Spring 2014 Eagle

SPRING 2014

THE EAGLE’S NEST FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER

Inside this issue:

Growing Great Teachers

2

Through the Eyes of a Trustee

4

Saving the Planet

5

The Garden

8

Sustainers of the Wheel 10 What Your Dollars Did

11

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

12

Nest Chatter

13

Experiential education for young people, promoting the natural world and the betterment of human character.

Visit our website at www.enf.org to make a donation, apply to a program or learn more about Eagle’s Nest.

The Circle Game

By the Junior Counselors of Session 2, 2008 circles of friendships that have manifested “We can’t return we can only look/Behind from where we came/And go round and round at 43 Hart Rd. and round in the circle game.” –Joni Mitchell Cecilia lives the way she jams: playing at anything and everything (be it fiddle, manEagle’s Nesters know how to circle up. dolin or fairies & toads), she knows how to We begin our day with them and end with give and receive, when to take a leadership them, and more often than not hand-inposition and play out but also when to hand. But the Nest is also full of intangiside step and support those around her, ble circles. I’m Ellen. I’ve been privileged and she’s just generally incredible at it and enough to be the Junior Counselor coordinator for the past two of my three years on does it all with a beautiful smile on her face. Music is an integral part of sumstaff. I’m extremely passionate about the mers at Eagle’s Nest; I can’t think of a day program because I am a direct beneficiary there in which I didn’t hear live music. It is of it. My Junior Counselor experience is equally impossible to imagine that place evident every day, not just because of the leadership skills or lessons in responsibili- without Cecilia and her kind, vivacious, laughing self who became my friend at age ty I was taught, but because of the people who were learning alongside of me. Today, 12 and has ever since filled our friendship with music and lightheartedness. - By Tess they are as familiar to me as my own Tumarkin family members. My JC group has spent four summers on staff together, coordinatAnna - The best buddy anyone could ask ed multiple reunions and spent every New for. We laugh together until both of us are Years with one another since closing day out of breath, bringing sunshine and smiles of Session 2, 2008. into my every day. She is wise, poetic, poised, and intentional. No detail escapes Our story of life long friendships made at (continued on pg. 5) the Nest is similar to the countless other

The Junior Counselors of Session 2, 2008

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Eagle’s Nest Camp Grows Great Teachers

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By Paige Lester-Niles, Camp Director

From its early days Eagle’s Nest has always been an educational organization. When Dr. Alex Waite took over the camp leadership in the 1940’s he started bringing his Rollins College child development students to camp to give them an opportunity to teach and work with children. When I was a college student studying education I sought out a position at Eagle’s Nest for the same reason. Today, one third of our counselors are studying education or are already educators.

After nearly 90 years, Eagle’s Nest continues to be a terrific learning ground for future teachers.

Recently I’ve been struck by the number of our camp counselors who decide to pursue teaching opportunities after their time as counselors at camp. Each year I write a dozen or more references for camp staff seeking Masters in Education or applying for Teach for America (TFA) or similar educational organizations or opportunities. Following are thoughts from some of the exemplerary staff members who are pursuing such experiences: After years as a camper at Eagle’s Nest, Evelina Pierce worked for several years at camp, leading classes and Hantes. She also worked as a Resident Leader at The Outdoor Academy. Evelina is currently applying to graduate programs in Art Education and plans to be a teacher. Evelina found that working to help teach children the steps to feel safe, supported, and proud of themselves helped her find that strength in her own life. She says “As I created challenges for my campers, I began to think of my work as a counselor as more than simply facilitating fun experiences for kids. I learned that summer camp often shapes the morals and dreams that children hold throughout the year. I took the task of helping kids shape their aspirations seriously.”

She believes that Eagle’s Nest is rich with mentors who have supported and guided her to find her passions.

“Throughout my experiences working in education, I have yet to find a more nurturing environment for a prospective educator.”

You can read more from Evelina on our blog.

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Becca Spiegel and Marlene Tempchin are both finishing their second year working for Teach for America. Becca has been working at a special education teacher in New Orleans and Marlene has been teaching math and science in New York City. Becca says that “when I tell people that I am a high school special education teacher, they usually react with adulation for the amount of patience they imagine I must have. But I was not always as patient as I am now. Patience is something I was taught to value when I was a counselor at Eagle’s Nest.” Becca shares that when she was helping campers learn how to float on their backs at the lake, packing the trunks of a cabin full of seven-year-old girls, or attending to her homesick table-son who refused to eat any of his vegetables, she was practicing using patience. Now, when she helps her one of students write an essay or consoles one of them when they are upset that someone is picking on them, she draws on the patience she developed as a counselor.

