It may have taken a while—nine years to be precise—but the Farmhouse dining room addition has been completed with the installation of a beautiful bamboo floor.
In the spring of 2001, when we broke ground on the largest building project we have undertaken, the Rowe community raised more than half a million dollars to construct a dining room addition to the Farmhouse. Some may remember how challenging the project was. Adding a new addition to an old building is never simple and before we could even begin construction of the addition, we had no choice but to rebuild the kitchen—from the ground up. Though we took out a mortgage for another $300,000, we still weren’t able to finish the project. Until now.
Over the years, much of the interior work was done by work week volunteers. All the trim work, cabinetry, outside decks, and siding were completed as work week projects. A lot of love and care went into this addition. The final component—putting down a new floor seemed always out of reach. The plywood sub-flooring was functional but was never meant to be the finished floor. After nine years it was beginning to show signs of wear.
We launched the FloorBoard campaign in 2008 with the goal of raising $20,000 to put down a new floor. For a gift of $200, donors could support the campaign and have their name and a blessing painted on the sub-floor. On February 28th, Rowe’s work-study interns and some staff gathered to paint the old floor with the names of the donors who had given to the floor board campaign, along with the blessings each had sent along. The next day a crew put down the new floor.
In addition to the new floor, the Farmhouse addition included a new dining room that seats 85 and a renovated kitchen that met all of the health code regulations for kitchens offering food service.
The completed project made the Farmhouse wheelchair accessible, added two more much needed bathrooms and four additional showers. The addition included a new gathering space, freeing the old living room for use as a reception area and doubling the size of the office.
As part of the project a $100,000 septic system was installed to replace the inadequate system that for so long had been a chronic problem. The new system is serving us well.
The Russian fireplace in the gathering room is an excellent source of heat. Because it is designed to burn very hot, we can burn pine as well as hard woods and use downed trees on our property for heating. The conventional fireplace in the new dining room offers a warm and cozy atmosphere. In the winter, guests sit by the hearth and watch the glow of the fire; in the spring, they gaze at the beautiful gardens and forests. The large windows let the beauty of nature radiate everywhere. The cathedral ceiling, made from boards logged from the old pine tree that stood behind the Farmhouse, gives the space an expansive feel, while still holding the simplicity and casual comfort that Rowe is known for.
Our expanded kitchen gives the cooks the space they need to produce fabulous food. New dishwashing equipment, a convection oven, and walk-in refrigerator make kitchen life a lot easier.
The Farmhouse addition provides us with a stepping-off place to achieve our goals of making Rowe Camp & Conference Center a warm and welcoming place to come home to. What was once a dream is now a reality, thanks to all of you who helped to make it happen.
“For many kids, camp today is going to put them in a community that is diverse in ways they have not experienced before and it’s a beautiful opportunity to explore what that feels like and what it means, and how they can be contributing, constructive members of this community that is more and more mirroring our country as a whole.”
—Heather Day, former camper and staff person
The Woodside Diversity program is not just a scholarship program. It is an opportunity for all campers in the greater Rowe Camp family to experience the richness of being in a diverse community.
The program, which began in 1999 with 11 campers, has grown significantly over the years. Thanks to all of you who have given so generously, we have been able to provide the funding to bring campers back year after year and to bring in new campers each year. Today we have Woodside campers in all four of our camp sessions. Even though we are still a few years away from some of these young folks joining the staff, we can already imagine that day, including anticipating Woodside Diversity campers becoming directors!
Creating a diverse community is a beginning. Creating a diverse community that honors differences and deals responsibly with issues of race and class invites consciousness and intention. The results can be both challenging and rewarding. The Woodside Diversity Program, named to honor longtime cook and one of the spiritual mothers of the Rowe Community, Margaret Woodside, has the potential to be among some of the best social justice programming Rowe accomplishes. “We have a lot to learn from these young folks and they have many gifts to share,” says Rowe director Felicity Pickett. “It’s time for us to take the next step and we are now turning to you for support. Our goals include having a more diversified staff, providing more training to staff, increasing training around race and class related issues that come up during camp, and providing programming that is more culturally diverse.” To bring in trainers will take additional resources, she says.
Junior High Camp 200 used their adventure camp money to bring in a group to do diversity training with staff and, later, with campers. “Support among camp staff is so strong,” Felicity says “many make donations from their camp salaries!”
