Sal Does Some Hiking at Crowell-Hilaka

Who wants to see beautiful forests cut down and housing developments and shopping malls going up?  Not Sal and me!  We are tree huggers, so when The Cleveland Jumping Fleas performing group was invited to participate in a benefit for The Friends of Crowell Hilaka, we were on board!  The benefit, which was to take place on October 11th, was intended to raise money to prevent two former Girl Scout camps from being developed.  Since I had gone to camp at Julia Crowell and Hilaka, I felt a special attachment to this land, and was more than happy to participate, as were the rest of the performing Fleas!

On September 14th, there was an Open House at Crowell Hilaka.  To make a long story short, Sal and I went to take photos, and Bruce, a fellow Flea, went along, too.

Sal with one of the many helpful Open House volunteers.

Sal and Bruce in the dining hall.  I ate many meals in this room when I was a Girl Scout.

I spent many spider-phobic nights in the platform tents at camp.  The tents are gone, and the platforms are crumbling.  It was sad to see...

Jim Kirby -- of vacuum cleaner fame -- owned the land a long time ago, and built this house.  In the stonework on the chimney, one can find the year "1921."  Of course I wanted to take a picture of this, and to find a way to get Sal into the shot, so I stuck her headstock in a vine and felt pretty good about it until I noticed a bunch of very large bees...

There was a hole right next to the spot where Sal was hanging on the vine, and lots of unhappy bees were flying out!  How the heck was I going to retrieve Sal without getting stung!?  Happily, I had a hero with me, who bravely retrieved my little uke without incident.

Sal leaning on the fence by the old mill.

Since the benefit was titled  Music for the Millwheel, I had to include a photo of the wheel in question.         .

It was a beautiful day to spend in the great out-of-doors.  Coming soon... all about our performance at Music for the Millwheel.