Wake Robin

After Hours at Wake Robin

Wake Robin is an active, vibrant community offering many activities to suit the interests of our residents. After a busy day of living life on their own schedule, many people do a reset over dinner and decide how to spend the evening. Here is a sample of what was offered over the past few weeks.

Presentations

Laz Scangas – Grand Central Station

John Abele – The Collaboration Paradox

Wolfgang Mieder – The Government Of, By and For the People

Music offerings

Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival

Youth Opera Company of Vermont

The Stragglers Americana/Bluegrass String Band

Craftsbury Chamber Players Season Preview

Saturday Night Movies

In the Meeting Room on the big screen.

July titles included:

Driving Miss Daisy

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Brigadoon

80 for Brady

Cool Hand Luke 

When the day is done, and you’ve done the shopping, finished the appointments, and put the canoe away, Wake Robin after hours has plenty to offer.

It feels like life is an endless series of screens. It is difficult to break away from the digital world. On the other hand, it offers amazing opportunities for special connections. We asked a few Wake Robin residents how they use their internet pipelines to engage the world.

Geri A. gives talks to healthcare organizations on the various human aspects of healthcare such as disclosure of unanticipated outcomes, apology, communicating with angry people, informed consent, and the like. She regularly hosts virtual classes for UVM’s Olli program, and, for personal growth, Geri participates as a student in a series of classes in Buddhism being taught by a lama in Nepal.

Also pursuing peace of mind is Lucy B. who has been practicing daily meditation for 50 years! For the last 5 years, she has led a weekly international group of 25 regulars, half US/Canada, half UK, and one from Latvia. As a member of her international Christian meditation community, she also creates and runs its US national website, and manages its national Zoom platform.

Some professions have an international scope and digital communications are the key to making that possible. Bernie R. is a conductor who has worked with orchestras all over the world. He has a strong connection with classical musicians in Cuba and recently mentored a conducting student, living in Sweden, who is working to be accepted into a graduate program at the Royal Academy in London. From his home at Wake Robin, Bernie can help with the analysis of the score and critique technique, from Shelburne to Malmö!

We sometimes get asked, “How robust is the Wake Robin internet service?” It seems to be good enough to connect to the world!

It used to be that one of the major signs of spring in Vermont was the running of maple tree sap signaling the start of the sugaring season. Mother Nature has changed up her game in recent years and now the sap runs almost anytime from December through March.

John B. reports that the sugaring team at Wake Robin began collecting sap last December and they seem to be looking at a bumper-crop year. The sugar house at Wake Robin has a 300-gallon holding tank that has been full to the brim for the past several weeks. Resident volunteers take shifts to boil the sap transforming it into the glorious amber liquid we all love – Vermont-made maple syrup. The crew had a record day on March 3 when they drew off seven and a half gallons of Amber Rich. At a ratio of 40 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup, that’s a lot of boiling! Last week, total production crossed the 50-gallon mark.

Wake Robin maple syrup is allotted to the workers who make it, and some is designated for Dining Services where it is the main attraction at the annual Pancake Breakfast and Maple Ice Cream Social. The syrup is part of the welcome basket for new residents and is sometimes given as an honorarium to guest speakers.

We all see the picturesque, bright, and steamy sugarhouse with sap at full boil, but once the sap stops running and the syrup is bottled, there is plenty more to do. The task list for the off-season is extensive. There is the major cleanup of buckets and evaporating equipment, shifting wood to fill the woodshed for next season, doing maintenance and repair on the sap lines damaged by squirrels and wind, rinsing the lines twice during the year, and taking care of the numerous little things that show up during the season. According to John, “I’m happy to say that we do have a large and faithful group of Sugar Makers.”

Maple sugaring at Wake Robin is a rite of spring, a labor of love, and the rewards are very sweet!