CAZ Family Camp Blog

Dear Cazadero Family Campers:

Many of us were introduced to Caz for the first time by a personal recommendation from others.  In the same spirit, would you be willing to help distribute the attached flyer to your family’s schools, play groups, or other work and social groups?  Primarily, we aim to reach out to your pre-schools, elementary, and middle schools, through newsletters, bulletin boards, or sent home in backpacks, handed out in the halls or at PTA meetings, etc.  If a personal contact is required by your school administration in order to get the flyer more widely distributed, we hope you’ll be willing to be our ambassador.  A really nice touch would be a personal recommendation from your family along with flyer (and maybe an offer to answer questions from interested families).

Please let us know if you are willing to help and which school(s) you want to work on (so that we can avoid duplication or combine your efforts with other Caz Family Campers from your schools).   Let us know how many printed flyers you need for distribution, or feel free to print your own copies. This should be done during January if possible, since many families begin to think about summer family activities that early.

If you have other ideas for distribution of this flyer to prospective families (perhaps at your church, work, etc.), feel free to act on them.  Again, we’d appreciate hearing where you are distributing the flyer before you do so.

As an added incentive for our Caz families to help find new camper families, Caz will offer a $100 credit as a fee reduction (or as a tax deductible donation if you prefer, which we hope you will) for referral of each new family of two or more who register for the first time for Caz and mention your family as a referral.

Best wishes,

Mike Volk, chairman of marketing committee
Joelle Yzquierdo
Mary Ford
Pat Schlesinger
Libby McLaren
Jeremy Steinkoler
Brennan O’Brien

If you have questions about this promotional program, feel free to contact us on FB or at info@cazfamilycamp.org.

(we wanted to share this letter from Christine & Michael). Happy Holidays!

Caz.

___________________________________________________________________

Hi Everyone,

Michael and I have been going for 4 years and it is the one thing we look forward to every year. It’s camping, with a HUGE bonus. The family bonding that takes place is unsurpassable and unforgettable.

There are two sessions for family camp, both at the end of August (like 2nd & 3rd week of the month) We go to the second one – session B. Session A has a lot more teens and young adults going on their own with friends.

It is the most magical experience and I know I can’t do it justice, trying to explain it in 5 minutes as I’m getting ready to run out of the door, but I’ll try.

It is located about 2 hours north of San Francisco in the town of Cazadero. The founder just passed away, but it will keep running. The rest of the summer it is a music camp, intensive, so kids can go for a week or two of violin or piano, or whatever their instrument is, but it’s not family camp, just for kids.

You can camp in a tent, or if you are 4 or more people, you can get a tent cabin (Little open wooden house with a deck and tarp over it). People that get tent cabins decorate them like home, some bring carpeting and lamps, etc. Of course if you’re coming from NY, you can’t bring all that stuff.

The chefs are amazing! The food is all organic and delivered fresh all week. They also go out of their way to make amazing special offerings for all types of diets (vegetarian – there are a lot of those folks, gluten free, dairy free, whatever your needs, they accommodate and it’s all amazing). It’s like having your own personal gourmet chefs, in the woods!!!

Each family member gets to take 4 classes (choose from over 50 classes offered, throughout the day. You can take classes together as a family, or everyone can take classes that interest them individually and meet up for family activities (meals, campfire, free time activities, and different evening activities (dances, campfire, shows, performances by some of the professional who teach classes, and much more). The pace is not rushed, and it is a peaceful week of family bonding and making new connections. We have made some true life-long friends there and it is the highlight of our year.

Did I mention that this all takes place right in the middle of a giant redwood grove? We set up our tent at the base of a giant tree somewhere and when I walk out of the tent in the morning, it’s like being in heaven. The weather is perfect. Warm in the daytime and nice and cool at night. Joelle, who run everything, is the most delightful person you will ever meet and she will go out of her way to address all individual needs and ensure your experience is as magical as it should be. The entire crew and all the instructors are top notch.

