Horseback riding

One of the activities we can do even when it's not a perfect beach day is horseback riding. And so we do. Kendra is happy to be out in nature
Nancy is showing off her skills that she honed in the winter months.
Seth is riding. Yee-ha!
David is excited about everything, but has calmed down enough to bond with the horse. Peaceful times.
Jason spends a sweet moment with his horse. He doesn't ride, but his care for the animals knows no boundaries
Pete Stanzler is getting ready to show 'em what she's got.
Sierra looks stunning atop her horse with jewelry and all.
Scottie's ready for his close-up
Seth again, wondering what he is about to get himself into...

Horseback riding one of the more peaceful camp classes. Those of us who go take full advantage of the opportunity to reflect and become one with the graceful movements of the horses.

dance party!!!

Ernie Boch picnic

As Jabberwockians were traveling to the 15th annual Boch’s picnic on Sunday, the weather was gloomy. But Mother Nature had a change of heart - the sky turn deep blue when we arrived. The Bochs warmly greeted us. I think many of us ignored Sully’s advice for not eating too much, but the food (which included popcorn, clam chowder, hot dogs, and hamburgers) was too tempting. We ate in a gigantic white tent. Some campers and counselors were joyfully rolling down the green hilly lawn. I think next year there should be a traffic cop on the hill because there were near collisions. No one could resist the hot tub. While relaxing in the warmth of the tub, one of Boch’s friends and Jason, a camper who was picking on his air guitar, were singing and playing songs from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. The beat and the vibrations of the music enticed all of the campers and counselors to dance. Manny, the elder playboy at Jabberwocky, danced with all the women, and I followed his example. Sadly, 4:00 o’clock came quickly and the festivities ended. When we were driving from the driveway to leave the Boch’s mansion, we all waved and shouted “Thank you” to the Bochs and their friends for a delightful fun- packed day.

Paul Remy

The famous Jabberwocky bus in front of Ernie's gigantic mansion.

What a fantastic fountain.

Here is everybody rolling down a hill. Thank goodness there were no collisons.

A smile to remember.

Hot tub fun!!

David couldn't resist karoke.

Everybody is dancing to YMCA!

What a way to relax.

Studio night

Taylor sets the scene for a magical night of entertainment when studio night begins. After it came out of its' hat, Taylor sang to the bunny and kissed it so that he too, could relax and watch the show!

The night was filled with dance - Christina and George felt the groove

Bubba was the star singer. For an added twist, the music had a Christmas theme, "Jingle Bell Rock'

camp family feud

Friday night we played Camp Family Feud. We split up into teams and tried to guess what the "Survey says". Some were just general questions, like you might see on the actual show. Others were strictly camp related. For example:

This question generated a lot of audience participation and buzz. Who would make the cut??? Strike one... strike two....

We have a winner! The top 5 counselors Kendra has a crush on all got their 15 minutes of fame!

Saturday

Hi again, Faith here.

I know you must be surprised to be hearing from me again. And if i'm to be honest with you, i'm a bit surprised to be on here again myself so soon. But i've been bitten by the bug again, and as far as i know, no one has written today - though that may change - so here i am.

it being a weekend night, we're staying around camp tonight. the island is so good to us - allowing us to be a part of events and movie shows and such - throughout the week that we try to stay in on the weekends when possible. More room for other islanders to spread their wings.

which leads us to our traditional saturday night tradition: studio night.

for those who don't know, studio night is sort of a Jabberwockian version of our own talent show. It's highly encouraged that everyone participate - and is more fun that way.

friends are welcomed to come watch us, and sometimes they do, but more often than not we entertain ourselves: dancing, singing, putting together crazy little skits.... things are often very light-hearted and off-the-cuff, and the spontaneity is part of the magic of the evening.

tonight, because of Jojo's imminent arrival, our studio night will be presented in her honor. This fact in and of itself gives us lots of fun material from which to choose. Should be a very interesting time.

Alright folks, seems like one of our more talented writers would like to share his thoughts with you, so i'm about to sign off.

thanks for sharing this time with me. i hope to see you all again soon

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

So hello!

Faith here. Surprise!

