The Sunflower Series:Love Grows at Appel Farm

This week we are sending refunds to our Camp 2020 families, and connecting and

creating with so many friends at Green Picnic Table Time, Art in the Making, Private and Small Group Lessons.

We are also going back to our roots to join the fight against food insecurity with the Appel Farm Community Garden and Family Food Service. Of course, we found a way to include Art Kits with the meals, and are sending families home with an art lesson and supplies, along with with fresh veggies from the garden and healthy meals they can make with their family.

It's not the 60th Anniversary year that we planned, but we can be proud of the ways we are taking care of our community. Now, it's time to make sure we are here for another 60 years.

Please join us for an important grass roots fundraiser to ensure that Appel Farm will be ready to welcome campers back for Camp 2021. Read more about the Sunflower Series in this issue, and get ready for beautiful performances and artwork by Appel Farm alumni from across the country and around the world, spanning 60 years, and all of the arts!

In the meantime, this issue is packed with updates, stories, memories from last summer, and all the summer programming you can still get in on! Buy a Camp 2020 T-shirt! Read a very special message from Sarv, heed advice from Sarah Zimmer, and before you know it, you will be back at Appel Farm for Camp 2021!

Appel Farm for Life!

July 2020

856-358-6881 l camp@AppelFarm.org l www.AppelFarmArtsCamp.org

THE APPEL CORE!photo by Dave Moser

Julia Weekes Camp Director, Camp Mom & Camp Alum

The Fun Goes On: Green Picnic Table Time on Discord

Imagine being in the Dining Hall with your friends again. Imagine hanging out in the Library or Art Barn or Scene Shop or all your other favorite places at camp. Imagine spending time with your bunk friends or going to an Open Mic. Imagine all-camp Evening Activities and Sunday workshops.

We have brought your imagination to life on Discord this summer! We are reliving favorite camp traditions and creating new ones at Green Picnic Table Time. Do you want to hear Music Michael’s Daily Fun Facts or do camp-themed Mad Libs? Do you want to play theatre games, write songs, and dance? Do you want to play games in our game club or hang out with your buddies at picnic tables. Do you want to reconnect with your camp family and make new camp friends? Join us Monday through Friday and Sunday mornings for connection, creativity, and good weird fun at Green Picnic Table Time on Discord. Sign up any time to get the link to join our Discord!

Game CreatorFundamentals of TheatreFiber Arts Hangout

Songwriting Visual Storytelling Toolbox

Self Portrait Shadow BoxesSocial Justice Through the Lens of PhotographyCreative Writing

Dance: The Exploration of YOU

AppelFarm.org/art-in-the-making

Virtual Lessons with Appel Farm Teaching Artists

One-on-one instruction in music, theatre, visual arts, photography, and more!

Small Group Lessons for groups of 2-5 friends! Gather online to connect and create!

AppelFarm.org/ private-small-group-lessons

PRIVATE & SMALL GROUP

LESSONS

GREEN PICNIC TABLE TIMEGather Online to Connect & Create

July 6-August 14, 2020Have you heard about the Appel Farm Community on Discord?

While we can’t gather in person this summer, we can connect and create, and so many campers, staff, and alumni are already making this online community

feel like camp! Join us every day, or once in a while, for the Morning Meeting! Turn Rest Hour into Arts Hour with daily arts gatherings, and connect by Bunk

Area during Late Night Fun Time. Hang out in the Library, play games, and join us for Thursday Night Open Mics, Friday Night Evening Activities, and Sunday Workshops with Alumni!

AppelFarmArtsCamp.org/green-picnic-table-time/

In the movie A Fish Called Wanda, a group of people plan a magnificent heist that goes completely wrong. Something is supposed to be located in a box and it's not there. The lead character pulls out his gun and shoots the box, saying loudly to everyone there, “DISAPPOINTED!"

I have thought about this scene many times since I realized that Appel Farm will not open this summer. The idea of shooting a box seemed as good is any to vent my own feelings of frustration. Now naturally, I am not advocating shooting any mailboxes or any other kind of boxes. But what to do?

