1

The Summer News Weekly For All People… In All Seasons In all seasons

Craigville Village, Massachusetts

FALL 2013

Community Calendar Wednesday, November 13th SWAT Team in the Village

Monday, December 2nd 6:00 PM Craigville Christmas Party (Lodge) ANNUAL CRAIGVILLE CHRISTMAS PARTY Our annual Craigville Christmas party gets us off to an early start on the Christmas spirit of camaraderie and gift-giving! Monday, December 2nd is the date, at the Craigville Lodge, beginning at 6:00 P.M. Plan to come and bring a Yankee swap grab bag gift, value of $15.00 or so; a dish to share, such as a casserole, salad, or dessert; your utensils and plates; and something to drink, either wine or a non-alcoholic drink. The Retreat Center provides hors d'oeuvres and punch, coffee, and a lovely Christmas tree under which to put our gifts. It's old fashioned and fun. Carol singing will take place after dinner in front of the fireplace. We hope to see you! Please call Valerie Lane at 508-778-0507 if you are planning to attend to discuss the menu and to add your name to the list. Fa la la la la la la la la!

Singers in the Village? Ed Deyton is Director of Music at the Osterville United Methodist Church on Pond Street and is looking for singers to participate in selections of the Vivaldi Gloria on Sunday morning, December 15th. Practices are Thursday evenings at the end of choir practice from 8:00-8:30 and Sunday mornings from 11:15 to 11:45. All parts are needed but especially tenors. Please call Ed for more information at 508-775-7121.

RED LILY POND HOUSE AND GARDEN TOUR SUMMER 2014 Mark your calendars for our summer House and Garden Tour fundraiser for the Red Lily Pond Project Association on Sunday, July 13th. I am getting houses lined-up and will follow-up with more details in subsequent Chronicles. Keep this date in mind and save the day for us! I'm sure it will be bright and filled with sun. This is always a good time and everyone loves to visit our Craigville homes. If you are interested in having your house on the tour, please call me, Valerie Lane, at 508-778-0507, or email me at capecodwoman43@gmail.com.

Christian Camp Meeting Association Board of Directors’ Summary Report Please see the attached, the CCMA Board of Directors’ 2013 Summary Report accompanying this publication. It was submitted by CCMA Secretary Joanna Buffington to better inform readers concerning the workings of the Board.

Thought of the Season (from E.L.): I’m going to begin taking life at the pace I think my body and mind were designed for.

2

A Very Sad Message My sister, Deborah Hall Woodring, died on Saturday, October 26th, after a long illness. Debby was the daughter and youngest child of Bee and Doug Woodring. She grew up in Craigville and Summit, N.J. She leaves two daughters, Brookes Mancuso and her husband, Hank, and their daughter, Morgan; and Kiley Russell, her husband, Duke, and their children, Chandler and Bryar. She is also survived by her brother, Doug Woodring, and her sister, Nancy Woodring Hansen. Her brother, Mahlon "Ding" Woodring, died five years ago. There will be no service, and her ashes will be scattered by her family at a future date.

–Nancy Hansen We extend our sympathy, on behalf of the Craigville community, to Nancy and Doug, and to Debby’s daughters and their families. On a personal note, Debby was a childhood friend and it is with great sorrow that we share this news. –Ed.

Craigville Retreat Center Preparing for Humvees and Raids Rob Bresch is our new maintenance supervisor. He's been on the job for a few weeks now and is doing a great job. Please introduce yourself if you see him. CRC has been very busy this fall with double and triple seatings in the dining room. The entire CRC staff has been extremely busy taking good care of the guests. Upcoming Groups: I heard that a lot of people like to know who is in Craigville, so I will post all the groups through the end of the year: Thursday Night Quilters, Emmanuel College (2nd fall retreat), Xaverian Brothers Spirit Hawks, Sterling First Church group, Echo girls retreat, Boston College Campus Ministries Literary Arts Group, Wellesley Hills Congregational Church group, Emanuel College (3rd fall retreat), St. Sebastian's youth group, Boston University College group, Pope John Paul High School, Barnstable Police Department SWAT Team (more later about their presence in Craigville), Boston College High School, MACUCC Confirmation Retreat, St. Joseph’s Prep High School, SADD, St. Johns High School, Xaverian Brothers High School, Sacred Heart, UCC Retired Clergy, Boston College High, Mankind Project, Boston College Campus Ministry, and ECHO boys groups. The Barnstable Police Department asks for our help in letting them set-up some training sessions in the Village. They use some of the CCMA and MACUCC buildings, Village roads and grounds to do a walk-through with different training scenarios, such a bomb squad, hostage taking, drug raids; they even bring in some heavy duty trucks and, of course, the staff’s favorite, the dogs. They do come dressed in some pretty impressive swat uniforms and bring in equipment during their training. You may also see a Humvee on the road: it takes up the whole road. They don't fire real weapons, set off real bombs or have real drug deals going on, just in case you've heard they do. They do have some type of stun guns that carry quite a bang, but nothing real. They really appreciate the use of the Village for their training purposes. I hope we never need them for any of these types of things for real. We are busy right up till middle of December, and then staff gets a few weeks break and are right back into the swing of things after the New Year. -Mary A Woodbury, Director, Craigville Retreat Center

