“Building a Community: One Rock at a Time”

Dottie Reed, Head Administrator at Pemi, has a truly excellent feature story in the current issue of the American Camp Association’s Camping Magazine. In it, she talks about the wonderful (and relatively new) Pemi tradition of rock painting, and its rewards, which are both tangible and intangible. Here is one of the more fascinating paragraphs of the article:

The tangibles are paint, rocks, shingles, and brushes. The intangibles are collaborative decision making, stewardship of place, creative expression, reasoning and communication skills, and unplugged imaginative play. Campers come to recognize the interrelatedness of people, topography, and structures within communities as they position their “houses” along the river, and the “library” in the center of town. They even find ways to express opinions on sustainability and ethics, as was the case when one camper painted a blue and gold Walmart to anchor the outskirts of our “Pemi Rocks” town. His nine-year-old friend countered with a painted rock positioned across the street: a sign that simply stated, “Buy Local.”

Read the full story, titled “Building a Community: One Rock at a Time,” here.