I folks - Fred has added a link for photos. This will either be comforting or frightening. Probably both. I have set the blog up so that it can have multiple authors. Just add a comment below with your email info and I can add you to the authors list, allowing you to post your thoughts, memories, etc. I'm particularly interested in long term effects - how your experience shaped your journey, etc. Even small stuff. I was ordained nearly a decade after the project, and have always been appreciative, for example, of having to speak in all those high school gymnasiums [gymnasia?] - simply learning how to project [sorry bad pun homomorph] voice.
Anyone know anything of Paul Anderson or Bert [?] from Vermont [the only other Protestant I remember from the Project] or Jim Deer [from Kahnawake]?
Re your comment about being one of 'the only Protestants'. Funnily enough, there were quite a few Christophers who were not at all religious. I was on summer teams in '72-'74 and as a non-believer still managed to get so much out of the experience. Pere and I used to have long late night theological discussions which also continued for many years afterwards. He challenged me and i think in my own naive way, i challenged him. I did feel a bit of distance at mass, but i always felt (still do) that being a good christian is not necessarily dependent on belief. I think that sprituality, and the ideal of charity, generosity and kindness comes in many forms. And,I can only remember one occasion where I was given any grief for my position. I think that there was a lot of surprise that someone could get into something like PC without being a practising catholic (or protestant, or jew for that matter). For me, it just felt like the right thing to do.
As for the impact of the experience. Endless !! I use the leadership skills I learned from Pere (and also Frank McGeargle - to whom i owe a debt of eternal gratitude) every single day. As a film and television producer i have to marshall huge groups of people and none of that would be possible without the PC experience. I have been (still am) a director of diverse companies/charitable organisations and the boardroom skills I have are entirely due to PC.
But much, much more important than those skills, was the knowledge that i gained (let's call it insight)into the human condition. To be able to recognise and help the disenfranchised, the lonely, the sad, the poor.......i learned that from PC. Look, I am hardly a poster boy ! and man, do i make mistakes. But that part of me that tries to be a decent human being, comes from Pere. I so wish that there was a program like PC available now. But without Pere, a genuinely charismatic and driven leader, it would be tough. Hey Frank !! Step up to the plate !! Just kidding. You did your bit, mate.
I do look forward to meeting up at some point to share these experiences in person. However, i would be grateful if anyone finds a picture of me, burn it. Let's just say they were 'bad hair' years !
Posted by: Nick Rose | March 26, 2008 at 03:13 AM
Great to find these postings. I still actually have one of those candles that we made in styrofoam cups and put the Project symbol on with glitter, and sold in about every community in Canada.
I started PC at the training cam pin Batawa (came from Concord, MA, through John Andrews, from St. George's), in I think 1982. Remember you, Fred, from there, and many others. Remember foldly all the Trenton folks from the first leadership weekend, earlier in 1982, in Massachusetts. Remember the crow (Not too shabby), and signing the "Battle Humn" in a big circle in the field, and of course the Project song. And on and on. Went out on a team that summer with Buzz Brice, Lorna Kirk, Maureen Kastie, Fred from Ottawa, Chris Kolb from WI, Maggie Connor from Montreal, and a few others.
Last contact was for Pere's memorial services, then Barb and Larry's wedding in Ottawa. Remember many visits to Ottawa, including the house where Barb, Larry, Albert, and others lived.
I know Doug (Brendan) Hadash is a UU minister in northern Vermont.
Would love to stay in touch, or even have a reunion (Laura Gold and I have talked about that often). Also, I've often thought about trying to write a book about the project, based on interviews with old Christophers, writing about what they are doing now, memories and experiences of Pere and the project, and the influence of the project on their life. I even went so far once as to make a few contacts in Toronto re. possible funding sources. Anyone interested in working on this? I don't get very far on things like this, as I'm crazy busy as an 52 year old single mom of Mary Rosa, who I adopted from Guatemala, who is 7 now.
So glad to have found you all!
Pam
Posted by: Pam Walker | May 02, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Interesting morning. Got an e-mail out of the blue and then found this site. Have tried several times to connect with people from PC but had little luck. Great experience in my life, the plastic camp in Batawa, the farm in Springbank and all the time shared and lessons learned. Everything I learned then applies now.
Take care and love you all.
Rawley
Posted by: rawley | February 02, 2009 at 12:14 PM