Music Camp

In January I took a position in a middle school as a long-term sub for a band director who had an unexpected family medical emergency.  At the time, he wasn't sure how long he would need to be out, but knew that it might be for the rest of the school year.  There were, of course, several concerts and events already scheduled for the bands, one of which was a two-day, overnight field trip to the Hummingbird Music Camp in Jemez, NM.  This was the event that had me the most stressed out because I needed to collect the money, hire the clinicians, make sure the bills were paid, and... take 7th and 8th graders on an overnight trip to somewhere I hadn't been before! Fortunately, it was a joint trip with band and orchestra.  The orchestra director is experienced, organized, and was extremely kind and patient in answering all my questions and helping me prepare myself and the kids.  Thanks to her guidance, everything went very smoothly and I am now looking forward to going back to Hummingbird on other occasions.

the band shell

the dining hall

I worked at Skye Farm, Missisquoi, and Covenant Hills, all of which are owned by the Methodist Church, and I also worked at a YMCA camp in Saratoga Springs.  I hadn't had any experience with privately owned camps, so I was curious about what it would be like.  Hummingbird was started by the Higgins family 55 years ago and is still owned and run by the next generation of the family.  The patriarch was an APS band director, and in fact started the band program in the school in which I'm subbing now.  They run music camps all summer, and host school groups on retreat (like ours) during the school year. 

What I discovered is -- it's camp!  Camp is camp.  There is a dining hall, and a pavilion (which they call the band shell, naturally) and a bunch of buildings that vary widely in vintage and construction, all with special names.  There are hikes, and a camp store, and campfires, and even a river, although it's what we upstate New Yorkers would call a creek (or a "crick" if you're from Schaghticoke).  The orchestra teacher and I stayed in the Tea House, or so I thought it was called.  Turns out, although it has a rough-cut board and batten exterior, it is constructed around two Air Force trailers.  So it's actually called the T House, short for Trailer House.  I was fortunate to be able to ask Mr. Higgins a lot of questions about the history of the camp and buildings because we were both up early in the morning drinking our coffee in the lounge off the dining hall before anyone else (except the cook) was up.

the t house

the bee hive

On the first day of the trip, a Monday, we had rehearsals and clinics for the 100+ students pretty much all day.  In the evening, we had a dance in the band shell and then hiked to the campfire site and listened to stories.  On Tuesday, we had rehearsals and clinics in the morning, then hiked to the waterfall after lunch.  The hike was lovely, crossing the river, walking through a ponderosa pine forest, up the mountain a little, past Battleship Rock, to the falls.  The kids were allowed to get under the falls and get wet if they brought a towel.  The water is apparently about 55 degrees -- I didn't try it.  I prefer hot showers.  The kids had a blast though.  When we returned to camp there was just enough time to pack up and board the buses in order to arrive back at school by 6:30 PM.