Camp has been going on for a few days now. I know family and friends are wondering what we're up to. So i'm going to do my best to briefly catch you up on our many adventures.

First though, let me just say: a lot of you probably know that Arthur - one of our fearless leaders - is yet to arrive. He and his family are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their newest member: due any day.

The lag in this blog is partly due to his absence. Arthur used to stay up until the wee hours faithfully to have a daily entry so that our loved ones would know of our adventures of the day. Sorry folks; I just can't do that. A gal needs her beauty rest after all! :)

So the blog may not have daily entries, but a group of us are trying to set up a schedule where we can take turns posting - and keep you as up to date as possible. Please pardon our lapses in the meantime. What may be cool though, is that you'll be able to hear all of our different voices and perspectives through our individual writings. Who knew?!

ANYWAY...

Camp started on Monday morning. We were welcomed home by islanders, and tourists that shared our boat (and therefore disembarked with us0 looked in bemusement at the counselors who greeted us in Vineyard Haven dressed in full costumes with wigs and instruments and ....

Monday afternoon showered, so it gave us all some time to settle in and say hello. Our tradition of Monday night drumming at the beach with Rick's band seemed in jeopardy, but the steady rain had stopped and Rick was up for the adventure, so... we packed up and off we went.

The hamburgers and hot dogs, veggie burgers and 'not dogs' were up and running. The raindrops started. Rain? No worries. We're at the beach anyway; wetness is to be expected, isn't it? :) We ate confidently.

But then came the thunder. And shortly thereafter the (breathtakingly beautiful, but that's just me) lightning. Not good. Not good at all.

So the new counselors helped load the bus and vans in record time, and we all traveled home again. Ah the adventures have begun.

Tuesday brought us a bit more rain, so our evening activity changed from a birthday celebration downtown with ice cream to a movie in the studio. Don't worry, the birthday girl still got cake!

We saw Hairspray. Something I had never seen before, but now love. You can imagine how strange it was for me NOT to be singing along, when other people around me were chiming in, but i adjusted. and happily so.

Wednesday the sun snuck out long enough for us to have our first official beach day. The water was cool, but wonderful. There was a parasailor above that seemed to be there just for us. He was so close that it seemed if you stood on someone's shoulders you might be able to beg a ride if you had a long enough rope.

I think everyone had a good time.

And Wednesday night brought us to the movies - public, this time - where we saw 'you don't mess with the Zohan'. As should be expected, Jabberwocky made a spectacular entrance into the theater, and added our own level of drama.

Thursday morning found us with an invitation to ride on the Mad Max. It is a sailboat (catamaran?) we have been fortunate enough to ride the past several summers. This year there were more of us than the boat could hold, so those of us that didn't go for the ride spent a few hours shopping and sightseeing in Edgartown. I hear that a good number of brave Jabberwockians were allowed to drive the Mad Max aways... I can just hear the chaos and laughter in my head; can't you?

Later in the day we held our own memorial service honoring Virginia Hackney - a long time Jabberwocky friend and confidante - in the late afternoon. It was nice to be able to share our personal memories of our friend - and some group memories too. Virginia was a maverick, and is still alive in us all. We feel her spirit everywhere on this island. Virginia was, and still is, a gift to us all.

Dr. Steve read a poem written about Virginia that can be found in her remembrance book. I don't have access to it here, but perhaps if he is willing, he will scan me a copy and then i can share it with all of you. It is light, and sweet, and funny... and just what Virginia would have wanted.

Also last night a small group of us went to see a play called The last 5 years. A very good play (in my humble opinion). However, i did hear that those of us that went missed some VERY funny stories - as the story telling tradition still thrives here.

And today is Friday. breakfast, music, classes, lunch... and a beach trip - thwarted halfway there by pesky and persistent rain. Die hards travelled on: I have been here writing, sharing with you.

These are the big highlights in bite-size form. Our dear Jojo arrives tomorrow, and with her we hope she brings the sunshine to match her eternally bubbly personality and energy.

In random tidbit form:

Sierra Wheaton's nail salon is up and running. She is so popular, that she now takes reservations. Even some of the male counselors have hopped on the bandwagon, getting multi-colored pedicures in time for the fourth of July.

