Meadow Musings

Fall 2023

Introduction

Indralaya is nearing the end of its 2023 season – This year there were 7 work parties and 15 programs with more than 700 participants. As you will read in this issue, a lot has transpired!

Table of Contents

What is New at Indralaya – Infrastructure Report by Michael Van Gelder
To the Fearless Head Cooks by Andrie Levey-Bates
Fundraising for Bath house and A New Fundraising Match!
The Framing Work Party by Andrie Levey-Bates
Meet the 2023-2024 Indralaya Board!
Thanks to the Indralaya Community by Alec Grae, Indralaya General Manager
Gratitude for Fellowship Volunteers by Marilynne Gardner
Indralaya Draws Me Back – by Sissi Böhm
Self-Healing with Mind-Body Techniques by Sarah Martinez
Passing the Torch by Steven Lucas
Honoring those leaving Camp Service
Check out the Indralaya Website new home page – and see the preliminary 2024 calendar

What is new at Indralaya – Infrastructure Report

– Michael Van Gelder, Chair, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee

A lot has happened since summer ended. Our biggest project, the Lower Bathhouse is finally, visibly, taking shape, thanks to the donations of many campers.

1. Lower Bathhouse Project

The Lower Bathhouse Project has four somewhat distinct phases. Phase 1 was getting the site ready for construction and laying the foundations with a budget of $100,000. That was completed before the beginning of summer. Phase 2 consists of the framing and construction of the exterior walls and roof, with a budget of $24,000 from donations, to be done by Camp staff and volunteers, supervised by Rolf Eriksen. This work was done at a special work party in early October (more of this later), starting off with getting the foundations ready, then building the walls and levering them into place, and finally installing the roof rafters and gables.

The intent was to concentrate on achieving the exterior framing (frameworks, exterior walls and roof) to a level of weather protection for the fall and winter months. Phase 3 will be the completion of interior walls and ceiling and roof. Phase 4 will be installing the interior fittings.

2. Apple Cabin

The improvements to Apple Cabin have been completed. The interior still needs a couple of minor elements to be installed but is occupiable. The cabin is connected to the road by a ramp that provides enhanced accessibility. In addition to railings, the ramp still needs to be completed – with the removal of an abandoned utility pole and attached wiring that carried electrical power above ground.

3. Garden and Composting Improvements

(a) During the spring, a lot of weeding and planting was done in the garden. Unfortunately, throughout the summer, new plantings were disrupted by birds and voles. To prevent such occurrences happening again, the planting beds were redesigned with “chicken wire” on the bottom and netting above ground. These beds are being constructed by volunteers at work parties through the end of the year. Approximately ten have been completed so far.

(b) The worm bins located beyond the camp shop were failing. A Family Camp participant demonstrated how to use garbage cans buried in the upper edge of the garden to process food waste efficiently and without the odor caused by the worm bins. This improvement was initiated by Family Camp volunteers and Fellowship and daily staff volunteers went on to install three composting cans.

4. Madrona Point

To enhance campers’ appreciation of Madrona Point, a number of new benches were installed on site.

5. Cabin Improvements

The Committee has continued its emphasis on making necessary repairs and minor improvements to ensure that the cabins remain comfortable or are made more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, including painting a number of small cabins and cleaning roofs.

Facilities Manager Steven Lucas has continued to enhance many cabins with new furniture made from camp materials and furnishings.

Improvements made in the air quality of Oregon Grape, as well as fresh paint and a large table made from camp materials, allowed it to be re-opened and used as a much-appreciated recreation space for fellowship volunteers.

6. Other Miscellaneous Improvements

The area below the dining hall stairs to the basement entry was leveled and graveled to improve safety.
New racks were added in the kitchen dish washing area that make it easier to air dry dishes and allowed the plastic racks to be retired.
Other small projects for improving storage in the kitchen were implemented by Donna and Leif Erickson over the summer.

To the Fearless Head Cooks!

– Andrie Levey-Bates

It takes a community of caring people willing to dedicate their blood, sweat and tears to being a head cook to make Indralaya’s programs not only successful but nourishing and tasty.

