Summer Camp grows up

PRIME – July 2013 By Debbie Gardner debbieg@thereminder.com Do you remember summer camp? For many, those idyllic days offered a precious opportunity to trade the familiarity of home and parents for a chance to see and do things they would not have encountered in their ordinary lives. Fast forward to adulthood. For some individuals, the lure of "camp" seemingly has never abated. Media outlets – from Woman's Day magazine to CNN online recently featured stories on the growth of adult camp experiences – from excursions that offer an opportunity to learn from and hobnob with celebrity filmmakers and artists to rough-it stays in national parks to astronaut-wannabe immersions at Alabama's Space Camp – all geared to attract attendees anywhere from age 20 to 90-plus. Elderhostel pioneers adult "camp" Headquartered in Boston, the 38 year-old Elderhostel program – now called Road Scholars – was a pioneer in creating what the not-for-profit organization refers to not as only camp-type experiences, but as "lifelong learning programs." In fact the program, which started off with a handful of activities in New Hampshire, now offers Road Scholar experiences in 50 states and 150 countries ( www.roadscholar.org/press/factsheet.asp ). "I think the intention of changing the name [from Elderhostel] was to appeal to a broader group, especially the baby boomers and others who really didn't identify with the name Elderhostel, and also to better reflect what the programs are about," Despina Gakopoulos, spokesperson for the Road Scholar Program, said. At present, Gakopoulos said approximately 20 percent of enrollees in Road Scholar's wide array of programs – which range from high altitude hiking trips to food and wine tastings to music festivals, language immersions and birding encounters – are from the baby boom generation. She noted Road Scholar also offers popular intergenerational programs that encourage grandparents and grandchildren to travel and learn together, and recently launched a series of family programs to encourage individuals of all ages to experience immersion programs together. "We offer 5,500 programs around the world … there is an opportunity for people with very broad interests," she added. The cost of a Road Scholar experience varies by location and length of program, with a current listing of more than 10 multi-day U.S.-based programs priced from $350 to $600 per person. For a complete listing of Road Scholar experiences, including 49 slated for 2013 in Massachusetts, visit www.roadscholar.org . Area venue offers art adventure The New England Craft Program at Snow Farm in Williamsburg, Mass., is one such immersion camp experience that began 25 years ago with many of its classes part of the original Elderhostel program, and has since expanded to become its own non-profit arts education community. Still associated with the Road Scholar program – it is facilitating a number of the 49 Massachusetts-based learning experiences this year – Snow Farm offers a wide variety of weeklong and weekend hands-on fine art and crafting classes designed for those looking to indulge their creative side, from beginners to accomplished artisans. "Snow Farms is our largest provider of craft programs," Gakopoulos said. "They've run 66 unique craft programs on over 150 dates over the last three years." This season, which extends from May to October, Gakopoulos said Snow Farm is offering 22 different arts programs on 26 dates. Locals who love it "I call it art camp for adults," 56-year-old Cathy Robbins of Wilbraham, Mass., said of her Snow Farm experience. "And there were lots of people like me who had never taken an art class before Snow Farm." Robbins signed up for her first class at Snow Farm on painted furniture under the Elderhostel program. "I felt kind-of-funny signing up for [it] because I wasn't looking at myself as an elder," she said. She's returned to the bucolic farm setting multiple times over the past seven years, repeating the painted furniture class three times, enrolling in a collage class twice and, in April, dabbling in mosaics. "You don't think about anything but what you are working on," Robbins said. "They ring the gong when its time for meals – it's fabulous fresh organic local food crafted right there by chefs – you have a meal, talk with your fellow campers and you go back to work on your project." Harriet Atwood of Longmeadow, a member of the Tobacco Valley Artists Association, said she, too, made her first trip to Snow Farm under the Elderhostel program. Planned as a reunion with several painting friends, the active 91-year-old noted that first visit – an oils intensive – was nearly 20 years ago. She's returned "five or six times" over the years, taking week-long classes in oils, watercolor and last year, pastels with well-known and widely collected artist Jane Lund. Her painting from that Snow Farm class took first prize in a recent art show sponsored by the Chicopee Public Library. "Your day-to-day jobs are not intervening [and] you can devote all your time to your art," Atwood observed. "You come back really refreshed." Atwood said in the vein of many summer camps of old, Snow Farm's accommodations are simple, but the instruction – which often features classes taught by artists renown in their fields – and activities are excellent. "You share … [you have] a cot-size bed in a narrow room [for two and] you share a bathroom," she said of the dormitory-style living arrangements at Snow Farm. "They are nice and clean, but very minimum." Meals, she noted, are served cafeteria-style "down the hill" in a big building, which also houses a meeting room used for evening programming. Studios, which she said are located in a building below the dining hall as well as in other farm outbuildings, include areas designed for work in glassblowing, welding, woodwork, pottery and jewelry making as well as traditional forms of painting. And, like summer camp, the weeklong classes at Snow Farm are an opportunity to mix with individuals from different backgrounds. "People come from all over the country," Atwood said. "Sometimes they come from other countries. Someone from Germany came to a jewelry class [and] said she prefers to come to something like that than to tour." Phyllis Taylor, 76, of Longmeadow, another member of the Tobacco Valley Artist Association who has accompanied Atwood to Snow Farm on three previous visits, said the close proximity to home is part of the appeal for her. "It's an easy drive. You go up on Saturday and get settled and they give you a description of what everything is and where it is," Taylor said. "Wednesday afternoons are usually free and it's close enough [to Northampton and Springfield] that people can go out, go to a movie and such." She said she also appreciates the opportunity to learn about other class opportunities during the weeklong stays. "In the evening they have programs about different types of art. Someone who has a talent in woodworking will do a woodworking program [for example] so you can get an idea of what they do," Taylor said. "One day they take you through every different workshop so you can see the works in progress, so you can get an idea of something else you might want to try." She said each week of classes also ends with party "where we get to see what people have done" and an auction, where students get to bid on each other's work. "Everyone does something for that to raise money for Snow Farm," Taylor said. With it's pretty rural setting, complete with a pond where she and Atwood have tried their hand at Plein Air painting on at least one visit, Taylor said a week at Snow Farm is "a nice retreat from everything around here." Registration is still open for several August, September and October art intensive and weekend programs at Snow Farm. Prices range from $250 per person for some of the shorter weekend day only programs to more than $700 for a week-long intensive with accommodations. Basic materials are included in the cost of classes. For more information, visit www.snowfarm.org or call 413-268-3101.