Marlene shares that Eagle’s Nest taught her the “importance of infusing a little bit of magic and joy into every day.” She says that “the classroom is certainly a different place than our beautiful and inviting campus. There are standardized tests to take, and an air of solemness that surrounds the public school classroom,” but that when she feels the stress of everything she needs to teach her students she is “reminded of how much I learned about myself and the world around me sitting next to the creek” and, although her classroom isn’t set against the backdrop of the mountains, it doesn’t stop her from bringing a bit of magic to the classroom.

Jeremy Kallan was a camper, Hante participant, counselor and Added Adventure leader at Eagle’s Nest. He will be graduating from Middlebury College this spring and will begin working for TFA in the fall. Jeremy says that he was inspired to apply because he has an “awareness of the benefits of a good education. I understand the political, sociological, and

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“The importance of infusing a little bit of magic and joy into every day.”

psychological reasons for a good education.” He says that his experiences teaching have shown him “how much of a difference a good teacher can make in a student’s life.” He adds that Eagle’s Nest helped him realize that “much of a child’s learning takes place outside of the formal classroom setting, an idea I hope to bring to my work next year. Eagle’s Nest’s focus on holistic learning was valuable for me as a camper and inspiring as a counselor - I saw in myself and in my campers how far the love, passion, and commitment of a teacher can go toward fostering positive social and emotional development.” Jeremy hopes that in addition to helping to

raise achievement in reading and math in his students, he will also apply all that he learned at camp because “school can be good not only for the mind, but also for the body and soul.”

Finally Jeremy says what we all know so well - “Although the classes at camp do not follow a formal curriculum or textbook, a vast amount of learning takes place from the moment each camper arrives on campus.”

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Eagle’s Nest through the Eyes of a Trustee

By Richard O’Hara, President, The John Carroll School

I remember clearly and gratefully the day that Jonatha Gibaud visited me in my office at University School of Nashville (USN), one afternoon in the early 1990’s. We probably spoke for a few moments about her daughter Margot, a stellar USN student at that time, but then Jonatha told me about her connection with a unique organization in western North Carolina—the Eagle’s Nest Foundation. Always kind and forward-thinking, Jonatha offered to share additional information in the time ahead, and subsequently to explore with me any possibilities that might exist for partnerships between ENF and University School. The more I learned from my friend Jonatha and other sources, the more intrigued I became. It was easy to be quickly and strongly drawn to a place that for so many years had been loyal to its mission of “promoting the natural world and the betterment of human character” among the young people it cared for and served so well. Hearing that the Foundation was also planning to establish an experiential, academic semester-long academy also appealed to me as an educator. It was a great privilege to be invited to Pisgah Forest to take part in those early

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discussions as The Outdoor Academy began to take shape, and its first leader identified. University School became one of the original OA “sending schools,” and I was fortunate enough to remain a member of the OA Advisory Committee, and several years later, to join the ENF Board of Trustees.

I can say with absolute conviction that service on the ENF Board, and my association and friendship with fellow trustees and all the wonderful people of the Nest, is among the most enriching and meaningful experiences I have had. It is important in life to not simply stay busy or make plans (as John Lennon advised us in song), but to engage in work of significance.

To hold in trust, to safeguard the present, and to create the future of Eagle’s Nest—this very special community that exists to nurture the minds, bodies, and spirits of young people—is about as significant as an endeavor can be.

Thank you, ENF. May you live forever!

Editors Note: Jonatha Gibaud’s term on the ENF Board of Trustees ended in February. Her service over many years was instrumental in guiding Eagle’s Nest. We are very grateful for her wisdom, clarity and the fact that she is “on call” just down Hart Road!

There is still time to register for CAMP and HANTE

Enroll now for Summer 2014

Session I: June 7 - June 20 Session II: June 22 - July 11 Session III: July 13-August 1 Session IV: August 3 - August 10 www.enf.org

Find more information online or call (336) 761-1040

The Eagle’s Nest Foundation Newsletter

Why Saving the Planet S

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houldn’t M

atter,

But Does Anyway

By Woody Moore, OA Student, Fall Semester, 2013 I believe that humans are a part of nature. We evolved from the same single life form as every other organism on earth.

