Dear LPC’ers and Friends,
This annual newsletter brings to you, our counselors, supporters and community members, information about and a report from the Christmas Conference 2018/19 (CC), the annual general meeting of LPC International. We would like to inform you about how it went.
The CC took place from December 26th to January 3rd at the Ecole d’Humanité in Hasliberg-Goldern, Switzeland.
This year’s participants were: Anne Bunckenburg, Tom Speirs, Laia Fabre, Debby Drew (representing the board), Natalie von Tscharner, Tom Kasebacher, Francesca Meme, Bruna Melis, Jesse Smith*, Nina Horakova, Julia Fiebig, Till Schwantes, Michiel Blumenthal, Becky Jiron, Ylva Sköndahl*, Terence McCormack, Travis McCoy Fuller*, Rose Cowan, Colin Townes Anderson, Tommaso Besozzi*, Mark Jordans, Katia Verreault, Tom Streit, Sonia Benenson, Fabienne Abuzanad*, Sayam Jordans**
* only there for part of the CC ** for the discussion on counselor participation
Cooks: Patrik Davidek, Kai Migliaccio
Babysitters: Nico Jacobs and Laurie Boissenin
COMMITTEES
Many people give their time, energy and skills to make LPC work. Along with the administrator, the treasurer, the directors, camp staffs, LPC Inc., support groups, etc., there are also several committees that take care of specific matters, on an ongoing (i.e. finances) or ad hoc (i.e. World Gathering) basis. As of the end of the CC they were: Excom (the Executive Committee), Fincom (finances), DIT (director training), TIGER, Online Information Storage, Sexual Consent, Website, Fundraising, Camper and Counselor participation at the CC, Strategic Plan, ECO Search, Database Search, GDPR, Endowment, Vans in the US.
REPORTING FROM 2018
We heard about the camps held the previous summer (Hegnes, Kiidi, YLI at Oriolo, Birch Point, Klino and Freedom), had reports from Excom, European Central Office (ECO), LPC Inc. (formerly “the Board”), the Fundraising Committee and several support groups (Swiss, SF Bay Area / US West Coast, British, Italian, Dutch and Hegnes), as well as from the World Gathering.
WORLD GATHERING
The WG was a great success and great fun thanks to everyone (a large group of people!) who helped to organize it, particularly Tomasz Chilarski, Sue Howells and KC Hill who orchestrated the whole event.
The actual event felt very short and was packed with activities, but it was felt that it’s better to have people leave wanting more rather than feeling that the whole thing should have been a day shorter.
A good amount of money was raised for camp by charging only a modest amount per person.
A lot of people really put in a lot of extra time (Putz, EP, Shop etc..) to make it all work smoothly.
SUMMER 2019
In 2019 we will have camps in Freedom (for younger campers), Birch Point (older campers), Hegnes (older), Klino (younger), Kiidi (younger), Ecole d’Humanité (older) and a Hiking Camp in the Pyrenees (older).
The process of making up the camps for the following summer is a complex exercise that requires checking the available sites, deciding who is going to direct, where and with whom (for camps with more than one director), and then selecting the staffs and camper groups. This is quite time consuming, and is spread out over several days. Many times the directors meet alone, while the rest of the participants meet in committees or take care of other jobs. One such job is the selection of the camper groups for each camp, in which we strive to make diverse groups that make sense for each camp, while taking account of everyone’s holiday dates, travel possibilities, etc.
The hiking camp was only finalised after the end of the CC because the directors needed to check French regulations to make sure we would be allowed to do a camp in this format in France.
We also selected the counselors who are going to be trained in-camp in order to become directors, and the directors who will train them.
OPERATIONAL
We had a string of discussions on different points having to do with how we run the camps and our organization.
We are looking at how we can reduce our carbon footprint, especially in relation to travel (flying, car use). Julia Fiebig will bring information to the next CC in order to continue this discussion on a more knowledgeable basis next year.
The new website is now online, after much work by Joe and others. During the CC Debby and Michiel collected feedback from participants in order to finalize it, and translators were found for the last translations needed. The CC approved the final version before it went live.
Vans in Birch Point and Freedom: we are moving towards no longer owning the vehicles for the US campsites, and renting them instead. This would be more environmentally friendly for several reasons. This year we are renting vehicles on a trial basis to fine-tune the process, with the goal of selling the remaining vehicles in the near future.
A fairly intense discussion tackled issues related to the archive we keep, with documents going back to the begginning of LPC in 1949. The archive is now housed at the Ecole d’Humanité, which made a commitment, during this CC, to keep it on their premises at least for the time being. We need clear rules about which documents to keep and how to regulate access to them, balancing people’s right to privacy with the importance of making the historical record available to researchers. This discussion will continue in the future and for now access is limited to exceptional circumstances.
