Life is a Verb Camp Schedule 2024
See your printed program for other details
Wednesday, 16 October
2–8pm Camp Registration Open
(Kanuga Main Building, Lobby)
5:30–7pm Dinner for Pre-Campers (Kanuga Dining Hall)
BEDTIME WRITING PROMPT: Write for 5-10 minutes tonight before bed about what it feels like to be at Camp and how you would like to feel on Sunday before heading home.
Thursday, 17 October
8am–12pm Registration Open (Kanuga Main Building Lobby)
7:30–9am Breakfast (Kanuga Dining Hall)
9am–4:30pm Pre-Camp Workshops (Minkler Grove) (Pre-registration required–see Camp registration desk to register on site if space is available)
Giving Wings to Your Rooted Words Em Radmacher (Clarke Cabin, Minkler Grove)
Writing Your Tiny Memoir in Zine Form - Patti Digh and Julie Gieseke (Hunter Cabin, Minkler Grove)
11:30–1pm Lunch (Kanuga Dining Hall)
1–6pm Registration Open (Kanuga Main Building Lobby)
4–6pm Camp Store Open (Finlay Cabin, Minkler Grove)
5pm Camp Open Studio (COS) opens and will remain open throughout Camp. All are invited to come do some self-directed creating there! (Jackson Cabin, Minkler Grove)
5–6pm New Camper Orientation (Balthis-Rodwell)
5:30–7pm Dinner (Kanuga Dining Hall)
6pm Camp Registration moves to Balthis-Rodwell Building foyer and reopens at 7pm
7–9pm Registration Open (Balthis-Rodwell foyer)
7:15–9pm Camp Opening Circle Session with Singer/Songwriter Joanna Mackie “Tending the Soil of Our Community: Welcome to Camp” (Balthis-Rodwell)
Join us for the opening of Camp 2024! We invite you to come as you are as we tend the garden that is our 2024 LIAV Camp community. This will be an interactive session where you will have the chance to meet other Campers, sparking old and new friendships alike. You will also experience Joanna Mackie’s original songs, both thoughtful and playful, as an invitation to continue your journey inwards and outwards in whatever ways you long for at this time. Also, get ready to begin your 2024 Camp Journal with Em Radmacher and Robbie Hanson as part of this Opening Session.
9–9:15pm All Camp Speakers, Teachers, and Facilitators meet at the stage in Balthis at the conclusion of the evening program
BEDTIME WRITING PROMPT: Write for 5-10 minutes tonight before bed about what you felt and heard during tonight’s opening session
Friday, 18 October
OVERALLS DAY If you would like to celebrate Overalls Day at Camp, today is a fine day to wear overalls. Otherwise, carry on.
7–7:45am Becoming Bendy
Qigong with Lori Merrill-Fink (Gym)
Yoga with Jenne Sluder (Gym Yoga room)
7:30–9am Breakfast (Kanuga Dining Hall)
8–10am Registration Open (Balthis-Rodwell Foyer)
8:30–9am Music Jam with Joanna Mackie in Minkler Grove
9am Camp Silent Auction opens! (Balthis-Rodwell Foyer)
9–10:15am Camp Circle Session (Balthis-Rodwell)
Welcome Patti Digh
2024 Camp Journal Robbie Hanson & Em Radmacher
Introduction of Speaker Em Radmacher
Speaker Poet Camille Dungy
10:15–11am Book Signing for Camille Dungy (Books sold by Malaprop’s Bookshop) (Balthis Meeting Room)
10:15–10:45am Break in Balthis-Rodwell Foyer
10:30am Tribute to Camper Jeff Harbert / If you have a Jeff t-shirt, please don it and meet under the Story Tree for a group photo we will send Jeff’s brother after Camp
10:30am–12:30pm Camp Store Open (Finlay Cabin, Minkler Grove)
10:45–12pm Roots and Wings Opportunities: Take this time to explore Roots and Wings! Here are some suggestions!
