Camphill Village Copake is so grateful to the generous donors who support our Giving Tuesday campaigns each year. The health of our annual funds depends upon your charitable gifts during the holidays! Please consider giving to Camphill Village this Giving Tuesday, December 2nd.
https://camphillvillage.org/givingtuesday/
Giving Tuesday: Connections
The craftiest crafters of Camphill Village really outdid themselves at this year’s Yule Fair. All of our sales will benefit nonprofits of our choosing, and create the opportunity for our community members to do some holiday shopping for family members before many return to their hometowns for the week of Thanksgiving! No doubt, they’ll be delighted to receive yarn from our own sheep, dyed with onions from our gardens; paper stars to hang all season long; knit hats, scarves, and gloves; handmade wooden nesting boxes; hand-lathed bowls and spoons; jams made in our households; incredible felting work; and sewn placemats and paintings. We hope our community members and loved ones have a delicious, happy week!
Our Environmental Group has been busy over the last year working with the NY Pollution Prevention Institute to find areas where we can improve our footprint. Learn more about our efforts here.
After an entire summer of turning our attention to the land every Tuesday morning, we had our final post- Community Garden Tuesday picnic last week, complete with delicious barbecue and salads with ingredients we’ve been tending to all season long. We’re grateful for all of the support our gardens received during our weediest weeks and our driest days. On to a bountiful harvest!
Our big 5K is a blast every year! Sign up here to run through our beautiful pastures and forests, or to take a more leisurely stroll or roll around our Ring Road.
The pathways leading to our Candlemas gathering in Fountain Hall were all aglow with the dozens of sparkling ice luminaries we made in our households. A lovely nighttime snowfall accumulated while we assembled in the warmth of one another’s company and listened to our land workers discuss their plans for the coming season. Our good friend Malcolm told us about the etymology of “biodynamics” and Hericlitus’s assertion that everything is always flowing and in motion: “panta rhei.” We are part of this planet, and as such, are always in flux. Through winter, we inhale and gain introspection. February 2nd, falling halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox, promises a great deal of tansition as we enter the growing season.
Our spring festival season will soon conclude with Saint John’s Day in June. We’ve been enjoying lovely weather, picnics, and the many flowers this colorful season has to offer. Our Ascension Day gathering earlier this month was especially productive, and we all worked on different crafts and land projects together near the Village Green. How nice it will be to admire our new lilac blooms come this time next year! And for Whitsun (Whit Sunday), we enjoyed an exciting performance by the Village Bell Ensemble, followed by a community potluck. We’ll soon welcome our siblings and other family members to the Village for yet another peaceful, musical gathering.
We were delighted to see so many friendly faces from the different Camphill communities of Columbia County, as we gathered at the beautiful Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington on Saturday for our concert, “Music in Praise of Dignity & Care.” We thank the Triform Bell Choir directed by Akiko Suesada; concert musicians Eugene Drucker, Roberta Cooper, Joana Genova, Dana Kelley, and Gili Melamed-Lev; our most excellent MCs Sam and Finot; and the many Mahaiwe staff and volunteers who created such a lovely afternoon for our attendees. Many special thanks to Gili Melamed-Lev of Jazz and Classics for Change for bringing these musicians together for our big day at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center!
When we spend more time indoors during the colder months, we concentrate on reading, hobbies, and enjoying musical pursuits. This is the time of year when we gear up for our Bell Ensemble performances, as well as welcome world-class musicians to Fountain Hall. Please have a look at this video that showcases last year’s winter concert by members of our Bell Ensemble.
The awesome crew at Turtle Tree Seed has a lengthy feature in the New York Times today, thanks to long-time friend and customer Margaret Roach. We’re so glad Margaret is bringing such positive awareness to Turtle Tree’s amazing work to produce biodynamic seeds for all levels of growers.