A team of over 23 volunteer cooks is asked in the fall, a season ahead, to commit to head cook for a work party or program. Their enthusiasm always blows me away. This year, after cooking lots of breakfasts I braved it by experimenting with being head cook for a work party, and truly came to understand the passion and selfless commitment of our head cooks.

What do head cooks do?

First, you figure out how many meals you will cover. Then you spend time going through recipes, looking at the protein for each meal, drawing up a list of ingredients, sending them off to Alec Grae, the General Manager, to approve, get all the ingredients, and help you incorporate items that are already on hand or about to be ripe in the garden. Then the day arrives when your time as head cook begins, and you are off to the races! You double check that everything for the week has been ordered and review your assigned helpers from fellowship, daily staff or friends/family of people who live on Orcas. These kitchen helpers can range from pure beginner cooks excited about peeling their first onion to experts who work in professional kitchens. For me, being a teacher came in handy with organizational skills, communication, lots of patience and love. I also learned that the heart of camp resides in the kitchen. It was fun and yet exhausting – People debate, share stories and experiences, and there are always opportunities to learn better and different techniques as well as to revel in the art of group cooking. There is pressure to get everything ready by those bells and people are so appreciative.

As luck or skill would have it, I got the honor of having the Washington State food inspector come for the yearly kitchen inspection. He had intended to come to Indralaya for inspection at least five times this summer but it had fallen through due to his busy schedule. The inspector was thorough. He checked if all the fans worked, he checked the water temperatures in the sink, he noted if the food was being cooled properly in the walk-in fridge. He inspected the meals for dinner, he used litmus paper to see if the counters were clean, and he even checked each cutting blade that goes in the chopper machine after I showed off the blade storage system that Leif Ericksen made this summer as part of the kitchen reorganization. The good news is the kitchen inspection was approved with flying colors. An outcome for me was that we learned all head cooks should take the Washington State food worker exam – I did it, and learned a lot!

During my time as head cook, the most I cooked for was 20 people . I imagine I will need a lot more skills to manage cooking for our average program size of 40 people or even up to 90 during the big camps. Big thanks are owed to those who have been doing this for camp. For example, after teaching school all year, Kari Van Gelder gives a month of her summertime off to cooking for Deep Singing, Creativity Week and both Family Camp programs. Her leadership, skills, and amazing meals are so appreciated and truly a labor of love!

Thanks to the Cooks!

I want to give many thanks to all those who head cooked this year and made things possible at Indralaya; In alphabetical order these include Lin Bauer, Cindy Cole, Maryse De Coste, Darla Eaton, Donna Erickson, Victoria Fonseca-Bennett, Elisha Klco, Andrie Levey-Bates, Crystal Mossman, Anne Saunders, Saskia Muller, Julia Toren, Megan Toren, Arthur Van Gelder, Irena Van Gelder, Kari Van Gelder, Leonie Van Gelder, Melanie Van Gelder, Viola Van Gelder, and our camp Manager Alec Grae who jumped in when one planned head cook broke their wrist and another got Covid. I also give thanks to the head breakfast cooks; Donna and Leif Erickson, Andrie Levey-Bates, Marshall Peabody, David Toren and the newly recruited Hilarie Hauptman. Lars Erickson has already offered to help out next year. If you would like to serve Indralaya in this way please consider stepping up as a breakfast (or even overall) head cook, as we are very short in this area.

I also want to call out special thanks to Donna Erickson who dedicated her summer to volunteer as Interim Kitchen Manager and saved camp needed financial resources budgeted for a staff position. Donna supported the cooks, helped order the food, put away all the food and groceries, got food from the garden, deep cleaned everything, and redesigned how kitchen tools are organized. When you are in the kitchen next time, take note of the new racks for helping with air drying the pots, the clever storage for the cutting boards, the spice rack rails for keeping everything alphabetical and easy to reach, the knives of all sizes on the preparation table, the drying racks for the rinse and rack area, the beautiful wood holder for the very long and sharp cheese cutting knife, and the holder for the giant pot lid to name but a few new creative storage solutions. These were created by Leif Erickson!

