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2009 Events
Camp Common Ground
Family Camp
1. Aug 8-14
2. Aug 15-21
3. Aug 22-28
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The Lost Arts Week
September 21-25
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Updates on the Development Work

Work for summer of 2006 already underway:

This year is planned as the final year of major construction for a while. At the end of the day, we’ll have a comfortable facility for 100 + , with indoor accommodations for up to 80-90 people. Designs are being finalized and the work should be completed by mid-May, with the pond to be dug in the fall, ready for the summer of 2007. Here is what we plan for this year

  • Completion of the Dining Hall barn, by adding a dining/program porch, more windows, and a leak-free, sound-dampening roof
  • Completion of the Kid Barn, by enclosing the area in the rear to create a screened porch for art programs and our youngest campers; creating a teen gathering space in the north stalls; and adding screens in front to keep the bugs out.
  • Building four more cabins (2 with one room and 2 with two rooms). We are using more imaginative designs, to create more natural light, more storage and loft space in each room.
  • With the help of the Yestermorrow Design/Build school, adding a pedestrian bridge between the large and small farm fields, making for drier feet on trips to the wetland
  • Digging a 2 ½ + acre pond, to be dug in the fall for the summer of 2007
  • Campers from the summer of 2005 should look for the fused glass window we made last summer, now installed in the Dining Hall barn.

Volunteer projects in the planning stage

  • Complete the straw bale cabin – 3 work days over 3 weekends
  • Mark trails and post boundaries to insure neighbor privacy
  • Plant four-sided sunflower hedge and garden
  • Make colorful signs for camp areas
  • Make paintings for cabin doors
  • Hang camper tiles from last summer in designated areas

2005 Fall volunteers help with site work:

  • Mindful of the joys of eating and picking fresh berries in August, CGC volunteers planted about 70 raspberry and blueberry plants this fall. Thanks also to Champlain Valley Union High School’s Fairbanks freshmen, who planted additional berry plants for us as a riparian buffer while studying the Lewis Creek.
  • Volunteers from IBM marked more of our trails on the mountain – we now have the east-west blue trail and the loop green trail completely marked, as well as most of the north-south orange trail. Thanks to Ted Scharer for making this possible.

Construction completed summer of 2005:
The construction began in March and was completed just in time for camp! Here’s what we accomplished

  • We performed a major renovation of Art Barn, with a kitchen, a multi-purpose room with bamboo floors, a handicapped accessible bathroom and two break-out program rooms
  • We built the Main Bathhouse, with 8 toilets and sinks, and 4 indoor and 3 outdoor showers (and no spiders!)
  • We built two 2-room handicapped accessible cabins
  • We developed a septic and water system for 122 people and upgraded the electrical system to support our camp project

Cabin Fever Summer a great success!

During the summer of 2004, CGC ran 4 weeks of construction programs with international volunteers and former camp families. In the fall, Middlebury College students volunteered to help complete the cabins. As a result of these programs and the additional work of our carpenter team, we were able to complete 5 cabins, with significant work completed on a sixth, a straw bale cabin due for completion for the summer of 2006. Our carpenter staff also built a handicapped accessible ramp and a handicapped accessible bathroom for the farmhouse.

Thanks to all who participated in this project!

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