Brief Notes from the Red Lily Pond Project Association Herring: Your Association has recently joined the Herring Alliance, a consortium of 74 organizations, with a total of more than 2.5 million members, along the East Coast from Maine to North Carolina. Its mission is to “protect and restore ocean wildlife and ecosystems along the Atlantic coast of the United States through precautionary and science-based management of forage fish such as herring, mackerel, menhaden, river herring and shad.” Board members Tom Kirk and Dick Delaney attended the September meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council and worked with Greg Wells, of the Herring Alliance and the Pew Charitable Trusts, to promote important regulations to limit herring by-catch. See http://www.herringalliance.org

Embankment: Thanks to Board Member Dick Delaney for planting new, non-invasive ground cover alongside Lake Elizabeth Drive, to help prevent erosion. At water’s edge, Purple Loosestrife, an invasive weed that is marching across

3

ponds across North America, threatens Lake Elizabeth. AmeriCorps Cape Cod volunteers will provide a short-term solution as they spend the day on November 18th pruning this weed from the embankment of Lake Elizabeth. Over the winter, your Board of Directors will research a long-term solution. Among the possibilities is working with Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Department of Natural Resources Professor Bernd Blossey, who has spoken with us twice and is interested in conducting research in the Red Lily Pond Watershed System. Learn more about his work at http://dnr.cornell.edu/people/faculty.cfm?netId=bb22. Regional Wastewater Planning: Board members Avis Parke, Tom Kirk, Steve and Alice Brown attended the Association to Preserve Cape Cod Annual Meeting in October, and learned how video recording of shellfishing can help publicize regional efforts to clean up embayments. A local teenager has volunteered to video record progress on the ponds. Meanwhile, Steve Brown is representing your Association at the series of Centerville River-Three Bays Watershed Working Group meetings of the Cape Cod Commission’s Regional Wastewater Management Plan (RWMP), which are updating the Section 208 Area-wide Water Quality Management Plan (http://www.capecodcommission.org/index.php?id=690).

Seeking Common Ground: These and many other initiatives will continue throughout the winter. The common element of all this work is the belief that one way to experience and build community is to work with others to preserve a place (in Craigville’s case, our surrounding ponds, the river, and the ocean) that many feel to be sacred. The academic/scientific term for this spiritual “sense of place” is “solstagia;” more details on the discipline can be found in this New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/magazine/31ecopsych-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 -Steve Brown, President, RLPP

CCOA Winter 2013 This year we had 85 members of the CCOA, the highest membership ever. Thank you all for contributing to the maintenance of our special community. For those of you who did not pay dues, we hope that you will decide to become members next year. It is important to maintain our roads, parks, and community services. Thanks, also, to the many volunteers who made last summer so enjoyable - from helping to plan events to caring for the gardens throughout the Village. As “Keeper of the Calendar”, I have the following dates already for next summer: June 27 – Icebreaker – Hosted by the Farquhars July 1 – Movie Night July 8 – Concert at the Tab – Centerville Beautification July 12 – CBA Social July 13 – Red Lily Pond Project House Tour July14–18 Colloquy July 19 – Halloween in Summer July 24–27 Music Camp July 29 – Movie Night August 1 – Illumination Night August 2 – CBA Social August 3 – Hyannis Sound August 3–9 Family Camp August 9 – Red Lily Pond Project Dinner and Auction