Natural selection cultivated a great desire to survive and reproduce within us. In this way, we are no different from any other living thing, except that we have succeeded in growing our species.

Now, however, we have removed ourselves from the cycle of evolution. We eliminate all competition, rather than adapt to compete with them. Today, our genes are practically immortal. We seek to remove ourselves from everything else from the planet. We use our intelligence to do this. Yet isn’t a rabbit immensely more intelligent than a single celled bacteria. However, the rabbit does not separate itself from the rest of its ecological community. We often cite morality as the difference between humans and animals, and then use this difference as an excuse to dramatically decrease other species’ opportunity for existence. Should not this morality hold us accountable for preserving life in all its forms?

Natural selection cannot account for long term efforts like humans destroying the planet they are so dependent on; however, reason can. Logic is one of the greatest virtues of humanity. I believe it is the only thing that could save humans from destroying themselves. It will drive a revolution to stop the destruction of our home.

Reason is only part of the equation, however. I believe that

excitement and stimulation are important, too. Even if we do save the planet for the sake of our own survival, we could still control the earth and turn it into a machine that produces the materials we need for survival. I believe that all humans need to have unknowns in their life. I am terrified of scientists turning the world into a giant genetically modified corn or soy farm that is efficient enough to sustain the population. Even if a developed planet is sustainable, it is not fulfilling. The more of the world that people can control, the more boring their world becomes.

For the same reason, I believe the preservation of diversity is important. Earth would be miserably dull if the only living species were humans and things that humans need. I believe in saving the things that are technically useless. I dream, not of creating an efficient planet, but saving a beautiful one.

I have never understood ethics because I have never thought people were able to determine what someone else deserves.

I also see the obvious impracticality of selflessness, except when it comes to your children who carry your genes. I do experience love, though. I know that I love the world. I know that I want to save life on the planet, not because I should respect the lives of plants and animals out of some morality, but because I love them. No matter how much the ruthlessly rational part of me tries to deny it, I will always believe that the Earth is good.

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The Circle Game (continued from pg. 1) her attention, and she knows just the right time to offer her help, to pick me up when I need the burst of energy that she constantly embodies. She’s always been my good friend, from when we were campers to OA students to staff members together. - By Cecilia Kucera In the eight years that I’ve known Luke, he’s grown up, and so have his ideas. The 15-year-old goofball who I met while JCing (and whose energy matched that of his Cabin 7 charges) channeled that energy to expertly and excellently head the Natseeho tribe, walk many a Hante, and lead Final Banquet.

From skit-scheming to guitar strumming to dish-washing, Luke is always ready with an idea: about how to make things more fun, more creative, better.

This thoughtfulness and probing, this push to think differently, in turn inspires me to think and probe, and I appreciate Luke for so often being a nexus of ideas. He is most importantly, a kind and lovely human being, and I feel very lucky to call him my friend. - By Anna Perling

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see. Our own faces were quickly wiped from anger to hysteria from this bizarre occurrence and we looked at each other in our own disbelief while laughing so hard that I’m sure tears were streaking down our faces. It’s these moments I have shared with Ellen, particularly when interacting with campers, that I will hold on to the rest of my life. To any of you who have not just been able to sit and share a laugh with this person who I consider close enough to be my sister, you need to change that. - By Mackie Price Have you ever seen the Parent Trap? Where the two separated twins are serendipitously reunited at summer camp? That was based off of Tess and me. Except that we aren’t related and we’re both only children, but hey, why let the details ruin a good story? Witnessing Tess grow into the wise, strong and wild woman that she is today has been a huge privilege. To say she’s my best friend would feel like an insult to how I feel about her: she’s more like a disconnected limb. That sounds better, right? But honestly, she knows what I’m thinking before I do and reacts accordingly. She inspires me with her adventurous spirit and endless knowledge of all things practical and impractical. Whether we’re sitting in silence or giggling uncontrollably, every moment I get to spend with her is cherished. - By Ellen Fox

Your camp friends aren’t just camp friends; they’re your life friends, your people.

