Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp - One Returnable at a Time

Last year as a sixth grader, I joined the Royal Oak Middle School orchestra. In trying out, the viola was the instrument that best suited me. My parents rented an instrument for me at McCourts Music, I had a few private lessons through the generosity of the PTA and was soon amongst nearly 75 or so sixth graders.

Through the year we learned how to play and perform different pieces of music but I didn't know how good my actual playing was. Then one day, I heard about a Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp representitive that would be holding auditions and ROMS for camp scholarships. I didn't want to go to camp but thought this would be a great way to determine my skill level.

I auditioned. Then a few weeks later a letter came in the mail but I didn't open it right away because I wasn't interested in going. I finally opened it abotu a week after it had arrived, and there was a scholarship to camp - for more than $450 of the tuition fee. WOW! I must be an ok violist if they thought that much of me. And then I actually thought about going to camp.

I checked out their literature and then found out that a lot of people from Michigan and around the US and the world come to Blue Lake. Now I wanted to go but I knew my family couldn't afford to send me.

So I decided to pay for it myself - by collecting returnable bottles and cans. We asked family and friends and I started filling up bags and my mom would scout the sides of the road on her way to work. My dad knew some newspaper reporters and he emailed Catherine Kavanaugh at the Daily Tribune. She was excited about my trying to pay my own way and wrote an article that appeared in the paper on Easter morning.

Our home phone began to ring. People from all over Oakland County wanted to help me. Some knew about the camp and had a personal connection to it. Others just simply wanted to help me because they thought it was a great cause.

So my mom and dad would take the calls and get directions to all these wonderful people's homes and we all started collecting cans and bottles from complete strangers who were all giving from their heart.

We kept loading my mom and dad's cars and travelling to Meijer with our treasures, cash them out and put the money in Our Credit Union in Royal Oak. My little sister, Anna, was so excited to help. Until one day she got a "beer shampoo" when trying to put in bottles that weren't quite empty. She still talks about it.

With so many generous people on board, I made my goal and collected nearly 13,000 cans and bottles. And my time at camp was awesome! I learned so much more and had a great time with my counselor and the other girls in our cabin. We worked really hard on our instruments and had time for fun as well. Singing camp songs and watching the counselors perform skits - it was really a great time.

So this year, I'm working my way back to Blue Lake and am looking for returnables. Mrs. Kavanaugh said she'd try to write another article for the Tribune and Mrs. Davids said I should add a blog here on the RoyalOak.Patch.com site. 

Would you like to help me go to Blue Lake? If you would like to donate cans or bottles to the cause, please call our home at (248) 435-4178 and leave a message. I can't wait to get back to Blue Lake and learn more and improve my musical abilities. 

Have you ever heard of Blue Lake before? The best way to learn more is to click on their website, www.bluelake.org. I'll update this blog and add pictures, hopefully. Right now school is really busy and I've had the flu. But I'm looking for returnables, do you have some to donate? I'd really appreciate it!

Thank you!