What’s Happening at the Center for Belonging?
March 2024 Newsletter
Two Upcoming Song Camps in the Midwest
March 23 & 24 | Big Spring Community Singing Retreat
✨ REGISTRATION CLOSES THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 8 ✨
At Bethel Horizons Retreat Center in Dodgeville, WI
Hosted by Kva Wajer and WisconSing
Information & Registration here
April 19-21 | Spring Sing Retreat
At Camp Courage in Maple Lake, MN
Hosted by Sarina Partridge and Sarah Abbott
Information & Registration here
Can’t make either of any of these? Check out this list of other singing camps, and check out this INSPIRING list of songmakers. If you have projects, people and experiences to add, let us know!
Spring and Summer Events
Red Oak Outdoor School
Ida Rotto’s Red Oak Outdoor School Summer day camps for ages 5-14 start and end the day here at the Center for Belonging gazebo, with adventures in the woods throughout. Out-of-towners whose kids are attending day camp are welcome to camp here at Fern Hollow for no charge.
New this year: Ida and sister Sophie Rog will lead a backcounty singing trip in Driftless Wisconsin for girls aged 11-14! Red Oak Outdoor School supports resilience in youth through connection to self, each other and the natural world.
Save the date and stay tuned for ticket sales opening soon for these events.
Free camping here in the woods for those traveling to attend!
May 11 | Shireen Amini
Big News! Shireen Amini, celebrated song-maker and songleader from the Pacific Northwest, is coming to the Center for Belonging to share songs with us the evening of Saturday, May 11!
July 20 | Ahlay Blakely
More big news! Ahlay Blakely will return to the Center for Belonging to share songs in the gazebo, coming to us from the West Coast on her second midwest tour!
August 3-4 | Basket Camp with Zac Fittipaldi
Come spend two days in the gazebo in the woods at the Center for Belonging learning from a master basket maker! By the end of the day you'll have a finished basket. Free camping on site at Fern Hollow!
Stay tuned! Registration will open for these three wonderful events in late March!
Coming in Autumn
Ida Rotto and I will be hosting another Song of the Wild: A Family Day of Music and Nature, date TBA. Watch this newsletter for dates and registration.
Musicland, the small intergenerational singing camp that we have hosted for 30 years or so at Dream Acres near Rochester, MN, is scheduled for Sept 20-22. Registration will open in Mid-June.
On the weekend of Oct. 4-6 I’ll be near Madison at Folklore Village to teach a workshop for emerging and practicing songleaders. Registration is open now through Folklore Village, here. Are you connected with a folk school in your area and interested in attending this workshop? There is a special opportunity for you to attend for free! Reach out to me soon to learn more.
In Other News…
Have you ever tried to use words--not songs-- to describe ‘Community Singing’ to someone who hasn’t yet had the opportunity to be part of a song circle? Last year I challenged myself to do just that, and the result was this piece, named, yuppers--What is community singing? What do you think? How does it fit or not fit with your current experience?
Recently I got to chat about this topic with Jacob Hundt and Amy Arnold on the Microcollege podcast. It’s much easier to describe with the songs themselves! I gave it a listen afterwards and I feel good about what we said and what we sang. Give a listen and see what you think!
Last fall we hosted the Thoreau College students for a few days of learning together in the woods. We cooked, played, sang, and talked about Neighboring, Community Ritual and Celebration, Solidarity Economics, Honoring our Elders, and more.
In April the Center for Belonging Folk School will once again host Luther College students who are studying education for an afternoon of thinking together about folk schools, song, community, and nature.
Daniel and I love hosting guests in the log cabin here next to our house and across the footbridge from the folk school. It gives us a chance to visit with friends old and new, to learn about other places and ideas, and to show people the woodland and folk school. Come stay sometime!
What’s inspiring you these days?
Here are a few of my recent faves:
From the Emerald Podcast, this episode: On Resonance: Caves, Hooves, Hearts, Harps, and the Birth of Culture.
The book Start with Hello, and other Simple Ways to Live as Neighbors by Shannan Martin
The biography of Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, Walk with Me.Here she is singing one of her favorite songs, This Little Light of Mine.