There is no question, and never has been, that camp cannot open this summer. There is no question that

A Fish Called Appel Farm

Sarv’s Corn

eranybody of sane mind can imagine a col lection of campers and staff sleeping together in tight quarters, eating together right next to each other, and sharing space day after day is ridiculous in this age of pandemic. This is not a subject to dispute. Nor should it be.

Where does this leave us who love the magic of Appel Farm? Where does it leave those of us who have loved this camp for so many years and are deeply saddened? I cannot hide that fact and would be seriously amiss if I made light of it.

No, the first thing we need to do is to recognize our sadness and disappointment, that we own our feelings. And then we need to move on.

Friedrich Engels once said that freedom is the recognition

of necessity. We have no choice and therefore we are free. We are free to celebrate in any way we can what camp means to us. We are free to connect with each other even in the midst of the pandemic. We are free to keep the lessons of this camp, the recognition that each of us deserves to be recognized for who we are.

Appel Farm is more than buildings. Or scenery. Or even campers or staff. It's a living organism that keeps on growing ever better ever sharper and clearer. And it is firmly rooted in the love that almost falls from the trees.

Of course we will be back next year. In fact we will all come back much more sensitive to what we have missed, making it even better. In the

Sarvananda Bluestone has been a college professor, published author, and professional psychic. In addition he has been the Head Counselor and a Theater Director at Appel Farm for 32 summers! He originally came so that his daughter, Hira, could come as a camper, and he never left!Saying Goodbye to Rena Levitt...

by SarvRecently, a dear dear friend and fellow Appel Farmer died after a bout with cancer.

Rena Levitt was the Camp Director at Appel Farm for my first 13 years at Camp. She was and became a very dearest friend. We worked together seamlessly and lovingly. We both called each other Grandma and Grandpa

until in fact we did become Grandma and Grandpa. Her heart and good sense were beacons for me.

Rena, you were a dear friend. I will miss you immensely.

Farewell, dear friend.

meantime we can support each other and maintain contacts that are so precious. Appel Farm has not ended, it merely has changed its form.

In the meantime we can recognize and acknowledge our own sadness that there will not be a regular Camp 2020. and we can scream into empty boxes, "DISAPPOINTED!"

"I remember once she asked me to put my camera down. 'These performances are ephemeral, let them be...'"

— Zoungy Kligge

Maybe that's why we don't have many photos from Rena's years at Camp, but here are two gems: Rena with Elissa and Sarv, and Rena on her very last

day as Camp Director, on a golf cart with Matt, Jeff, and Heidi.

DO YOU HAVE A GREEN THUMB?WANT TO GET OUTSIDE AND BREATHE SOME FRESH AIR?

LOOKING FOR MEANINGFUL WORK TO DO WITH YOUR FAMILY?

EXCITED ABOUT A BUNCH OF JERSEY FRESH VEGGIES?

The Appel Farm Community Garden is looking for volunteers!We are hard at work weeding the vegetable garden, harvesting has started, and we are thrilled to announce that the Appel Farm Community Garden will provide over 5,000 pounds of produce this year, including Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Onions, Corn, Eggplant, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Watermelon, Carrots, Potatoes, Basil, Parsley, with more to come!

We are growing wildflowers and hundreds of sunflowers, Appel Farm favorites! Love Grows at Appel Farm!

Volunteers will work in the garden, take home fresh veggies they harvest, earn volunteer hours, and help Appel Farm feed families in South Jersey.

Nothing says Jersey Fresh more than tomatoes and corn, and they are growing at Appel Farm...

APPEL FARM COMMUNITY GARDEN

Garden 101:by Cheyanne Yelle

Toxicodendron radicans, more commonly known as poison ivy, is a plant that grows all around the world, from the eastern parts of North America to Russia to China, Japan, and Taiwan. The plant is usually recognized for its leaflets of three, which are typically almond shaped. However, the red, waxy leaves that are often warned of are only one form that the plant takes, usually in the autumn. As seen in the attached photo, older parts of the plant have dark green leaves, while younger leaves are a brighter green.

As with other ivy plants, poison ivy grows in the form of a vine, with the ability to grow up trees and walls. The plant also likes to grow along forest floors as ground cover, with other low lying plants such as ferns. Just like many other plants, poison ivy has flowers and bears fruit, which look like berries. While it is harmful to humans, these berries are able to be eaten by various mammals and birds.

