"Reflections"

"Reflections"
Looking back on
2021

by Trevor

WE DID IT!

A very huge THANKS to absolutely everyone who pitched in (even in the smallest way) to make the 2021 in-person session so wonderful. We couldn't have done this without your help and support.

We are especially grateful to:

1. The CALM Team (Camp Administration Leadership Management Team) who stepped up in early May to take over the leadership of the Assembly when our Camp Director stepped down. This group is made up of members of the Summer Session Committee (who usually are in charge of planning — but not directing — camp) plus a few more key people: Beki Greenwood (Registrar and future Camp Director-elect), Emily Woofenden (future assistant Camp Director), Trevor (Activities Director), Rev. Susannah Currie (Religious Program Coordinator), Miriam Lexie (Registrar-in-training), and Carol LeBaron (Art Director). Against all odds, these people pulled off the amazing feat of making our FNCA 2021 in-person session work smoothly and professionally without an elected Camp Director and without a visible hitch. Kudos and salaams are totally in order.

© Susannah Currie 20212: Jason Greenwood, Chris Tergliafera, and Alex Dyer (Caretakers Of Our Kitchen) who jumped in at the very last minute when the cooks quit the day before camp started. These three pulled off a seamless miracle in preparing our meals and running the Kitchen and Dining Hall efficiently, effectively, and on time. They are the 2021 FNCA superheroes!

3. The Tech Team: Beki Greenwood, Kristina Madjerac, Bob Perry, Ben Phinney, and Chris Tergliafera. Not only did they run the tech during all our hybrid events this year, but they also researched, ordered, and installed our entire new AV system. YAY!! Special thanks to Convention and the Gray Fund for funding this.

4. Dave Richardson, Colgate Searle, Dan Dyer, and the entire Buildings & Ground Committee for their hard work building the new © Susannah Currie 2021bell tower, setting up the new stone RUBY bench on the edge of the lawn, helping to transform the old Boys Bunkhouse into The Treehouse (our new art cabin!), taking the dock in and out, and numerous on-the-spot repairs before during and after camp.

5. The Centennial Celebration Committee chaired by Nancy Little, with assistance from her husband Trevor, for their careful planning of a variety of programs throughout the entire session celebrating the FNCA's first 100 years!

6. Plus the many, many camper volunteers who continually filled in the gaps cheerfully and selflessly throughout the entire session.

So, how about the camp session itself?

The Opening Weekend Program was Reconnecting with Camp lead by Rev. Susannah Currie, Tina Wood, Leone Dyer, Carol LeBaron, and Rev. E. Kent Rogers. It included programs on Reconnecting with the Land; Empty Box Meditation; Reconnecting with Each Other; and the Gifts of Solitude, Silence, and Stillness.

© Trevor 2021This year's lecture themes were "The Sayings of Jesus" the first week, and "On Love to the Neighbor" the second week. Our stable of lectures included the Revs. Susannah Currie, Sage Cole, George McCurdy, Gard Perry, Roslyn Taylor, Paul Martin, and Dr. Ian Thompson, plus this year's Rev. Everett K. Bray Visiting Lecturer: Rev. E. Kent Rogers. All our lectures were streamed live, and included both in-person and virtual lecturers, thanks to our experience with virtual camp last year.

The Afternoon Book Club thoroughly enjoyed going through the Rev. Dr. George F. Dole's 2016 book: A Thoughtful Soul: Reflections on Swedenborg, under the leadership of Rev. Susannah Currie and Rev. E. Kent Rogers, with most sessions held outdoors on the lawn.

One very exciting thing this year was the transformation of the old Boys Bunkhouse into our new art cabin: the Treehouse! With a full-time art director on staff, and a veritable smorgasbord of art supplies and equipment available, campers young and old were thrilled to attend daily art activities that involved a wide variety of artistic styles and creations. Lots and lots and lots of great art!

© Jesse White 2021Other activities included many old favorites: Sparks Games, Flames Games, the Banana Hunt, Tie Dye Day, Purple Day, The LALLA Scrabble Tournament, adult soirées in Frank Hall, and the annual FNCA Sales Table Auction.

Special presentations this year included: a virtual tour of Wood's Cider Mill, social justice song sing-along hosted by SAAR, stitch meditation, Cup Crankies, comedy improv, a facilitated science and religion discussion, The Subtle Body in Swedenborg and Siddha Yoga, England Canal Boat Tour travelog, a slide show presention of Alia Woofenden's research on Anita Dole, and the Fryeburg New Church Assembly's 100th Anniversary Song & Story Swap and Birthday Cake on our actual 100th birthday: Saturday, August 7, 2021!

One other new thing this year was we did a morning chapel or two and all our singing graces before meals in a big circle outside on the front lawn. We sang many old favorites, did some fun ones led by the Flames and young adults, and were taught some new ones, too, energetic ones that got us all rockin' it before meals, and one in a foreign language, too!

© FNCA 2021The FNCA Annual Meeting was held middle Saturday. Beki Greenwood was elected our new Camp Director; Miriam Lexie and Rev. E. Kent Rogers were newly elected to the Board and Trevor got re-elected; and after a rather spirited discussion, the Assembly membership also voted to fly the Progress Pride flag somewhere visible from the road to publicly indicate that we are a welcoming organization to all.

The Board of Directors met following the Annual Meeting. The new FNCA officers are:
President: Dan Dyer
Vice President: Colgate Searle
Secretary: Emily Woofenden
Treasurer: Bob Perry
Assistant Treasure: Jesse White
Clerk: Kristina Madjerac

We were honored by the Dole family's choice to hold the memorial service for the FNCA's own Rev. Dr. George F. Dole (July 8, 1931 - June 29, 2021) at the Assembly on the final Saturday of camp. It was a full day of all-things- GFD, beginning with the Dole 3 Miler Road Race at 8:00 a.m., followed by a re-presentation of a 2018 Science and Spirituality interview with George Dole moderated by Rev. Roslyn Taylor. After lunch, the George Dole memorial service was held from 3:00-4:30 under a huge tent outside on the front lawn with the congregation looking out over the river at that © Jon Cousins 2014spectacular mountain vista. The service opened with a quartet consisting of George's two daughters, his daughter-in-law, and granddaughter delighting the audience with an appropriate song about rivers. Featured speakers included the President of Convention, the Dean of the theological school, relatives, friends, and colleagues. There were many both thoughtful and tearful moments.

Following the service was an outdoor reception with dinner based on George's favorite camp meal: franks and beans!

© FNCA 2021That night, the Evening Activity was a GFD Song & Story Swap in which various people got up and shared special "George Moments." One of the opening numbers was GFD's nephew, Ian Woofenden, singing George's composition The FNCA Blues. After that, we heard more than a dozen vignettes about George, including one his dear sister Louise wrote in this column back in 1985!

Overall, campers young and old, new and old, were absolutely delighted, thrilled, enthusiastic, and just plain feeling good about being back at the good old FNCA once again! It's our little slice of heaven.