The first friend I made at Eagle’s Nest was Mackie Price. I remember walking up to Cabin 7 with my parents and before I could even step on the porch I heard a voice from inside the cabin yell, “Hey Guys, Luke is here!” Not even giving me a chance to feel homesick Mackie ran out of the cabin and told me I was on his team for the kickball game we were about to play. To this day I remember how great it felt to have someone be so keen on being my friend before even meeting me. - By Luke Wofford Ellen and I were exiting an Ingles’ parking lot this past year, when all of a sudden an older gent in a small sedan whipped in. Luckily we swerved out of his way and slammed on the brakes in time to see him go safely by, but neither of us was a happy camper about what just happened and were both fully prepared to give him our best evil glare. As we tried to do this, the man turned toward us with a look of goofiness and laughter that he was still alive, none of which we were expecting so

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This group of people is proof of what we so often try to teach campers—that your camp friends aren’t just camp friends, they’re your life friends, your people. This circle, which is sometimes physically so close (in a big group hug), has been stretched across the country (and occasionally the world) but has not been weakened by time or distance. Instead, our separation fuels our excitement and our conversation for the next time we’ll all be together. And the best, most comforting thing to know is that there will always be a next time.

- Tess Tumarkin

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Life in the Boundry Layer

By Ted Wesemann, OA Teacher

Two of the books I’m reading right now are colliding a bit.

Lately, I’ve become interested in identifying some local bryophytes – mostly mosses – after a new field guide was published last year. I just picked up Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a John Burroughs Medal Award winner to help me out. The second book is How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. I’m so fascinated with the craft of writing fiction and, at the same time, so ignorant. I was the kid that complained “Oh come on, the author didn’t write all that symbolism in there.” Turns out they did. My apologies, Miss Schmidt.

Early on, Robin Kimmerer mentions the boundary layer as she discusses moss habitats. This phenomena of edges and interfaces shows up a lot in science and literature. It is analogous to the way the Gulf Stream spins off eddies on the Atlantic coast as the edges of that northern current slow down due to contact with the shallow littoral zone. It also reminds me of the ecotone boundary between habitats – often a more species-rich area than either of the habitats. In fact, some of her graduate studies looked at what’s called the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, the observation that diversity is often highest in the areas between the extremes.

One of her examples is a moss community on a riverside cliff in Wisconsin. A few dry-adapted species live high up, a couple of flood-adapted species live close to the water, but many more may live in the zone between. Where the disturbance is frequent or harshest, in this case either often dry or often wet, only a few highly specialized species survive.

But back to the boundary layer. I’ve been studying the granitic outcrop habitat of Cedar Rock in DuPont State Park just down the road. This is a 250 millionyearold crystallized magma bubble called a pluton – a big, rounded rock hill. It’s a difficult environment for plants; there is

little soil or water and lots of exposure. It’s baked in the summer sun and scoured by the wind in winter. In the case of the Cedar Rock bryophytes, success is mostly a matter of getting out of the wind. When air travels over any surface, the flow is disrupted by contact with that surface. Even the tiniest patch of moss increases that disruption and creates a boundary layer of still air maybe only a few centimeters high. This has at least four effects: it traps and warms air at the substrate surface; it lowers evaporation, creating a humid zone; and it raises the availability of carbon dioxide by trapping the gases released by the decomposition of rotting organics. Well, let’s see… mosses need light, warmth, carbon dioxide, and water.

Apparently their very presence generates their own microhabitat – they are not hanging on for dear life in a tough environment as it appears. On a sunny day they finish their shopping early and snack and nap away the afternoon. They’ve been doing this on the planet for 350 million years now.

Mostly, this surprises and pleases me because it seems so contrary to our experience of extracting and sometimes bludgeoning our resources from the environment at such high costs. Imagine that simply lounging in the sun brought you food and water and oxygen. It sure begs the question why mosses and not ants or red-tailed hawks or lizards or us? Well, of course, we aren’t photosynthetic producers on the trophic pyramid and must rely on eating those who are, or their predators, called herbivores. But there are a few photosynthesizing animals in our ancestry, like the protist Euglena.

Certainly that would have been the evolutionary motherlode.

A missed opportunity, to be sure.

Oh yes, the second book. Symbolism in literature. Hmm… I thought there was a tie-in here, but I’m no English major. I’ll get back to you on that. I will say that I have been thinking of our school as a place where we create a boundary layer.

