Elfuns return to Ohana for a work week

Twenty-two Elfuns from nine states recently put on their GE Volunteer caps for a week in mid-June at historic Ohana Camp in picturesque Vermont, accomplishing a wide range of volunteer tasks to help preserve the classic Vermont summer camp on the shores of Lake Fairlee.
Coming to Vermont from California to Connecticut, the Elfuns arrived on a Sunday evening and got the week started with a reception, dinner, and a look at three flip chart pages full of varied work assignments to be led by Ohana Camp Directors Andy and Deb Williams.
The list of accomplishments during the week was impressive! For example, Joe Gould and Randy Morrison built an enclosure for the goats, which sounds easy until calculating in the fact that posthole diggers are basically inoperative when hitting Vermont rock. But the posts are in and standing straight and tall, thanks to Joe and Randy, who also shored up the concrete foundation at the camp’s sugar house.
Andy and Gary Sieving and Gisele Hill worked on both vegetable and flower garden beds, creating areas of both beauty and value. Kathleen Betchkal and Jean Jankowski teamed up to prep a building lovingly called “Area 51” to be the site of an urgently needed maintenance storage space.
Carpentry par excellence produced a new deck for Cabin 12 thanks to Joe Maruyama, Bob McKenzie, and Gene Bratton, while nearby Otto and Moe Jankus and Al Jankowski put shingles on a staff cabin. Right behind them to paint the shingles were Joyce Maruyama and John Betchkal.
Picasso-like painting of camp furniture badly in need of fresh coats of protective and appealing color was accomplished by Linda McKenzie, Carolyn Morrison, and Sue Sheridan. And they were neat – no spilled cans or brush marks!
Dave Hill and Richard Hoffard took charge of prepping the Gardenside building for staff housing, removing rafters which supported low ceilings, pulling out old wall board, checking electrical systems, and getting it spiffy “for immediate occupancy.”
Lois Lovinger was all smiles as she completed a star quilt which is beautiful and will have a place of honor. And our traveling Ohana Camp historian-in-residence-for-a-week, Jean Bratton, came up with more historical “finds”, adding to this locations wonderfully meaningful history.
It wasn’t all work for the week. Will Lange was here to deliver pure Vermont humor, Christopher Wren talked about “Walking to Vermont” following retirement from his NY Times desk , Ben Kilham amazed the group with his stories about bears in Vermont woods, and master storyteller Simon Brooks entertained us preceding a marvelous DVD presented by Andy Williams, summarizing our week together..
Best of all was the terrific hospitality, great food and sense of accomplishment we had during our week with Andy and Deb Williams and the wonderful Ohana Camp staff. Thanks, everybody, for the memories!

Fiddlehead Season

Nothing signals spring at Ohana like the delicate and persistent unfolding of the ferns. We call this Fiddlehead Season, when each little frond unfolds like the head of a violin. Ohana seems to have all manner and variety in it's woodlands and around it's cabins. We have even named the Tent Unit's gathering cabin and wash house, Fern House, in honor of the many ferns that cascade through and surround the area. They soften and beautify the woodlands and edges of fields, the wet areas and the dry areas. And since there are only about 100 varieties of ferns, versus the thousands of plant varieties, they are relatively easy to identify. The Ohana library has a number of field guides to the ferns, but one of our favorites is one written in 1910, about the time the camp was established. It's called "Who's Who Among Ferns" by W.I. Beecroft. The illustrations are as intricate as the ferns are themselves. Ferns have caught the imagination of many. In 1922, Clarissa Buffum, a young nature counselor at Camp Aloha Hive, across the lake, created a wonderful and beautiful poster of the ferns of the area. We are lucky enough to have a copy of it still. As fate would have it, Clarissa later became the mother of David, Bob and Chippy Bassett, who have been long time supporters of the Aloha Foundation and of Ohana Camp, as have their children and grandchildren.

At this time of year some folks forage in the forest for fiddleheads to eat as a delicacy. Here is an old article written by a staff member of the Aloha Foundation's Hulbert Outdoor Center in 1983.

Fiddlehead Ferns - a woodland delicacy
Come springtime, wild food lovers search far and wide for fiddlehead ferns. To many, these are a delicacy. People often wonder what the term fiddlehead refers to. Is it a separate type of fern? Not exactly. The term fiddlehead refers to the early growth stages of any fern. When a fern first pops its head out of the ground, its foliage, or frond, is coiled up like a snail, often resembling the head of a violin, or fiddle, thus the name. The Bracken fern and Ostrich fern are the most palatable of fiddleheads. They are commonly found in open and wooded areas of New England. As you go fiddlehead harvesting, the most important rule of thumb is to leave half of the fronds behind so that the ferns will return next year.
The Ostrich fern, known in the summer for its tall plumes of fertile fronds, is identifiable in the early spring by the tightly coiled tops with brown scale coverings. The scales should be removed before cooking. Ostrich ferns like damp areas and are found growing in crowns or circles of eight to ten fronds per group. The best time to pick Ostrich fern fiddleheads is when they have reached a height of six to ten inches. The Bracken fern is the most common fern found in open, dry woods, clearings and pastures. This fern usually grows to four feet tall and has three main branches from a single stem. Bracken fern fiddleheads have a half inch thick base at harvest time and are covered with a rusty colored wool. Pick only the part that is tender enough to snap easily between your fingers, then remove the rusty colored wool by pulling the frond through your hand. Bracken ferns may be eaten raw (they’re great in salads!) or cooked. Both Ostrich fern and the Bracken fern can be stored in the freezer after they are cleaned of scales or wool, washed and then par-boiled in water for five minutes. These ferns are delicious when steamed for thirty minutes and served with melted butter. When spring settles into your area, perhaps you might like to harvest a few fiddleheads and have a treat!

artwork by Craig Richardson

Winter Work at Ohana

It has been below zero on Lake Fairlee recently, the fishing houses are on the ice, and skaters and cross country skiers can be seen out and about. The winter season is upon us, but work continues at Ohana. Camp has been "buttoned up" since October after a terrific group of volunteers help to close camp during our annual Fall Work Weekend. A rather soggy weekend drew a record 40 volunteers to Ohana. Without the help of these loyal workers we could not accomplish so much in such a short time. After Ohana was "closed up" for the winter, we took a breather to start work on the new brochure. It looks terrific. If you have not received it yet you should let us know.

Winter projects have included the renovation of "Cabin 51" - the tool cabin near the volley ball court. Our Buildings and Grounds men have worked hard to upgrade it, install bathrooms and do general carpentry. It is very exciting to see an old run down building transformed into a very comfortable four bedroom cabin for meetings and lodging.

Our other major project this winter was to start clearing some of the large trees that were growing up and blocking our view of the lake. Although we will not go back to the clearing that was part of view 50 years ago, we certainly are beginning to have a better look at the lake from the Dining Hall. Graham Webster, staff member Libby's brother, and Eamon Donovan have been doing a very professional job under the careful guidance of our forester, Paul Harwood. And we now have all our firewood cut for the next two years!

Even as work goes on in the deep of winter, our families are already making plans to return next summer. We hope you will be among them. We look forward to welcoming you all back to see all the exciting changes.