Food!

I had a hard time thinking of a catchy title for this post, one that neatly summed up how delicious and diverse the food was while hinting at the talents, both culinary and organizational, of Schuyler, our Kitchen...what? Manager? Goddess? Magician? Schuyler, who fed over two hundred people, three meals a day, but also divided those meals into vegetarian, "meat eater," vegan, and gluten free. The very same Schuyler who planned the menus, organized the shopping and storage of ingredients before and during the conference, and calculated utensils/pans/pots/serving items..midday snacks...cold drinks in a heatwave....this was huge!

Schuyler would be the very first person to point out that she had lots of help, and she did, of course, have a full roster of people from all the schools ready and willing to prep, serve, or clean up. Hats off to them and a rousing blog cheer for Schuyler, who was instrumental to the success of the conference!

Lady-of-the-moment, Schuyler!

Schuyler and Elaine doing some juggling at the stove.

Good morning!

Food line in the stone hallway. They look really hungry, no?

Some of our kitchen helpers were shy about being photographed.

Some were not.
Frosting cakes and cutting bagels, with Ayako peeking from the stove.

Dancing!

I know, the pictures are grainy and I had to tweak them a bit because the gym was dark but the energy and joy in the dancing makes them worth posting! I had a hard time choosing between taking pictures or singing and dancing myself as Jeff Domenick and the Fraction - the full band - played!

COMMUNITY!

Nothing builds community like a couple of meetings.....or creating in the Art Tent.....

or hanging out...(take a look at the community painting-in-progress)

or listening to music....
or listening to poetry....
or a little friendly competition!

Tents II

As all of you arrive back at your schools and air tents and sleeping bags, a little revisit of the tent village you just left as a reminder of why all of today's work was worth it.....

NCACS Friday

What a wonderful, absolutely picture perfect, fabulous first conference day!! The conference is off to a great start - workshops were well-attended all day, the food was delicious, and by this evening there was a huge game of Ultimate Frisbee just after the concert and before Open Mike time.

I have too many pictures to put up at once so I'm going to first post pictures of beautiful people on this lovely day of sunshine and sharing....


Lower school students arrived this morning and were either thrilled or overwhelmed to find a campus full of people and breakfast in full swing. The weather and the activities won everyone over in short order.

The field was a place for resting.......
and chatting.....


and greeting friends......

and music, of course.
Donna in the store
Anonymous feet
Announcements from Darling....
and from Sandy!

Tent Excitement!

Nothing like a tent-raising to start a conference!





Stay tuned!

NCACS Conference!

Here we are, Thursday, and schools are arriving for the NCACS Conference! We are all so excited for the conference to start tomorrow morning, and our staff and students have worked many hours to plan and prepare for a great weekend. Kudos to Darling for heading up the project!

Right off the bat, this is going to be trouble..... but this could be even bigger trouble! The NCACS Board met today in the school conference room. Our own Josh Heake, a board member, was in attendance. The board at work! Or at least, half the table of board members. Setting up tents A couple of Farm School students ... all the way from Tennessee. Setting up for music!

ALL COMMUNITY MEETING!

Another year, another All Community Meeting. The budget was passed, the new Board approved, reports were appreciated, and the NCACS conference was outlined.

Let's start right off by pointing out what you missed if you were unable to attend - dessert! And you know what a good job we do on desserts at Upattinas...
Sandy led the meeting in the Big Room. Nice art on the walls!
Bob Sybesma was recognized for many years of service to the Board, including years as Chair. We have been grateful for his time and dedication to the entire community and will miss him at meetings!
Sandy presented Bob with a beautiful - some would say coveted - handmade pewter medallian crafted by Dan Morris and his students a few years ago.
A final shot of a few younger students during the meeting!