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Enchanted Hills Camp

Ride Like the Wind and Support Enchanted Hills – Register for Cycle for Sight 2014

Register now for Napa Rotary’s Cycle for Sight 2014.

When: Saturday, April 26, 2014. The first ride starts at 8:00 a.m.
Where: Starts and ends at Justin Siena High School, 4026 Maher Street, Napa

During the festival enjoy wine tasting from Napa Valley wineries, beer tasting from local microbreweries and local cuisine from Napa Valley restaurants, all while listening and dancing to the sounds of “Pride and Joy”.

Sign up at www.cycle4sight.com to ride as a cyclist for Team LightHouse and enjoy the beauty of scenic Napa and the challenge of a 15, 25 or 50 mile route with 2,000 other cyclists.

Proceeds support Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind. Raise pledges for every mile you ride through the Cycle for Sight website. The Napa Rotary’s goal this year is to raise a total of $100,000.

Ride Tandem for Team LightHouse
Last year Team LightHouse had the largest number of tandems in the ride in history. Let’s break our own record in 2014. Interested in piloting a tandem bike for a blind stoker? Or are you a blind stoker in need of a pilot? Contact Tony Fletcher via email at afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7319 to join Team LightHouse today.

Reservations Now Available Online for Summer Sessions at Enchanted Hills

Many campers set their calendars for the beginning of February, when the LightHouse starts taking reservations and deposits for our summer sessions. Last year our sessions were so popular they sold out well in advance. With our new online reservation system, signup is quicker and easier than ever. So if you want to reserve your place this summer, click the link below to get to the 2014 applications and forms, and reserve as soon as you can.

Just go to our Enchanted Hills Camp webpage.

Native Culture, New Trails and Where the Wealthy Go to Be Seen – Enchanted Hills Retreat and Mt. Veeder: The History Will Fascinate You

Enchanted Hills has a rich and intriguing history. This is the first of six segments on Enchanted Hills Retreat, where we will feature the natural history, local attractions, winery spotlights and culinary delights of the area. Here we touch on the history of Mt. Veeder, the Wappo Tribe, later settlers, a summertime resort and the makings of a world renowned wine appellation.

For many centuries, Mt. Veeder was inhabited by the Wappo Indians who subsisted off the plentiful wild game and plants of the area. Spear points and stone implements from their civilization are still occasionally recovered in the area. The Native American word for elk was “Lokoya”, a word that remains in use today in the name of one of the few roads on the mountain, and at Enchanted Hills where our lake is still called Lokoya Lake.

Loggers were the first Europeans to come to the area. In the 1800’s a sea captain, Stalham Wing, initiated plans for a stagecoach trail up the eponymously named Wing Canyon. At one time the trail was wide enough to accommodate a four-horse stagecoach. The old stagecoach route can still be traversed through the wilds of Enchanted Hills. Wing is also credited with the birth of viniculture on the mountain where in the 1860’s he grew and produced the first wines of the mountain. The higher elevations of the mountain were the domain of sheep and their shepherds. One of the oldest buildings of Mt. Veeder still standing is an old sheepherder’s shelter that is now the stone tasting room at the Mayacamas Vineyard.

Later in the century the area became known as the Napa Redwoods, a destination for well-healed people from San Francisco who traveled by train, ferry, buggy and stagecoach to the Lokoya Lodge, a seasonal resort. Just like today, the dappled light and plentiful springs offered a haven from the bustling pace of daily life.

There’s much more for you to discover. Are you looking for a location full of history, great amenities and natural beauty for a group get-together? Enchanted Hills is the most affordable retreat setting in wine country. To reserve Enchanted Hills for your family reunion, church group or corporate off-site with 20 to 120 attendees, please call (415) 694-7310 or go to www.enchantedhillsretreat.com.

Old postcard showing a drawing of Lokoya Lodge

You are invited to a very special Community Event at Enchanted Hills Camp: Author Cecelia Setty Speaks about Mt. Veeder’s History

Author Cecelia Setty will speak about the fascinating history of Mt. Veeder and the original Mt. Veeder Resort which is now home to Enchanted Hills.

When: Sunday, February 9, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Enchanted Hills Camp
Refreshments will be served
RSVP to afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org

Cecelia Setty

Grape grower Cecelia M. Setty has published two books on Napa’s history. “The Mount Veeder Resort” is about our very own mountain and “Atlas Peak” is about her family’s’ 90 year old ranch. Cecelia was born in Salinas, California and is a descendant of early pioneer families that settled in Napa in 1863-1866.

More About Mt. Veeder
You can also listen to a podcast of Hope Sinclair talking about growing up on the property that is now Enchanted Hills. Hope Sinclair’s father bought the land in 1927 and operated a boy’s camp there for more than 20 years. Hope herself spent much of her girlhood at camp in the 1930′s and 1940′s and developed a detailed love for the nature and history of the place. Listen to her stories of wild fire, a variety of tenacious mountain folk and the use of the land by a Blind Boy Scout troop from Berkeley years before it was purchased by Rose Resnick to open the first camp for the blind in the west coast in 1950. The podcast is found here at http://lbvi.staging.wpengine.com.com/blog/hope-sinclair-interview-august-6-2012-part-1-of-2/

For more information about Enchanted Hills Retreat, please call (415) 694-7310 or go to www.enchantedhillsretreat.com.

Gill Concerts Raise Over $7,000 for Enchanted Hills Special Needs Session

For many years now, beloved former Menlo School teacher Steve Gill, his daughter Anne and a team of talented current and former Menlo School students and faculty, have treated us to two evenings worth of songs by great American songwriters. This year their theme was “Kern and Cahn go to Hollywood” as they performed songs written by Sammy Cahn and by Jerome Kern that were used in various Hollywood films. Wonderful songs such as Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (from the film Roberta), Ol’ Man River (from Showboat) and The Way You Look Tonight (from Swing Time). Steve made the evening even more interesting by giving the audience a little bit of background on each song.