The oil that causes the infamous rash is called urushiol oil. It appears as a milky substance, which turns black when exposed to oxygen. The irritating rash occurs after coming in physical contact with the oil, which is part of the entire plant: the leaves, the stem, the fruit and even the roots. As unpleasant as the rash can be, it usually only lasts about a week or two. Interestingly, mango trees produce the same urushiol oil, so similar allergic reactions can occur when coming in contact with mangos. Just remember, leaves of three, leave it be!

Learn more at www.poison-ivy.org, and join Cheyanne and Elyse to learn about the garden in person!

Sign up to work in the Appel Farm Community Garden:

bit.ly/AppelFarmCommunityGardenCamp 2020 Love Grows T-shirts on sale now.

Buying a Camp 2020 T-shirt includes a donation to Appel Farm, which will ensure that, through

this pandemic and beyond, Appel Farm will continue to be a haven for creative kids.

bonfire.com/love-grows-2020

FEATURED ALUMSarah Zimmer

1. When were you at camp?

I was a camper between 2008 and 2011.

2. What was your major and what were some of your minors?

My major was always Theatre Performance.

I tried a lot of minors. Ceramics was my favorite because it was so relaxing, but I also really enjoyed rock band when I got to sing Great Gig in the Sky. That was super cool. I sang during rock band, but I also loved guitar with the two best Scottish counselors Lori Wilson and Michelle Lyle!

3. What was camp like when you were a camper and what are some of your favorite memories?

It was so special. It was right on the cusp of the world really becoming inundated with technology, so I feel like it was some of the last summers I really spent offline in a community with others. Everyone was just encouraged to be exactly who they were. I don’t think I appreciated getting to live on a farm in the summer with a bridge leading to a theatre. Like, that’s insane!

I think my favorite memories are the simplest ones, like getting to play guitar right up until lights out with counselors and friends on the tennis court.

4. Where are you living now, and what are you doing for work and fun?

I live in Boston now. Times are super weird, as we know, but I’m finishing up the year as an Extended Day Teacher. Mainly, I work as an Education Programs Associate at Boston Lyric Opera. In “normal” times, I plan education and engagement programs around our operas, but now we’re working on taking everything digital and just getting music into the community the best we can.

For fun, I’m starting to learn music production….it’s actually not fun, it’s pretty hard, but with the little bit of extra time these days it is super fun and cathartic to write the music.

5. How do you think you were influenced by your Appel Farm experience?

Well, it was the first time I tried

Since Sarah wrote this piece, she has been laid off from her job with the Boston Lyric Opera. So many of our creatives are out of work due to the pandemic.

For those of us who are still employed, there are so many ways we can support our friends who are not! Take an online art class, attend online concerts and art openings, buy art and music online, commision works of art, make a donation to your favorite artists and arts organizations, and spread the word to your friends to join you.

If you have a fundraiser, event, program, artwork, music, photos, film festival, performance, website that you want to promote, send it to us,

and Appel Farm will share it to amplify the voice of our community!

theatre and first time I performed on stage. Now I

have a Masters in Theatre Education. That’s pretty important. In fact, the musical I was in my first year directed by Ben Fink, The Cradle Will Rock, is

something I’m writing a blog post about for

my job right now.

6. What advice or suggestions do you

have for present day Appel Farm

campers?

My advice for present day Appel Farmers is to cherish

every moment with

your counselors. Beyond those with

my friends, the most important relationships that last to date are with incredible counselers that believed in me and saw things in me I didn't even see in myself!

The Sunflower Series: Love Grows at Appel FarmFor the first time in 60 years, Appel Farm Arts Camp

did not welcome creative kids for a summer of transformative arts and learning in the place they feel safest to be exactly who it is that they are… Since the pandemic forced us to make this decision, we have been focused on taking care of our

community, and we created beautiful summer programming that will give our whole community a way to stay connected — stay creative.

Now, we turn to saving Appel Farm. You can help.We’ve been applying for loans and grants, and we are thrilled to report that we are getting them! Appel Farm’s mission is deeply needed in our community, and funders can see that. We are still facing a shortfall, though, and to keep afloat, we need our whole community to help.