Much of it is very intentional and defines The Outdoor Academy structure. But like natural selection in bryophytes, much of our day-to-day experience here also reveals a surprise secondary effect created by a boundary layer that gives us the security to explore new adaptations and niches that will reduce competition and maximize peaceful coexistence and production. We call this effect community.

- First Published on the OA Blog, Feb 7, 2014

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Gardening and Food at the Nest

By Ryan Houghton, Garden Manager “Every aspect of our lives is, in a sense, a vote for the kind of world we want to live in.”

- Frances Moore Lappé, Diet for a Small Planet

ability means making dietary choices that put more resources in the hands of small farmers and less of them into the air we breathe.

Imagine the brightest shade of orange you have ever seen. If you attended the OA Thanksgiving Feast in the Sun Lodge this past fall, you can also remember the flavor of the most delicious sweet potato casserole you have ever had. Some of you may even remember the moment you pulled one of those foot long beauties out of the ground before the first frosts in October ended their summer growing season.

As much as it may seem like a recent fad, the nutritional benefit of fresh, properly prepared food has quite a history, especially here at Eagle’s Nest. We have been baking bread from scratch since the late 1970’s when Helen Waite and a few other visionaries, inspired by Frances Moore Lappé’s book Diet for a Small Planet, began rethinking the food system here at the Nest and challenging the nutritional ideology of the day.

They were pioneers of the health food movement, growing sprouts for the salad bar and supplying hard to find whole foods to residents of the Little River Valley. Like many of the other traditional skills and so called lost arts that we pass on to new generations, the effort to serve real food and raise awareness about healthy nutrition is one of our most unique and important programs. And we’ve been doing things this way since before it was cool.

Experiential education is our mission, and it is a very special experience to see something you pulled from the earth crafted into a dish worthy of table space in any fine dining establishment. Even with the growing popularity of all things natural in relation to food, many young people have still never cut a head of lettuce or pulled a beet straight from the ground.

These are experiences that we can provide and have been providing for many years here at Eagle’s Nest. Freshly baked bread from scratch and homemade salad dressings, purple baked potatoes and buckets overflowing with fresh cucumbers. You don’t find these in every kitchen, but you’ll find them in ours. We believe that health starts in your stomach and sustain-

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Gardening at Eagle’s Nest has as much of a history as our interest in sustainable foods. We have had a garden bouncing around from one location to another for many years. The staff park-

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ing lot, the archery range, behind the Barn, the field across Hart Road, and the garden’s current location have all been cultivated in the past, and building on its more than 40 year history the garden program is still breaking new ground.

at The Outdoor Academy designed to give students the startto-finish confidence to go home and change their world. It’s more than just pulling weeds or digging beds. We are studying microbial life cycles through fermentation projects like making yogurt or sauerkraut. We’re learning how to reclaim lumber and build cold frames for season extension. We raise worms to compost kitchen scraps and learn about nutrient cycling in ecosystems. We start seeds and raise vegetables that will be on the table later in the year.

Our Garden to Table initiative is now bringing thousands of pounds of fresh produce into the kitchen, washed and ready to use. Last year we supplied all of the salad mix for most of the fall semester, more than 50 pounds of shiitake mushrooms, and almost three hundred pounds of cucumbers, just to name a few. Of course, not every crop is a success. Our temperate rainforest climate can present as many challenges as opportunities, and a bumper crop of Bok Choi can be hard to make quick use of in a busy kitchen. While it can be difficult at times, we try to remember that the learning eperiences will help make things even better next year.

Hundreds of pounds of cucumbers are great, but it’s not enough just to provide young people with fresh produce.

We need to make sure that they know why and how to grow these vegetables on their own. Learning to sustainably grow your own food can be almost like learning a second language. Most students have little to no experience working in a garden, and a few hours on a work crew barely scratches the surface. In addition to the classes at camp, we now have an official gardening class

There are great things to come for our food systems at Eagle’s Nest in the near future. Whether it’s that first bite into a vine ripened tomato, the confidence to turn a lawn into a bountiful garden, or the ability to turn that bounty into a culinary work of art, it all starts with a seed. We can empower new generations to take control of their health and happiness through a symbiotic relationship with the world around them. We can provide the knowledge and experience to turn trash into treasure and empty backyards into food forests. We can turn fear and helplessness into hope and action. That’s where we started and while the times may have changed the mission has not. We are still pioneers making the world a better place one bite at a time.

