Eliot Institute Annual Report to PNWD

Eliot Institute plans and manages several overnight camps for friends and families of Unitarian Universalists at the Seabeck Conference Center located near Silverdale, WA. We come for a variety of reasons – to make new friends or to see old ones, for intellectual stimulation, spiritual renewal, artistic expression, to share ideas, to relax and to have fun.

Eliot had full camps (see below) for the two summer camps and Winter Eliot had 176 campers: one of the largest in its history! The two summer Eliot camps (July, August) always have a waitlist to get in and as of this date, they still do. Winter Eliot was very full and as we approach higher numbers, there is a shortage of meeting space to hold everyone. Seabeck has a new meeting space planned opening in April of this year but it only has space for 80. Currently, the Meeting House is able to accommodate a full camp (250) but with weather constraints and darkness during Winter Eliot, this poses a challenge to have the camp meet as a whole, anywhere else. It’s a good problem to have but it truly might be a case of Eliot having to limit the number of campers to fewer than 200.

There is a new Eliot arts camp this summer. Creative Arts ’14 will be held Saturday, August 9th – Friday, August 15th. This camp will be modeled after the Spring Eliot camp held in the past. There will be five workshops held four mornings during the week for campers age 12 and up. They are all lead by Elioteers who are specialists in their field of art with plenty of time for campers to have a chance to really explore and delve into their work. Four of the workshops will be photography, painting, writing, and mosaics. The fifth workshop will be a Service to Seabeck workshop where the campers will be doing things around the Seabeck campus that Chuck Kraining, Seabeck’s Executive Director, needs help with – whether inside the buildings or out. It’s one of the ways the Eliot Institute has to give back to Seabeck. There will still be some of Eliot’s beloved programs and traditions as well as some new customs to bring forth.

The Board is excited about this camp with at least three members, attending the camp. The response has been favorable and though Seabeck only has 75 beds available this year, the plan is to have it become a full camp with new Elioteers full of UU’s, their families, and friends.

Sadly, our Eliot community lost too many beloved Elioteers in 2013. Many tears were shed and love abounded around family’s who lost one of their own. These deaths were heartfelt losses in our Eliot tribe as well and I know many of us will still feel their presence whenever we’re at camp.

Report prepared by Randi Niemer, Past Board President.  Submitted to PNWD February 23, 2014, for the Annual Meeting in Spokane