Will you be part of this grassroots fundraiser to save Appel Farm?Join us online on Fridays, July 24 and August 21, 2020 at 7:30 PM for an important grassroots fundraiser with live interaction and beautiful performances and artwork by Joe & Josie Crookston, Julie Moore, Amy Burton, Zoungy Kligge, April & David Keezing with Tommy Williams and Alyssa Joseph, Kaylin Williams, James Morris, Big Spill, Adam Weiner, Destiny David, Levy Chaplin-Loebell, Michelle Lerch, Peter Keegan, Sam Kunzman, Toby Appel, Geoff Mann, Loes & Eli Wing, and more!

1970s1960s 1980s 2000s 2010s1990s

APPEL FARM FOR LIFE!

My tiny art piece is of the Beauty and the Beast sculpture at Appel Farm, and in the sky are the words “you are beautiful.” The words “you are beautiful” come from the sticker company that sells stickers in many different fonts and forms saying those three words. I was first introduced to these stickers by a camp counselor who shared the stickers with me, and since then I’ve been sharing them with my community and putting them up in my school and around my town spreading the amazing message. These little stickers have such an impact and it holds a really special place in my heart knowing that I was taught this beautiful message at Apple Farm. I decided I wanted to make my little mini canvas of the Beauty and the Beast sculpture, which is one of the most iconic figures representing Appel Farm, and pair it with something that represents Appel Farm to me. — Anna Stribrny | Camper 2013-2018

360Appel Farm

Full Circle Arts& Learning

An Appel Farm 360 ProjectTiny Art:Big Impact

CONNECT! Stay in touch with Appel Farm! Connect with us on social media, tag Appel Farm, and use our favorite #appelfarm4life!

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yasa Jackson Shayna Rudoren Visual Art Show Leila Israel Visual Art Show