And last but certainly not least, thank you to all who helped in the kitchen to prepare, to cook, to clean, to do the community chores and to make the place so special.

Fundraising for the Bathhouse

The Fundraising thermometer that adorns the dining hall north wall returned to Indralaya during the Connections program. The idea grew from a few interested characters who knew we needed $37,000 for the next step in the bathhouse project – framing! This step would be an exciting part of the bathhouse construction, as people would be able to see it was going to be a reality after so much time and money has been spent on all the underground parts – the foundation, the plumbing pipes, and tanks for a septic system..

Susan Levey, who had flown in from Finland for John Levey’s Indralaya celebration of life, took on leading the thermometer project. Together with Sarah Martinez and Megan (the Canadian tree planter) she designed the display – a visual representation of the bathhouse with concrete examples of donation possibilities. The overall goal of the thermometer is the $200,000 needed to complete the Bathhouse. Rolf Eriksen generously donated $16,500 as an incentive for people to match for the first phase – framing. The Connections participants did their best and there were many donations as people dug deep. One of the most moving donations came from a 7-year-old who gave $6.00, which was everything in her piggy bank.

Each program and work party afterwards saw people adding donations to the board and in 45 days the first goal of $33,000 was reached. Now, the next phase is $9,000 for the metal roof and (see below) wood for siding.

Everyone who donates receives a note that serves as an U.S. tax deduction for any contribution. We are also writing instructions for how Canadians can receive a deduction for the donation of US-based stock funds.

Thank you to all who have given to this project and continue to give; we are so appreciative! It would be so special to have the building completed and enjoyed for the upcoming 100^th Indralaya celebration in three summers!

New Donation Goal – Match up to $20,000!

Rolf Eriksen is on a generous roll trying to get people to match donations towards the $200,000 needed to finish the bathhouse project. He has very kindly said that he would match funds for the cedar siding and trim to enhance the structure for the bath house. The siding, not including a vapor barrier or fasteners will be around $22,000. There will soon be a new link on the Indralaya site to make donations.

Think of Indralaya in celebration of the Canadian Thanksgiving (past) or American Thanksgiving (coming) and times of being grateful.

The Framing Work Party

This October Indralaya saw a framing work party, led by Rolf Eriksen and friends. It started on a momentous day, with brilliant sunshine and a dedicated crew. It was also Rolf’s birthday. It was moving to see this group pull together for 5 days. Participants made the walls, heaved them up with the help of a crane, secured them, and placed all the ceiling beams, leaving room for skylights. Their work efforts saved the project $10,000 in labor and continued the Indralaya spirit of working together and learning new skills. The money saved will go toward paying to finish the framing, dry the structure, install a plywood roof and sides, and install an ice sheet to help winterize everything.

I cried when the first very long, two-story high wall went up. The structure looked like a monument beside the meadow. As the walls were going up, the wood panels waved like a snake, and it took everyone on hand to work together to place the bottom pegs into the cement floor.

The construction of this bath house, which began with board discussion over 12 years ago, represents the bright future we anticipate for Indralaya. It is the first time since the beginning of COVID that we are starting to see a turnaround, with Camp finances heading toward the black. It is so heartening to see this progress, and the framing work party made this dream within reach. Thank you to the fearless leader Rolf Eriksen, and his great team Mark Ray, Leif Eriks0n, Lars Ericks0n and his girlfriend Sarah, Marilynne Gardner, David Toren, Julia Toren, Roger Toren and Facilities Mamager Steven Lucas, Phil Bates, Miguel Perez Gibson, Andrie Levey-Bates and Fellowship staff Sissi and Mel who came together for the work party – Meals were made, Marilynne (with her injured ankle) sewed curtains with leaf patterns for Apple. There was even off site help – Nina (a summer camp participant from Florida) looked after Rosie the dog in North Vancouver so Andrie and Phil could go to the work party, and Nadine Toren looked after five cats so that Julia and Roger could go. It took a community!