The class offerings are amazing and there is so much to choose from, even if you don’t play an instrument, there are tons of classes to pick from. For Instance, last year I took and wonderful Art class, Shakespeare 12th Night, Body Music (SO MUCH FUN)!! Mike always takes Circus Arts/Clowning and environmental Art (they go down into the creek bed and transform it into living art in one week), he usually takes playwriting & whatever Shakespeare class is offered (12th Night, Midsummers night….) There are master storytellers there and master musicians and there is always so much to do. Picking classes is the hardest thing, as you’ll want to do everything.

It’s not woodsy camping, for those of you who aren’t campers. They provide frames and mattresses for your sleeping bags. The bathrooms are clean, the showers are tiny and the water is hot, but you have to take a quick 5 minute shower. There’s a pool, basketball and the Intergalactic ping pong tournament.

For anyone with kids under 5 years old, there is Kid City, run by the most amazing staff and the kids love it there, they keep them busy doing all kind of fun stuff all day while the parents get to go to their classes.

The week ends with performances from the classes and they put out all the art that was created all week. It’s the saddest day though, because you have to say goodbye until next year, which always seems so far away.

By the way, there are no bugs (mosquitoes, etc) like east coast summer camping. And it has never rained!! There’s a Caz store open at free time for snacks, soda and batteries, things you might have forgotten, etc. There is always food available in the dining hall in between meals. PB&J, Fruit, drinks, etc. The coffee is donated by Dave, a coffee ‘dealer’, and is outstanding. Every tea you can think of and hot cocoa, water, etc….

I have some booklets with all the classes that have been offered in the past, some come back every year, other change. If anyone would like to check it out, let me know and I can lend it to you. There’s a teen night, Family CONTrA DANCE night (so much fun), staff concert, evening jams, swing dance, campfire songs and stories, open mic every day in the amphitheater, the Un-Talent Show (our favorite), and so, so much more…..

The amphitheater is stadium seating on benches and the stage was recently renovated. You sit in the audience and when you’re not watching what’s going on onstage, you look up and are completely overwhelmed by the size and beauty of those giant redwoods. It is unforgettable.

There’s so much more to say, but I have to run now, so please contact me with any questions you may have and I will be happy to explain more as best I can. It is truly the most wonderful experience ever!!

There is something there for everyone and I would love to have some NY friends join us is this most unforgettable and life changing experience. And you have to walk around, on your way to class or a meal, and not forget to look up!! The trees are unbelievably beautiful and they truly bring peace to your soul. When we get there every year, I believe it is truly the first time I actually breathe all year. Please consider it if you haven’t already planned your family vacations for next year. I promise, you will not regret it, and it may become your new family tradition, as it did for us. Some people have been going there for their whole lives. Went as children with their parents and are now bringing their children there. It’s that good!!

Peace Christine & Michael

December 19, 2011

Dear Friend of Music, Creativity, and Families:

My family’s favorite week of the entire year is our week at Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp. At Caz, beneath a cathedral-like canopy of ancient redwoods, we explore familiar and new ways of making music, visual art, song and dance, in weeklong classes alongside other campers of all ages and abilities.

During this magical week, I witness my children jump out of bed and literally run to their chosen first class. I watch them learn instruments from cultures across the globe. I get to join them in being gently and supportively nudged out of our comfort zones to grow in unforeseen ways. It is a week of being incredibly alive, free, nurtured, lifted up, and creatively born. And we get to do it with our family — alongside other families.

I know many of you have shared something, if not more, of this experience and that’s why I am writing to you today. As our family camp has become an independent nonprofit over the past few years, Caz has had to work harder to ensure that any family — regardless of means — can attend camp. In these challenging economic times for so many families, I am writing to ask you to join my family in sending a tax-deductible donation of any amountfor Caz scholarships.

Caz gives families an experience that is hard to come by these days: campfire sing-a-longs, “open mic” performances (many of us for the first time in our lives), evening dances, ping-pong tournaments, hikes, conversations, and friend making. And don’t even get me started on the wholesome, organic, and delicious food!

