The Lair is located in Pinecrest, California about three hours east of SF at 5000’ in the Stanislaus National Forest.

For info on the gourd program, e-mail gourdcamp@yahoo.com
or call Kemper at
(707) 557-0462
or see Kemp or Betty at Asilomar or Leiser’s Gourd Festival.

Google Club Lair for information on the camp and its facilities. or for reservation information, etc. from the office. Be advised that phone operators and desk-managers don’t know the slightest thing about the gourd program, so please don’t ask them any confusing questions.

It would be impossible to provide every exotic tool or material, or perfect gourd specimens of specific sizes and shapes, so gourd campers are encouraged to bring a few of their faves which they’re welcome to hoard or share.

However, one of Kemp’s foremost (heretical!) goals is to provide enough gourds, materials, tools, refreshments, etc. that our campers don’t have to pay for anything during their camp session, and can have a great gourd experience even if they show up without any tools, gourds, art supplies, or clue as to what to do or how to do it.

Gourd Camp 2007 was a great success despite the paucity of CGS members and experienced gourd crafters in attendance. The inspiration for Gourd Camp was a two-day Don Weeke class at the Caning Shop, years ago. Don had so much to share that two full days wasn’t nearly enough. Class members were anxious to start applying some of the new techniques and inspirations, but were reluctant to disrupt the flow of precious instruction from Don’s bottomless reservoir of techniques, ideas and infectious enthusiasm. So a Gourd camp situation where we could be immersed in gourd craft and culture for an entire week, and plan on a daily hour or two of instruction and as much as a dozen hours to work seemed like the way to go. Before that plan was implemented, it became apparent that the students in most gourd craft classes were bursting with great ideas and techniques, and that an informal format in which participants shared the duties of instructor had great potential. The merit of that approach has been demonstrated by the great success of the East Bay Patch’s annual weekend retreats at Kay's ski cabin. Each patch member brings ingredients for gourd projects and meals, and almost every aspect of the retreat that doesn’t fall right into place can be worked out as we’re working on our projects. The obvious advantages of such a format are that the planning reservations, cash concerns and virtually every other burden of most gourd gatherings are almost totally eliminated. That, alone, would recommend this approach, but we’re also found that this casual scheme yields a weekend session that’s as sociable, instructive, inspiring, tasty and productive as the more familiar and formal gourd gatherings and conventional, commercial classes. Gourd Camp at the Lair of the Golden Bear is ultimately a commercial event which was intended to provide an all-inclusive package with . . . . . . rustic housing, great meals, entertainment, gourd craft instruction, open workshops, show and tell, happy hours, traditional camp crafts (tie-dye, pottery), hiking, tennis, fishing, swimming, campfires, stargazing, and cultivation of a rare and precious form of comfortable, profound fellowship which is the primary reason that summer camps and camping have always been so popular, and prime source of warm memories that last a lifetime.

Kemper Stone and Betty Finch are nominally responsible for making things happen and will teach formal classes if called upon to do so. But full participation is the key to fun at camp, and its far more satisfying for our campers to take turns assembling branches and scrap gourds into a Burning man for our nightly campfire than to take a passive role while staff has more than their share of active fun. What’s been different from the initial plan of catering to established gourd crafters is that the vast majority of Club Lair campers come up for a traditional blend of camp activities and know nothing about gourds. They soon find out about gourds, though and about half the campers make two to six projects, including the usual beginning projects, but also drums, gourd yachts for the boat race, gourd costume components, and some more inventive things which we would have not thought to suggest, such as swan-shaped bird-feeders that were a huge fad in ‘06. It occurred to me that introducing sixty virgins to the wonder of gourd craft and culture may serve a higher purpose than a wilderness gourd craft experience for the population of the CGS, but its most consistent with the spirit of the exercise to extend the invitation to CGS members and other gourd folk and plan on serving their needs and desires first, being flexible enough to made whatever adjustments will meet those specific needs as they become apparent, but to also do our utmost to include and accommodate as many novices as many show an interest in our programs.