Alford Lake Camp

ALC wishes all their friends and families
a fun and safe Halloween Night!!

As announced recently, ALC is creating a newsletter for our campers!  We are calling it our “ALC E-News” and we are inviting everyone to participate in our photo game.  Blueberry Blues on the Road! Pull out your ALC t-shirt, ALC sweatshirt or any camp clothing and have someone take a picture of you wearing it anywhere!!  Suggestions for photo locations: at a school event, on a family outing, at the pumpkin patch, hanging out with your friends at the mall… or maybe even when you are traveling!  Be creative!  Be silly! The idea is to have fun with this. 
Email your photos to us (or send it to Blueberry Blue c/o Alford Lake Camp,5 Salt Marsh Way, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107) and look for your shot in the first ALC E-News.  Everyone who sends us a picture will get a special prize. Unpack those Blueberry Blues and don’t forget to smile!!

Thanks for participating!  Keep in touch!

Hey ALCers!  Happy Fall!

We miss you all so much and decided that it is time to try something new.  Starting in early November, we will be creating a newsletter for ALC campers.

This will be YOUR newsletter – a chance to share your news with friends from last summer.  Newsletters will be sent every two months and we want you to share your news with us!  Have you joined a new team at school?  Working on a service project?  Traveling some place new or fun?  Have you seen an ALCer or organized a mini-camp reunion?  These are just some of the topics we will be exploring each edition. Best way to share your news + jpeg photos is by e-mailing us.

Keep in touch with camp friends and keep checking your inbox for the First Edition of the ALC E-News coming in early November. No matter how far we are apart during the winter months, we can still stay connected to our ALC family!

Thanks for participating!

Guest Blog by Matt Hamilton

According to ALC lore, the antidote to feeling “bluish” on account of being “newish” is to…”reach in your trunk, put on your Blueberry Blues!”
“Ba-da-da Ba-da-da Ba-da-da-da-da!”
“Miles apart,” now I am – and even rather close to one of “Wherever You Go”’s sung cities – Tel Aviv, as Israel is just a ways over the Jordan River from Amman, Jordan. Just two weeks ago I came to this capital city of Jordan to work as a teacher to Iraqi refugees while studying the Arabic language. The work is fun, the culture is different, and yes, I am very far from home, my parents, friends, and my brother Dave (known to the Rangers as Davina, the Tennis Playing Diva).
Like at camp though, when you are far from loved ones and comfortable places, two things happen: you realize how much you do love your family, friends, and home but as well, you see the vastness of the world, the people in it, and the commonalities shared among us all.
Homesickness is inevitable. Like those first nights for campers at ALC, my first night here I laid in bed, unable to sleep; my bed was thousands of miles away, the air felt different, and the noises were unfamiliar. No longer was I hearing taps, reveille, and the chilling screams of the loon, but the bustle of the city cars and the Islamic call to prayer issuing five times each day from the minaret of the mosque located across the street from my apartment.
My second day here, though, I did reach down into my suitcase and, quite unexpectedly, pulled out my blue ALC t-shirt. Far away from home and from camp, I put it on and felt better – empowered, even, to stop feeling sad, and to look at this new and challenging place as I would Mt. Sugarloaf, Mt. Battie, or Mt. Katahdin – an opportunity! I had helped to lead campers to these summits – now I had to lead myself through unknown, foreign territory.
After two weeks, Amman has become a new type of home, with new friends, new lessons, and unexpected personal growth and maturing. My Arabic is improving and my knowledge of the city has increased. The homesickness has ebbed, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss home; like the camper starting a new school, a new year in college, or life in a new city or state, a longing for family and friends remains.  The longing just signifies love, though, and love always is a good thing.
From Amman,
Matt

An Out-of-Camp Trip Leader during the 2009 Summer, Matt Hamilton is a recent graduate of Boston College now working as a teacher and student in Amman, Jordan. Matt enjoys Congo Bars with cheese and honey, pie, and peanut butter M&Ms.

ALC-ers in the Boston Area, come to Powisset Farm (run by alum Meryl LaTronica) this Saturday afternoon for fun and dancing. Powisset Farm’s second annual Fall Harvest Festival and Contra Dance! October 10, from 2-5pm. At Powisset Farm, Dover, MA.

For more info – www.thetrustees.org/things-to-do/