THIS was one of those times. After years of trying to reconcile, for my own peace of mind, the separation of one of my true life mentors, nay heroes, from the magical place that he and his family cultivated with their own bare hands, it finally happened! Instead of trying to reconcile the separation, we are now celebrating a reconciliation of sorts.
Yesterday, we kicked off the capital fundraising effort to bring the new “Nichols Family” cabin to YMCA Camp Colman this summer. In doing so, we welcomed 3/5ths of the Nichols family back to the Fauntleroy YMCA Fellowship Hall for the first time in, what I believe to be, nearly two decades. The event kicked off with a lot of hugs and greetings between old friends (yes, we’re all literally old at this point), many of who had not seen each other in nearly 20 years. As Bob Bentrott so eloquently put it, “This is the 20th High School Reunion that I wish I would have had.”
Kim and the Dead Skunk Band kicked things off with a few all-time favorite campfire songs, including “Dead Skunk” (what else would the Dead Skunk Band start off with, right?) and Sloop John B. From there, we shared camp memories, talked a bit about fundraising, and capped things off with (what else, but) a hand-in-hand, right over left, version of “Tell Me Why”.
This reunion, of sorts, that some of us have been working, hoping, and praying for, for more than a decade, actually happened, in the most unexpected of ways. I think I’m still in denial about the whole thing, but I’ve now seen photos 🙂 and this is really happening!
The good news, for those of you who might not have known about yesterday’s event, is that it’s only just begun. You still have time to donate toward the Nichols Family cabin fundraising effort and, whether you have the means to donate or not, I hope you will please plan on joining us for the Nichols Family cabin ribbon cutting ceremony in July of this summer at Camp Colman. More details to follow shortly.
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5 years ago
Hey there, campers!
Many of you have contacted me lately to ask about how you might help us build the new Nichols Family cabin at camp and I finally have some information to share.
1) START HERE! Opportunities For All camp video (3 min) – this shares the greater Y camping vision, and was filmed primarily at Colman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkHaxWlJqAU&feature=youtu.be
2) Online monetary gifts can be made here http://campaigner.seattleymca.org/goto/NicholsCabin – we must raise $150K by the end of March in order to make this cabin happen in 2019.
3) Another way to support the cause is to register for the Alumni Registry (https://surveys.ymcaexchange.org/survey/170222/fb86/) is a great way for people to update contact information and stay in touch with what’s happening with this effort and everything else around camp.
4) Finally, the following email has been established to gather Nichols stories and memories: mailto:usedcarsalesmanturnedmagician@gmail.com. Stay tuned for a place to drop photos and other files.
That is all for now. Goodnight, campers!