Fourth of July: Seven days away. our theme for the parade? we have not yet made a concrete decision. One of the ideas floating around is The Wizard of Oz, but... why would any Jabberwockian have a concrete plan so early in the game. Right?

We have a new camper who prefers to be called Bubba who adores Christmas music. I have a feeling that this summer somehow we truly will have Christmas in July!

Skipper is making his usual rounds on the island; shaking hands and smiling wherever he goes. Everyone knows Skipper. He brings his own light to any situation.

We have yet to see Hellcat. I am trying to be patient, but i am very much looking forward to her recitation of the Jabberwock poem. Always a summer highlight, often imitated, but never mastered. Fret not, Hellcat. Imitation remains the highest form of flattery.

Honestly that is about all i can muster at this point. There is more (there always is), but the dinner bell is about to ring, and traffic here is getting intense.

I do have access to some photos of Camp thus far (thanks to dr. steve), but have not yet unlocked the magic of posting photos on a blog. I promise they are soon to come, but it will have to be another day.

It's been a joy to be with you again. i don't know when i will be the one to write for the blog again (i'm not sure how the rotation schedule will go0, but thank you for allowing me to share some of the magic of our time here at our second home with those of you who are a part of our typical homes.

Until the next time,
I hope you will find beauty where you look,
Like we try to do here... always.

Faith

CAMP HAS BEGUN!

Horray! It's true!

This blog will be maintained by a crack crew of campers and counselors this summer as Arthur (that's me, I'm writing this entry now) must be a home to attend to the birth of his second daughter. She's due any day now and we'll surely keep you posted on that. In the meantime, tune in here for some great Jabberwocky adventures!

Below are some pictures from a wonderful day a few weeks ago when some counselors and campers got together and traveled to Vermont to climb a mountain. We weren't sure if we could do it but we in the end we all did. And no one got injured, for the most part, we think. Maybe next year we'll get the whole camp up there!














It's going to be a great summer!

June Birthdays

I know these are being posted late, but i didn't want anyone to feel left out. If your birthday has gone by already, please accept my most sincere apologies in the delay of this posting.

June -

2nd - Michael Wooley
8th - Matt L. - i wont try to spell his last name from memory. Sorry, Matt
9th - Kendra Maeler
12th - Kelsey Grousebeck
12th -Jonah Lipsky

(This is a doozie. I have this one written down on 2 different dates. So it's either)

14th or 16th - Shawn Trieschmann
23rd - John Casanave - First day of camp! What a birthday present! :)

Again, i'm sorry some people's birthdays were posted late. I'll try to be better next time around (though i probably won't be posting the July birthdays - we will all be together at the beginning of July!).

much love and congratulations to all of you.

OK, OK, OK

Hi! It's Faith again. Remember me?

I am still alive. Sorry for not getting back here sooner. it's been about 5 weeks now, hasn't it? and for that, i do apologize. But with computer issues (i "upgraded" my service and have had glitches ever since), some health hiccups (nothing serious, just a bit of a run-around), PCA (personal care attendant) dramas (you don't even WANT to know!), and the general pre-camp craziness... my life has been not so much my own.

I do apreciate those of you who "checked in" to make sure i was ok. that was sweet, and made me feel extra-loved.

So! News...

Last weekend a group of Jabberwockians and some other friends climbed Mt. Bromley in VT. I'm sure we'll hear many fun stories about it at meal-times and such, so i won't go into crazy detail. Let's just leave it at - by all accounts it was an AMAZING experience, and - best yet, EVERYONE made it to the top.

This adventure will air on MTV sometime in the fall. I don't know much about the details of that, but i know that our friends will be SURE to keep us "in the loop."

Plans are already coming together for the annual "Tea and Sing" this summer. This year it is being held at Jabberwocky so that people can come and see where we are and what we do... I'm looking forward to the celebration. Don't forget your garden party dresses and hats, ladies!

Our friend Rick Bausman (of State Beach drumming and Jabberwocky studio mornings fame) is marrying his love, Jen, this summer. It is happening sometime while we are at camp, but i'm not sure of the date or anything (can you picture Rick at a Bachelor Party - or Jen at a Bachelorette party - "Jabberwocky style?" keeheehee). I am really happy for him, and I'm sure we all wish the entire family our best.

