The Clearing News Updates
Checking in on The Clearing!
A collection of updates from Ninevah Camps Director Adair Arbor, organized from most to least recent. Enjoy!
We also post photos about once a week throughout the session. Check it out!
Remember, the password to access these photos was sent to all CampDoc users via CampDoc email notification.
Tuesday, July 7
Hello, families of The Clearing!
I can’t believe we’re in the final countdown to the end of session 1. It has been such an incredible experience to spend time with your kids in this very special place.
The last few days have been sweet and full of learning. Our Practical Arts campers have been tanning Angora rabbit hides and learning to build brush shelters. Our Backcountry Cuisine campers have been using the oven they built to cook yummy things by the stream. We also had a fun day at the Woodward camps exploring the trails, lake, and farm, and enjoying meals at host camps, just to get to know the rest of F&W and let them get to know us too!
Right now, the kids are out on their capstone challenge, Earth Walk. Over the last few days, they’ve organized among themselves to plan their shelters, what they’ll bring, and what they’ll cook as they spend the day and the night out in the woods. Backcountry cuisine campers will do the fire building and cooking, and practical arts campers are building shelters for everyone. Every camper was permitted to bring one “luxury item”, and in the most beautiful community-oriented fashion, the campers coordinated their luxury items to prioritize the group, choosing things like tarps, paracord, a saw, and a shovel to keep them all dry and happy. Tonight, they’ll spend time together around the fire swapping stories and appreciations, and they’ll spend the night in the forest before returning to main camp in the morning. We are feeling so proud of everything they’ve accomplished and the challenges they’ve taken on.
We’re looking forward to greeting you and telling you all about the awesome things your campers have been up to when we see you on Thursday morning. Our admissions team sent out an email today with information about pickup. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to get in touch with me. And finally, thank you so much for entrusting your kiddos to The Clearing this summer. Each and every one of them has truly made this community so special, and we’ll remember this first group for a long time to come.
With gratitude,
Adair Arbor
Ninevah Camps Director
Thursday, July 2
Hello, families of The Clearing!
We are really in the swing of things in our little meadow home now. What an incredible group of campers we have here first session!
The last few days have been full. Our guilds are humming along, afternoon activities have been full of creative options, and boy, does this group love hanging out in the climbing tree!
Four of our campers took on the challenge of Fire Quest on Tuesday, in which they went solo into the woods and spent the entire day (much of it in the rain) starting and tending a fire in solitude. On Tuesday night, we had our peak ceremonial moment with The Clearing’s first ever Welcoming Ceremony. We welcomed about 50 guests to our space to see what we do here and enjoyed a taco dinner together in the Roundhouse. Then, we moved to the ceremonial fire space for Big Fire and the main event itself. Our Fire Questers had the honor of lighting Big Fire with torches made by their campmates who stayed behind in camp to support them. Each camper and counselor was formally Welcomed, with a series of public appreciations, receiving a blanket, and walking solo around Big Fire. In between Welcomings, we lightened the mood with song and dance, and finished the night with the legendary Serpentiner. (You can see some really incredible pictures of this event on our photo page!) Campers stayed up swapping stories and tending the fire late into the night, and yesterday was slow and restful to give everyone some time to recover from the big event.
Today our crew is off to the Woodward camps for an adventure day! They’ll hike and swim, join our farm for afternoon programming, and enjoy lunch and dinner with host camps before returning to The Clearing. I can’t believe we only have a few days left with these kiddos. It’s been such a joy getting to know them so far.
More to come!
With gratitude,
Adair Arbor
Ninevah Camps Director
Saturday, June 27
Hello, families of The Clearing campers!
It has been such a special first few days with your campers. Already The Clearing feels like home and our own unique community!On our first evening together, lodge groups made community contracts to establish norms of yurt life. After that, we gathered in the Roundhouse for our opening ceremony. I was so touched to see how our campers were immediately willing to open up to each other, sharing with the group their hopes, fears, and what they intended to leave behind during their time at camp.