Members of the larger Rowe family are the key to our taking the next step. “Peace will come when we all learn to honor and respect each other’s differences while knowing in our hearts that we are all one,” Felicity believes. “We have more work to do to see this vision a reality. Camp is the perfect place to do some of that work—a container to handle this critical growth.”
Board members will be making phone calls to launch this campaign and a mailing will be going out soon. “We hope you will give generously. Use the form on this page or on our web site www.rowecenter.org. We can accomplish so much in enlarging the vision of the Woodside Diversity Program but we need your help to do so. Can we count on you?
Supporters of Rowe Camp and Conference Center are using GoodSearch and GoodShop, raising money with every search of the Internet and every purchase on-line!
What if even a fraction of the billions of dollars generated by search engine advertisers and online shopping was directed towards Rowe Camp and Conference Center?
That is the concept behind GoodSearch.com a new search engine powered by Yahoo! GoodSearch donates 50 percent of its revenue, approximately a penny per search, to the charities designated by its users. You use it exactly as you would any other search engine and the pennies add up quickly – just 500 people searching four times a day will earn around $7,300 in a year. It doesn’t cost you a thing!
Similarly, with GoodShop.com, you can help Rowe by shopping at hundreds of well-known retailers including Amazon, Target, Apple, Macy’s, Best Buy, Orbitz, Staples. By going through GoodShop, up to 30 percent of the purchase price is donated to Rowe!
Download the new GoodSearch/GoodShop toolbar at http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/rowe-camp-and-conference-center.
Use the link below search or shop online, and each time you do a search, GoodSearch will give us a donation!
Want to sponsor the purchase of an automatic external defibrillator?
A gift of $1500 will provide for a defibrillator to have here at Rowe Camp and Conference Center. Maybe you and other family members can go in on this important gift together. Interested? Click to contact us.
We are looking for an arborist to give us some advice on what to do about the beautiful old maple trees in front of the Farmhouse. If you have that knowledge and would like to barter for attending a program, please contact us online or call 413-339-4954.
Work has begun to alleviate the moisture problem at the Chapel. The basement is below the water line of the brook which runs next to it and because water from the brook comes into the basement, the concrete has buckled and crumbled. To compound matters, the stone wall foundation acts as a wick, absorbing the moisture.
Vermont Poured Concrete and Builders, Inc. is installing pipes below the surface of the floor to direct water out of the building. They will also be installing a sump pump and replacing the floor. Once the project is complete, we will begin installing a composting toilet.
Funding for this project came from a campaign to mark the 100th anniversary of the building of the Chapel.
This year’s annual fund was earmarked for work on the Rec Hall. Because major work is needed on both the roof and the front deck, the Stewardship Committee decided this was its number one priority for 2009. Over the last few years we have been plagued with leaks in the roof, mostly stemming from the old skylights, but also from the roof itself. The Rec Hall Roofing Project will insure that the building will stay dry.
As part of the project the exterior of the Rec Hall chimney has been refaced and seven skylights were replaced. That work has been completed and by the time you read this the roofers will have installed a seamless metal roof over the rug room and bathrooms. Over the last several years we have been replacing the roof one section at a time. The last piece of roofing to be replaced is over the dining room area; thankfully the roof covering that section is believed to be in good enough shape to last a while longer.
We have raised $20,444 in donations and pledges for the project. The board agreed to allocate a $5,000 bequest from Pat Fletcher, former board president, towards the project. Bequests are generally put into the Capital Endowment unless otherwise specified. Because of the economic decline, the endowment lost money this year. To complete the project the board agreed to put this bequest directly into capital improvements. The total for the project is $28,300, so there is still $3,300 more to raise. Can we count on you to help keep rain drops from falling on our head?
Money raised for the 2010 Annual Fund will be used to replace the Rec Hall deck. For a while now we have been repairing the deck on the front of the Rec Hall piece by piece. But the patchwork approach will no longer work. As a safety issue for adults and young people alike we need to replace the deck. If you’ve watched the sunset from the front deck, sat and gazed at the stars, sipped your morning coffee while basking in the beauty around you, or engaged in a powerful conversation, you know that that space is more than a deck. So do the scores of young people who gather there all summer. It carries a special quality as a place to come and be nourished.
To contribute to the Rec Hall Roof Project or to the Rec Hall Deck use the online donation form.
You can become a member or make a donation by using the secure online form (click here), or by calling or mailing us.
Rowe Camp and Conference Center
Kings Highway Road
PO Box 273
Rowe, MA 01367
413-339-4954
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