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Easy Ways to Support Eagle’s Nest into the Future

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By Noni Waite, Kucera, Executive Director

Eagle’s Nest and the programs supported by the Foundation most likely mean a great deal to you and your family. If you are like many alumni, or their parents, you consider your time spent in camp, Hante or OA a part of your life that you carry with you everyday. The lessons you learned and the friends you made on 43 Hart Road are the very ones that guide you in many aspects of your day to day life. For me personally, it is a true gift to have my experiences at Eagle’s Nest from which to draw. Those experiences have inspired me to do something for our future Eagle’s Nest Community.

We ask you every year to support our Annual Fund. That is important and we hope you will continue. Today I ask you to consider something else that is easy to do and can also have a tremendous positive impact for future students and campers.

Please join me and a growing list of Nesters as Sustainers of the Wheel. By adding Eagle’s Nest Foundation as a beneficiary of your estate you have the ability to continue to support this community in the generations to come. It sounds big and complicated but there are very easy and effective

ways to set this up for any size estate. You can make a simple bequest in your will using the language on our website (www.enf.org/foundation/planned-giving/), add ENF as a beneficiary of your life insurance or retirement plan and much more. As a member of the Sustainers of the Wheel you know that you will have an enormous impact on the lives of young people experiencing their own journeys at Eagle’s Nest far into the future.

If you are interested in setting a bequest in motion just let us know and we can help. You can also learn much more on our website or by talking to your financial advisors. Let us know when you’ve initiated this step and we’ll gratefully include you in this honored community of Nesters – the Sustainers of the Wheel.

We chose the Wheel for our Planned Giving group at Eagle’s as a symbol of the journey and the circles that we travel through over time, our paths crossing throughout the seasons and in harmony with the natural world.

ENF Wishlist When the spring winds bring on the urge to clean out your house, please keep in mind that the Nest is a great place to donate and recycle gently used items! You can bring or ship them to campus, or contact us to find a staff person visiting your area. A complete list of items we could use is on our website. Here is a sample of items: Straight to the kids: Guitar strings Yoga mats Tents (3-4 person sized in good, clean condition with all parts) Internal Frame Backpacks (3700 cubic inch/50 liter, women’s styles greatly needed) From your Garden to Ours: Tools of all kinds Wheelbarrow Hoses Kitchen scale Rain barrels

Make the Staff Smile: Coffee mugs- always needed!

Heavy-duty flashlights Golf Cart Fuel-efficient car Walking tractor Office Items: Bookshelves Desk chairs Plastic file boxes Half-sized filing cabinets Flat-screen monitors

We also keep a list of items we no longer need (thanks to your generosity!) and a list of special projects that could use a little funding. If you wish to donate something that is not on our list or to support a special project, please contact Melissa Engimann (development@enf.org) for assistance.

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What Your Dollars Did

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By Melissa Engimann, Development Associate At four months old, my future Nester is just beginning to explore the natural world around him. It is amazing to watch his eyes light up as he observes turtles and fish swimming round and round. I am grateful for the recordings of rainstorms that lull him to sleep each night. I often find myself murmuring to him, “Just wait until you get to Hart Road… the creeks, the starry skies, the frogs and crickets… there is so much more to explore.”

Thanks to the gifts of over 450 individual donors and families, 518 campers, 21 Hante participants, and 46 Outdoor Academy students had the opportunity to explore the natural world at Eagle’s Nest last year. Some of these young people received scholarships and financial assistance; all of them benefited from updates to our physical plant. Here is a snapshot of what your dollars did in 2013: Your dollars: • Provided camperships to 93 campers and Hante participants.

• Gave scholarships to 23 OA students.

• Replaced refrigerators, freezers, water heaters, and heat pumps in the Sun Lodge, Whole Kitchen, and Sikwayi.

• Replaced the main well pump.

Eagle’s Nest also received a number of wonderful gifts-inkind. From books for the cabin and OA libraries, to gently used computers and camping equipment, to the food and paper products for the Community meetings held in the fall, in-kind gifts allowed us to redirect funds towards other needed supplies and equipment.

