June 28, 2010

Dear Blue Lake Friend,

As you read this letter, more than 5,400 children and youth are preparing to attend Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for our 45th Season – a new record. Most of these students are attending with scholarship support provided by individuals like you. On their behalf, thank you!

They will be greeted by a number of camp improvements, including construction of an additional girls unit (accommodating 65 campers per session), and our new 700 seat Shakespeare theater – The Rose. 

The Rose Theater is particularly exciting as it will provide the opportunity for our campers to experience a live Shakespeare presentation in an authentic Elizabethan theater.  This, combined with attending a full opera performance, provides an unparalleled multi-disciplinary arts experience for every Blue Lake student.  The addition of The Rose reinforces Blue Lake’s original vision to stress the interrelatedness of the arts through a carefully developed and balanced curriculum.

While the facilities at Blue Lake are very important to serving our campers, the heart of our program begins and ends with our highly qualified faculty and staff. We are certainly proud of our teaching faculty, who represent more than 100 colleges and universities from around the globe, but the real heros at Blue Lake are the counseling staff.

These 196 counselors - most of whom are preparing for a career in the arts - live, eat, and breathe 24 hours a day with our Blue Lake students. They are trained vigorously for 9 solid days and nights before meeting their first camper, and reflect the high priority that Blue Lake places on the health, safety and welfare of its students. A special note of thanks is due to these talented young men and women for their service to Blue Lake.

Many of you have responded to our appeal for support of the new Health Lodge, and we have received more than $125,000 in donations and pledges to date – a great start! While that support is growing in a restricted savings account, we must continue to actively fundraise for this vitally needed facility until sufficient funds are raised.

If you have not given to the Health Lodge Capital Campaign, we respectfully ask that you consider a donation beyond your traditional annual support. Gifts to the Health Lodge can be structured as a multi-year pledge, charitable gift annuity, bequest or cash donation.

As you plan your summer schedule, we encourage you to join us at camp for one of our many Summer Arts Festival presentations. A complete listing of events can be found at www.bluelake.org/summerartsfestival.

You are also invited to attend Experience Blue Lake, scheduled for July 26-28 in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan’s famed Hill Auditorium. Comprised of three evening performances, Experience Blue Lake will showcase the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra and International Choir, freshly returned from goodwill tours of Europe.

On Tuesday, July 27, the groups will be joined by the Blue Lake Alumni Choir for a special performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah, under the direction of Christoph von Kuczewski-Poray. Admission is free to all, however a special invitation is extended to our Blue Lake alumni, campers and parents from the east side of the state. For more information, log on to www.bluelake.org/ebl. See you there!

In closing, we ask that you please consider a gift at this time to advance our mission and sustain our work with children and youth. Your participation will truly make a difference and we appreciate your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Fritz Stansell President	Bill McFarlin Vice President - Development

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp is recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt organization and gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law. Contributions to Blue Lake Public Radio bring the additional advantage of a tax benefit from the State of Michigan.

Interested in participating in the Blue Lake Alumni Choir? Log on to www.bluelake.org/alumnichoir for more information. Membership is open to all Blue Lake donors, alumni and parents.