Alumni News

Engagement of Andy Earle and Ilyza Mann

Oh, what a fine day it will be, May 20, 2007, the day that Andrew Devon Earle, our associate chef, and Ilyza Sarah Mann, ex-camper and summer cook, will be wed right here in the Rowe Chapel.

Andy and Ilyza met three years ago while working at Berkshire East Ski Area in nearby Charlemont. After just three weeks of courtship, they decided that the stars were aligned and that they simply couldn’t live without each other. Andy moved down from Brattleboro to the town of Rowe, where he lived with Ilyza and her mother and brother, long-time camper and spirit Josh Mann. They spent their first summer together working at Rowe in the kitchen. After some time living and working at Rowe Camp, they left the valley and moved down to busy New York. Though they sure did have a fun time, Andy and Ilyza quickly became nostalgic for the country. After a brief eight months, they moved back home to Massachusetts.

The two have been here ever since, making plans to have a Bed and Breakfast one day, or maybe a restaurant of their own, or possibly a fiber farm, or just a small family farm where they could raise their own eggs and meat. Plans for Andy and Ilyza are growing at a very fast pace. Which route they will take has yet to be determined.

In the meantime, a celebration of their love is being planned and will be held on Sunday, May 20, 2007. The ceremony will be at the Rowe Chapel, the reception and dinner back at the Farmhouse, and a great dance at the Rec Hall. The two are very excited about this fine day, and we wish them a long life together filled with much joy and love.

Children’s Choir of Benin

Gregory G. Lewis and West County News Junior High campers march in Rowe Old Home Day parade.

This past summer, we had the opportunity to host the Children’s Choir of Benin for a dinner and overnight stay. The group was ending their US tour, which included performances in San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, with their finale being a private performance on the Rowe Camp and Conference Center Terrace, right outside the Farmhouse dining room.

The troupe, made up of 16 girls and boys ranging in age from five to sixteen, were leaving the following morning to go back to their families in Africa. They needed a place to stay for the night, and we were happy to accommodate. After dinner, we were rewarded with our own show, which included drumming, singing, and dancing in their native African tradition. They stole our hearts away.

In the morning, before heading off to the airport, they went up to camp to have breakfast with the campers and to perform again. This turned into a communal event with campers and kids from the choir dancing side by side. It was a great cultural exchange and a wonderful and unexpected treat for all of us.

Oberlin Students Spend Winter Break at Rowe

Amiel Stanek is a first-year student at Oberlin College, a liberal arts school in northeast Ohio. He came to Rowe Camp and Conference Center as a part of his winter-term project with hopes of compiling and organizing some of Rowe’s history in order to publish a Wikepedia article. Oberlin’s winter term is a chance for students to do an individual or group project of their own choosing on or off campus for the month of January.

Amiel was a Rowe camper for the last four years, attending both Jr. and Sr. High Camps. He wanted to experience Rowe in a new capacity and decided that volunteering for his winter break would provide him with that opportunity. He has found the experience to be fulfilling, refreshing, and exceedingly enjoyable and looks forward to continued involvement in the Rowe community.

Hannah and Amiel cooking dinner for the community.

Hannah Kaplan is a senior and studio art major at Oberlin. A Rowe camper for 9 years before going off to college, she followed a hunch that returning for a different winter experience would be a good idea. She started her camp experience as a Young People’s camper in 1995 and worked her way up through all the camps. She is happy with her decision to return to Rowe and says it has proven to be a fun and satisfying experience, better than she anticipated.

Both Hannah and Amiel were Spirits their last year of camp. Hannah served as Spirit in 2003 and Amiel in 2006. Each year the Sr. High community elects eight Spirits to serve for the following year in a leadership capacity. Campers are elected as Spirits because they are seen to embody the various aspects of the Spirit of Rowe. Campers look to their Spirits for guidance and support and, most importantly, look up to them as exemplary campers. Once a Spirit, always a Spirit. Hanna and Amiel are yet another example of yesterday’s campers becoming today’s leaders.

Hannah and Amiel provided a lot of support to the facilities department while they were here and learned a lot about what it takes to operate a conference center. We hope they also learned that there is life at Rowe beyond summer camp and that Rowe will be here for them for their lifetime.

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