Scott Scherer has been bitten by the travel bug already. The day after school got out, he and his entire family packed up and headed off to Disney in Florida. He (and they) had a wonderful time, and exceptional weather. I asked Scott if i could travel in his suitcase; I have family in Florida that i rarely get to see - but, Scott got really nervous about having to push me out of a window once we got over Jacksonville. haha.

Now that Scott is home, he is even MORE excited for his next adventure: being on Martha's Vineyard with all of us! :)

Kendra is grauduating from the 8th grade this month. WAY TO GO, KENDRA! What a wonderful achievement. June is a busy month for her: a birthday, graduation, and Camp. I bet she can't stop smiling: ear to ear!

Nancy Jesseau is settling into her new place nicely and can't wait for camp to tell us all about some of the new friends she has made. We all know how social Miss Jesseau is; i'm sure she will have LOTS of interesting stories!

So see? Even though i haven't written in a while, i HAVE been listening. Hope you have enjoyed these updates.

By the way, Have i mentioned it yet?

10 more days!

count 'em folks. All it takes is your two little hands... YEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAA!

love to all of you. i'll see you soon, but i'll dream about you sooner. :)

How many days?

If i'm not mistaken, we have 48 days left. 48 days until the beginning of Camp Jabberwocky 2008.

And that means that for some of you, school is winding down. So I wonder; what was your favorite school memory this year?

And for the rest of us: what's our favorite Winter memory? i'm trying to think of mine; because you KNOW at the beginning of the summer everyone asks for updates.... i need to figure out what i'm going to be bragging on. :)

Keep on keeping on.

luvya,
faith

camp message board

hey folks

just wanted you to know that the camp message board is being password protected again. there was too much random spamming going on without the password.

the password information is the same as it was the first time around. if you do not remember what that was, please email me and i will share it with you.

the message board could be a fun thing. give it a shot.

thanks,
faith

Including today

Sorry i missed yesterday folks.

Mandy Adams and I had dinner and movie night. I had a lot of fun. We watched "Benny and Joon" - one of my favorite movies ever... check it out.

Anyway, including today, we have 51 days until the first official day of Camp Jabberwocky begins. WOO-HOO!

can't wait to see y'all...

love ya,
faith

just a tid-bittle info...

One of the cooler things i like about the month of May is that it is (among other things) "Better Speech and Hearing Month." So give a Speech/Language Pathologist and/or Audiologist you know some love.

Hellcat
Kim Ho
Vera Corriea (sorry, i don't know if this is the correct spelling of your name)

from me to you - from a "Speechie" wanna-be to the ones who made it: i love you guys! :)

keep smiling,
faith

sunny thoughts through the rain...

Hey all -

it's a rainy day here in Whitman, MA. I was feeling as gray as the weather until i had this thought:

Including today - there are 53 days until the first day of the first session of Jabberwocky in July begins. "Camp Jabberwocky ROCKS!"

hope this brings a smile to your face. i know it did mine...!

luvya,
faith

Just in case you were wondering...

INCLUDING TODAY:

Jabberwocky in July starts in 54 days!

loveya,
faith

MAY DAY!

May is here, and so is Spring (though i did wake up with frost on the ground outside my window this morning - welcome to New England)!

May birthdays include:

May 7 - Teak Garvey
May 8 - Stefanie Sacks
May 8 - Martha Rittlemeyer
May 9 - Chris Collins
May 12 - Myles Iselin
May 14 - Kristen "Sully" St. Amour
May 22 - Jonathan Traquina
May 25 - Dr. Steve Gardener

Happy birthday to one and all.

enjoy the sunshine,
faith

OOPSIE

Correction:

Stefanie Sacks' MRI is April 29th. She finds out her results on May 5th.

My bad. I apologize for the confusion.

thanks,
faith

some updates

Hey folks

2 updates for you.

