July Eliot Highlights

This July Eliot was a fantastic week! Deans Sherri Winterstein and Karen Valbuena put together a great staff and camp, volunteer coordinator McKenna Niemer kept our activities on track, and Rev. Marcia Stanard did an excellent job holding the spiritual health of our community as chaplain. 

Our speaker Sibling Julián Soto delivered a program steeped in self-awareness and self discovery. They have a disarming charm and sense of humor that drew us in and made us want to understand who we are and to find ways to grow. When they say "You could use a little work...but you're NOT a project," those words are simultaneously deeply affirming, comforting, and galvanizing.

As we journey down our path of recovery and rediscovery after Covid our attendance continues to improve; we had 226 campers in total. Our community is also changing—particularly impressive were the 24 young adults and 47 attendees between the ages of 18 and 30 at camp! These numbers represent not just a return to 2019 and prior years, but the continuation of an upward trend that started many years ago: our young people are coming back, and they're bringing friends and partners.

I had the pleasure over the course of the week of having a number of deep conversations with campers, and along with Leadership Development Committee Chair Samaya Oakley, our youth and young adults. These interactions are important, they inform our work at the board and committee levels and remind us of what people cherish about our community and what we need to focus on as leaders. I also had the honor of presenting the Heart and Hands award to Phyllis Adams, for her contributions to many facets of camp, from the boat dock and polar bears, to the golf cart and AV coordination. Phyllis absolutely embodies the spirit of Heart and Hands, giving freely of her talents to the benefit of all who attend our camp.

We also celebrated the prodigious contributions of Bev Hesterberg as she transitions from her role as registrar and administrator into a well-earned retirement. Just as Bev has tested our communal knowledge in a decade of all-camp meetings there was a trivia contest. Board President Kay Crider and Seabeck Executive Director Chuck Kraining spoke to the working relationships and friendships they've formed with Bev over the years, and we saw a slideshow crafted by Sandy Moses in honor of Bev. We rounded out the ceremony with a brownie and ice cream bar. The celebration was held in the lower Pines lobby, a facility that Bev worked tirelessly along with Chuck and the Seabeck board to bring to fruition. It was a fantastic send-off for a dear friend and champion of Eliot Institute.

I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many talented, passionate people who made this camp happen; and I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Ward Ramsdell

July Eliot 2023 Board Representative