Meet the 2023-24 Board

At the October Orcas Island Foundation Board meeting, the Board members turned over. Long time Treasurer Kelly Bachman ended her tenure and Board Chair Malcolm Funt stepped down from his position. Board members Tessa Ormenyi and Andrie Levey-Bates continue their Board service – Tessa was elected Member Representative for 2024-2026, and Andrie was re-appointed Member at Large for the same term. Two new members joined – Merry Bullock was appointed to a 3- year term 2024-2026, and Lin Bauer was appointed to a one-year term (2024) to complete Malcolm’s 3-year term.

The newly constituted Board then elected its officers – Michael Van Gelder was elected as Board Chair and Tessa Ormenyi as Vice Chair. Marilynne Gardner continues as Board Secretary, and Merry Bullock was elected as Treasurer. Other Board positions are Victoria Fonseca-Bennett as Personnel Committee Chair, Andrie Levey-Bates as Program Committee Chair, Fundraising Chair, and Communication Chair. New Committee Chairs and members will be appointed at the December board meeting.

If you are interested in serving on the Indralaya (Orcas Island Foundation) board, either as a Board Member or as a Committee member – please let us know (send an email to any Board member or to Board Secretary Marilynne Gardner) – In addition to a desire to serve Indralaya, board members must be members of the Orcas Island Foundation and the Theosophical Society.

Thanks to the Indralaya Community

– Alec Grae, Indralaya General Manager

2023 is coming to a close. As the leaves change and I reflect on the summer, I must give thanks for all those who made my first season here a success.

Thanks to the Board of Directors, who supported me, offered advice and guidance, and generally encouraged me throughout. Each of you has provided valuable insights and have, with your leadership, professionalism, and skill, set the bar quite high by example.

Thanks to Steven, our Facilities Manager, whose dedication, attitude of service and work ethic makes this camp run smoothly. You make it look easy, Steven, (and with such grace!) even though it’s seriously hard work. Although I wish you weren’t leaving us this year, I wish you the best with your future endeavors.

Thanks to all our amazing Fellowship volunteers, without whom this camp couldn’t carry on at all. A special thanks to Fellowship volunteer Marshall Peabody, who was here the majority of the summer, helping me with everything from breakfast to technology. An invaluable helper, whose positive attitude, humility and willingness to serve is an example to us all. And with the rest of the team, not only a successful season, but a fun one, too! To all Fellowship this year: please come back, share your beauty, laughter and skills with us again! A special thanks to Marilynne Gardner, a board member who is our key volunteer recruiter and does a truly wonderful job supplying us with qualified, special folks who far exceed expectations in so many ways.

A special thanks to Donna Erickson, who cheerfully volunteered her time as Kitchen Manager, chief yogurt and bread making expert, and who was my willing sounding board through the ups and downs of my learning curve. Thanks, Donna & Leif, for just being there for me, not to mention the so many ways that you contribute to making camp a rich experience.

Thanks to Kari Van Gelder, who volunteered a good chunk of her summer to be Head Cook. And who also organized the entire kitchen along with Donna, making improvements, fixing and replacing many broken parts as well as systems! And helping me get onboard with the kitchen systems, ordering processes, rekindling relationships with vendors, and much more!

And thanks to all of the Head Cooks and Breakfast Leaders, who gave so generously of their time and talent. We sure appreciate all the nourishing meals made with such love and laughter!

A special thanks to Jeannie Chamberlain, whose patience is worthy of a medal. As the interim General Manager, she carried her many and varied duties with grace. I so appreciated her help learning the ropes in the beginning, offering her time and knowledge so generously. You’re a saint for putting up with my unending questions! And mostly, for assisting camp in the selfless way that you have.

I also want to thank Michael Van Gelder, Leonie Van Gelder, Minor Lile, Hilarie Hauptman, Marilynne Gardner and Andrie Levey-Bates for your encouragement. Your cheerful energy, your knowledge of camp, and your commitment and demonstration of those values have been an excellent example and kept me focused during the more difficult moments.

A shout out to Merry Bullock, who has assisted me extensively with our technology needs. Being so busy with the logistics of the season, I would have been unable to make any progress without her! But now, with her expert help, we are ready to move to a new registration system, which we all know will be an improvement. This is not to mention all her other responsibilities here at camp.