Nancy Jesseau - she has made the decision to give up her apartment, and stay in the nursing facility that she was rehabbing at earlier in the year. she has made a lot of friends, and does a lot of activities.

of course her friend ed goes to visit her almost daily. on nice days, they "escape" and go out for lunch or coffee or something... :)

i just found out - and i mean "just" - that nancy now has a phone in her room.

so her contact info is as follows

nancy jesseau
Charlwell House
305 Walpole St
Norwood, MA 02602

phone - 781.551.0779

she is very much looking forward to seeing all of us at camp SOON


=======================

stefanie sacks:

she is able to support herself independently (no crutches, or brace), although her leg still gives her a fair amount of pain from time to time. she is going for another MRI on May 5th to make sure things are still progressing as they should.

when she knows more, she'll let us all know.

========================


that's as much as i know right now.

if YOU have news - please feel free to let me know - we'd love to share in your successes, and be able to support you if/when you need it.

thanks,
faith

hello folks

Just wondering:

Did anyone know that there is a jabberwocky message board? i didn't until today. you can find it at: www.campjabberwocky.org. when you get to the homepage, there's a link that says "camp news". if you click it there's a drop-down menu: "blogs", and "message board".

this could be a really fun thing... check it out. if enough people know about it, we could really get something started, i think.

enjoy,
faith

by the way...

Camp Family

i know you might be wondering where the pictures of the celtic's game are. there is a great gallery of pictures on the jabberwocky website: www.campjabberwocky.org (under photo galleries).

no reason for me to go and muck things up when someone else (Holly? was it you?) obviously did a fantastic job...

go to the camp website. enjoy the photos. they're great. bet'chur gonna smile! :)

luvya,
faith

Counting down...

10 weeks folks,

that's all there is: 2 hands' worth of weeks until Jabberwocky in July starts! Hallelujah! :)

(but who's counting, right?)

"camp jabberwocky rocks!"

luvya,
faith

Celtics Game

Hey folks

a couple of weeks ago a large contingent of Jabberwockians went to a Celtics game courtesy of the Grousbeck family. Below is an email i got from Sully with a link to some pictures that were taken there. Enjoy!

Sully says:

Friends -

here is a gallery of photos one of the August counselors made. Check it out; it's great. Thanks.

http://campjabberwocky.org/photogalleries.celtics.2008.html

-----------

also, as a random side note by me...

if you want to see even _more_ celtics pics, including some with people from the july session, go to www.celtics.com/fanfoto

choose the march 28th game.

then choose gallery 21a
and
gallery 36

from the drop-down menu.

have a great day,
faith

Just in case you were wondering...

11 weeks from today we will all be together - let Jabberwocky 2008 begin! Look out, Martha's Vineyard! Here we come! :)

Camp Friends-

Last Friday night another Jabberwocky Winter Folly took place. A group of 80 people made up of campers, counselors and their families from both the July & August camps, went to the Boston Celtic's game. We all had a wonderful time chatting with friends, eating pizza and best of all watching the Celtic's game.

The night wouldn't have been possible had it not been for Kelsey Grousebeck and her parents, Wyc and Corrine. They were so wonderful to have camp as their guests and provide us with great seats and dinner.

I would like to thank everyone for making the journey into Boston and a *big* thanks to those that helped with rides. Faith is going to post some of the photos from the game so make sure you don't miss seeing them. We hope to have more Winter Follies like this one in the near future. Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks again for a great night!

Love
Sully

ps. faith says:

i will indeed post pictures of the game on the blog. i am hoping to get a lesson on how to *do* that tonight. so, please be patient with me.

i know for sure you all need to email me your pictures if you want them to be included in the post, so - send away!

and - if you have stories of your own about the Celtics game, let me hear em... i'm sure there were many adventures i wasn't aware of happening all around me! :)

April Birthdays...

'Tis that time of the month again, folks... and no, i don't need chocolate. :) Though if you *have* any... feel free to share.

Birthdays this month include:

April 7 - Mandy Adams
April 7 - Lidia Marino
April 8 - Jonah Taub
April 9 - Grace Maeng
April 16 - Rachel Shiron
April 21 - Sean "Wawa"
April 28 - Lagan Trieschmann
April 29 - Melissa Pepper

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EACH (AND ALL) OF YOU!

luvya,
faith

April Fools!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Anyone have any pranks played on them? Did anyone *pull off* any cool pranks? Share with us all...

hope to hear from ya,
faith