little bit.  

I rolled 2 of the logs that were sitting behind the Pine Point latrine up the hill to the memorial and set them each on end to use as seats. I was going to do more but I suspected the amount of cussing I would have to do to get the things up the %$#^! hill would ruin the ceremonious aspect of the project. So someone else can do that.

I had found a tiny bit of green furnace rock at the waterfront. I had been carrying it around gathering memories and sadness and remembered joy. Also in my pocket was a bit of white quartz, for a man I knew who hadn’t died but was lost all the same. I placed them into the lower tier, sat & did some remembering.

So next time you go to Little Notch, pick up a pebble and think of someone you have lost. Walk and remember and breath the beauty of the place. Bring it to the memorial, and let it rest there. 

-Tarot

I just got back from a week at camp and let me tell you, the wood fairies have been very busy! Not only do we have a fully operational and sparklingly clean kitchen (quite a change from February), but the meals that are made there are healthy and delicious. I do believe 2011 may be the first year kale, quinoa and lentils have appeared at Lachenwald, but I am sure it won’t be the last.

There are tents in Pine Point and Timagami, canoes and sailboats at the Waterfront, and, thanks to the effort of several creative and industrious fairies, a new bridge across the lake. We had morning meetings, afternoon swims and evening campfires at Green Cathedrals. Old friends and new friends worked and played together, and each day those things brought us one step closer to realizing our vision of a summer camp program in 2012.

I am grateful for the work that has been done and humbled by the generosity of the people who are giving their most precious resources, their time and imagination, to this place that we all hold so dear. I hope that you will take some time this summer to visit camp and see what has been done and to imagine the possibilities that are still waiting to be discovered on that piney wood hill.

The countdown has begun! Right now, June 24, 2011, we stand just 7 days away from our first Build-a-Dream Campaign fundraising deadline and only a few short weeks from signing the lease-to-buy contract for the purchase of our beloved Little Notch. Your amazing energy, enthusiasm, and generosity continues to provide Friends of CLN with vital support. We are proud to announce that we have currently raised $145,000 of our $250,000 goal!

By reaching this first campaign goal we will draw the attention of large donors, foundations, and businesses--and show the incredible strength, determination, and dedication of our community. Each of us--as creators of the vision for the future of Little Notch--have the opportunity today to proudly contribute to the future of Little Notch.

There are many ways to donate (e.g., Adopt an Acre, sustaining donation, pledge, or one-time gift). Please keep in mind every pledge to Friends of CLN will count toward our first Build-a-Dream Campaign fundraising goal of $250,000, even though pledges can be paid over a 1-3 year period. One pledge option is to Adopt an Acre of Little Notch with monthly payments by check or credit card of $420, $210, or $140 over the course of 1-3 years respectively. You might also consider pooling with friends or family to Adopt an Acre together, or holding your own fundraiser to Adopt an Acre. Additionally, sustaining monthly donations of all sizes are a fantastic and easy way to make a larger gift more accessible.

Recently a member of Friends of CLN and longtime Girl Scout told us an incredible and timely story. She explained that in 1939, when the Girl Scouts purchased Little Notch from the Mount Hope Mining and Iron Company, one woman, the driving force behind the purchase, was told she had a weekend to raise the $25,000 necessary to complete the acquisition. Despite doubts, the community unified to provide each of us the history and future we have with Little Notch today. Now their legacy has been passed to us and together with the majesty of Little Notch behind us, we too will succeed.

In January 2010 we asked you to dig deep to provide the possibility that Friends of CLN could someday purchase Little Notch. Much like our predecessors in 1939, we too raised $25,000 in four short days. Today we ask for your support again. However this time it is not for the possibility of the dream, but the dream itself.

With much Love, Gratitude, Hope, and Abundance,

Jo Lum

President of Friends of Camp Little Notch