We also discussed aspects of our director training process, and matters related to medical forms the campers have to take to camp, pre-camp training of staff, evaluation of directors, information about the Ecole d’Humanité given in camp, our sexual harassment policy, the risk assessment form directors have to fill out at the beginning of each camp, our database, drones in camp (not to be encouraged!), background checks for staff and some other minor points.
ORGANIZATIONAL
The Christmas Conference Report 2017-18 was formally approved.We thanked Michiel Blumenthal for his term on Excom, which came to an end after three years, and appointed Tommaso Besozzi as the new member, for a three-year term.
Camper participation at CC
A comprehensive discussion on camper participation in the CC was held. Sayam Jordans had taken the feedback and comments from CC 17/18 to Klino ‘18, where he took them to the campers. The idea is to have a camper committee, or a committee of campers and counselors, who would have a degree of participation in the Christmas Conference. This committee would report on the camps from a camper perspective, bring up points and take part in discussions.
Several questions were raised in Klino and at the CC on how this could be implemented in practical terms and on what would be the precise purpose of this committee. The Christmas Conference took a positive view and it was decided that Natalie von Tscharner and Sayam will work on it and bring a more concrete concept to CC 19/20.
ECO Administrator Position
LPC’s European Central Office (ECO), housed at the Ecole d’Humanité, provides a great deal of the administrative work that is necessary to run LPC. Sonia Benenson, who has been in charge of ECO for many years, is now nearing retirement, and her successor must be found.
In connection with this, our relationship with the Ecole d’Humanité also comes into play. Our bond with the Ecole is old and deep, and we must take care to nurture it. But while united by this bond, which has been invaluable to LPC, we also realise that we are two separate organizations which make adult decisions about how they relate to each other.
We had a wide-ranging discussion on the relationship between LPC and the Ecole and the transition to a new administrator for ECO. A committee was created to finalize the job description and initiate the search for the person who will continue Sonia’s work, based on input from Sonia and Excom as well as from the Christmas Conference.
During CC, Excom met with Katja Braun (Director of the Ecole) to further discuss options and sign an updated LPC-Ecole cooperation agreement. The Ecole reaffirmed its willingness to continue to house ECO and to combine the function of ECO administrator with the job of an Ecole staff member, allowing us to orient our search toward a person who will take a position in the Ecole in which they will dedicate a certain number of hours to the running of ECO.
GDPR
A committee was formed to ensure LPC complies to the relevant provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.
Commitment to Freedom
This year’s Christmas Conference provided an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the camp house in Freedom and to acknowledge and appreciate the role of LPC Inc. (formerly “the Board”) within our larger organization (officially “LPC International”). This summer will be the 60th (in a row) in which we hold a camp in the beloved house on Moulton Road, which is entirely owned by LPC Inc. and painstakingly maintained for the sole purpose of hosting LPC camps. On this it was noted that the twice-yearly Work Weekends are valuable beyond their primary purpose of taking care of maintenance work on the house, as LPC activities that bond many people to our organization and its ideals.
Mission Statement
As a result of a lot of work done in the past three years, the mission statement committee was able to submit a final wording for approval at CC: “Luethi Peterson Camps promotes understanding through international summer camps where young people of diverse backgrounds build community and establish lasting friendships.”
It was easily approved without any changes, after acknowledging that it is in the nature of a mission statement to be short and general. Nevertheless, during the discussion many people pointed out how deep and true its simple wording rings to our ears and reverberates in our hearts. Reflecting on the ways in which this simple statement expresses what we hold dear in LPC was a beautiful moment in the conference.
Strategic Plan
After a decision to make a strategic plan, from CC 14/15, had remained dead letter, this year the Fundraising Committee (Fundcom) raised the matter again, because having such a plan in place would help us raise funds with potential donors who find it a helpful yardstick to decide who they want to fund.
We discussed the pros and cons of investing time and resources to draw up such a plan, agreeing that it should not merely be a gesture to attract donors but help us to structure our goals for the future, and that it must reflect and respect the uniqueness of LPC. We took time to gather input from the group, to be fed into the development of this plan.
A committee was created and tasked with designing and carrying out a process that will produce a strategic plan for LPC, to be presented for consideration to the next Christmas Conference, in 2019-20. An amount of money was budgeted that the committee will be able to draw from to meet expenses in creating the strategic plan, with the understanding that it will strive to contain costs and obtain any necessary financing from outside sources if possible.
