FSGW Getaway
2006 Getaway

Friday to Monday, November 3 to 6, 2006
West River Conference Center (West River, MD)

Get away from it all, at the height of the autumn color season, and make music together with your neighbors and musicians from all over the world. (People last year came from as far away as Guam, Alaska, Iceland, England, and Israel.) Our new location at West River Conference Center (West River, MD) has heated facilities and flat terrain, and is on the shores of an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay. West River is a lovely spot with lots of inviting places to jam or sing, from first light to the wee hours.

To register, download and fill out the registration form. You'll need to mail it to our registrar, Dean Clamons (P.O. Box 217, Clifton, VA 22024-0217), along with payment. If you need a scholarship or price break, contact Charlie Baum, head of the Scholarship Committee. If you need to pay in foreign currency, contact Dick Greenhaus at Camsco to make arrangements.

For 2006, the dates are Friday afternoon, November 3rd, through Monday morning breakfast, November 6th.

Getaway?

For over 40 years FSGW has held its fall Getaway weekend so that members and friends can share music, stories, crafts and dance in a relaxed camp setting.

The Getaway is:

A chance to interact with the FSGW community and meet talented music lovers from our local area and from as far away as Great Britain, Alaska, and Israel.

Music-making under the trees, on the lawn, by the shore;

Group singing and jamming at its best;

A rich program of workshops with opportunities for learning, jamming, singing, crafts, and storytelling;

Trying a craft--quilting, basket-making, puppets, and mask-making have been highlights of past years;

Great food;

A terrific weekend for the whole family, with lots of special children's activities;

A wonderful chance for parents to introduce their kids to the magic of group singing and dancing--or to discover that magic for the first time themselves.

Our New Camp--West River

We've got a new space this year--we've changed to a camp that's heated, flat, closer to town, and more compact. The West River Conference Center (West River, MD) is run by the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. The West River Center is on the shore of an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay. If the weather is clear, you can watch a sunrise over the water. Because the West River Center didn't have any weekends in October where we could have the entire camp to ourselves, we've moved the weekend this year into the first weekend of November--but remember, we've got a heated facility, so shivering nights (and days) should be a thing of the past!

Heated Bedrooms--and More!

There are 50 bedrooms in 6 buildings. All bedrooms feature two bunk beds (two upper and two lower) with mattresses (bring your own pillows, bedding, and towels). All bedrooms feature controllable heat, and all accommodations are near good flush plumbing and hot showers (with separate mens and womens bathrooms in each building).

We've got five lodges and the "retreat center" building--each lodge contains 8 bedrooms centered around a common lounge, and the retreat center offers 10 bedrooms off of a hall, and a couple of common rooms. All bedrooms contain four beds--two upper bunks and two lower bunks. (There is only one exception--a sextuple with three upper and three lower bunks in the retreat center.) This may provide challenges to our housing arranger, and there are many people who are beyond the age or capabilities of managing their way into and out of an upper bunk, so we're going to ask those who can handle upper bunks to volunteer. We'll even give you a discount. If you cannot handle an upper bunk, or have further special needs, let us know on the registration form. If you wish to bring an RV, you may do so and guarantee your privacy, but there are no hook-ups, and you'll have to pay the same fees as those occupying a room, because that's what the camp charges us.

More Music Making Spaces

There are five lodges with common rooms for music making, a retreat center with one room to serve for registration and "the mall" (for crafts and CD sales), and another common room for music making, a "nature center" building suitable for larger gatherings, and the dining hall, with a view of the West River. There's a waterfront (though by November, it will be beyond the season for anything except viewing; families with small children are warned about the potential water hazard). Most of the buildings are wheelchair accessible, although three of the lodges still aren't.

We will designate one lodge as a quiet house, and keep its lounge quiet of music for people who want to nap at any hour. At least one lodge will be have a music-all-night common room, for people who want to "sleep" with the sound of partying. In addition, the nature center and dining room offer spaces for late-night music.

Closer to DC

West River is 45 acres of woodlands, natural wildlife areas and one mile of water front on the West River, an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay. It is just 19 miles south of historic Annapolis and within one hour's drive of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

For folks who remember Camp Letts, it's 10 miles from Camp Letts by car (and 5 miles by boat). Folks coming from Virginia and the South get off the Beltway onto Pennsylvania Avenue (MD4) near Camp Springs (Exit 11). Folks from the Northern suburbs of DC go out Route 50 to Annapolis and then South for about 19 miles. From Baltimore and BWI, I-97 leads south to Annapolis, and for folks from Delaware, New Jersey, and points North, you can go south in Delaware and cross the Bay Bridge (US 50) at Annapolis to bypass Baltimore. For detailed directions, click here.

Fees

We have rates for one, two, or three nights, and one for day-trippers who don't want to eat. (You MUST register in advance if you wish to dine!)

Getaway fees depend on whether you're an FSGW member or not, and whether you're an adult or a child. See the registration form for the fee that applies to you. Fees are determined by our actual costs to run this event--food, camp rental, etc. We try to keep them as low as possible, but the event needs to cover its costs--and the rates of the new camp will actually allow us to reduce fees a bit from last year, especially for children.

If you want to join the FSGW to take advantage of member rates, just download the membership form
(see http://ceimd.com/php/public.php?Org=fsgw&ProgramID=1&NoTitle=1&NoCats=1)
and fill it out and send it in along with your Getaway registration and enough payment to cover everything.

The weekend starts Friday evening with a potluck dinner. If you register for two nights, your registration fee covers three meals and a midnight snack both days on Saturday and Sunday. Three-night registration gives you an additional night's lodging and breakfast on Monday morning. One-night registration gives you all meals and snacks on either Saturday or Sunday and, if you wish, a bed on either adjacent night.

Thanks to the Linda Lieberman/David Olive Memorial Fund, scholarship help is available for those who need it. If you need full assistance, or a break on the price, contact Charlie Baum via e-mail or private message before you send in the registration. Contributions to replenish the fund are always welcomed and are tax-deductible! We hold a silent auction at the Getaway to help replenish the fund--you may wish to donate items to auction off to help others who can't afford the whole cost of the weekend.

A Couple of Policies

There is no smoking allowed in any of the camp buildings.
The camp is run by the Methodist Church, and we are asked not to bring any alcohol.

You can see more about the new location at its website.

Volunteer Help

We'll need volunteers to help set up on Friday, to welcome and register guests, to clean up after our Friday night potluck dinner, and to help make sure everything is in order when we check out.

In advance, we can also use help with programming. If you're interested in leading a workshop, suggesting a workshop, or organizing and scheduling events suggested by others, contact Carly Gewirz at 703-631-9655 or e-mail the Getaway Committee.

For more information please contact the 2006 Getaway Event coordinator Charles Baum, 706 Bonifant St., Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301-587-2286) or e-mail the Getaway Committee.