Steve, Anne and “Annie’s Friends” as the group is called, make these performances possible in order to raise funds for the Enchanted Hills Camp Special Needs session. In 1997, shortly after Anne graduated from high school, she was in a near-fatal car accident that left her blind and brain injured. After a long rehabilitation period, the Gill Family found out about the Enchanted Hills session for blind adults who also have other disabilities and Anne began attending. Soon after they began to fundraise for the Enchanted Hills session, and they have now raised over $86,000.

We offer our profound gratitude to Steve and Nancy Gill, Anne and all of “Annie’s Friends” for the great shows they put on to support us.

If you would like to donate to Enchanted Hills Camp, you can do so online at http://bit.ly/donatelh.

Join our Team – the LightHouse is Hiring Camp Counselors

Are you attracted to helping blind youth and adults grow in their abilities, skill and self-confidence? Perhaps you attended camp, and have experienced the life-changing power of Enchanted Hills firsthand? Then perhaps this summer you might want to join our spirited camp in the rolling Napa foothills and have some fun while doing a whole lot of good.

For 64 years Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind has hosted hundreds of blind California youth and adults in summertime camp sessions. Sprawling across 311 idyllic acres on Mt. Veeder in Napa, Enchanted Hills Camp is a place for blind children to explore and create, gain courage, try new things, learn about the environment and make lifelong friends. The wooded camp offers all the usual summertime activities from swimming to horseback riding, from sports to art. But beyond the summertime fun is a powerful agenda – to increase the self-confidence and self-respect of campers who may often have no other time in the year to meet blind friends and role models who are successful and living an actualized life. Your job will be to make sure campers grow in their own potential while at the same time have a summer experience which is powerfully fun and engaging.

We’re looking for people who know how to build camp spirit and contagiously involve all campers in trying new activities, sports and blindness techniques. You are not required to know much about blindness when you start, but we expect that you will quickly learn much about the can-do spirit and techniques which all successful blind people use. Or you may be blind or visually impaired yourself. So whether your background or interest is in education, psychology, rehabilitation, crafts or sports, if you think you can bring your spirit and knowledge to bear on inventing the best camp ever, we want to hear from you.

Camp counselors are part of a 20-person counseling team. Camp runs from June 23 through August 3. If you are interested in having a fun filled summer at a storied camp, applications are now available. Let us hear from you soon. Our application period closes on March 30, 2013. For further information contact Tony Fletcher, Enchanted Hills Camp Director at (415) 694-7319 or afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org.

Enchanted Hills Camp Staff

LightHouse News – Winter 2014

Newsletter of the LightHouse for the Blind & Visually Impaired

Enchanted Hills Summer Music Academy, Cycle for Sight Registration, Chris Downey Appointed to California Commission on Disability Access, Braille Challenge, Employment Immersion Successes, and more…

Spotlight on Napa: Nature and Culture at Enchanted Hills Retreat

Over the next six months we will publish a series of columns about Enchanted Hills that will give you even more reasons to choose our retreat for your group of 30 to 150. Features will focus on:

  • The History of Enchanted Hills from the Mayacamas Indians through the stage coach days until the current day.
  • Flora and Fauna of Mt. Veeder that make the retreat a nature-lovers haven.
  • A Mycologists Dream – a look at the Mushrooms of Mt. Veeder. When the rain falls, shaggy manes, king trumpets, boletus and candy caps are some of the fungi that sprout along the mountain trails.
  • Wine Exploration – an exploration of the wineries and wine makers that make Mt. Veeder a world renowned appellation. Mayacamas, Hess and Godspeed are some of renowned vintner neighbors.
  • Family Exploration – Napa is a great destination for all ages with activities to thrill all of the members of the family. Race your way to Sonoma Speedway, kayak on the Napa River or take a bike tour of Napa Valley back roads.
  • What’s Happening in Napa Valley? – a focus on special events in Napa County throughout the year. Perhaps you’d like to catch a film at the Napa Valley Film Festival, ride 50 miles in Cycle for Sight, or find your bliss at the Napa Valley Truffle Festival?
  • How you can help: Reserve Enchanted Hills for your yoga retreat, family reunion, church group, conference, wedding or other gathering. All proceeds from Enchanted Hills Retreat support our life-changing programs for the blind.

For more information about Enchanted Hills Retreat, please call (415) 694-7310 or go to www.enchantedhillsretreat.com.

View of beautiful Lokoya Lake through the trees

Neighbors Gather at Enchanted Hills

We want to thank the Dry Creek Lokoya Volunteer Fire Department for hosting this year’s Community Holiday Party at Enchanted Hills. The lodge was full of joyful neighbors, family and friends enjoying Celtic music and delicious food for this holiday celebration.

Thanks to these additional partners and contributors:
The Friends of Enchanted Hills
The Mount Veeder Stewardship Council
The Mount Veeder Fire Safe Council
Zaro’s Christmas Trees on Redwood Road

Dry Creek Lokoya Volunteer Fire Department logo

Redwood Stage at Enchanted Hills – We’re Nearly There

For half a year Napa Kiwanis members have surveyed, planned and now built the performance stage in our emerging Redwood Grove Theater. Their generosity in building the space in the cold of winter will be seen as summer campers enjoy the area as a cool shaded retreat from the summer heat.

If you and your special group would like to volunteer to work at Enchanted Hills Camp, contact Tony Fletcher at 415-694-7319 or afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org.

The redwood stage

Kiwanis Club of Greater Napa members Theresa Comstock and Ralph Giannini putting together the final touches of our new Redwood Grove stage at Enchanted Hills.