A/U Ranches
There are snow showers some days, other days sunshine and warmth to melt it away. Most of the country enjoys joyful peeks at spring in between leftover patches of winter. Now it is the in-between time, when we begin to think about warmer days, adventures ahead of us, perhaps recalling memories of backpacking trips, paddling on the river or riding horses to campsites high in the evergreens.
It gets dark early as the December days creep up to the winter solstice. The sun dips behind the mountains long before the actual end of the waking day, but I find many don’t really mind when they are nestled in foothills of the Collegiate Peaks.
All three of us went to the A/U Ranches as kids, and two of us were counselors. It had been 48 years since we’d been back, and when we arrived at camp, the feeling was like coming home – only better.
Most of the CITs that summer were starting their first job. Many of them, even though they were very familiar with camp from years spent as a camper, were unfamiliar with a professional working environment. We’d work on developing skills like taking initiative, teamwork, conflict resolution and role modeling. Throughout the summer, I watched as CITs transformed from active observers of their fellow counselors to confident leaders.
The duffel bag that I first took to the A/U Ranches in 1988 – a bag so large I could fit my entire third-grade self, and perhaps a couple friends, into it at the time – finally blew its zipper last year. On the side of the dark navy-colored, industrial-weight canvas duffel, in yellow velour, “Lane Anne Keough” is printed in all capital letters.
Zipline catches up with alumni from the A/U Ranches and DiscoveryBound programs. Hanne Andersen The annual Christmas present Hanne shared with her sister and Sunday School friends over the years was the DiscoveryBound Outreach regional winter weekend in Northern California. The metaphysical takeaways from those events encouraged her to begin a journey…
The A/U Ranches came to our family over Memorial Day weekend during my 5th grade year, and it was magical. I don’t know the circumstances – probably a flyer distributed at church – but we loaded up the car and headed to Buena Vista for a work weekend (now called Service Weekend).
It is the early 1960s. A greenhorn nine-year-old boards a train in California and rides off to camp on the Santa Fe midnight flyer. No sleep, lots of card games and the next day a Greyhound from Denver to the A/U Ranches for a six-week tour of duty.
Are you looking for something in 2017 that will light a spark in you? Check out these upcoming opportunities for alumni to get started. Youth events: Spread the word Tell your young friends about these activities (and maybe help get them there!): Tahoe Teen Winter Weekend has been rescheduled to March…
Zipline catches up with alumni from the A/U Ranches and DiscoveryBound programs, including four of the eight new members on Adventure Unlimited’s National Alumni Board. Beate Hathaway Beate first came to the A/U Ranches in 1982 as a camper. She was on a trip through the United States as an international…