• Manual of Procedure
• Advance Report - 2007
   
• Advance Report - 2006
• Interchange, Spring 2006
• Advance Report - 2005
• Interchange, September 2004
• Interchange, May 2004

In this year’s report, we focus on these main points:

• The BYM Camping Program is remarkably successful in serving a variety of individuals, groups, and purposes within and beyond BYM.
• We need to do more than rely on informal means to further enhance communication of the Camping Program Committee with many other important groups within BYM – and beyond. The CPC will continue to work with these other groups and with the Camp Directors to develop even more effective ways of communicating and working together within the ever-evolving BYM structure.
• The CPC deeply regrets that it was unable to predict accurately and prepare adequately for the increase in new and returning applicants to the Teen Adventure program. One of our top priorities for next year is exploring and developing several options to ensure that in the future we are better able to avoid the kind of disappointment and pain experienced by some campers and their families when we could not admit them to TA.
• The much-publicized death of Tom Fox will continue to reverberate within the BYM Camping Program in ways that we cannot predict. The strength and depth of the Camping program and of BYM will help us all to respond meaningfully and appropriately.

There is unanimity about the extraordinary quality of the camping program and the truly unique way it enriches and extends the BYM Community. In the last few years we have seen a growing recognition of the constructive interdependence of the camping program and the larger BYM community. The BYM Camping Program provides a combination of religious education, leadership development, and opportunity for EVERYONE involved to share in the spiritual depth and frequent joy associated with camp activities. “Everyone” includes the campers, the counselors, other camp staff, camp directors, volunteer cooks, maintenance workers and medical staff, families of campers, committee members, Monthly Meetings and others.

As with many things, as time passes conditions change and so do each of us individually and communally. Several years ago BYM itself and the Camping Program Committee were smaller and simpler – and for many years Barry Morley provided a special kind of leadership and a visible connection between all camp-related activities and many different parts of the greater BYM community. The camping program has both grown and evolved since Barry’s departure, making many significant changes in response to changing needs and wishes of the BYM community and the external world in which we live.

One example of this is the child safety issue that BYM has been dealing with for the past year or more. The Camping Program Committee joined with other youth serving committees to minute acknowledgement of the need to develop Youth Safety Policies within BYM. The Camping Program has been in the practice of completing background checks for employed counselors and staff for many years, but after exploration of other camp approaches, and additional guidelines from the states within which we operate our camps, CPC adopted a policy of checking backgrounds for all volunteers at camps and defining types of crimes which would deem a person barred from being around the children at camp.

Another example of this is changing fees and application and enrollment process. The fees for camp were raised significantly to better meet the budgetary requirements of running safe and successful camps. CPC also approved a new payment policy of requiring full payment prior to the start of camp. Our Camp Administrative Secretary, Jane Megginson, has done an excellent job of communicating the complex changes and managing the many questions and inevitable confusion as we implement this new system. The CPC expects that this new practice will greatly streamline the process of dropping off campers at the beginning of camp sessions and solve many past challenges regarding payment confusion and completion.

Several of us on the Camping Program Committee have from time to time discussed how we each feel strongly committed and almost fanatically enthusiastic about the Camping Program, but that we are uncertain about our roles in relation to other BYM organizations that might have closely related goals, constituencies, and activities - Young Friends, Religious Education, Interim and Quarterly Meeting Events, Annual Session, Wash. Quaker Workcamps, William Penn House, ….etc. We feel that each of these groups would benefit from deeper, more frequent connections with the others, and that the Camping Program would gain as well. We endeavored this past year to align our committee meetings with Interim Meeting’s schedule in order to more fully participate in the larger BYM activities, and benefited from opportunities to communicate with other committees there. However, we have a growing sense that new opportunities and new needs are emerging that compel us to seek more effective ways of connecting these groups. We have reached a size, pace, and level of complexity that make it impossible to rely solely on informal communication and the currently available mechanisms. We need to do more.

