Laurie Wolfrum's photos

Laurie sent a note with a link to her photos. She said:

I wish I had gotten a picture of Brie and Michael and Noor together - I meant to, but couldn't find them when I was ready to take pics. It really was so special to me to meet all of you in person and hear you all speak. I love that feeling of being with other like-minded famillies and talking about the philosophy and principles of unschooling! Want to bottle it up!

Her photos and notes are on her blog, here: http://joyful-abundance.blogspot.com/2012/05/massachusetts-allin-may-2012.html Thank you for the kind words and for taking and sharing those, Laurie!

Thanks, and praise to share

I wrote apologizing for the kitchen floor not being clean enough, and there being a pancake batter smudge under the handle of the stove by the bathroom.

It kinda crossed in the mail with this, though, from the camp supervisor:

I just want to thank your group so much for the care/respect they showed the grounds of our facility over this weekend. I have been here now 15 years and your group is the 1st group to truly leave the grounds as you found them and to respect the centers rules/policies. I did not have to go looking for balls, equipment, supplies, anything today nor did I have to address anyone about anything over the weekend. It was like an angel dropped from the Heaven's today knowing that time was short for me as I continue to work to get the Center ready for the 200+ campers that will arrive on June 25th. I cannot thank you all enough or the participants who came for taking care of our aging center while you were here. I do hope the weekend went well for you too and that all the families were able to spend some time gathering and learning more about their home school efforts. The weather was great and you lucked out there for sure.

Part of my response was

Thank you for the very kind words. I'll share them with the other participants, and so wanted to know if June 25th was an error, since I intend to share the praise with all the others who helped keep kids happy and rules followed and who helped us clean up.

and his:

If I could clone your groups caring/empathy for the center for other groups I would do it in a heart beat.

THANK YOU, everyone who helped with set-up, take-down, food prep and distribution, provision, removal and all sorts of cleanup. Thanks to kids who gathered empty cups and plates, and who took trash bags to the dumpster. Thank you for signs and cheer and moving furniture and assisting people who were tired, hungry, looking for people, looking for something. For the things people did that I didn't even know needed to be done, Thank you very much!!

Found by the gagaball pit

Left after others were gone:

The Poster

This poster is here at the Mahowalds' house and George said he was going to make copies for some who had requested it. Here are some photos, to tide people over in the meantime.

My name is along the top of the first "n" in Unschooling. I wish I had signed larger!

Speakers

Sandra, Meredith and Joyce (photo by George Mahowald)

Brie, Michael and Noor (photo by Sandra Dodd)

If others have better photos of the speakers speaking, I'd love to have them! (Or if you have some uploaded in a public place, maybe you could put a link as a comment, below.)

insect repellent and groceries

Grocery stores aren't so near, so get food before you get there.

Bring insect repellent. Mosquitos are in those woods. Maybe ticks, too.

The caretaker said there is some poison ivy, near the compost pile, so we won't send kids there. Don't know where else there might be some, and pretty much the ground is stomped clear. Be careful of the Lady Slippers (see photo in previous post).

The turn to the last road is right near the Butler-Dearden (BD) paper company. There's a big American flag. Turn left just before that and it's about half a mile to the YMCA sign, on the right.

Camping, wifi, and if you get lost

Never mind this:

-=-Camp anywhere you would like (not by the lake, but anywhere else). Don't leave the car there...-=-

You CAN leave the car there if you camp across the stream (right turn by the office, instead of straight toward the lodge. There is a playground for young children with camping space near it, over on that side.

The only consideration is not to park on top of the above-ground plumbing, but I think that will be easy to see. There are two drinking fountains and a bathroom, so don't park between them, or between them and the office.

We were just out at the camp and there is a lot of room for camping and exploring. The arts and crafts room can be a hang-out for older kids, too.

ALSO... we hear wifi works well in the lodge IF one can change the user name on the computer to the required username/password combo. Windows 7 has a problem, we've been told. So wifi is a maybe, and a probably, depending on the technical savy of the user, and his operating system.

DIRECTIONS:
http://sandradodd.com/all/ALLinMaydirections And if you get lost, you can call George for particular directions from where you are: 617-899-7727

Be careful not to pick or stomp on flower like these, if you can:

And there's a big field at that end of the camp. I suppose you could camp on it, and there's a table, but it's not so near the toilets.