For some of us, supporting Caz means signing up for one of the two weeklong 2012 sessions in August. For others, it might mean making a tax-deductible contribution or asking loved ones to make a donation.

As the camp has evolved, so has its commitment to creating opportunities for people from different socio-economic groups. A tax-deductible donation for Cazadero family camp scholarships is truly gift of creativity, family, music, art, and love. Thanks for your consideration.

In gratitude,

John Fike

(dad of Angela, Melina, and Devin — four years at Caz and counting)

P.S. Please make your gift online at the Cazadero Performing Arts Family Campwebsite or send a check to CPAFC, 432 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94609. Thanks!

Camp Cazadero
Posted on August 23, 2011 by Zambonesman

“Encourage my soul, and let us journey on…though the night is dark, and I am far from home…” gospel tune

Man oh Manishevitz you couldn’t hope for a better week of summer than the one I just spent at Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp. I went to camp with my two kids and my mom.

For one week my eyes didn’t look at a screen of any kind -TV, cell, computer-, I didn’t handle any money (except at Raymond’s Bakery across the street, man those Brownies) and nobody talked much about work. In fact, you didn’t know who anyone was- or rather you learned about who they were, just not what they did to make the rent. You talked about your classes, how Ukulele was going, or songwriting, maybe Joel Ben Izzy’s story at the campfire last night. (http://storypage.com/)

I could be playing ping pong with a stockbroker, a brain surgeon, or someone still following whoever followed the Grateful Dead- everyone was equal in dusty jeans and unshowered hair.

An average day, I wake up, maybe do Yoga, maybe snooze until the wake-up band comes strollin along the tent cabins about 8:30 or so. The giant redwoods greet me, I stumble to the dining hall and have coffee. (Yes, for a week, no cooking or cleaning.)

First period I taught Playwrighting to a group that ranged in age from 9 to 71. The kids wrote about cowboys and aliens, the older folks learned conflict through scenes of parents and Children.

Second period I took East Coast Swing dancing, and man this year I really got it. For someone who twists in knots whenever I hear the word “choreography” I was out there and freed to just learn the moves and do them in any order I wanted. I Go You Go, inside turn, outside turn to dip, oh man I cant wait to get out on the floor, especially since last year I was still counting steps under my breath. It’s a great coach that gives you not just skills, but the confidence to use them for yourself. And Mark (also the Baker at Raymond’s) made it all so simple: “Ladies you have to let the man lead, lead and follow- so important- that way anything goes wrong it’s his fault… just grant him that illusion of control okay?”

Then lunch, quiet time, go read in the tent, nap.

Then Free time, slip down to the swimmin’ hole in Austin Creek and hope the Crawdads just skip over your feet and don’t snatch your toes. Watch the Boy laboriously get up nerve to climb the rock and jump in or see the Girl struggle with an old rope swing.

Third period I turned back into Mr. Hyde- yelling directions at my 19 beginners doing a 40 minute version of 12th Night. But in the end they had fun and damn it they did Shakespeare. Some of them even understood of what they spoke.

Fourth and final period, singing Gospel with Chelle. (http://www.chellemusic.com/) Oh man. This woman is just the real thing, feelin it so deep but making it so fun and easy- this woman is reason alone to check this camp out. Queen of New Orleans. We sang, we rocked, all of us. The majority being secular Jews from Berkeley but it didn’t matter, we had that room rockin.

Then you play some competitive or not ping pong, I found a guy who could throw a football a mile, ran me ragged, maybe you actually see your kids for a second- though this summer the Girl, now 13, spent a lot of time wearing some lanky blond boy’s sweatshirt and walking past me speedily.

What did I learn at Camp Caz? (which by the way is the birthplace of Zamboni)

-Being around a lot of strangers can be wonderful, if you aint workin’

-the smaller the kid, the more they seem to love Great Zamboni (which is how I am greeted there several times daily by each small one)

-being inspired and creative is tiring in the best sort of way

-though I feel like a different person in that one week out of the year, that really may be who i’m supposed to be. It’s like me, just more.