I am so grateful to all of you, campers, leaders and presenters, who made me feel so welcome this summer. You have taught me about the history and uniqueness of this place. You have embodied its beauty and sanctity. You have demonstrated unity and service. You are all part of what made this season successful. And to those younger leaders who are stepping forward to carry on the traditions: you are the very future of camp, and it’s just wonderful to see you step up and represent so well, and from the heart!

From the bottom of my heart, to all….THANK YOU!!

Gratitude for Fellowship Volunteers

– Marilynne Gardner

The Fellowship Program offers a minimum 2-week free stay at Indralaya in exchange for 5 hours of work/day, 6 days per week. These volunteers are involved in all aspects of camp including attending programs, campfires, and other activities. In 2023, 27 volunteers contributed essential support for camp operations, a 70% increase from last year for which we are deeply grateful. For many, the experience of being at Indralaya is very meaningful. As one participant said, “The program creates an environment for an individual to take away exactly what they need while sustaining that same environment for future participants.”

Volunteers came from four countries (Japan, Germany, Canada, England) and ten states (AZ, CA, CT, GA, ID, FL, NY, OR, TX, WA)
Ages ranged from teens to 70’s
Approximately 3,205 hours of service were contributed
Longest stay – 110 days; average of expected 2-week stay – 30 days
10 volunteers stayed a month or longer
9 were returning volunteers; 18 new to Indralaya
Source of volunteers: 11 camp connection, 8 Workaway, 4 WWOOF, 2 theosophical connection, 2 college urban horticulture program
All in all, a hardworking and capable team who embodied Indralaya’s spirit of volunteerism!

Information and an online application are available at Fellowship – Indralaya

Come experience a deeper engagement with Indralaya with an inspiring group of volunteers!

Self Healing with Mind Body Techniques

–Sarah Martinez

These days I am grateful for…

Each day of Active Isolated Stretching with Christina Raymond kept me energized and taught me so much about my physical body. It is amazing that these small, focused movements yield so much change so quickly. One afternoon she rolled towels under all of my pressure points. I was weightless and at peace.

James Michael Seehof led an afternoon focused on personal interaction. Unexpected exercises offered an immersive lesson in how unique and beautiful each participant was and the complexities we all carry inside of us.

Christina was kind enough to make me weightless again so that I could integrate Trina Doerfler’s session on Neurofeedback. New information plus a demonstration made this heavy but fun. I look forward to working with Trina again.

My co-participants were an incredible compliment to the formal presenters. It is wonderful to feel (rather than conceptually understand) that I am valuable and loved apart from the pressures, memories and fears I carry with me. As proof of this, I got to swim with tiny luminescent creatures in the night sea–one of the most healing things I have ever done. Thank you.

Indralaya Calls To Me!

– Sissi Böhm Indralaya Fellowship participant from Germany

Andrie has been asking me to write about my fellowship experience and why I decided to come back for another four weeks after only having left a couple of months ago. I’m finding it hard to condense all the feelings and memories I associate with camp into just a paragraph, but I’m going to try my best.

At first I really didn’t know what to think of the whole thing, but there were a lot of things that won over my heart very quickly: The first thing that got me I think, was this one part of the path up by the driveway that somehow always smells of tree resin and evergreens in such a warm and lovely way.

Second and most importantly, it was all the sweet, special people that the place attracts. There were too many good conversations and lovely hugs to even start to write about. And I’m really grateful for all of them.

The third thing is the way I’ve never seen the sky or any ocean with that crazy deep blue color. I think I could look at that shade of blue forever and never grow tired of it. Also, swimming in that water does something really special (could have been something to do with impending hypothermia…).

There are a lot more things that make camp so special to me, but the list has to end somewhere. I just think it’s a place to come and remind yourself what life is about and how deeply you can feel things when your soul is being fed on human connection, nature and meaningful work. Fellowship is a really good way to be able to do that for as long as you need.