One area in which CPC has reached out to other committees is the situation we find ourselves in with the Teen Adventure programs (TA/TALT). The increasing demand for this program has been in our awareness for the past several years, and the committee has been brainstorming with the TA directors and others on ways to address the growing need. We have discussed many options, including adding another trip to the current TA program and starting another camp at a new location, but both of those options involve many complexities.

This year, however, we had an all time high number of eligible applicants and struggled with not being able to provide enough spaces to meet the demand. Many young people with long family ties to the camping program committee are not able to participate this year, and the CPC members acknowledge and lament the pain these individuals and families experienced this year. The CPC continues to attempt to help find other meaningful alternatives for these young friends. One promising opportunity is a partnership of sorts, being created between CPC and the Washington Quaker Workcamps, which offered to provide a service oriented program for this summer (2006). Jane Megginson has also found other options available this summer through Pendle Hill youth programs and has been actively communicating with the families of campers we cannot admit to TA, as have many other members of the Camping Program Committee. At the same time, Jane was given additional unanticipated administrative and leadership responsibilities as a consequence of the BYM office staffing gaps, so that she had even less “extra” time available for supporting the development of any new options. Still we wish that we could have done more.

For several years, CPC has discussed the idea of providing additional, less physically rigorous options for our TA-age Friends. This year we were approached by a camper’s parent who feels called to take this exploration further. A subcommittee of CPC has been formed to explore the possibility of developing a “Teen Arts Adventure (TAA)”, and an exploratory retreat is planned for this summer, with participation from many within the Camping Program, the larger BYM community as well as Young Friends and Young Adult Friends.

Dealing with the increased demand for TA/TALT is a particularly difficult challenge, because at the same time that enrollment has reached beyond capacity at the TA/TALT programs, and remains high at Catoctin, enrollment is down at the other camps. For the first time, CPC has begun to advertise for camps Shiloh and Opequon. The Camp Administrative Secretary and Camp Directors work diligently to hold expenses down and staff creatively in order to still meet budget while continuing to provide a quality program. The changing demographics of our program and our response are issues that CPC will continue to deliberate.

We acknowledge the increasing demands most of us feel for allocating our time and energy throughout our lives, and the increasing capability of telecommunications to support SOME of our activities. The Camping Program Committee has already begun to modify its traditional meeting pattern. Until recently, we met from about 9:30am to about 4pm one Saturday each month for about 7 months + a day during the BYM Annual Session in August. We also work in sub-committees and many of us participate in the Camp Work Days. We have begun to reduce the number of full day face-to-face meetings (held in rotation at various monthly meeting houses) and begin to use telephone conference calls augmented by email, etc. All of our meetings have always been open in principle to anyone interested, and we have long encouraged the camp directors to attend – but all of them live and work outside the BYM region and joining us in person would be inconvenient and expensive. However, the telephone conference calls make it possible for the Directors to participate more, which promises to be invaluable. We do have an annual “Directors Retreat” for one weekend each March, and schedule one of the Committee’s regular meetings to coincide with that weekend so that both groups can spend that day together. We are carefully evaluating the ways and extent to which we can continue to increase our reliance on these new tools for collaborative work, and be sure that we do not give up too much of what we cherish in our face-to-face meetings.

One of the functions of the CPC is to provide support to our wonderful Camp Directors. Our Directors are so dedicated and do so much, and CPC strives to support them throughout the year in ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ ways. Committee members scheduled work-grant volunteers, revamped the camp evaluations and reporting process, coordinated training during skills week, taken Directors out to lunch, and tended to other issues identified by the Directors and the camp evaluations. We continue to discern ways to express our gratitude and provide support to those who make the camping programs as successful as they are.

