Our Big Backyard With Glenn and Terry: Giving Back
Hello from chilly Warrensburg! We hope that you are enjoying the change in seasons from Fall to Winter. Saturday we enjoyed temperatures of 60 degrees at camp; it felt like we could actually sit out on the Echo Lake beach! This morning we awoke to winter as snow covered all the leaves and our thermometer read 26 degrees!! Never a dull moment when you live in the Adirondacks!
Living at camp during the “off season,” we are very fortunate to be able to explore nature and picturesque sights right in our Big Backyard. Attached is a picture from a recent hike Glenn and I took to the Crows- a beautiful mountain overlooking the High Peaks. I think some of you might have even hiked Big Crow and Little Crow this past summer with Susie and the Trekkies! Another one of our favorite destinations is Moxom Mountain which we recently climbed with our daughter, Ally. Soon we will put on our snowshoes and cross country skis and begin to explore many more amazingly beautiful places such as Whiteface Mountain near Lake Placid. The ski up the mountain toll road is challenging but we always enjoy a fun, fast, albeit chilly ride down on our skis.
While it is wonderful to be able to enjoy such fantastic places, now more than ever, Glenn and I have looked to combine our love of the outdoors with volunteering at some very special programs right in our backyard. Camp Double H Ranch, located just ten minutes away from CEL, provides specialized programs and year-round support for children and their families dealing with life-threatening illnesses. The LIT’s of 2015 and 2016 will remember traveling to Double H with Corey, Emily, Matt G., Susie, Julie, Janna and Grant to help with service days there. During the winter months, Double H offers an extraordinary adaptive winter sports program where children who might be unable to ski, snowboard or snowshoe due to their physical limitations experience magic on the slopes using specialized equipment and the help of volunteer instructors! We had to look just a little outside our backyard to find this special opportunity. Just like giving a fuzzy to a worthy friend or acquaintance, it only takes a little extra thought in order to find a meaningful way to help others either close to or right in your own backyard. Give it some thought….participation in service projects like the ones our LIT’s do each summer surely goes a long way to helping others not as fortunate feel (in the wise words of Amy Stein) “10 feet tall.”
Hope to see all of you soon!
Fondly,
Terry and Glenn
