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Rowe Camp and Conference Center
Board Meeting April 27, 2008
Present:
Karin Broadhurst, Sue Baldauf. Simon Delekta, Pamela Vernick, Guy Thompson, Margaret McClamroch, Granger Macy, Linda Miller, Cathy Perkins, Liza McKinley, Doug Wilson, Felicity Pickett
Minutes were accepted as corrected.
Youth Reps:
It is time to explore the roles of the youth reps. They have not been active because travel to board meetings is difficult for them. Pam Varnick agreed to chair a committee. She will contact current youth reps, and explore campers and camp staff for new reps. There may be a way for youth voices to be done as an internet blog with an online youth council with reps to board
Salary Committee:
Staff interviews have been done and compared with job descriptions. An initial tabulation will be reviewed by the committee Felicity.
Development:
Dining room floor project: An e-mail has gone out to the New Years group. Fund raising for this project is slow. Felicity will check on the fund raising for the Judd cabin. Fred and Simon will look into developing a Naming Policy
Executive Director’s Report
Things are going well here. Life is good. The mood is good. Kathe Camara just resigned, abruptly, although she did a lot of fine work over five years and we are grateful. The Center Post is done and I am proud of it and of the catalogue, which was redesigned a couple of years ago by Alan Goldsmith. Both publications are clean and crisp. Our country is a disaster to the world. The press coverage of this disaster is pathetic and denial is widespread. The price of gas is a serious problem. It now costs $10 to go to Greenfield, so coming to Rowe from Portland, Maine is a major expense. This cannot help but be bad for business. When people die, in Iraq or from starvation in the third and fourth worlds, their death is real, even if Americans do not want to hear about it. I worry about the economy, but such things are not the responsibility of this board, or of Rowe Camp and Conference Center. Felicity has an idea that it would be good to refinance our property so the mortgage is not for everything, but just for the Joffe House and perhaps the Fromson House. I think this is an excellent idea and hope the finance committee will look into it.
My next sabbatical is coming up from September of 2009 through May of 2010, so plan on my being away. Blessings upon you all and thanks for attending to the needs of this odd, but important place in the woods near Vermont.
Doug
Director's report:
The kitchenis in transition. There is a huge learning curve, especially with ordering. Abby has does a marvelous job stepping in, and Helmut has provided valuable assistance with ordering.
We have a summer cook and are putting together a cooking team that will work together with the camp staff on programs. Orchard Guest House: we are waiting on reasonable price for concrete. The contractor says he can start immediately (what ever that means.) Work week: we are getting the art room ready for insulating. Marketing: We are looking for church reps. There is a lawsuit resulting from a fall, trying to be moved to NY. We have received a letter from the descendants of Perseverence Smith on the occasion of the Chapel centennial
Felicity
Diversity Committee:
Karyn Loscocco led the board and staff on an exploration of our racial identity and it's effect on community. Some of the insights included: the definition of racism as a system of white advantage. We explored what having a race means to us, largely being what being the default race is in our culture means. We examined what assumptions we carry and how they play out in community. This involved identifying the contents of our "knapsack" of advantage. Suggestions for actions included: Pledging to seriously consider any feedback from a person of color. Listen even if you feel defensive or it seems like it's off the wall (like sexual harassment it's about whether you offend someone not whether you meant to. Perception rather than intention)
Baby Steps:
1. Be engaged in exploring your racial identity. What does it allow you? work on your list of advantages. How does it effect the way we see the world, the media, politics everything..
2. Understand the way we experience the world is filtered through our racial identity ( it's complicated and we're human)
3. Be able to recognize the difference between intent and impact.
Someone's feeling are always legitimate, expect to encounter anger, maybe you barely stepped on his toe, but 10 people stomped on it before you. You need to keep doing the work even if it is uncomfortable and people don't accept or welcome you.
4. Go outside you racial comfort zone
5. Reframe problems-eg. not a "black" problem but a youth issue
6. Be willing to talk about race.
8. READ- things written by people of color, black, Asian, Hispanic press, look for other sources of information
9.Ponder why being racist is such a big deal to white people? People use what they have to get what they need.
Meeting adjorned.
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