The Blue Wagon Alumni Newsletter – October 2011

Inside This Issue

Amuse Bouche & Announcements 2

8th Annual DREAMstock 2011 3

DREAMers, IBM Volunteers Cut Ribbon on Barn 3

2011 DREAM Alumni Appeal is Here! 4

DREAM Doppelgängers 5

So… it’s officially Alumni Appeal season! Prior to joining the Alumni Council in 2010, I thought of the Appeal as a handful of emails from the Office, a phone call from a current Northwoods/Hollow Drive mentor, and an awesome hand-written thank you note. I’m sure some of you feel much the same way I used to feel. The Alumni Appeal means much, much more to me now. What most of you probably don’t know is the tremendous amount of effort a handful of volunteers pour into the Appeal each year to make it a success. Our goal this year is to raise $50,000, and the Alumni Appeal Committee has been working tirelessly to make sure we reach it. Frieda Arenos, UVM ’08, has done a spectacular job of leading the Committee, which is comprised of Appeal veterans Kate Haggerty, UVM ’06, and Sandy Mervak, UVM ’09, as well as newbies Erica Rosenthal, Champlain ’09, and Monique Prevost, Champlain ’11. I tip my hat to all of them for selflessly dedicating much of their personal time this fall to raise money for DREAM. Why do they do it? What drives them to spend nights planning, organizing, and calling fellow Alumni instead of going out or catching up on sleep? It’s because they recognize the power and responsibility we have to influence DREAM’s future. Our money helped open the Boston Office. Where can we take DREAM next? Our money helped change CAMP from a plot of land to a hidden playground. What other adventure base is waiting to be transformed? Our money helped fund educational experiences for Local Programs. When can we fund higher education for deserving teens? It won’t happen this year, or next year, or the year after that… but one day I believe DREAM Alumni will be the ones sustaining the entire organization, then pushing it forward in ways that we can only imagine. To the Alumni Appeal Committee and all Alumni who donate, thank you for DREAMing big! DREAM On, AJ LeGaye Alumni Council President, 2010 – 2012 a.legaye@gmail.com

AMUSE BOUCHE By AJ LeGaye, Alumni Council President

1. Shout-out to the Orchard Gardens (Boston University) DREAMers who organized a fundraiser last week at the California Pizza Kitchen at Boston's Prudential Center. The money raised will help support a group trip to Fright Fest at Six Flags New England at the end of the month. The event was a great success, thanks to all of the current DREAMers, Board members, Alumni and friends of DREAM who came out in support.

2. You can now join the DREAM Alumni Organization on LinkedIn! Click here to join: http://goo.gl/ZbD4N. Thanks to Dylan Nelson ’09 for organizing. He says of the group, “Our Alumni have followed myriad careers after completing their time as a mentor or mentee, but we each share the experience of having been a part of an amazing mentoring program. Our diversity of experience and shared passion for service make us strong, and connecting through LinkedIn will help bring us together as we pursue various career paths around the globe.”

Orchard Gardens mentees and mentors demonstrate their skills & teamwork in their own pizza kitchen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

They came from across three states, and they came with many intentions. Some mentors came to fine-tune their mentoring skills. Others came dressed in “flandex,” ready to play Knockout and make new friends. Whatever their motivation, they arrived to find themselves among 60 mentors, office staff, Alumni and special guests that descended on Burlington’s King Street Center for DREAM’s 8th Annual DREAMstock mentoring conference. Despite the cool, wet fall weather, mentors from nine different Local Programs and seven colleges and universities in Vermont and Greater Boston turned up. Child and Teen Trajectory, DREAM Philosophies, Child Management, and Programming with a Purpose were among the topics they covered during the overnight conference.

Learning and fun at DREAMstock were synonymous. In keeping with the theme The Looking Glass, Alice, the White Rabbit, and the Queen of Hearts kept the conference on schedule while the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, and several other Carroll characters led the mentors in games, facilitated discussions and organized activities. The program kicked off on Saturday morning with the massive ice breaker Un-birthday Party. It concluded with an outstanding acoustic performance from Portland, Maine-based artist Connor Garvey. Speaking of the DREAMstock sessions on the whole, one Boston University mentor quoted “…super helpful – I don’t think I would change anything.” Many thanks to King Street Center for sharing your space with DREAM!

8th Annual DREAMstock 2011 By Rosetta Morse, Camp Operations Manager

It’s official: The new barn at Camp DREAM is open for activity. Patrick Zachary, one of five volunteers from IBM who helped build the barn, swung the hatchet to cut the ribbon. Over 25 DREAMers and IBM volunteers were present at the ceremony. The purpose of the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was to recognize the generosity of the Goldstein Family, who helped DREAM finance the barn, and volunteers including Ralph Costantini and the IBM crew who designed and helped build it. In a brief speech, DREAM Executive Director Mike Loner thanked all of the individuals involved, and described just how important the barn is to Camp DREAM. The new barn will be a huge asset to Camp in many ways. In

addition to the more obvious benefits of shelter from rain and covered storage for programming supplies during winter, the barn gives the Camp homestead area a more completed look, and helps galvanize Staff members, who often have to plan projects at Camp around the weather. May DREAMers enjoy many meals, games, and activities under the shelter of the barn in the years ahead.

DREAMers, IBM Volunteers Cut Ribbon on Barn By Ashleigh Ellsworth-Keller, Camp DREAM Director

Thank you from all of us on the DREAM Alumni Council and Alumni Appeal Committee for your support. If we have your number on file, please expect a call from your former program’s

mentors between OCTOBER 15 and NOVEMBER 15.

To donate now, please go to: http://www.dreamprogram.org/alumni/alumniappeal.htm. To follow us on Facebook, please visit: www.facebook.com/the.dream.program.

To follow us on Twitter, please visit: http://twitter.com/#!/dreamprogram.

GOAL: $50,000

If you haven’t had the chance to update your

phone number with DREAM, please email

it to alumni@dreamprogram.org

today!

YOU: Hello? MENTORS: It’s the Annual

Alumni Appeal! YOU: I was expecting your

call! MENTORS: Will you help

us reach our goal of $50,000?

YOU: Yes!!! YOU: Yes!!!