Campers & Alum Use Their Talents to Help Camp

My summers at Fleur de Lis taught me about the collective power of women and girls working toward a common goal, and, more importantly, about the value of each of our individual talents and voices in this process.

In order to bring Bye Bye Birdie to life on the Barn stage in July of 1990, my fellow Seniors and I each played a different role on the team… Some of us practicing our songs and dances in the grass outside the Barn. Some of us painting murals for the backdrops with an impossible-to-find-the-right-ratio mixture of powdered paint and water. Some of us hand-lettering programs. And a couple of us digging our way through the costume room finding the perfect outfits for our castmates. (Spoiler alert: the perfect outfit involved covering a pair of pants in shiny silver tape.)

I now have the opportunity to return to camp for Circle Week and find that same spirit of Fleur de Lis collaboration. Before the campers arrive, the staff readies camp for them. As Lady Kate reads the Task Cards, we each wait for the ones that are suited to our interests and skills. Some of us will do anything that provides an opportunity to be on the waterfront with a view of Mount Monadnock. Some of us jump at the chance to organize — shirts, bunk boxes, or name necklaces — it doesn’t matter, as long as we can sort and arrange. Some of us use our creativity to make the signs welcoming each tent or cabin. Before long, camp is ready for Circle Week and we can all come together to wait for the campers on the road.

This summer camp needs our help, and true to form, Fleur de Lis campers and alumni are stepping up, using their unique creativity and talents to raise money:

Alumni and former staff member Hannah Fricke is selling a collection of Fleur de Lis Camp artwork that, in her words, “remind me of all of the beauty of FDL that we all are missing a little bit more this summer”. The profits from her art sales will be donated to the Come Home to Fleur De Lis campaign and matched in donation by her family. Bidding started on July 28th and will end on August 8th at 5pm. www.32auctions.com/hannahmakesart

CT Edie & CT Kate both created several designs of Fleur de Lis stickers and have set up online shops to sell them. Their designs include lake scenes, Fleur de Lis’ filled with camp-inspired scenes, an FDL sailboat, and the 03447 zip code we can’t wait to come home to. They plan to donate profits from their sales to the campaign.

https://www.redbubble.com/people/edieroth03447/shop

https://www.redbubble.com/people/katyacon/shop?artistUserName=KatyaCon&collections=1585823&iaCode=all-departments&sortOrder=relevant

CT Kelsey is selling friendship bracelets through her private Instagram account to benefit the campaign for camp.

Fleur de Lis loves a team challenge… Senior camper Hannah has challenged the rest of her fellow Seniors to donate at least $5 to the Come Home to Fleur de Lis Campaign.

Our memories of camp stay with us throughout the year, as does our desire to help camp when it needs us. Senior campers Carly and Holly are getting ready to kick off Change for Change to encourage campers to collect their change all year long to bring back to camp with them next summer.

Finally, I wanted to help too. Using designs created for the Come Home to Fleur de Lis campaign, I created a Fleur de Lis shirt to remind us of the place we love and set up a fundraising site to sell it. https://www.customink.com/fundraising/come-home-to-fleur-de-lis

When I heard that camp would not raise its tent flaps this summer, I thought about all I learned during my time at camp and was disappointed at the prospect of putting those lessons on hold until 2021. My disappointment was premature. Our efforts to support the camp we love are teaching us about the value of cooperation, collaboration, and uniqueness of individuals within a team, even if we are not on the shores of our beloved lake this summer.

If you are interested in helping camp out with your own grassroots efforts, please email sarah@fleurdeliscamp.org first.

Written By: Lady Julie (Raye) Horton FDL Alum 1985 -1993 & Circle Week Volunteer 2014 – 2019