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2004 State of the Association Reported May 2005
"To nurture the peacemakers among us BLQCA Mission statement |
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| This year, the dominant theme in the life of Ben Lomond Quaker Center was the reconstruction of the Redwood Lodge. The new Redwood Lodge will be dedicated on May 15, following College Park Quarterly meeting. The old Redwood Lodge provided many years of value and service, and we are once again grateful to the volunteers who built it in 1968; the new building offers a more spacious setting for workshops and gatherings as well as a well-sprung dance floor, and is fully accessible to people in wheelchairs. The harmony of humanity and the natural world is embodied in the beauty of the new building, the environmentally responsible design and materials, and the loving volunteer labor that helped to tile the floors and create benches and cabinetry. Staff, board, and volunteers have all worked hard, dealing with many unexpected twists and turns. The final cost of the project is $480,000. Of this amount, over eighty percent has been given or pledged already, and we are confident that the last remaining gap will be filled through appeals to Meetings, fundraising events, continuing individual donations, and a phone-a-thon in the fall. There is a sense of satisfaction and joy as the first groups arrive to use the new building, as well as weariness as the last pesky details are being resolved and the final funds are being raised. Other facilities have also been created or improved this year. The labyrinth was dedicated October 2. The Haven personal retreat space, formerly the Art Center, now has a wheelchair-accessible ramp. High-speed DSL internet access is now available to several staff members simultaneously and is offered to groups that need high-tech hookups. Other maintenance projects continue to require attention, and are being scheduled as needed. Quaker Center provides service to many groups, from all economic classes, diverse cultural backgrounds, and ages from elementary school to elders, who use Quaker Center as a place for retreat, community-building, spiritual replenishment, and education. Our new brochure about rental facilities highlights our policy of rental subsidies for low-income community groups that share our Quaker values. We have also published a brochure inviting personal retreats in the Sojourners Cottage, the Haven, and the Redwood Lodge. Programs sponsored directly by Quaker Center this year have continued to enrich spiritual life, nourish Quaker leadership, and educate young Friends and their friends. Last spring, through Quaker Center on the Road, Rachel Findley took John Woolman's message of radical trust to Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. Other Quaker Center-sponsored programs were "Nurturing the Meeting," "Finding the Ecological Self," a women's retreat, the year-end retreat, a story-telling workshop, and consideration of the relationship between Buddhism and Quakerism. This spring's Quaker Center on the Road program featured David Boulton and the message of George Fox, beginning at Quaker Center and traveling through the Pacific Northwest. Our Quaker Center-sponsored programs are a valuable resource, highly valued by those who take part in them, but perhaps not fully used. Some programs have been very well attended, but a few have had to be cancelled because of low registration. We are working to improve awareness of Quaker Center programs by encouraging workshop leaders and participants to publish accounts of their experiences at Quaker Center. Staff has outlined ways for program leaders and board members to bring programs to the attention of people who might benefit from them. Several articles about our programs have appeared in Friends Bulletin and in local newspapers. Summer camps for children and youth were well attended last summer: 28 campers at service camp and 31 at children's camp. In addition to the education of children and youth, young adult friends who serve as leaders and counselors grow in their Quakerism and infuse the Quaker community with their energy, commitment, and spiritual awareness. The new CORE (Coastal Redwoods Environmental) school offers environmental education to school groups, home-schoolers, and teachers. Lisa Murphy, the first paid director, has organized three education sessions this spring, and is developing funding and connections with community groups. The most recent CORE program, for children in foster care, combined environmental education with advance planning for college admissions and funding. The Quaker Leadership Directory, including 45 workshop leaders who are known to Quaker Center or who are recommended by their home Meetings, has been updated and made available to all Monthly Meetings in Pacific Yearly Meeting for their use in planning adult education programs, retreats, and special programs. This year saw a number of changes among Quaker Center staff and volunteers. Another child was born at Quaker Center—Alden Elrick Forbes on June 10, 2004. Eva Miller of Orange Grove Friends Meeting became the new intern, bringing maturity and initiative to a number of projects. Bo Forsyth, beloved long-time volunteer at work camps and kids' camps, died January 3, 2005. The Sullivan and Forbes children all grew a year older. The adults got a little more wisdom, and the trees all added a growth ring. The water kept trying to wear down the mountains, the streams kept singing in the night, and shafts of sunlight kept on breaking into the redwood shadows. John deValcourt, Clerk Ben Lomond Quaker Center Association May 7, 2005 |
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