One thing that really struck me during that ceremony together was the consistent theme of campers saying they looked forward to the freedom from clocks and mirrors. Nearly every camper expressed a longing for relief from the time pressure of the “real” world. It’s been so interesting since them to hear them asking, “What time do you think it is?” And to hear them answer either themselves or each other with some variation of, “I guess it doesn’t really matter!”. Since then, we’ve spent our days getting in the groove of camp, first with learning about safety protocols around knives, fire, and axes, and then with diving into our Guild groups, Practical Arts and Backcountry Cuisine. Our campers have made pancakes on the fire, learned to identify wild edibles, harvested birch bark, begun to weave baskets, and built their own cooking fire pit. In the afternoons, we’ve been spending our time on creative projects like carving pieces for a lawn game, and exploring the natural world around us, like a visit down the road to New Pond for fishing and wildlife watching. In the evenings we’ve been enjoying all-camp games, and tonight we’ll have a musical evening as we prepare for our Welcoming Ceremony! The energy in camp is calm and happy and excited for what comes next.
It’s been a joy getting to know your kiddos these first few days. As always, please feel free to get in touch any time if you have any questions about how they’re doing or what we’re up to!
With gratitude,
Adair Arbor Ninevah Camps Director
Monday, June 22
Hello The Clearing families!
We are so excited to welcome your campers this summer! It’s hard to believe that camp is finally starting. We have an incredible program planned, a well-trained and enthusiastic staff team, and a whole lot of fun in store.
I’m reaching out before session one kicks off to just touch base with you and make sure you have all the info you need as you send your kiddos off on this big adventure.
What to expect on arrival day
You will receive detailed arrival instructions from our admissions team. If you have any questions about your timing or drop-off location, please let both them and us know! We’ll be happy to clarify.
When you arrive at SAM (our neighbor camp for check-in), Adair and Jason (SAM Associate Director) will be there to greet you and your camper as soon as you get out of your car. You’ll check in with the Ninevah Camps nurse, and then we’ll direct you the rest of the way to The Clearing.
You’ll arrive at the gravel parking lot and be greeted by Josh, Assistant Director at The Clearing. We’ll help you get your campers’ belongings loaded into our truck to be transported up to camp, and then you and your camper will walk the trail into The Clearing. There, you’ll meet our leadership team and your camper’s counselors.
Please feel free to take some time checking out camp as your camper gets oriented to their space! We’ll be happy to show you around.
Communication at camp
It can be emotionally challenging for parents to wonder how their camper is doing without access to typical means of communication. Here are some communication norms to expect at The Clearing:
- Generally speaking, no news is good news! We will always get in touch with you if there is any concern at all with your camper’s experience. However, we are always happy to provide an update. Please email us directly if you would appreciate a check-in on how your camper is settling in. It may take us up to 24 hours to get back to you, but we are more than happy to do that any time!
- Vermont mail is slow, and middle schoolers who are having a ton of fun with their friends often forget that their parents want to hear from them! Please don’t worry if you haven’t heard from your kiddo in the first week.
- Homesickness is a normal part of settling into new camp routines. Campers who are feeling homesick often share those difficult feelings in their early letters home, which may not arrive for a week or more after they’ve sent them. If you are at all concerned about your camper’s experience or wellbeing, please reach out to us. We will gladly let you know how they’re doing. (And if your camper is experiencing homesickness that is outside the range of normal, you will hear from us first.)
Here is a link to the Family Communications Resource page. There you’ll find helpful information and a link to our photo page! Photos will be uploaded approximately once a week.
As always, we are here for you, and we are here for your camper. If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch. We’ll be happy to talk with you. Thank you for trusting us with the most special thing in your life. We are honored to spend this summer with your kiddos. Can’t wait for camp to start!!
With gratitude,
Adair Arbor, Ninevah Camps Director (adair@farmandwilderness.org)
Josh Dobrow and Cedric Rule-Becker, Assistant Directors at The Clearing (tcleadership@farmandwilderness.org)