Lanalog
sUMMER 2020
Dear Lanakila, I find myself thinking of you all every day, and a smile comes to my face when I picture us together at Lanakila in the future! In fact, yesterday my brain skipped straight to summer 2021, our 100th summer. And not only is next year #100, but it is also when we open the time capsule buried in the Barn. Some may not know that Mrs. Carol, our founding Director, helped Lanakilans bury the first time capsule in 1955, when the fireplace was put in the Barn (for new campers, that’s the place where we congregate for assemblies and special events). That year, each Lanakilan collected a pinecone and put his or her name on it with a tag. We dug that capsule up in 1985 (30 years later), and those pinecones were put in a big box and used to start fires in the new fireplace for many years. Then all of the 1985 campers and counselors got to create their own message for the time capsule, which was then buried for 20 more years!
Lanakila is a place of profound friendship, caring, and inclusivity—and it can still be that for us even if we aren't able to be together on Lake Morey. In 2005, right on time, we opened the time capsule again and the entire camp community got to read the dreams of those who came before us. There were some recognizable voices from 1985: Jeremy Cutler, our amazing assistant director, who was just a young camper at the time, predicted there would be a fifth unit at Lanakila (sorry Cutler, sometimes you lose some). There were also many predictions of who the unit heads would be, or who would be telling Final Council Fire in 2005. It was a deeply touching moment as we stood there in the Barn in the presence of Lanakila’s history. The wishes and the dreams of 1985 were so similar to those of campers in 2005, and the reality that we were holding true to these dreams filled my heart with absolute joy.
2021 is just around the corner, and I like to think about how similar our dreams, wishes, and aspirations will be when we open up the time capsule once again. I feel very sure that the honesty, love, and courage that were present in 2005 will still be at the heart of Lanakila. It will be there because each of us will tend to the Lanakila spark inside of us, and each of us will do our part to keep the Lanakila dream alive. And in fact, I know we are all doing just that right now! Lanakila is a place of profound friendship, caring, and inclusivity — and it can still be that for us even if we aren’t able to be together on Lake Morey. We will continue to support each other and be our best selves, and before we know it, we will be together in the Barn again!
Skol,
BRYAN PARTRIDGE Director of Lanakila