This past weekend (June 8-10) we hosted what we instructors thought was one of the best workshops we have ever presented. We had students ranging in age from one 10 year-old and one 12 year-old who came with their dads to an “older” dad who was joined by three adult family members. The entire group came eager to learn and remained enthused, energized, and engaged throughout the entire weekend. They simply could not get enough instruction.

They became aware of their potential as individuals during the early “lesson of the oranges”; then came to respect their place in the Natural World through the recognition of “concentric rings”; later they honed their awareness skills while practicing splatter vision, fox walking, and solving the mystery of the “bones on the floor”; and finally learned practical skills such as shelter building, making cordage, fire by friction, making bowls, water gathering, and animal tracking. The throwing stick competition brought howls of laughter as three teams attempted to take down “dinner” (small targets) for an imaginary survival meal. The “dinner”, of course, was imaginary because the quantity and quality of the food provided by YMCA Camp Minikani left no one hungry.

One of the students asked Ron on Sunday morning, “Why aren’t there 500 students here? This [class] is terrific!”

Ron couldn’t answer that, but maybe one of you reading this will be the first of the next 500.

13 June 2012:
We just received the following email from the father of our 10 year-old student:

“Thank you again for a great weekend and an experience on which Sam and I will
continue to build. Sam was a little hesitant at first, but once he got into it, he
really enjoyed it. In fact, he leaned over to me on Saturday and told me ‘the bow
drill is awesome!’ Mission accomplished.”

[Signed: Sam’s Dad]