While many of our visitors do not frequent camp daily, most of them have at one point or another been extremely close to the Camp DeSoto community. Mimi Lanier, who has spent every summer on the mountain since she was a little girl, visited with her two granddaughters who are currently here. Everyone loved seeing Sarah Wilcox, who has been very close to the camp community for years as a camper, counselor, and staff.
Once all in the gym, Phil, the camp co-director, welcomed everyone, and then I was able to explain briefly the concepts behind the project: equal exchange, civic engagement, and inter-generational relationships. We settled into the wooden benches and enjoyed thirty minutes of Bonnie's saw, Mary Halley's bookmark, Hoyle's wheels, Maya's dream car, Taylor's photo, Charles' stories from swimming in Little River, and a Robbie's commentary on the abundance of bugs. From humorous to poignant moments, eight year-old girls and eighty-six year-old women engaged in the film as we all learned new things about each other and the mountain.
After the film, all the girl campers were eager to meet our movie stars as they made connections and pointed out their favorite parts of the film. The oldest girls in camp and the project members enjoyed a picnic dinner on the gym lawn as more stories flowed over Gazelle's delicious chocolate chip cookies. We all lingered on the lawn amidst the twinkling fireflies as Hoyle and Jane played their guitar and fiddle together, improvising off of each other. Our singers, Mimi and Evelyn, then joined in, creating a joyous organic mountain concert. At the ring of the bell for Camp's night activity of junior kickball, we said our goodbyes... until next month.
Ashley, it looks awesome! So much hard work is paying off right now. Looks like things are going beautifully. :)
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