Family Week Family time is precious, and it is difficult to find something the whole family can do together. For music fans both young and old, travel to music camp means often leaving behind their loved ones. Would not it be great, instead, take them to the adventure?
The Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) offers family weeks in three different camps - Pinewoods near Plymouth, Massachusetts; Timber Ridge in West Virginia and the New Hampshire White Mountains Ogontz - planning a visit popular music for the whole family .
"Family Week tends to attract people with a high level of interest in dance or music or both," says Mitzie Collins, 66, of Rochester, New York, who attended Family Week for the many years as both an instructor and as a participant.
It was thanks to Collins and other like-minded musicians that Family Week began. A teacher hammered dulcimer and mountain, Collins attended camps organized by CDSS adults, and parents and other musicians have found themselves saying, "My God, we're having a great time. Would not it be great if our children could do that? "
They approached CDSS management, which was initially concerned about how children could be integrated into a camp. But it was the 1970s and change was in the air. CDSS, and some interested campers, has proposed a structure and Family Week was born.
At the time, Collins would share his love for music with his family. She had no idea how quickly Family Week would blossom into something truly extraordinary.
Sweetness and Beauty
"In a camp for adults you're a bit self-centered, and family week, it's not just you," said Nawal Motawa, 43, a tile artist Ann Arbor, Michigan. "There gentleness and beauty to people. "
Motawa attended Family Week for about five years, starting when her son, Kitson Dong, was three. "At Family Week, we spend a lot of time together and I find that I enjoy his company in another way," she said.
Kappy Laning, 51, is a director at Camp Timber Ridge and attends Family Week with a large blended family that includes her husband, Sam Droege, 49, his son, Stuart Hean, 16, and two stepdaughters, Anna 14 years, and Wren, 15, their mother, Romey Pitman, 42, Pitman husband, Brad Seay, 41, and Pitman and her daughter four years Seay, Bizzy.
Laning, a pediatric nurse at Upper Marlboro, Maryland, first attended a camp at SSDC the suggestion of a friend. "My first camp was pregnant with my son and I were coming from," she recalls. "My son has grown up in this environment. He is a passionate dancer and learn to play guitar. "
Romey Pitman went to camp for the first time two Bizzy. "It was amazing to see how much fun I had," she said.
"I love dance, music that goes with it, and play this music," said Pitman. Camp CDSS is a way to share my love of these things with my children. " Pitman teenage daughters are both involved in the year of music. Wren plays the tuba and the flute and Anna plays the clarinet and harmonica.
An annual ritual
Those who have tried CDSS Family Week tend to return year after year as they watch their children grow and mature. Families are encouraged to bring whatever instruments they play and everything is organized around each family member feel that they belong to the group.
Families eat together in a dining room, often accompanied by live music. Each person is assigned a daily task and they are invited to attend at least two meetings per day.
Freelance radio producer Marika Partridge, 52, of Takoma Park, Maryland, said she has participated in both camps with her husband, portraitist Larry Ravitz, 56.
Posted on March 4, 2010.