ROOTS
Work on your 2024 Camp Journal.
Write for 20 minutes about what you heard from our keynoter, Camille Dungy, that you want to remember. Then circle words that stand out to you in what you have written and write for 10 more minutes about one of those words. Create a short poem, and give it to Camille.
Go to the Camp Open Studio (COS) in Jackson Cabin and create art that captures how you feel right now after hearing Camille Dungy speak.
Find someone you admire among the Campers, and tell them why.
Sit or lie under the Story Tree (just behind Balthis) and feel the ground beneath you.
Find a new Camper (they all have little yellow “New-Bees” on their badges) and invite them to sit with you at lunch today. Ask them to tell you their story of being at Camp.
WINGS
Create a piece of art with another Camper today, and together, give it away to another Camper—let it fly!
Write about the kinds of freedom you feel in your life—and the kind of freedom you want and need.
Walk the Kanuga labyrinth (behind Balthis, to the left of the gym).
Imagine flying. Write a poem about the experience.
Speak to someone you haven’t had the opportunity to speak with before today.
11:30–1pm Lunch (Kanuga Dining Hall)
1–3pm Create Workshops (2 Hours)
Planting Seeds Writing Workshop
with Camille Dungy (Balthis-Rodwell)
5 Rhythms Meditation with Karen Chapman (Gym)
Intro to Sashiko Stitching: Japanese Embroidery
with River Takada (Percival Cabin, Minkler Grove)**FULL**
Your Tree of Life in Pressed Flower Art
with Holly Dilatush (Gooch lower level)
Grounding So We Can Grow: Altered Books & the 8 Senses with Tracy Hart (Clarke Cabin, Minkler Grove)
3–6pm Camp Store Open (Finlay Cabin, Minkler Grove)
4–6pm Groovy Photobooth Bus in Minkler Grove! Don’t forget to get your Photobooth on with Camp friends!
4:30–5:45pm Camper Marketplace (Minkler Grove)
5–5:45pm Becoming Bendy
Beginner Pickleball with Melanie Lemburg (Tennis Courts)
Labyrinth Walk with Sherrine Washington (Labyrinth near Gym)
5:30–7pm Dinner (Kanuga Dining Hall)
7:15–8:45pm Open Mic for Writers (Limited space; sign-up sheet at registration desk) (Balthis-Rodwell) Emcee: Julie Gieseke
BEDTIME WRITING PROMPT: Write for 5-10 minutes tonight before bed about what you learned about yourself at Camp today.
Saturday, 19 October
PAJAMA DAY For a few years, some Campers have celebrated Saturday at Camp by wearing their pajamas all day. And some eschew this fun tradition. WE HAVE CHOICES, PEOPLE. Act accordingly. LOL.
7–7:45am Becoming Bendy
Qigong with Lori Merrill-Fink (Gym)
Yoga with Jenne Sluder (Gym Yoga room)
7:30–9am Breakfast (Kanuga Dining Hall)
9–10:15am Camp Circle Session (Balthis-Rodwell)
Welcome Patti Digh
Keynote Poet Crystal Wilkinson
10:15–11am Book Signing with Crystal Wilkinson (Book sales by Malaprop’s Bookshop in Balthis Meeting Room)
10:15–10:45am Break in Balthis-Rodwell Foyer
10:15am *Registration opens for Camp 2025* If you complete a registration for Camp 2025 by 8 pm on Saturday evening (Oct 19, 2024), you will be able to register at a discounted rate and receive a limited edition 2025 Camp poster. (Info on registering will be in the Balthis-Rodwell lobby). Register at www.lifeisaverbcamp.com.
10:30am–12:30pm Camp Store Open
(Finlay Cabin, Minkler Grove)
10:45am–12pm Roots and Wings Opportunities
Here are some suggestions!
ROOTS
Work on your 2024 Camp Journal.
Write for 20 minutes about what you heard from our keynoter, Crystal Wilkinson, that you want to remember. Then circle words that stand out to you in what you have written and write for 10 minutes more about one or more of those words.
