Music at Zoar Valley Camp

The songs are perhaps the best memories from my stays at Zoar Valley.... I must have driven my parents crazy singing them! At camp, we sang our way to meals... we sang grace... we sang as we cleaned up the dishes after meals... we sang on our way to each activity, and while hiking... and (of course!) we sang around nightly campfires.

Green grow the rushes ho
Tall Timbers Calling
The Ash Grove
The Bear Song (The other day (echo) I met a bear (echo)....
Boom-de-ya-da
Three Jolly Fisherman
Donkey Riding
Do Lord
Jacob's Ladder
Noah's Ark
Jonah in the belly of the whale
And all of the Girl Scout songs - She wears a G for Generosity; Girl Scouts Together; Our Chateau.

I think today I would be a little troubled by the number of Christian songs... not that I have anything against those songs, which are all very familiar to me, and truth be told, sort of beloved! But I think that if we were going to sing religious songs, we should not have limited the selection to Christian! Look at it this way... if it's ok to sit around the campfire singing "All night, all day, angels watching over me, my Lord.... then would it be ok to have a rousing chant to Krishna? I think not. And of course the Jews and Muslims and Buddhists are not much given to rousing camp-like songs. So there we are.

When I joined the staff as an adult, I always had a guitar with me, which made for some wonderful campfires. Before camp opened, all of the staff spent a week at Zoar Valley. We helped to get everything ready for the arrival of the campers. We played games and explored the area. We each chose a nickname (I was "Dee"). We bonded. And most of all, we sang. And sang. And sang.

The farewell ceremonies are some of my sweetest memories of Zoar Valley.  A creek ran right through the camp, spanned by two swinging bridges. The creek was rocky and shallow, with only a few places where the water could run clear. On the last full day of camp, each camper (and many of the counselors) made a little boat from natural materials... typically a piece of bark, with moss, flowers, perhaps a sail made from a leaf. After supper, at twilight, the entire camp walked downstream a bit. A small birthday candle was lighted on each boat... and the campers gently launched their boats on the stream and watched until the candles moved out of sight around the bend. If memory serves, there was something about wishes coming true if your candle stayed lighted until the boat moved out of sight. As you can imagine, this sweet little good-bye ceremony was also filled with quiet, moving songs and wistful memories.

For many years now, I have had a dream of taking a leave from work to spend a month in the place I loved best in all the world.  This became less and less likely, as I aged - I would have a very tough time keeping up with kids now!  When Zoar Valley was sold, I finally had to relinquish my old fantasy.

But sometimes when I'm alone, I find myself singing the old songs. And remembering.