Fall Getaway Weekend

Reminiscences of 20 Years at Camp Interlocken

...and always there was the singing!!!!

The things we learned... Tony Saletan and the first time we did Sacred Harp - we sang our hearts out. The African songs we sang one year... Bessie Jones and the songs of the Georgia Sea Islands... the early Sunday morning gospel sing.. the waterfront and the time the canoe tipped over... the sounds of bats over the water... the circle sings. It was always very jolly. I remember when a large crowd gathered in the infirmary and kept singing most of the night.

Alice Aronow

My memories are like a brightly colored patchwork quilt - a scrap from this year and a a scrap from that year, all pieced together to form a harmonious whole, which warms my memories on a cold winter's evening. A flash of bright color and movement as little Cate shelters within my arms, watching anxiously as her mother Marilyn swirls around the dance floor... a cartwheel design as Cate tumbles and prances her way around the singing circles with young Jeremy, while the grownups lean back in the window seats or sprawl on the floor at a meetinghouse sing... more tranquil patterns, as Lucy Simpson leads us in gospel harmonies, while Jeff Davis puts in extra time and energy helping people learn to sing in traditional styles. We've been so lucky over the years in having staff who knew how to be present in a very human way.

And, like the borders of the quilt, there's always the beauty of Interlocken itself - walking the dirt paths through woods and meadows, canoeing across the lake to the winding inlet, swimming in the bitter cold lake as puffy clouds meander by... the more I remember, the more eager I am to get back there - to mark the boundary between summer and fall with song and dance, with meeting old friends from up and down the Eastern seaboard, and with discovering new friends as the weekend flies.

Betsy Binstock

It was a time of sharing. It was small enough so that even people who felt shy would join in the sharing of songs. Usually this happened at the after hours sings. Someone very quiet would break through and it was a gem. It is just a bunch of people getting together to share in song and that's magic. There was always time for a canoe ride up the stream. The freezing cold water... the stars... the sunrise after singing all night...

Mark Ryer

One of my fondest memories was taking a canoe out on the lake and being serenaded by Robert Wheeler on the ukulele. I remember sweeping off the dance pavilion with Barry and being so inspired that I wrote a tune called Sweeping the Dance Floor... Rob Joel was one of the guiding lights of the weekend. We would be sitting around in a circle, sharing songs, and suddenly he would call your name and ask you to sing. He was larger than life. I remember Len Katz teaching me "Cold, Frosty Morning." There was always the feeling of being welcomed and included.

Lorraine Lee Hammond

It has always been a relaxed time with people who you'd only see fleetingly during the year.

Tony Saletan

I remember one year, having spent all day walking in the woods, listening to the music from a distance. I came back for the evening dance full of energy. The next morning in the cabin there was a bird trapped in the cabin, flying back and forth. Lorraine Lee and I tried to help it. After a long time, the bird allowed me to put my hands around it and set it free. It was an incredible experience. Just being there was wonderful - I just came along for the ride...

Jan Katz

I remember being enchanted by the singing of Sara Grey and Ellie Ellis. The sound of unaccompanied harmony singing was incredible. I threw my voice into what they were doing and it was amazing to be singing alongside of them. The warm, intimate time, schmoozing around the cabins, sometimes being very cold - the weekend would just fly by. I remember wonderful storytelling by Doug Lipman and Betty Lehrman. It was an eye-opener to widen our scope to storytelling.

...the saunas down by the lake, and rushing into the cold water... canoeing around the lake and watching the ducks take off... sitting around the dining room with a whole group of people getting very silly singing songs about sheep and getting truly hysterical... the late night singing was always the most magical and usually the finest musically... It was wonderful to see people you didn't see all year long.

Merle Roessler

The Friday night song swap is always one of my favorite times... a time to meet new people, and greet old friends... the air of anticipation as everyone gathers in the dining hall... instruments coming out of the cases (does Robert Wheeler have a new ukulele?)... the circle changing shape as people come and go...

I remember singing around the dining room fireplace, late at night, gathering closer and closer to the fire, trying to catch a last little bit of warmth... trying to sleep, the first year I came, and being too exited... listening to all the different snores in the cabin - there must have been at least five varieties, all going more or less at once - an orchestra.

I especially remember the year the weekend fell on Labor Day weekend, and a bunch of us stayed over 'til Monday. Rob St. Germain fired up the sauna Sunday afternoon, and people sat in there and sang. I was lounging on the beach, talking to Carly Gewirz, I think, and listening to the music and laughter - every once in a while, people would pop out of the sauna (seemingly propelled by the music) and streak for the water, then pop back into the sauna...

Suzanne Mrozak

One of my most memorable weekends at Interlocken was the 1991 Getaway Weekend. There was a special rapport between staff (Lucy Simpson and Jeff Davis), among campers, and between staff and campers. I also had an enjoyable walk with Robert Leigh on a nearby trail.

Panos Constant