VISUAL ARTS

Abaigeal Yarish, Abby Newell, Abigail Santone, Abigail Saxe, Abigail Wagman, Abraham Weston, Addison Aquilino, Addison Holmes, Adrienne Kelly, Ahron Lewis, Aiden Chau, Aileen Cepeda, Alden Weaver, Alex Bakos, Alexander Pollard, Alexandra Kesselhaut, Alexis Guzman, Ali Impomeni, Alice Tapper, Aljavar McFarland, Allison Massaro, Amberly Smith, Amelia Elliott, Amelia Gallo, Amina Madati, Angela Bullock, Angelica Rodriguez, Angelina Fusco, Anna Cole, Anna Rissi, Anna Xu, Antwone Gause, Arianna Clarke, Austin Mansmann, Autumn Scarola, Autumn Smith, Ava Buranelli, Ava Miranda, Ava Monroe, Avril Roberts, Ayla Bressler, Ayodeji Abe, Bale' Garrett, Becker Chan, Bella Greenspoon, Bella Handler, Benjamin Zimmer, Bjorn Seaberg, Brenae Rogers, Brendan DeStefano, Briana Melendez, Caitlyn Ware, Cameron Giardina, Camille Takyi, Camille Williams, Carl Gombert, Carlina Brown, Caroline Aglialoro, Casey Concannon, Cassandra Martinez, Cecilia Martinez, Cecilia Naples, Charis Mikulka, Chloe Gustave, Chloe Salgado, Chris James, Christian Rosenberg, Cordelia Lucid, Cristina Castro, Dahnielle Florestant, Daisy Cunningham, Daliah Friedland, Daniel Murokh, Darien Duncan, Darienne Mikulka, David McRae, Declan Tait Campanile, Delaney Barry, Destiny Daniels, Donni Denham, Dylan Furr, Dylan Stevens, Edwin Pineda, Elijah Miller, Elise Miller, Elise Rickard, Ella Fielding, Ella Tyler, Ellie Reiner, Ellie Wapner, Emilia Foote Wallentin, Emily Avalos, Emily McColl, Emmett Simon, Esme Leuner, Eva Femia, Eva Greenberg, Evan Bakos, Evelyn Monsalud, Eyal Perlman-Greenberg, Francesca Lockenour, Gabriella Pollack, Gabrielle Basescu, Garrett MacMaster, Georgia Morris, Gianna Scott, Gianna Warmouth, Gleb Konovalov, Gwen DelJones, Hailey Love, Hanastasia Mahamudi, Hannah Carroll, Harper Gale, Hazel Hart-Brandsema, Heidi Schneir, Hillary Saeteros-Flores, Ilana Leshowitz, Imani Hart, Iris Takahashi, Isaac Ainslie, Isaac Darga, Isabel Attenberg, Isabel Meyer, Isabella Esendir, Isabella Santone, Isadora Zbyszewski, Isaiah Weekes, Jack Eldridge, Jack Norman, Jacob Baboolall, Jacob Gompers, Jadyn Nahon, Jasir Quddus, Jaxson Cole, Jeremiah Bailey, Jillian Snyder, Joanna Ascher, Jocelyn Aquilino, Johanna Schwachter, Jonathan Ferrell, Joshua Burke, Joshua Klenke, Journey Young, Julia Colen, Julia O'Connor, Julius Berkowitz, June Ratkovic, Justin James, Katie Green, Keira Donovan, Kelly Conway, Kendall Davis-Swing, Kendall Lockhart, Kendrick Pineda, Kenny Baldwin, Kesar Singh, Kevin Castro, Kevin Cole, Kevin Conway, Khamari Johnson, Kori Sanders, Kwadwo Boateng, Larisa Jeffers, Lauren Kaye, Leila Israel, Lennox Horsford, Lila Woodring, Lily Jensen, Lilyanna Bickley, Lindsey Gosse, Logan MacDonald, Lucy Farruggia, Luke Diefenbach, Lydia Cohen, Lydia Holbrook, Mackenzie McCallum, Macy Devitt, Madeline Epstein, Madeline Ireland, Madison McZorn, Mae Weaver, Maggie Haran, Makayla Poueriet, Makenna Peters, Malachi Abernathy, Margot Melamed, Margot White, Mariana Taylor, Marina Morris, Massimo Warmouth, Matthew Shuster, Max Lipkin, Maya Ritz, Mekayala Alvarez-Middleton, Mia Silverstein, Michael Akintayo jr, Michaela Miranda, Mihiret Martin-Villanueva, Mikayla Murphy, Milo Pizarro, Miya Moriuchi, Molly Branch, Mona Marshall, Nadav Perlman-Greenberg, Nalo Garrett, Nanaama Siaw, Natalie Aparicio, Natalie Chu, Nathalie Gendron, Nilaja Sultan, Nina Bombeke, Noah Barkan, Noelle Bamford, Noelle Ross, Nomi Wolf, Olivia Haney, Olivia Malin, Parker Ryan, Penny Branch, Phoebe Alvarez, Piper Warner, Rafael Vellon, Raymond Luebcke, Rex Borgenicht, Robert Bierck, Rosario Gutierrez, Rose Epstein, Ruby Moser, Ruby Simon, Ryan Monroe, Sadie Darga, Sage Smyrl, Sam Dorbin, Samantha Armstrong, Samantha Morales Federman, Samantha Vanderhoof, Samual Conry-Murray, Samuel Leibowitz, Samuel Spear, Samuel Wong, Sarina Nadelson, Sasha Bryer-Gottesman, Sasha Menjivar, Sasha Murokh, Shanti Santiago-Fey, Shechinah Gorrell, Simon Kiley, Sky Davenport, Sophia Moore, Sophia Rissi, Soraya Herrera, Soraya Robin, Stella Neff, Summer Neiditz, Sydney Colen, Talia Femia, Tate Jensen, Trisha George, Veronica James, Violet Randle, Vivian Ward, Will Ratkovic, William Fahey, William Fullerton, Xariana Walton, Zamir Boger, Zamira Frost

COUNTDOWN TO CAMP 2021!349 Days Until Session 1363 Days Until Session 2377 Days Until Session 3391 Days Until Session 4

CAMP 2020: DID YOU JOIN OUR DISCORD?

Ten Campers from

Session 2 Bunk 17 are part of

Camp 2020Love Grows!