In addition – don’t forget the last event of 2013 – the Christmas Party at the Lodge – on December 2nd at 6:00 PM. Please remember to give me any dates that will involve the community to avoid conflicts. (lswhpyc@hotmail.com)

Let’s hope for a peaceful winter. Lee Williams, CCOA President

4

Headed towards Needham? A CBA member, Teresa Cole, who is unable to drive, has a son who lives in Needham whom she would very much like to visit whenever possible. If someone is going that way – perhaps to Newton-Wellesley Hospital, or anywhere in that vicinity – she would appreciate a ride. She lives nearby, in Hyannis, and can be reached through the Chronicle. Please send us an e-mail at craigvillechronicle1872@gmail.com if you are available to give Terry a ride and we will connect you with her. She would appreciate it very much.

WEATHERWIZE: WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THOSE LEAVES? By Doppler Debbie (Almy) This time of year, when we are all so amazed at the glorious colors of the various types of trees in our area, it is also time to think of where all the leaves go when they are finished with their colorful show. If you are lucky enough to have someone cart them all away from your yard, then you have no answer to this. But looking at the woods near my house, I know that each tree drops between 200,000 and 300,000 leaves every year. Now just thinking of the pure mass weight of that amount would mean, after a few years, one would not be able to see over the mound of leaves built up if the leaves did not break down at all. This translates out to be about 1,338 pounds of fallen leaves per acre of land; or, if my math is correct, about 3.61 pounds per square foot. In the forest, leaves account for about 70% of the fallen material. To understand what happens to these leaves, we have to learn about decomposition and decay which, in general, are two terms which earn a negative response immediately, such as in tooth decay. However, these two actions are critical in the whole cycle of the nature of life and death. Death in nature is very high, and it has to be, for if every egg from every animal survived, we would be overrun and outnumbered very quickly. The same applies for leaves, acorns and seeds, for one can only imagine that if every acorn that fell to the ground became a tree, we would be in serious trouble. The community of things in the ground that help to break down the falling tonnage are beetles, flies, maggots, woodlice, slime molds, bacteria, slugs, snails and earthworms, to name a few. They all do their jobs out of sight, with no odor, and no sound, but most efficiently. This breakdown is not only an important fertilizer in nature, but the process gives off carbon dioxide and water at the same time, representing a large factor in the global carbon cycle. The internal temperature of the soil, as well as the external air temperature, also plays a huge role in the rate of decomposition. Remember that landfills have to be sure to vent the rotting materials underground, for the heat and methane gas which are generated may end up with an explosive mistake if not planned for correctly with aeration and piping. Now what is the time frame for this breakdown? Of course, there are many variables in this equation, including latitude, and longitude; but temperature and moisture are the two key players. The drier the litter, the longer it will take to break down, so the addition of so much litter in the fall is the ideal time for the breakdown to begin. Also, the thicker the debris the longer the time it will take. Some leaves will disintegrate within months, while other more woody branches or leaves could take up to 7 years to become completely broken down. So the not-so-clear answer to how long does it take for leaves to disintegrate is anywhere from 3 weeks to two years. Therefore, the next time you take a large load of leaves to the dump, or just watch the woods in your area, you will know what an amazing part of nature is taking place right in front of us, even though we did not have any idea such an important show was going on. A bit of food for thought: we know leaves break down relatively quickly, but here are some facts that might interest you. The rate of decomposition for a banana/orange peel is 2-5 weeks; newspaper 3-6 months; paper grocery bag 4-8 months; plastic grocery bag 10-20 years; aluminum can 200-500 years; disposable diaper 500-600 years; and styrofoam, never. A sad thought for sure.

****************************************************************************************************************************************** WE WELCOME ALL NEWS PERTAINING TO CRAIGVILLE NEIGHBORS AND ACTIVITIES. AND, we are always on the web at Craigville.org (postings to info@craigville.org) and for the CCOA page “friend” us on Facebook (postings for FB page to Geoffrey Underwood dgunderwo@gmail.com)! The Craigville Chronicle is sponsored by the Christian Camp Meeting Association and the Craigville Cottage Owners Association, and is produced weekly from the last week in June through Labor Day weekend and off-season once during the Fall (November), Winter (February) and Spring (May). Please e-mail your news to Alice Brown, editor, at craigvillechronicle1872@gmail.com. Craigville Retreat Center information can be found 24/7 at www.craigvilleretreats.org. !Alice Brown, Editor