Hi dear Campers and Staff! This summer will be 8 years since The Rim Fire – hard to believe! It can feel like both a lifetime ago and also like yesterday that we were sitting by the Tuolumne River. The great news is the rebuilding is going well, on schedule, and the buildings are looking beautiful! In 2019, we learned exactly what insurance and FEMA would and would not cover in regards to the rebuilding effort. To fill this gap, we launched a one year Rebuilding Capital CAMPaign – and you responded magnificently and generously! These unfunded gaps include new shade structures to keep key areas in Main Camp cool, replanting and buying tall trees, restoring trails, and more. We are very happy to provide you with our detailed CAMPaign Report where you will see how much was raised, what we have been able to fund so far, and what is still yet to be funded. Remember that all projects must be professionally designed and engineered in order to pass insurance reviews and code regulations. What we can do with volunteers, we have done and will continue to do. We are very proud of our camper community and how you have made such a major difference in getting Camp back open for all of us to enjoy! There’s a ton of work ahead, in this next 11 months, to have Camp reopen as we remember it. This work includes replanting 22 acres with 6000 trees (including taller trees in Main Camp), clearing and rebuilding our trails, and supporting the City to reach new staff, mentoring them in the traditions, songs, art and culture of Camp. Yes, that is a lot of work…but we have confidence that together we can do anything. We are so grateful to each and every one of you who continue to support getting Camp reopened and back in our lives. In Camp Spirit, Scott   Scott Gelfand Executive Director Friends of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp 2021 Rebuilding Campaign Report

Announcements… what a crazy summer 2020 is for the planet, and we’re all missing CAMP! So we thought to bring you some camp spirit directly to your home – please JOIN us and we’ll all get through this summer together!

Fri August 14th 7pm – 8pm Table Night! We are still looking to sign up more family songs, skits, magic tricks, and parody’s, so email scott@fobtc.com right away to get on the list! We’ll email the zoom room details to everyone if this night is a go!

Sat Aug 22nd 10am – 11am Office Hours in the Green Chairs Circle! This week features our Traditions, Art, Activities, and Staff Mentoring Committee with Marcie Holmes, discussing plans to make sure Camp feels and sounds and has the same Tuolumne Spirit when we return after almost a decade away!

Sun Aug 23rd 6:30pm – 7:30pm CAMPfire! Join former staff members and bring your own smores as we sing the classics!

Hi campers and staff!!! In this summer of Covid 19, we pray your families and loved ones are safe and healthy. We are ALL missing our usual lives, and especially our glorious summers at Camp!

But we do have some good news to share – we can almost hear the Third Bell! The rebuilding of our beloved Berkeley Tuolumne Family Camp broke ground on May 26, 2020! Click here to view the drawings of new Camp Tuolumne. Read about the latest from the City of Berkeley here. In the seven years since the fire, campers and FOBTC tirelessly advocated and organized to bring Camp back, and now it’s happening!

The buildings and utilities will begin construction this summer.  We’re hoping for a next tree planting weekend with the USFS in mid-December (weather permitting). We’re buying trees and growing them already and hosting them at Mountain Sage Nursery in Groveland. We’re working with Camp architects Siegel and Strain on a new shade structure over the playground, and over the green circle of chairs. We’ve polled campers and staff as to what is important to them when we return to camp.

We’re hosting virtual Office Hours once a month in the Green Circle of Chairs (Zoom).. we’re organizing virtual Camp Spirit activities to bring Camp to your home this summer.. BINGO, Campfire, and Table Night.

But we know our work isn’t done unless Camp also feels like Camp again when it opens. We need to make sure the physical space comes alive with the traditions, spirit, and joy that is Camp Tuolumne.

So we’ve begun a new CAMPaign – The Third Bell CAMPaign – to raise support to make your vision for Camp a reality. The Friends have mapped out a 3-year strategic plan that will:

1. 1. Steward nature at Camp to provide beauty, shade, and safety. The fire drastically changed the landscape in and around Camp. We need to plant 10,000 more trees and revegetate 7 acres of riparian habitat, restore the trails around Camp, provide year-round caretaking to nurture our seedlings, and create a summer Nature Center to provide enriching environmental education to campers of all ages.
   2. Re-establish Camp traditions and support staff training, so that all campers feel like they’ve returned to the camp they love, with the songs, activities, art, and traditions they remember.
   3. Support inclusion and diversity of staff and campers, to reflect the values of the BTC community.
   4. Continue to support the rebuild with essential funds, advice, and partnerships with City, state, and federal agencies to enhance the camper experience.

Please check out our Third Bell CAMPaign page, and let us know how you may like to be involved. You can volunteer for our events, support with a contribution, attend our events and let us know your thoughts, and just cheer us on from the sidelines.. whatever works for you.

We look forward to hearing how we can support your love for camp!

Scotty

Executive Director

Friends of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp

Thank you to everyone who tuned in to the Virtual Happy Hour on May 21 to hear all the construction details from Liza McNulty, the City’s manager for the Camp rebuild project.

A big shout-out for the Chat pod! The enthusiasm and questions flooded in from about a hundred campers and staff. Liza, Steve, and Scott shared detailed design plans and fielded questions between sips of their favorite beverages.

Volleyball? Dinner Bell? Where will Arts & Crafts be? Will the Dining Hall overlook the river? What’s the plan for restoring vegetation? How long will the rebuild take? Stone showers? Accessibility? Parking? Where will staff housing be? Will the beaches be restored? They answered them all, and dozens more.

If you missed it, CLICK HERE FOR THE RECORDING. It’s worth the watch—it’s informative, it’s fun, it’s Camp!

We have great news to share! We are very excited to welcome the newest addition to the FOBTC team, Serena Fox!

Serena is on board to help guide the development and fundraising efforts to rebuild and reopen Camp Tuolumne as we move into the next stage of this journey to get back to the river together. Serena and her family are 20-year campers, and she is passionate about camp culture and the special role it played in her kids’ lives growing up. She has worked as a federal lobbyist and grant-writer for environmental organizations, and served two years as Associate Development Director for the Trust for Public Land, where she managed donor cultivation and capital campaigns. As a former content strategist and editorial director for Adobe and Pearson Education, Serena brings an expertise in social media and communications. We are thrilled to have her join our fundraising team!

Feel free to email her at serena@fobtc.com and welcome her to The Friends!