Meet the Year-Round Staff

Name: Jason Blacketer
Job: Events Coordinator/Camp Outreach
Years at AF: 1 1/2

1. What animal do you think you are most like? I closely resemble an emu. I strut around on two legs, constantly aware of my surroundings. I'm on the lookout for any lurking predators; ready to protect myself or run. A peculiar similarity I share with the emu is my ability to run at high speeds due to my highly specialized pelvic limb musculature. I avoid heavily populated areas, dense forest and arid areas (just like emus!) The one characteristic that makes me most like an emu is that I have dreams where I'm flying.

2. Do you sing in the shower? I do. I also like to gurgle the songs of Green Day, Coldplay, and David Gray.

3. What is the last dream you remember? I was curled up on a blue couch and a girl I vaguely recognized wanted to sit on the couch too. For some reason I could not curl up enough to make room for her and my legs kept pressing into her. She kept telling me to move over, but I couldn't make it work. Then she disappeared.

4. Would you take a dip in Lake Inferior for $20? If not, how much would it take? I would not. Twenty bucks will not cover the cost of the tetanus and/or rabies and/or mad cow and/or hepatitis vaccine that I would require.

5. If you couldn't work at Appel Farm anymore, after the tears, what would you do for a living? I would dry my eyes, wipe my nose and go work for the Dave Matthews Band's touring company.

Rachel's Rigmarole

You Know You Were at the Farm in '06 When...Compiled by Rachel and the MySpacers

Well, I can assure you that your friends, the counselors, the campers, the Camp Directors all remember you! We shared at least four weeks together, getting to know each other and having fun. We were a community, a family...and even though we don't see one another everyday, I bet everyone thinks about Appel Farm and all the people here a lot!

We give out a camp directory every summer, with everyone's contact information in it. I wonder how many people use it, or does it just sit in your room, unopened. Everyone likes getting a phone call, an email, or a letter...so don't hesitate to call your counselor, send an email to a bunkmate, or request a friend from camp on MySpace. We all want to stay connected...so please...stay in touch!!!

"Most people walk in and out of your life.
But only friends leave footprints in your heart."

When were you at camp?
As a camper from 1994-2000. As a staff member in 2006.

What was your major and what were some of your minors?
I was a ceramics major for five summers and a theatre major for three. I took every known visual arts minor and always had tennis as my Minor 2.

What was camp like when you were a camper and what are some (is one) of your favorite memories?
Camp had a lot of free spirits when I was a camper. And... No cellphones! No e-mail! We didn't have to miss it!!

Where are you located and what are you doing for work and fun?
I'm now in the DC area and still attending Corcoran College of Art and Design and going for my BFA. I live in a house with four other girls so I just love spending time with them, going to the movies and of course, playing with clay!

How do you think you were influenced by your Appel Farm experience?
I truly think Appel Farm helped mold me into the person I am today. Without the experiences, the encouragement, and the wonderful people I met, I think I would still be a shy, introverted little girl! Appel Farm helped me find out who I am and what I love to do. The support I received from everyone when I was trying new things and struggling only helped me pull myself up and continue on.

What advice or suggestions do you have for present day Appel Farm campers?
Encourage each other. Treat everyone with respect and kindness. You will never again have the experience of living in such a wonderful community, take advantage of it. And have fun!

Hello Dalai

At first I wasn't going to go. For one thing I thought I wouldn't get in. I thought all the people who were "special" would get in. But not me. After all the Dalai Lama was in Woodstock, where I live, and rumor (and the Woodstock Times) had it that he was going to be speaking in the rec field. Sure he was. Yeah right. The Dalai Lama, a world spiritual leader, the head of the Tibetan Buddhist world was going to speak next to the Community Center and in the field where little league teams played baseball.

My second oldest friend Devabodhi -- we were roommates in college almost fifty years ago -- called me on his cell phone and told me to get down there. "It's a really nice feeling here."

Now I am into nice feelings these days more than I am into nice ideas. So I went down my mountain to the field where thousands of people gathered on a warm and sunny late September day to hear the Dalai Lama.

It was just too easy. Sure there were cops, not many. After all he is a world leader. There were so many familiar and friendly faces. And it did feel good.

Rumor had it that the Dalai Lama would speak at three thirty. At three thirty he climbed up the stairs into the little band shell and began to speak.

Funny thing is how simple his message was. It was all about compassion. It was all about recognizing that everyone is a human being, that all of us have fears.

I love looking at the origin of words. Sometimes they give us true meanings "Compassion" goes back to the Latin com-pati -- to bear the suffering. Most religions talk about how important it is to recognize the suffering of others and do something about it. The Dalai Lama went further. He said that it is in our self-interest to be aware that others suffer as we do. It's not just about being do gooders. It's about recognizing the importance of love. If we act out of a loving place we get it back. Similarly if we put out anger and hate, that's what comes back.

He has said that "we can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection." It is so very simple: "There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness."

As I stood there in that small rec park on that warm sunny September day I felt like I was listening to something that I already knew. And those are the greatest truths -- those things that we really know.
Listening to that gentle man with the light sense of humor I realized that he really did practice what he preached.

He pointed out that all religions really have the same basis: the oneness of human beings and love. The word 'religion' itself comes from the Latin, religio, which means "binding together."

Of course it's one thing to talk about it and another to practice it. Sadly, religion in our world has as often been something that divides people as it has been something that draws them together.

Recognizing that we are all human, that we all have fears and worries and that we are all connected is so very simple. And yet how easy it is to forget. I have to remind myself of that every time I see a slow driver in front of me or a fast driver behind me and well up with rage making them into enemies. I forget every time somebody says something nasty to me and I feel to do the same to him.

No wonder that the Dalai Lama got the Nobel Peace prize. Can you imagine a world where people of all nations respected each other? Can you imagine a world where nobody tried to shove his ideas down somebody else's throat? There would be peace indeed.

It all sounds so simple. It is so simple. And the beauty of it is that it begins at home. The more we treat each other with kindness and love, the more kindness and love grows. It happens from time to time at Appel Farm. It's something that each of us can do, campers and staff. After all, we all have so much to learn and growing old doesn't mean growing wise.