And finally, this report would not be complete without acknowledging the impact that the loss of our Friend, Tom Fox, has had on those involved in the camping program, particularly Camp Opequon. Opequon Director, Elaine Brigham, has spent many heartfelt hours tending to the emotions of many campers, staff and volunteers who knew Tom through his involvement as a volunteer at Camp Opequon. The Camping Program Committee remains quite moved by his witness to peace and his dedication to service. This summer will be a tender time, as staff, campers and volunteer return to Opequon, where Tom donated his precious time and his memory will be “walking in the glory of the Light, said Fox”

BYM Camps Still Looking For Campers

Shiloh and Opequon Quaker Camps still have room for more campers aged 9-14. We even have room for a few more girls at Catoctin! If you have not already applied for camp, please do. If you know of anyone who may enjoy coming to camp, please encourage them to apply. To apply go to www.bym-rsf.org/camping/ and click on the link to apply online! For more information call the BYM office and ask for Jane, or e-mail me at janemegginson@bym-rsf.org.

In our eight meetings this year, several themes have been dominant. Three important and interconnected themes have been mission, communications, and budget

• Mission of the Camping Program Committee (CPC) itself, as well as the mission of the Camping Program and BYM;
• Communications of the CPC with other committees of BYM, with camp directors and senior staff, and with the wider constituency of families of campers and other Yearly Meetings;
• Budget procedures as well as budget goals - how to balance the needs to pay wonderful staff equitably, keep registration fees within financial reach of most BYM families, respond to financial needs of BYM and Monthly Meetings, support the quality of program expected by BYM and the wider community…

As a committee we continue to ask what our proper role is. We revised the description of CPC for the Manual of Procedure and submitted it for approval. We function as neither a board of directors nor a fire department auxiliary, although some of our activities would be appropriate for those groups. We acknowledge that one of our most important roles is to be so thoroughly acquainted with the Camping Program that we can assure others in BYM who are not so close to it, that the program is conducted in good order and with a proper regard for Friendly values.

This role touches on our second theme, communication. We communicate with many entities of BYM: the camp directors, the Camp Administrative Secretary, Stewardship and Finance Committee, Camp Property Management Committee, to name the most obvious. In an effort to strengthen this communication, we have met jointly this year with the camp directors, with the Camp Property Management Committee, and with the General Secretary, Frank Massey. We will continue to invite representatives from other committees and the BYM staff and BYM clerks to our meetings (and to remind all that our meetings are open). We hope to be invited to some other committee meetings as well. We will make greater efforts next year to align our meeting schedule with Interim Meetings so that we have more opportunities for communication there. Our understanding of this issue has been greatly enhanced by the insights and perspective of the Camp Administrative Secretary, Jane Megginson.

The third theme is the budget. We have accelerated our budgeting process to be more in step with the overall BYM timelines, and Jane's good thinking and attention to detail have aided us tremendously. We are currently running a deficit, which we believe reflects several things. A primary culprit is underenrollment (we do not anticipate that every camp will be full to capacity for every session this summer), caused partly by demographic trends, and partly perhaps by overconfidence in the power of word-of-mouth advertising and past patterns of family commitments. We may have failed to recognize the demographic trends in time to advertise appropriately. We do not believe that we can reduce expenses significantly without impairing the quality of the program. Another culprit is one we are only now recognizing: as is the case with colleges, it is probably unrealistic to think that we can cover the costs of our program from camper fees alone. We have no mechanism for fund-raising to provide the endowment that would enable us to run the camps well and still maintain economic diversity of campers. We have reviewed fee levels of other similar camps and believe that ours is rightly positioned nearer the low end than the high end.

It's worth noting that this has been a year of transition, as Josh Riley left the office and Jane took up his job. We continue to miss Josh's presence (and count the months until we feel we can appropriately suggest he should serve with us on the Committee) -but Jane's clear head and wealth of experience in both the Camping Program and BYM make her the ideal person to work with now.

