UPS & DOWNS June 2001

WAYFARERS' HOUSE

WELCOME to new residents Lisa; Jessie; Debbie; Danita and Tajaona; and Joanne.

FAREWELL and good wishes to Connie; Amy, Lonnie and Aja; Beth and Diana; Carrie; and Shameka.

HAPPY JUNE BIRTHDAYS to Brittany, Joanne and Lillian!

Work Groups during June, who are giving their time and energy to Meeting Ground while increasing their understanding of our community and some of the challenges facing our society, came from West Raleigh Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC; Wrightsville Presbyterian, Wrightsville, PA; First Presbyterian, Stroudsburg, PA; First Presbyterian, Greensburg, PA; and Puckety Presbyterian Church, Lower Burrell, PA.

Welcome back to Barbara and Al Amman, volunteers who have returned to Meeting Ground for their third summer with us. For an account of their travels and activities in Mexico since last Thanksgiving, see " the Pursuit of Love and Justice," in the May-June 2001 issue of Loaves and Fishes.

Recent Events at Meeting Ground: Two happy occasions occurred recently when the ordination of Ron Serino to the Christian ministry at the New Ark United Church of Christ took place in Newark, DE, along with the formalization of his call to Meeting Ground, where his ministry continues as Administrator of the community; and the annual meeting of Meeting Ground took place at Clairvaux Farm on Sunday, June 10. Both the Newark service of worship for Ron's ordination and the service after the annual meeting at the farm were followed by suppers at the farm, for which many of the residents worked diligently and with avowed pleasure, to insure that both events were enjoyed by all who attended.

Tai Chi Class continues on Monday mornings at the George Porter House. May Yokoyama leads the class for anyone in the community who would like to attend.

At Wayfarers' House Weekly

Tue., 11:00 a.m. Self-Esteem Group
9:00 p.m. House Meeting

Wed., 10:00 a.m. Parenting/Communicating Group

Fri., 12-1 p.m. Community Kitchen

Sun., 4:30 p.m. Chapel at the Farm followed by supper

Watch fro news in our next issue of Raven's Rolling Readers.

MG Volunteers will have a quarterly meeting at George Porter House Tuesday, June 26, at 12:30 p.m.. Please let Barb Dugan (410-620-4678) know if you can attend.

MG Special Needs: paper napkins, toilet paper, laundry detergent, bleach, disinfectant.

MG's New Student Intern

Ortencia Arelano, a student at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, arrived at Clairvaux Farm in late May to guide the projects of the volunteer work groups who come to Meeting Ground during the summer. She is an International Relations major at Beloit College. Actually, she is double-majoring: the other half of her program features East Asian languages and culture. Where are these majors leading her? Well ..., she is interested in the Peace Corps; she has thought of serving in China as well as thinking about work in South Africa. She is not certain about that, but she will be going to Japan this fall for ten months.

How did Ortencia, born in Taos, New Mexico, living most of her life in Jay, Maine (population, 5000), and going to college in Beloit, Wisconsin, happen to seek out Meeting Ground's student intern position in Earleville, Maryland? How did she hear about us, and was she someone who longed to do carpentry projects on summer vacation?

She heard about our intern position through her minister, who had gone to seminary with the Rev. Ron Serino of Meeting Ground, who was in search of someone to serve here in the summer of 2001. No, she didn't have experience in the building trades pushing her to toward our construction/renovation plans, but she felt she could team with volunteers Don Vermilyea and Al and Barbara Amman, all of whom had experience at Meeting Ground and all of whom had some of the needed skills. What was drawing Ortencia to the post, she said, was the opportunity to do service work, the challenge of working with a diverse group of people, and the chance to test her desire to do this of work for a career.

she has always found diversity and variety in people adds much to living. The international focus that pervades life on the Beloit campus was like that; they have many international students and exchange professors there as well as students from every state in the U.S. except Alabama. Not only do they have good programs in international relations and anthropology, she said, but the Chinese poet Bei Dao, has been in residence there. In the summer of 1996 she took advantage of an opportunity to be an exchange student, but projects here in the States have appealed to her, too.

Ortencia is part of the Beloit Interaction Committee, now two years old, which has a campus/town relations focus. It tries, as it breaks down stereotypes, to increase "our responsibility as citizens," she said. "We coordinate with other groups in planning events," she explained, and she seems to have liked organizing workshops and craft projects for children. "This summer will be the first time I've led older teens and adults."

This young woman, with two older brothers and a younger sister, has had some of these interests since junior high school, when she as part of 4-H. She told U&D that organization had been very influential in her life. Future Homemakers of America and 4-H, which in mid-twentieth century had a more agricultural focus, now aims for more personal growth (though that has always been one of the thrusts of those groups). The programs work to empower youth and develop leadership, especially in the Family and Community Leaders program of which Ortencia was a part. From enthusiasms in arts and crafts, photography, leadership , diversity, variety, citizenship, cooperation and service she comes to join us for a summer.