-all you can eat food never gets old

-drink a lot of water

-in the real world we’ve got a major shortage of mojo

Thank you Joelle, (camp director) thank you Redwoods, thank you stars and fires at night, smores and people, most of all, people. And thanks mom, you stole the spotlight with your stories, but i’m still so glad you came.

-JW

http://greatzamboni.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/camp-cazadero/

Craig Nelson has been a fixture at Caz since becoming the family camp lifeguard over ten years ago. He returns every year to soak up the spirit of camp, learn a new musical instrument, and enjoy the pace of our unique community in the redwoods. Camp legend says he holds many mysterious degrees in biology, but he still gets excited every time he goes down to the creek to find bugs and catch frogs! When he isn’t rooting around in the dirt or napping at Kid City, Craig is a good guy to ask if you need help with problems big and small.

Thanks CRAIG – see you next year!

If you want to find out more, sites.google.com/site/nelsoncraige2.

Melanie Green is a yoga teacher, mother of two, and co-director of the Berkeley Yoga Center. Born and raised in Texas, she started practicing yoga in 1992 in Austin. She made her way to Berkeley in 1997 and has been teaching yoga (Ashtanga, prenatal, postnatal and kid yoga) in the Bay Area since 2000. In her classes, Melanie makes yoga accessible to all. While encouraging students to focus on their breath, she teaches her students to deepen their practice as they honor their bodies. She values the spiritual aspects of yoga integrated with the asanas. She especially values taking the lessons from the mat and integrating them into daily living. Melanie’s daily Ashtanga yoga practice informs her teaching and gives her an abundance of experience from which to teach others. She is available for public classes, group privates and individual privates. For more, go to www.melyoga.com or www.berkeleyyoga.com.

Professor Pincel has been training in Capoeira for 15 years and teaching for 11 years. He is a part of the United Capoeira Association and a graduate student under the renowned Mestre (Master) Acordeon. Professor Pincel has spent the last 10 years teaching adults and kids of all races, ages and backgrounds in Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco in numerous after-school programs and special programs for youth. He has had the opportunity to travel all over the world teaching workshops, doing shows and demos and learning from world-renowned Mestres. He is currently a teacher and Director of Academics and manages the UCA’s children’s programs and admissions at the Capoeira Art Foundation in Berkeley. http://www.capoeiraartsfoundation.org/ and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mestre-Acordeon-Capoeira-Arts-Foundation/173997455960817?sk=wall

Danny Carnahan has been performing Celtic and British Isles folk music and his own original songs for 30 years. Equally at home on fiddle, guitar, and octave mandolin, he has toured the world and recorded over a dozen albums, solo and with various duos and ensembles, earning two NAIRD “Indie” awards and one Grammy nomination. Danny has produced over 50 albums for other artists, including three for his current band Wake the Dead, billed as “the world’s only Celtic all-star Grateful Dead jam band”. His newest solo CD, “Sky In Your Pocket”, was released in June. He currently tours sporadically with Wake the Dead. He also has been teaching music performance, songwriting, and studio production in several community colleges for the past 15 years. Danny is the author of “Irish Songs for Guitar” (Hal Leonard), provides feature articles for Acoustic Guitar Magazine (on musical subjects from Celtic to French, Hawaiian to African, and beyond) and runs a regular Celtic column in Mandolin Magazine. When not playing or teaching music, Danny is an avid writer. His first two musical mystery novels, “A Jig Before Dying” and “Fortune Turns the Wheel”, are out and available at Camp. The third is awaiting publication. Danny lives in Albany with his lovely wife Saundra and their three-and-a-half-year-old son Teddy, who likes to dance and play the harmonica. You can find out more about Danny’s musical and literary goodies at both www.dannycarnahan.com and www.wakethedead.org.