 Summer
Camp News
By Emily Hazelton
The summer of 2006 was my first at Kroka, and what a
great one! Starting in May, I jumped right into the thick
of activity from my first day. I started out by co-leading a
9-day school trip with Misha, and never stopped moving!
As the weeks flew by, I got to know about life at camp,
and to lead trips with phenomenal teachers. I have led
with other camps and organizations, but none quite like Kroka. It felt good to
have callused feet and tangled hair all summer. Here’s how the summer went:
The usual suspects were living at Trollhaugen Farm again, from the
Dammer Brothers to Muffin and Bo-Peep the sheep. We enjoyed eating fresh
eggs from our chickens, taking rides on Brita the horse, and making salads
from fresh lettuce grown in Kroka’s own garden.
Together with our students, we had lots of adventures. To start the
summer off, a group of students helped Laurel Iselin complete her high school
senior project by building a traditional lodge, with the help of Grandfather
Ray, Misha, and Stefan Hofer-Fay. Since then, it has been well used! Many
students spent nights in the lodge this summer, and the apprentices used it as
their home when they were not on trips.
Another addition to Kroka this summer was the use
of Heart’s Bend, up the hill and through the woods from
base camp. Many of us hauled our packs up to the tipis
to spend a night or two in a beautiful field under the
stars. As usual, there was paddling, rock climbing,
wood chopping, meals cooked over a fire, games, singing,
and lots of fun. There were also countless crafts made:
moccasins, ash pack baskets, cordage, wooden spoons,
and homemade lifejackets, to name a few. What a beautiful
life and way of learning!
LOOKING FORWARD
TO SUMMER 2007
Now winter is here, but we are already thinking about
next summer. We will be running all of your favorite
traditional Kroka programs, and we also have some exciting
new programs lined up, sprouted from the imaginations
of our instructors. Last year, we welcomed a huge influx
of new younger students, so this year we will be expanding
our programming for the young ones. We have added “Children
of Trollhaugen Farm,” a camp-based adventure program
for children who want a gentle introduction to wilderness
living. Misha is excited to offer “Family
Adventure,” for young students and their parents.
This is the chance for all those parents out there who
have asked about adult programs to experience Kroka!
“The
Lost Tribe of Trollhaugen” (Introduction to Wilderness
Living) is an introductory course designed by Mathias
Dammer for young ones who are excited to focus on wilderness
living skills.
Due to a huge demand for the “Coming
of Age for Young Women” program, we’ve added a program
for younger girls. Johanna Gardner will be frolicking
with the young ones on “Wilderness
Adventures for Girls.” There are also some new programs
for our older students.
Chris Knapp has developed another exciting program
called “Salty
Survival: A Sailing, Scavenging, Sea-Going Adventure,”
for those students who want to take their survival skills
to the sea.
In the Kroka tradition of offering a specialty skills
program each year, we will be building a cabin at camp
this year! “Cabin
in the Clearing” will bring back Grandfather Ray,
along with Michael Dammer, to build a structure to be
used as a camp sauna.
To lead our trips this year, we will be welcoming back all of our staff from
last year, and will be adding a couple new staff members. We are excited to
have our experienced teachers back, as well as to add some fresh faces and
ideas!
Registration is now open for summer programs.
Call me at 802 387 5397 or email krokavt@gmail.com
A happy and peaceful holiday season to all!
Emily |