We have addressed a range of topics during the year. Child safety is obviously a central concern for our program, and one that receives specific attention in pre-camp training. We eagerly await the child safety policy that BYM will develop; we anticipate contributing our thoughts to the development process and aligning our procedures with that policy once it is final. We identified hiring processes as an area that could be better understood; directors are working together to arrive at a "best practices" model. Likewise, the end-of-camp evaluations, which we take quite seriously, have a higher return rate at some camps than at others, and we hope to see a high return rate everywhere this year. A long-range topic that remains on our agenda is the desirability of providing a non-hiking camp option for TA-age Friends.

In the somewhat dual nature of this Committee, most of the above-mentioned topics fall under the more Board-ish side of the description. In the more Auxiliary line, committee members have made telephone calls to camp parents, collated and analyzed the evaluations, set up work-grant schedules for two of the three residential camps (apologies, Linda), and assisted with Skills Week, cooking at Teen Adventure, and shuttle bus organizing.

Our Committee meets often and works hard. We are cognizant that camping is the largest program the Yearly Meeting runs; we also think it's critically important to the continued development of leadership in the yearly meeting. We want the Camping Program to be fun for the campers, challenging and empowering for the counselors and staff, offering opportunities for participation and support from BYM members and the broader community of Quakers and campers' families, and completely trust-worthy for parents.

We believe that the Camping Program Committee has an important responsibility to keep reinterpreting our mission and to work hard to collaborate within the Committee and with others who have a significant stake in the program. We are often invigorated by what we learn about the wonderful impact of this special Camping Program on so many lives - young and old - not only in love for the outdoors and camping skills, but also in deepening spiritual opportunities for all involved. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve and benefit from participation in this spiritually rich program, this particular group, and BYM itself.

Steve Gilbert and Elizabeth Krome, Co-clerks

QUERIES FOR 2005 BYM CPC DIRECTORS RETREAT

Like many organizations, the BYM Camping Program continues to grow and evolve, and so does BYM. When Barry Morley was camp director he was also an active and prominent member of the BYM community. His vision could be relatively conveniently and informally influenced by many people and events within ongoing BYM activities. Conversely, he could relatively conveniently and informally provide updates to lots of people within BYM about the changes, accomplishments, and needs of the Camping Program.

Everything has gotten more complex since then, including an increasing litigiousness and a dwindling sense of security and common values within our society at large. It's harder to rely on informal communication methods and shared expectations everywhere. And now our superb camp directors are not often or conveniently and informally available to most members of BYM - and vice versa.

Different kinds of traditions
How can we best move forward, understanding more deeply now the Camping Program relies on and is an essential part of BYM, and by both:

1. Recognizing the continuing value of oral and informal traditions for the Camping Program (including the role of camp counselors in annually revisiting and resetting some important behavioral guidelines); and
2. Developing clear, written policies and procedures to meet emerging needs of the Camping Program itself and the greater BYM community? (e.g., clarifying the areas that are not eligible for annual revision by the counselors)

Communication
In what ways are the BYM Camping Program Committee, directors and staff already able to meet the need for communications between leaders of the Camping Program and the broader BYM community? In what ways could communication improve in both directions - from Camp to BYM leaders and from BYM leaders to camp? And what about the role of campers' families who are not members or otherwise involved with BYM?

Hiring Camp Staff
In what ways are current hiring practices and policies (including annual schedule or cycle of activities) for the Camping Program working most effectively? In what ways could they be improved? Is there a need for more people to understand these policies and practices more clearly? Is there a need to make them clearer?

Admissions & Financial Aid
In what ways are current practices and policies for admissions and financial aid (including annual schedule or cycle of activities) for the Camping Program working most effectively? In what ways could they be improved? Is there a need for more people to understand these policies and practices more clearly? Is there a need to make them clearer?

This was one of the smoothest years ever for the camping programs. All four programs were blessed with good (enough) weather, competent experienced directors and staff, and enthusiastic campers, all of whom were brimming with energy, curiosity and Light. There will be a much more comprehensive report of the Camping Program Committee in the next issue of the Interchange.