Next CC Dates
The Christmas Conference 2019/2020 will take place from December 27th (starting at dinner) to January 4th (ending at putzpause).
FINANCIAL
The financial discussions and decisions were as follows:
- We decided to move the money held in our investment account to an investment fund that is more ethical and sustainable.
- The World Gathering raised CHF 16,300. We decided to put this money into the LPC general fund, to be used toward all aspects of running LPC, including counselor travel, reduced tuition and supporting newcomers’ participation in LPC.
- We clarified the rules concerning travel assistance for CC support staff (cooks and babysitters).
- We accepted the report from the auditors who reviewed our finances.
- We accepted the financial report for 2018 and approved the budget for 2019.
- We set the 2020 tuition as follows: deposit EUR 290; reduced tuition EUR 225; full tuition EUR 290; sponsorship tuition EUR 356.
- We reviewed the procedure for allocating counselor travel assistance.
- We discussed a proposal to set up an endowment fund for LPC, where money raised and put into it would accrue interest to be used for various forms of financial assistance (scholarships for newcomers and other persons in need, counselor travel, etc.). We decided that this in principle is a good idea, and Fundcom will look further into it and bring a proposal to CC 19/20.
We rounded up our conferencing with two rounds of evaluation, one to express what could have been different and another of highlights. One of the frustrations expressed was that the schedule seemed even tighter than in previous conferences, perhaps due to how much time it took to finalise the camps for 2019, which meant that for the many people involved in this process (directors and those assisting them) the pace was especially demanding, with very few breaks.
This did not mean that we didn’t have moments of fun, such as folkdancing (see the picture on the first page), singing, evening games and of course the New Year’s Eve party, all of which were mentioned among the highlights of the conference, along with many moments and achievements during the conferencing itself.
To conclude, I would like to apologize for sending the newsletter so late in the year, mostly my (Tommaso’s) fault. Hopefully it’s not an entirely bad time to receive it, just before the camps start in seven sites across Europe and North America, where for a few weeks at a time the melody of Good Night to You All will mark the close of each day.
Love to all, camp-bound or not,
Nina, Francesca and Tommaso
June 2019
The camps in photos
Take a look at photo’s from camps that happened:
Read More
World Gathering 2018
On October 29th the Dutch Support Group gathered for the annual post-camp meeting. With everyone from new faces to campers and counsellors, and from parents to directors present we had another lovely afternoon. We ate, chatted, folkdanced, played chess and frisbee. Luckily our rendition of ‘Mayim’ did not turn our day into a rainy one. We hope to see you at our coming pre-camp meeting!
Armin Tribute
Armin Lüthi Peterson
22. January 1927 – 10. September 2013
ARMIN LÜTHI, remembered
Armin Lüthi , Natalie Lüthi-Peterson’s husband of 59 years, died of cancer September 10th at his home in the Ecole d’Humanité. With him were his four children, Doey, Molly, Chris and Piet.
There are so many ways to remember Armin. Although music was his first passion, he was, first and foremost, an educator. He taught math but he saw teaching opportunities everywhere. There are scores of Ecole students who remain convinced that Armin loved to peel potatoes. Every morning he would peel the Lüthi family’s allotment of potatoes with great enthusiasm (and speed). Potato by potato he proved to students that work could be fun, that menial tasks were beneath no-one, and the value of everyone working together.
What Armin explicitly did NOT want his legacy to be was that of a wise man, which he felt was not at all an accurate reflection. The wise man image may be tough to erase. For one thing, many of his friends, family and former students have a favorite Armin quote that could be construed as wisdom. My favorite is, “There is no bad food. There is only insufficient garlic!” (He once told me he had never said half the things people said he did!)
Rather than providing answers, Armin asked questions. He defined his own role, both in the Ecole and in LPC as that of “Palace Fool” (his term.) By this he meant that he was simply the one holding up the mirror so that truth would be reflected back. At LPC meetings, he would listen to campers and counselors talk glowingly about their wonderful camp experiences, and then he would ask, “But what was terrible in your camp?” Because only in thinking about what had not gone well, could LPC continue to improve. When directors at the Christmas Conference would report how much fun the kids had had, Armin asked, “Is that enough? Is LPC just a place for children to have fun?” He wasn’t being critical – like Natalie, he often marveled at the impact of LPC on campers’ lives. He felt it was his job to get us to continue to think about the whys and the hows, so that we would keep trying to do better.
