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Cullen McGough

Best Present Ever

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This time of year is filled with nostalgia, thanks and gift-giving. We decided to ask folks at Chewonki: “What was the best present you ever received?” Here’s a few of our favorite answers:

“A corn-hole (bean-bag toss) set in 2004. This sturdy Cincinnati sports team set is still around and gets great use. It spent many busy summers at Boys Camp.”

– Keith Crowley, Director of Educational Partnerships

 

“Last year my oldest brother gave me gift cards to my four favorite coffee shops in Portland. He knows how much I love hanging out in coffee shops. ”

– Sophia (Semester 59 student from Casco Bay High School, Portland, Maine)

 

“My Millennium Falcon toy was the perfect spaceship vehicle for creative play with all my Star Wars figures. Han, Chewbacca, Luke, and Leia could all fit into the ship, and I created adventure after adventure, occupying my imagination for hours on end. I still have it in the attic at my parents’ house.”

-Garth Altenburg, Boys Camp Director

 


“I have an uncle who won’t ever let me forget how excited I was at about seven years old when I opened up a really cool helmet that had all kinds of lights and buttons on it. It was called the Super Helmet Seven. I loved wearing that thing.” 

– Greg Shute, Vice President

“My first mummy bag–an extra-long. My parents gave it to me when I was in college. I’m about six feet tall and I had trouble with previous sleeping bags. Either my shoulders got chilly or I had to stay partially curled up all night long. In this one, I could actually stretch my legs out. Fantastic.

– Shelly Gibson, Team Development Coordinator

“A Fuller bit set used for pre-drilling and countersinking screws. I had used these bits working on wooden boats. My wife’s dad gave me a full set in a wooden case and had wood-burned my name on top.”

– Carob Arnold, Facilities Manager

 

“I got a super-cool red scooter way back when. It was the best. I immediately went outside and rode around the street with it. My brother got a bike that year and we spent the whole day outside.”

– Chris Percy, Spanish Teacher, Maine Coast Semester

“My mom rented a baby grand piano for six months of my senior year of high school when I was deep into college auditions and playing at lots of competitions and exams. Normally, I played on our very old, very plunky upright piano that we got for a few hundred dollars when I started taking lessons in elementary school.”

– Hilary Crowell, Assistant Farm Manager

“A BMX bike. We were only the second family on our hill [in Cork, Ireland] to get one. I had to share it with my brother and sister, but I was so excited. It snowed that Christmas. It never snows in Cork–but it did that year, so we had to practice riding in the hall of our house.”

-Carol James, Housekeeping & Facilities

“My younger sister, Louisa, knit this wool hat for me about five years ago. I love it. During the winter I wear it inside and outside. I often wear it on the job in the kitchen. It’s warm and stylish.”

–Bill Edgerton, Kitchen Manager

 

“The year I turned 18, my parents gave me a two-person tent. Not only was it an incredibly practical gift for me, a budding outdoorswoman and trip leader, but it held a significance similar to that of a car–it was a gift supportive of my independence and maturity.”

-Emily Bell-Hoerth, Teacher, Grades 3-4, Chewonki Elementary School

“My favorite gift was our yellow lab, Riley. He turned 12 this year and is an awesome dog. My dad got him on Christmas Eve outside a grocery store called Kroger in my hometown of Lapeer, Michigan.”

–Austin Muir, Waypoint Coordinator

 

“Two tickets to a Justin Bieber concert, one for me and one for a good friend I usually only saw in the summer. We had such a good time!”

–Lucy (Sem 59 student from the Chapin School, New York, New York)

 

Mia: “My first really good sleeping bag. Great present. I was so excited.”  Cali: “I can’t think of anything right away…” Mia: “Remember the drum set you got?” Cali: “Oh, yeah! That was fantastic.” Mia: “I was so jealous. It was such a huge present!”

– Mia Salinas (Drew School, San Francisco, California) and Cali Salinas (The Bay School, San Francisco, California) (Sem 59 students and twins)

 

“When I was 12, I got a black boom box with a double cassette deck and a CD player–really state-of-the-art at the time. I also got a Bruce Springsteen box set, and I remember going into my room, loading those CDs, blasting Springsteen, and feeling so cool.”

-Willard Morgan, President

 

“My telescope. I had always been interested in the stars…A close second would be my trampoline. I had been saving to buy one myself and had $20 left to go, but on Christmas, someone said, ‘That present has your name on it.’ It was just a little box with a spring inside; the trampoline was sitting right outside the house.”