Camp Information for 2005

Session dates:

• Session 1: June 25–July 9
• Session 2: July 10–July 23
• Session 3: July 24–August 7

Teen Adventure & Teen Adventure Leadership Training

• June 25–July 17

Annual Report 2004

The Camping Program Committee develops policy and offers guidance to the camping program. We meet almost monthly, although this year we have experimented with conference calls and will probably use them again. We receive reports from the camp directors and meet with them twice a year. We work together to identify which aspects of the program are doing very well and which need improvement. We assist in long-range planning for the camps, adjust budget priorities, and set camper fees. As our financial relationship to the YM has changed recently, we are working to reflect that new relationship in our budgeting. In addition, we concern ourselves with issues of liability, safety, and enrichment of the camping experience.

We feel that one of the reasons that our Yearly Meeting is a healthy one is that the camping program, in tandem with other youth programs, gives our next generation the skills and the desire to contribute to the Quaker community. We pay a lot of attention to the evaluation forms that we receive after camp and this year we thank Ron Akins for his Herculean task of collating and distilling the feedback into a more understandable format. It’s our job to take the long view, thinking a few years ahead about how the program can best serve the yearly Meeting. Our discussions include issues such as: the impact of year-round schools, the need to incorporate our Opequon graduates into the program for older teens; the desirability of sharing our model of camp with interested parties from other Yearly Meetings; and others.

Because the physical facilities have a tremendous impact on the camp experience, we interact extensively with the Camp Property Management Committee. We interact more informally with the Young Friends program, but we are beginning to consider how to make those contacts more formal. Josh Riley’s work as Camp Administrative Secretary has been so central to our function that it is hard to imagine Life after Josh. It’s a challenge to find enough good words to adequately describe how he’s done his job. He has been responsive, accessible, creative, and reliable. In times of crisis he has modeled our belief that Way Opens, and he has always been cheerful under stress. We will miss him dearly as he moves on to become a pastoral counselor, but trust that we will find new ways to continue to interact.

We are always open to new members on our Committee, and we wish to say to any Friends who sense a leading to serve with us: we are sure that no other committee has as much fun as we do. Most of our meetings are made up of a full Saturday of worship, discussion, sharing stories and experiences, laughing, crying, and, of course, eating. The Committee work requires some dedication, but the rewards are immeasurable. Current members and directors are happy to help prospective members determine if they would like to serve.

In the past year, we have addressed issues of future vision, growth, and planning for the camps; annual budget projections and management; and safety. We recognize that the camps are again running close to maximum camper capacity and have discussed possible solutions. Because the full impact of camp accumulates over several years of attendance, returning campers are given admission priority. BYM Quakers remain the first choice for open units, followed by non-BYM Quakers and non-Quakers. Although the admission policy may require that some first-time BYM Quakers be flexible in filling slots at a camp or session other than their first choice, almost all BYM kids can be accommodated. This is especially true for the youngest campers. Because the three camps for younger children (Opequon, Shiloh, and Catoctin Quaker Camps) feed into Teen Adventure Program (mostly rising 10th graders) and Teen Adventure Leadership Program (rising 11th graders), demand for TA has grown steadily. Two of the ideas for meeting the increased demand include adding one more trip to the existing program and starting a second camp for youth in this age range. Both choices require continuing thought and planning: the current TA program is very close to running at maximum capacity; and a second camp, perhaps focusing on art or service and de-emphasizing physical rigor, would require a second site and a significant amount of start-up energy. We welcome input and assistance from all concerned Friends in meeting these challenges.

The CPC puts considerable thought into budget planning to maintain an enriching program at a reasonable price. BYM’s desire for the camping program to be self-supporting and its decision to rent the camping properties to the camping program at higher rates have shifted the financial burden away from general Yearly Meeting funds and towards campers’ families. Camper fees are going up. We are sensitive to the impact of rising fees yet feel that increased funds are needed to keep our program running safely. In addition, many of the physical structures at the camps are in urgent need of repair, replacement, or improvement. Financial aid is available through many of our Monthly Meetings and parents can offset some of the costs by working at camp as kitchen, maintenance, and medical staffers. In addition, a modest amount of scholarship money is available through the camping program.

