Our Week Away
Title
Our Week Away
Identifier
OUR_WEEK_AWAY
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"This has been a quiet summer. No big trips; no cruises."
Date
2015-08-30
Coverage
2015-08-23/2015-08-29
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Text
OUR WEEK AWAY
August 23-29, 2015
This has been a quiet summer. No big trips; no cruises. We did ROL in May, followed by a visit in Washington with Lewis and Nina for my friend Dan Jordan’s 90th birthday celebration, and a trip to Rochester in July to visit Fran’s sister and her family, but that was pretty much it. Maybe it wasn’t so quiet.
What has been on the calendar for a long time was a Road Scholar program on “Mozart’s Operas, Great Choral Masterpieces and Sacred Jazz,” which was to be held in West Swanzey NH, from August 23rd to 28th. We signed up, not because we were excited about the program or the place, but because Fran’s childhood friend Sylvia Brown and her husband Herb, from San Antonio Texas, had signed up, and it was a chance to spend time with them. It was also one of Road Scholar’s programs listed “Easy” requiring minimal walking.
To be honest, I felt a little queasy about the facility in Swanzey. It was an Evangelical Christian Conference Center called Pilgrim Pines. I was anticipating lots of crosses and proselytizing pamphlets. The only cross was in the chapel, and the low key pamphlets were in the office. There was a bible in the bedroom night table, as in almost every motel and hotel. However, they made a big thing about no alcohol.
As Fran noted, the staff could not have been nicer. The group leader was Chuck Anderson, a retired minister, in his 26th year as coordinator of Road Scholar programs at Pilgrim Pines. The instructors were Craig Hart, an operatic bass, and his wife Susan, a piano and voice coach, who have been teaching these programs for 20 years; Royce Eckhardt, a retired minister, organist and church musicologist; and Dawn Lauber, a singer who performs with a Chicago band called Churchjazz.
It turned out to be a fun-filled five days. Though we spent a great deal of time with Sylvia and Herb (and her brother Ralph and his wife Betty, who had been here before), we did meet a lot of the other participants. Most were from the northeast, but a few were from Ohio and California. Coincidence: One woman was from “outside Princeton” (Lawrenceville) as she described it. When we asked her if she knew Ruth, she said of course. Ruth interviewed her for her acting group. She has a labor background and is to the left of me. My guess is that half the people came for the program, half for the location. About a quarter are returnees. And about a quarter of us (not the same quarter) used canes or walkers.
The food was perfectly adequate, served buffet style. It was an effort for Fran to make 8:00 am breakfast, but she did get to the dining room before they stopped serving. Coffee break at 10:30 between the first and second classes. The presentations all involved power points and DVDs. Lots of struggling with the electronics. We saw and heard three choral requiems: Beethoven, Verdi and Brahms; and three Mozart operas: The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and Marriage of Figaro. The high points were the opera singing by Craig, and the jazz singing by Dawn.
The program also included a covered bridge tour—there are six of them located within an eight mile radius of the camp. A map and description of the bridges were provided by Hoyle, Tanner and Associates, covered bridge consulting engineers. Most were built between 1832 and 1869, but they do require upkeep, and I guess Hoyle, Tanner provides it. We also went to the Cathedral of the Pines, toured the Monadnock region, and took a pontoon boat ride around Swanzey lake. Thursday evening was “Homespun,” an opportunity for the guests to sing or tell stories. I told my mother’s story.
We left after lunch on Friday, and drove to Williamstown (after getting messed up following the GPS.) Another visit to the Clark, this time featuring an exhibit of Van Gogh’s nature paintings. It is really an extraordinary art museum. Overnight at the same motel we stayed at the last time, and a drive to Mass MoCA in North Adams, which we did not do the last time. It is a remarkable exhibition space. Over 140,000 square feet in19th century factory buildings. I love it! Wonderful work by contemporary artists I have never heard of: Clifford Ross, Liz Deschenes, Jim Shaw, Francesco Clemente; and a few artists I have: Sol LeWitt, Anselm Kiefer and Joseph Beuys. I took pictures. Will try to pick a few and send them. We drove home from North Adams to Greenfield on Route 2, the Mohawk Trail. Lovely, but I had my fill of driving…until the next time.