Projects—like a new roof for Cabin TreeTops, see a photo below— are already underway for 2014, and the requests for scholarships and camperships continue to come in. You can make a difference! Please visit our website to make a donation, review our Wishlist, and learn more about how you can make a lasting impact on the Nest as a Sustainer of the Wheel. Maybe you would like to sponsor a special project or contribute to a specific fund? You can! Please contact me if you need assistance: development@enf.org I am grateful to the Eagle’s Nest community for the support and love you all show the Nest. Because of you, my son and the other babies you see in the Nest Chatter, will grow up singing camp songs after lunch and trading stories around the OA woodstove. Thank you for ensuring that the natural world found on Hart Road will provide years of exploration for this generation and those that follow.

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Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

By Ashton Powell, Kitchen Manager

This recipe is an “oldie but a goody”. Hummus has always been a familiar dish here at Eagle’s Nest. I had it for the first time when I attended The Outdoor Academy back in 1995.

You may have seen it in the Whole Kitchen, in the Sunlodge, and even out on the trail. It can be used as the main focus in a sandwich, or as condiment or spread. And, of course it goes great with pitas and fresh vegetables like carrots and cucumbers. I like to use the roasted red peppers as tasty way to take it up a notch. You can fire roast the peppers on the stove top or in the oven. It is also easy to find nice ones that are jarred or canned at the grocery store. The nice thing about this recipe is that it’s easy and quick to make. You can combine all the ingredients at once in a food processor or blender and puree until your desired consistency. If it seems to be getting too thick then just add a little more oil until it blends smoothly. If you would a little kick, you can add some fresh chilies, parsley or caramelized onions as a garnish.

You can also dress it with some nice olive oil once you get it plated. Give thanks and enjoy!

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Recipe • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (if canned rinse well) • 1/2 cup roasted red peppers (homemade or canned) • 1/3 cup olive oil • 2-3 cloves garlic (fresh or roasted) • 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice • 2 Tbsp tahini • 2 tsp coriander (ground) • salt and black pepper to taste

We are now accepting applications on a rolling basis for the Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 semesters.

Start your application online now!

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Nest Chatter Clare Ende, Semester 36, gave a speech at a WNC Alliance gathering of over 100 people, speaking out against the Keystone XL pipeline and the impact that project will have on climate change.

Grace Ross, also Semester 36, is spending five months as an exchange student in Chile.

Devon Camarota, camp counselor, is participating in Teach for America in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Alison Duncan, is working as the Community Garden Coordinator for Forsyth Cooperative Extension in Winston-Salem, NC.

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Becky Salomon, Camp Counselor, is working as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in Salisbury, NC.

Daniel Emerson Romm To Jonathan and Eliza Sydnor Romm January 11, 2014

Emily McDaid, Semester 22 and Hante Alumna, is teaching third grade at Phoenix Academy.

Krystina Millar, Semester 37, was accepted into Conserve School and will be attending next year.

Sarah Carl, camp counselor and OA alumna, recently published in Genetics.

Jacquelyn Campbell Arbor To Casey and Christopher Arbor December, 2013 Roan Garland Anderson To Zanne Garland and Jackson Anderson February 8, 2013

Jacob Stern, Semester 32, completed a NOLS semester course.

WEDDINGS

Rebekah Burlason to Trevor Denning January 2014 (pictured at left)

Eagle’s Nest Foundation conducted its Centennial Planning Retreat on March 14-16. Thank you for lending your voices to this process via the stakeholder engagement conversations across the country. Look for news from this Retreat in the coming weeks!

Welcome New Staff We are all very excited that on April 1st Cecily Timmons will step into the Eagle’s Nest Foundation Director of Development position. Cecily brings with her a wealth of experience from serving as the Director of Foundations and United Ways for the Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines and much more. She has wonderful ideas for furthering the Eagle’s Nest mission via the development program. You’ll be hearing lots from her in the coming months!

We are also excited to welcome Marlin Sill as the new Wilderness Program Manager for Eagle’s Nest Camp and Krista White as our new In-Camp Program Manager.

Marlin has a degree in Recreation and Leisure Services Administration from Florida State University. He has had several years of experience with Eagle’s Nest teaching wilderness classes and leading Hantes and Added Adventures. Krista has a degree in Recreation Management from Appalachian State University. She has also had several years of experience at Eagle’s Nest teaching ceramics, horseback riding, and working as the Assistant Program Manager and Camp Registrar.

Cecily Timmons

www.enf.org