We are continually concerned that each child and staff member enjoy a fulfilling and safe camp experience. Each year campers and counselors suffer a range of minor injuries and sicknesses. Exposure to more serious harm has been avoided largely by attracting a very well trained and experienced staff of caring young Friends. Last year one of our units had a scare when their canoes swamped in the Rappahannock. Although no one was hurt, a lot of gear was lost and serious injuries could have resulted. Ongoing analysis of this accident and other less dramatic situations (e.g., unexpectedly cold and wet weather on backpacking trips) emphasizes the need for continuing advanced staff training and for updated equipment. Specific training for counselors and staff during Skills Week includes CPR every year, and other courses in a three-year rotation: Canoe Skills and Water Safety, Wilderness First Aid, and Life guarding. Risk management is stressed during pre-camp. In addition, many of our staff take advanced training courses from certified schools outside of our camp system. We are grateful that we have managed to avoid serious harm to date and feel that the additional training has been well worth the investment in time and expense.

Where are we going as a camp program? We continually strive to improve the program in a number of areas in addition to those mentioned above. One concern is the inadvertent stereotyping that often happens when encountering people of diverse backgrounds. The directors and staff have done a wonderful job of mediating differences among campers. It is a beauty to behold the rapid birth and growth of a Quaker Community in which everyone at camp is treated with love and respect. We feel that the opportunity to participate in a close, caring community is one of the most important aspects of our camp experiences. At the Directors Retreat this past April, our worship-sharing centered on examining our own inadvertent stereotyping of those outside the camp system. We recognize that, on the trail or off the trail, it is all too easy for a group of us coming across folks who seem unlike us to feel somehow better than them: more in touch with nature, using simpler equipment, more enlightened, closer to God, etc. We hope that we can help our staff and campers enlarge their circles of caring and understanding both at camp and at home.

Over the past few years, many good ideas and suggestions have come from the evaluations and reports written by parents, campers, counselors, staff, and directors. We continually identify small and large issues for discussion and improvement, and we encourage continued feedback.

Greg Tobin and Elizabeth Krome, Co-Clerks

The Committee has been working hard in preparation for this coming summer.

Spaces Available

There are still some spaces available at Opequon and at Shiloh for campers aged 9-14. All inquiries are welcome, but we are especially in need of campers in the third session at Shiloh (July 25-August 8), and boys of almost any age at Opequon, in almost any session (June 26-July 10; July 11-July 24, and July 25-August 8). Contact Josh Riley, Camp Administrative Secretary for more information.

Staff Positions Vacant

Kitchen Manager and Head Cook at Opequon: The Kitchen Manager plans menus, orders food and some supplies, shops, helps cook some meals, and supervises a weekly staff of adult and young adult volunteer cooks.  The Head Cook works closely with the Kitchen Manager, shares responsibilities as appropriate and oversees the meal preparation and weekly crew of cooks. The modest kitchen serves three meals a day to approximately 100.  

This is a unique opportunity to be part of a hard-working, caring, intentional community.  It’s a hot, tiring, and totally rewarding work environment.  The camp is rustic. Housing is provided; the Kitchen Manager and head cook live in a cabin at camp, possibly sharing with other staff. We serve a diverse, healthy menu, including vegetarian and vegan options.

The dates of camp are from June 26 - August 8.  Pay for the kitchen manager is roughly $2,700 for the summer. The Head Cook makes approximately $2,000  In addition to these six weeks, there is an additional week of staff training that precedes camp (beginning on June 18th) which could be included for extra pay. Send resume and letter of interest to BYM, 17100 Quaker Lane, Sandy Spring, MD 20860. Contact Josh Riley for more information.