Invite a “New-Bee” Camper to walk to the lake with you. Talk about what it feels like to belong.
Thank your ancestors in whatever way moves you.
Find a quiet place to sit and write a list of 25 things you have enjoyed and/or learned at Camp so far this year.
WINGS
Courage is about letting go of things that no longer serve you. What can you let go of today? Announce this at lunch by standing in the dining hall with a sign that says, “Today, I am letting go of ________” (fill in the blank). There is paper on the tables in our main room for signage. What do you notice about peoples’ reactions?
Go to the Camp Open Studio and create a piece of art that expresses your feelings today. (Jackson)
Write a song inspired by Crystal’s talk this morning. Sing it to your table at lunch. Give a copy of it to Crystal.
Create a story about your ancestors–in writing, in art, in your imagination? Then create a story of you flying above that story.
Write a poem about Life is a Verb Camp.
11:30am–1pm Lunch (Kanuga Dining Hall)
3–6pm Camp Store Open (Finlay Cabin, Minkler Grove)
The LIAV Camp Store will close for 2024 at 6pm this evening. It will not be open on Sunday.
1–3pm Create Workshops (2 Hours)
Writing Workshop with Crystal Wilkinson
(Balthis-Rodwell)
5 Rhythms Meditation with Karen Chapman
(GYM)
Creating a Practice of Pleasure and Intuition
with Liz Amaya-Fernandez
(Percival Cabin, Minkler Grove)
Mirror Portal Photography
with Joan Zellers (Meet at the Balthis patio)
1–4 pm Growth Workshops (3 Hours)
Peace Catchers with Penny Weaver
(Clarke Cabin, Minkler Grove)
Print Your Mantra with Andi Dandelion
(Hunter Cabin, Minkler Grove)
Exploring the Tree of (Your) Life with Susan Johnson (Gooch Lower Level)
5–5:45pm Becoming Bendy
Beginner Pickleball with Melanie Lemburg (Tennis Courts)
Labyrinth Walk with Sherrine Washington (Labyrinth near Gym)
5:30–7pm Dinner (Kanuga Dining Hall)
6pm The Camp Open Studio (COS) closes for 2024 tonight.
7–9:30pm Talent Show & Camp Photo Booth (Balthis-Rodwell)
Cash bar. Talent Show starts at 7:15 pm with Emcee Micah Mackenzie.
At 9:15 pm, Silent Auction winners will be announced—come prepared to pick up your auction winnings. Payment will be made later
BEDTIME WRITING PROMPT
Write for 5-10 minutes tonight before bed about a thread from Camp 2024 you want to follow when you get home from Camp.
Sunday, 20 October
7–7:45am Becoming Bendy
Qigong with Lori Merrill-Fink (Gym)
Yoga with Jenne Sluder (Gym Yoga room)
7:30–9am Breakfast (Kanuga Dining Hall)
8:30-9am Music Jam with Joanna Mackie in Minkler Grove
9–10:15am Circle Session: Pecha Kucha Talks by LIAV Campers
Alison Campbell “A Compass and Wings“
Maggie McGlothin “A Story About Allies“
Jeanne d’Orleans “Hummingbird Wings“
Liz Amaya-Fernandez “Trusting Your Own Magic“
Kelly Beck “You Said You Would Riot”
Liz McEntee “Camp Saves Lives: My Circuitous Path”
10:15–10:45am Break
10:45–11:45am Closing Circle Session of Camp 2024
Keynote “65 Things I Know For Sure” by Patti Digh
Camp Song “Wildest Dreams” by Cary Cooper, led by Joanna Mackie, Alison Campbell, and Tamara Bailie
12–1pm Closing Lunch and Goodbyes (Kanuga Dining Hall)
<time passes + travel home>
BEDTIME WRITING PROMPT
Write for 5-10 minutes tonight before bed about 10 core memories from Camp 2024.