8-30-15
August 23-29, 2015
This has been a quiet summer. No big trips; no cruises. We did ROL in May, followed by a visit in Washington with Lewis and Nina for my friend Dan Jordan’s 90th birthday celebration, and a trip to Rochester in July to visit Fran’s sister and her family, but that was pretty much it. Maybe it wasn’t so quiet.
What has been on the calendar for a long time was a Road Scholar program on “Mozart’s Operas, Great Choral Masterpieces and Sacred Jazz,” which was to be held in West Swanzey NH, from August 23rd to 28th. We signed up, not because we were excited about the program or the place, but because Fran’s childhood friend Sylvia Brown and her husband Herb, from San Antonio Texas, had signed up, and it was a chance to spend time with them. It was also one of Road Scholar’s programs listed “Easy” requiring minimal walking.
To be honest, I felt a little queasy about the facility in Swanzey. It was an Evangelical Christian Conference Center called Pilgrim Pines. I was anticipating lots of crosses and proselytizing pamphlets. The only cross was in the chapel, and the low key pamphlets were in the office. There was a bible in the bedroom night table, as in almost every motel and hotel. However, they made a big thing about no alcohol.
As Fran noted, the staff could not have been nicer. The group leader was Chuck Anderson, a retired minister, in his 26th year as coordinator of Road Scholar programs at Pilgrim Pines. The instructors were Craig Hart, an operatic bass, and his wife Susan, a piano and voice coach, who have been teaching these programs for 20 years; Royce Eckhardt, a retired minister, organist and church musicologist; and Dawn Lauber, a singer who performs with a Chicago band called Churchjazz.
It turned out to be a fun-filled five days. Though we spent a great deal of time with Sylvia and Herb (and her brother Ralph and his wife Betty, who had been here before), we did meet a lot of the other participants. Most were from the northeast, but a few were from Ohio and California. Coincidence: One woman was from “outside Princeton” (Lawrenceville) as she described it. When we asked her if she knew Ruth, she said of course. Ruth interviewed her for her acting group. She has a labor background and is to the left of me. My guess is that half the people came for the program, half for the location. About a quarter are returnees. And about a quarter of us (not the same quarter) used canes or walkers.
The food was perfectly adequate, served buffet style. It was an effort for Fran to make 8:00 am breakfast, but she did get to the dining room before they stopped serving. Coffee break at 10:30 between the first and second classes. The presentations all involved power points and DVDs. Lots of struggling with the electronics. We saw and heard three choral requiems: Beethoven, Verdi and Brahms; and three Mozart operas: The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and Marriage of Figaro. The high points were the opera singing by Craig, and the jazz singing by Dawn.
The program also included a covered bridge tour—there are six of them located within an eight mile radius of the camp. A map and description of the bridges were provided by Hoyle, Tanner and Associates, covered bridge consulting engineers. Most were built between 1832 and 1869, but they do require upkeep, and I guess Hoyle, Tanner provides it. We also went to the Cathedral of the Pines, toured the Monadnock region, and took a pontoon boat ride around Swanzey lake. Thursday evening was “Homespun,” an opportunity for the guests to sing or tell stories. I told my mother’s story.
We left after lunch on Friday, and drove to Williamstown (after getting messed up following the GPS.) Another visit to the Clark, this time featuring an exhibit of Van Gogh’s nature paintings. It is really an extraordinary art museum. Overnight at the same motel we stayed at the last time, and a drive to Mass MoCA in North Adams, which we did not do the last time. It is a remarkable exhibition space. Over 140,000 square feet in19th century factory buildings. I love it! Wonderful work by contemporary artists I have never heard of: Clifford Ross, Liz Deschenes, Jim Shaw, Francesco Clemente; and a few artists I have: Sol LeWitt, Anselm Kiefer and Joseph Beuys. I took pictures. Will try to pick a few and send them. We drove home from North Adams to Greenfield on Route 2, the Mohawk Trail. Lovely, but I had my fill of driving…until the next time.
8-30-15
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “Our Week Away,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 22, 2025, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/343.