Time passes in a weird way over there and four weeks were over before I felt ready to leave, so I gave in to that feeling and came back. The best way I can put it, is that Indralaya was calling to me. Like the song says.”

Passing the Torch –

by Steven Lucas

I want to start by saying that this year we had an incredible amount of help keeping camp going. This beautiful place we all continually return to truly is held together by all that volunteer here, so thank you so much!

One of the wonderful things that happened at camp this year was a continuation of a sketch from yesteryear. If you have had the chance to stay in or visit the Cedar cabin, one of the cabins on the waterfront, you may have noticed a pencil drawing on the inside of the front door. I saw this sketch last year and really wanted to see it completed before I moved away. I reached out to the superhuman artist Carla here on the island and asked for her help completing this project. Carla hosts a really wonderful art class for the community here on the island at the senior center. One of her students is a man by the name of Dennis Dahl. Dennis is a retired physical education teacher who taught for many years here on the island. Carla posed the challenge to Dennis at one of the art classes and Dennis decided to come out and look at the door and see if it spoke to him. While here at camp he was taken by the beautiful connection between the many generations that gather here. Dennis, having a granddaughter of his own, decided to accept the challenge. What you see here in the photo of the painting is Dennis’ interpretation of that. The elder Madrona tree with the young Madrona tree by its side. I like the hard edges of the elder tree and the impossibly soft edges of the young tree. The elder and youth side by side. I think Dennis did a wonderful job capturing what Camp Indralaya is at its core. Thank you so much Dennis and Carla for adding color and care to camp!

Honoring those leaving Camp Service

We honored some very special people this Fall at Indralaya. We made Tribute Books with text and photos to celebrate those who have served Indralaya in important roles. This year’s books continue a tradition of appreciations matching the ‘Book of John’, made by the Lunas, and on display in the Indralaya Library.

Books included tributes to:

Kelly Bachman – Treasurer for an amazing legacy of over 40 years of service on the OIF Board, financial advisor to Board members, manager of the current Bookkeeper. We celebrate her model of service, outstanding skills, patience, perseverance, and for her calm, measured style, historical perspective, creativity in finding viable solutions to complex problems, and incredible care in nourishing Indralaya.”

Malcolm Funt – Chair of the Board for the last 5 years and cherished for his positive leadership, organizational and facilitation skills, deep commitment to camp, involvement during a very challenging time, and rekindling the sense of community while caring for a growing family and law practice. “You have the rare ability and patience to keep emotionally laden discussions focused, acknowledge each contribution, and summarize key points clearly and succinctly, often helping the board reach consensus.”

Jeannie Chamberlain – who saved camp as Interim Manager from May 2022- end of May 2023 and also being the Registrar, Kitchen Manager, and Head Cook when needed. “You welcomed and celebrated those on fellowship. Your many friends and family connections on Orcas rescued many a camp program when volunteers were in short supply. Your public health skills helped guide camp through the COVID pandemic. Most importantly, you helped rekindle the sense of community and oneness that people treasure about Indralaya. You and Steven worked incredibly hard. And still you laughed. Your generosity and love for Indralaya seems boundless.”

Steven Lucas – who served as Facilities Manager May 2022- December 2023 . Steven gave a steady hand in a time of flux, doing daily maintenance and facility support work, incorporating the history and values of camp by renovating cabins re-using camp materials to make tables, benches, bed headboards, windows, adding art, writing ledges, and repainting everything, including the Pavilion, and adding the benches to Madrona Point. He helped the Fellowship volunteers make strong connections to camp, adding his spirit and humorous character, living out his understanding of what makes Indralaya so special.

If you feel inspired and want to add a letter or note or photo to these books this is still possible -. Please email andriebates@hotmail.com and let her know you will be sending something!.

Check out the Indralaya Website new home page – and see the preliminary 2024 calendar

The home page has a new look that will gradually spread to all of the web pages. You can see the preliminary (and draft!) 2024 schedule here – keep this in your bookmarks to be ready to sign up when registration (with a new, user-friendly system) is online!

Meadow Musings, edited by Andrie Levey-Bates and Merry Bullock with contributions from many. @November, 2023