– Fer (Sem 59 student  from the Westminster Schools, Atlanta, Georgia)

 

“Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album! I had a little suitcase record player and I loved Elton John. I was maybe five or six years old.”

-Angie Klein, Health Center Nurse

 

“Space Camp. I asked my parents if I could go to Space Camp and they said yes. Unbelievable. I stood under an Apollo-class rocket rocket bigger than anything you can imagine. Science!”

– Cullen McGough, Director of Communications

 

“An amazing wood rocking horse I got when I was two!”

-Olivia Lukacic, Senior Outdoor Educator, Science

 

“A handsome carrot from the farm for my nose.”

– Semester 59 Snowman

Wilderness First Aid/Wilderness First Responder Course at Chewonki

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Would you be able to respond to a medical emergency without access to a hospital or ambulance —be it on a remote wilderness trip, backcountry skiing, a city in crisis, or in an airplane?

Wilderness medicine training enables individuals to deal with medical emergencies when dialing 911 is not an option. Traditional training assumes that an ambulance will arrive on scene very quickly, with highly trained personnel and their equipment. But in the wilderness, your own actions may be the only medical care the patient receives for several hours or longer. Knowing what to do, and how to improvise with the items you have at hand is critical.

Chewonki, located in Wiscasset, is sponsoring a Wilderness Advanced First Aid Course January 3-6 and a Wilderness First Responder Bridge Course January 7-10. Students may enroll in both courses to become certified as a Wilderness First Responder. 

Wilderness Medical Associates® is the leader in medical training for outdoor educators, guides, SAR team members, and others who work or play in remote areas. The curriculum is comprehensive and practical, including all of the essential principles and skills required to assess and manage medical problems in isolated and extreme environments.
 
Graduates will receive WAFA or WFR certification by Wilderness Medical Associates®, valid for three years, as well as Basic Life Support/ CPR and anaphylaxis certification.
 
Professional instructors from Wilderness Medical Associates®, the leader in wilderness and rescue medical training, will address these issues and more.  The instructors are practicing medical professionals with substantial backcountry resumes.
 
Classes are fast-paced with an emphasis on practical skills. Mornings are devoted to lectures while afternoons are spent outside doing hands-on learning exercises. Realistic simulations, complete with fake wounds and stage blood, will be conducted. All simulations will be video taped and debriefed for enhanced learning.

Graduates from this course will have the knowledge and skills to understand what to do in a medical emergency and the confidence to do it.

Each  course costs  $430 and includes all course materials, room and board is also availble for an additional cost.  For more information or to register for this course please contact: Greg Shute, Vice President at Chewonki Foundation (207) 882-7323 and trips@chewonki.org.
 
Call toll-free, 888/WILDMED or log on to www.wildmed.com for detailed course description and information about wilderness medicine.

Chewonki Holiday Sale for Friends & Family

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Need that perfect something for that perfect someone?

For one week only (now until Friday, Dec. 15), we’re having a sale on all Chewonki store merchandise: 10% off all items!

Use the discount code: CHEWONKI at checkout to receive 10% off!

Shop Now

We have all kinds of new and classic Chewonki gear:

Hats (four colors):

Ski Caps:

Frisbees:

Sweatshirts:

Chewonki-raised yarn:

And much more!

Check out all holiday sale items at the Chewonki Store

Hunting & Fishing Licenses are Available Online

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The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is helping you get ready for the sporting seasons by making its Hunting and Fishing licenses available online! The department’s online licensing system – MOSES – gives you the convenience of purchasing from home and the ability to print out multiple copies of your license when you need them. By purchasing online, you are saving the department the direct costs associated with the expense of manual paper licensing. These savings then can be applied to the important management of our fish and wildlife resources. To purchase your fishing or hunting license, visit https://www.informe.org/moses/ Learn more about Maine state hunting, trapping, open water and ice fishing rules

Fly-fishing and fly-tying clinics

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Chewonki offers half- or full-day clinics taught by a Maine Guide. These experts will cover everything from the anatomy of the fly rod to four-part lawn casting, reading water, fish behavior, and selecting the right fly. Clinics are designed for newcomers to fly-fishing as well as experienced anglers who seek the satisfaction of landing fish on their own flies. If you are interested in a fly-fishing or fly-tying clinic, please email bigeddy@chewonki.org