When we remember Armin we will remember his violin and his years and years of leading singing. He loved to sing himself and spent several summers singing with the Europa Cantat, but what we will always cherish is the music he shared with us. When we sang well he was satisfied. When we sounded terrible, he had us try again the next day. He was a demanding taskmaster but one with great humor. His facial expressions alone could convulse students. And he inspired us to make music a bigger part of our lives.
Armin and Natalie were a team, working together on their own family, on LPC and on the Ecole all of their lives. That they could do all three at the same time with such fantastic results is a formidable life’s achievement. The stories of the challenges they faced, the people they worked with and the educational methods they pioneered could fill several volumes. For those who have been lucky enough to know both of them, they filled our hearts.
– Gigi Wizowaty
[:en] .
NATALIE LÜTHI-PETERSON
FEBRUARY 26, 1926 – NOVEMBER 23, 2012
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Natalie Lüthi-Peterson, the founder of LPC, died November 23, 2012, in Goldern, the place that she loved, with the family and friends that she loved. By now, Natalie’s life story is familiar to most of us, whether we knew her personally or not. How as an idealistic college student on her junior year abroad she came up with a plan (together with college friend Pavey Lupton) to help heal the wounds of World War II by starting an international summer camp. How she met and married Armin Lüthi and began teaching at the Ecole d’Humanité in Switzerland, eventually to co-direct the school with Armin. How she raised four of her own kids (Piet, Chris, Molly and Doey) and countless others at the Ecole. How she started a rich and wonderful tradition of Shakespeare, challenged traditional gender roles with men’s and women’s groups, taught hundreds of seniors the art of effective writing, and all the while nurturing LPC and running camps herself every summer until the 1980s. In 1949 when LPC began, there was still a strong edict that women who worked outside the home could never have happy family lives! Natalie did it all.
When we think of Natalie, we think of her animated demonstration of Prospero to a budding Shakespearean, her slapping her leg with enthusiasm at a new idea in an LPC conference, her war on the slugs in her garden, her finding the humor in a tense situation. We think of her talking with exasperation of a difficult colleague and how that would immediately be followed with, “but he’s so terrific at such and such!” We think of her listening intently to visitor after visitor and her interest in hearing of their lives, their children, their parents.
If it is impossible to imagine LPC without Natalie, it is because LPC is an organization that embodies all the character traits that made up Natalie herself. If you read through the hundreds of Facebook comments that are now pouring in from former and current LPCers, you will see repeatedly, “Natalie believed in me and made me feel like I could do things I hadn’t thought I could.” “She trusted us, and so we rose to the occasion.” As a true educator, Natalie believed in learning by experience. But just as importantly, she never thought there was just one way to get something done. Whether it was lack of ego, a rare open-mindedness, or something she was not even conscious of, these are extraordinary qualities with long range consequences. And they have become embodied in LPC. LPC as an organization allows campers and counselors the space to try leading a new activity, or to sing a solo, or hike up a mountain. Camp assemblies create the opportunity for addressing problems for which there may be many solutions. Counselors are entrusted by directors with huge responsibilities. LPC is, in fact, Natalie.
A number of years ago, LPC’s Christmas Conference of directors began to worry how the organization would continue without Natalie’s leadership. Natalie herself was unconcerned (“You’ll figure it out!”) but was probably also relieved at the forming of the LPC Ex-Com, a rotating trio of directors which for years now has served as LPC’s final authority when the Christmas Conference is not in session. (It should be noted here that we decided it would take three directors to replace Natalie!)
In the coming months, LPC directors and the Lüthi family will suggest a way that Natalie’s memory can best be honored, and those who want to will have a chance to contribute or help. Natalie was never comfortable with the outpouring of gratitude expressed by parents and kids who loved LPC. She seemed amazed each and every time someone told her how much LPC had meant to them. But this remarkable woman made an extraordinary contribution. Maybe she would have allowed us all to say one last time, Thank you, Natalie. You changed our lives.
– Gigi Wizowaty
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Luethi-Peterson Camps, Inc.
holds the distinction of being Natalie Luethi-Peterson (LPC’s founder)’s original support group in the United States, and does a large amount of work to ensure that camps are successful in the U.S. in support of LPC International and keeps up the sites in Freedom and Birch Point.
To contact us see below:
Email: board@lpcinc.org
LPC inc. website:
The Board’s LPC Store: cafepress.com/luethipetersoncampstore
To contact the US West Coast Support Group please see below:
Sara Bartholomew
3696 19th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
USA
Email: sara.bartholomew@gmail.com
To contact the Swiss Support Group please click below:
Email: SwissSupportGroup@gmail.com
To contact the Swedish Support Group please click below:
Frida Ahlsved Email: frida.tiden@gmail.com
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