AmeriCorps Reunion - Lake Champlain, VT

One of the reasons we took the route we have taken was due to a message we receive about a year ago. The message was sent to a group of Intermountain AmeriCorps members that served together almost 20 years ago. When you are in service together and living off very little, bonds are formed that last a life time. This past weekend (July 14-16th) we came together again and were able to pick up with conversations and story telling as if we had just seen each other last week.

In the group that was in attendance this weekend, 4 of the couples met during that time of service. It was also fun to look around and see the next generation (10 kids) getting to meet each other and begin building relationships.

The gathering was held at the residence of one of the group members along the shores of Lake Champlain which provided amazing views of the water, ample room to set up tents, short walks to the beach and an elementary school where we took part in a service project.

Here are some of the highlights:


From Tracey: Spent a beautiful weekend on Lake Champlain celebrating 20 years of friendship! We all met while serving in AmeriCorps so we always add service to our reunions. This year we worked on gardens around an elementary school in Burlington, VT, so fun to have all our children participating! The best group of lifelong friends, love that we had this opportunity to get together.
InterMountain AmeriCorps group from Lake Chelan, WA 1999 with then Gov. Gary Locke

Sunset over Lake Champlain,VT

View from the deck - definitely a relaxing place

Lots of bikes to ride including tandem bikes!

Helping to clean up a garden at a local elementary School. 

Future generation of AmeriCorps members?

 The weekend was filled with old and new stories and lots of laughter. In attendance were friends from California, Arkansas, Maine, Washington, and Vermont. There will be many more pictures and posts shared among friends to document the weekend. Before leaving, plans were discussed for possible next location and year for the next get together.  Look forward to staying in touch and eagerly anticipating the next time we can get together!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Final Resting Place

Image
With all the build up and excitement that comes before our trips, this one had an element of unknown. This would be the first time I was back home since the passing of my Dad. I had gotten used to my new normal back in Washington, missing the weekly phone calls and chats we had on the phone. The first time on his birthday I could not call or the first Father's Day with him gone. I was not sure what it was going to be like or how I would feel walking into his house again with him not there. I also knew that we would be spreading Dad's ashes during our visit. Whether or not it was fate, coincidence or strategic planning by my brother, the day that was selected was 6 months to the day of his passing. Cory picked me up and then we headed to Barron to pick up our Step-Mom and his boat. Once we were all loaded we began the journey. Our first stop was at the cemetery. While there we visited the burial sites of Dad's Grandparents. He always spoke highly of them and really love
Read more

#Andersonepicadventure FAQ: How was the trip?

Image
Family selfie pulling into the driveway It has been a little over a week since we arrived back home from our trip and things have settled in for the most part. I have resumed my daily work schedule, had to start wearing pants to work last week, always a sign that things are ramping up at work. Tracey and the kids are bleeding out every ounce of time off. They spent part of last week at the Oregon Coast, another portion in Leavenworth WA camping and finishing up the week at Tracey's parents house. Before I respond to the title of this post, here are some of the stats from our trip (from one of Tracey's posts) and the route that we took: 34 days, 31 states, approximately 8120 miles traveled. Hit the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, a barrier island, Lake Champlain, and Lake Michigan. Lots of friends and family visited, a service project completed, numerous great cities toured, no natural disasters endured.  This trip marked the milestone of Tracey and I both traveling
Read more