Fireball is coming and We need your help!

The 11th Annual Fireball is scheduled for Saturday, July 5th, 2014 and 1:00-10:00. This Day of music with performances by Blue Paradox- Electric & Eclectic Dance and Trance, Myra Melford- Solo Piano, Steve Gorn & Ray Spiegel- Indian Classical Twilight ragas, The Breath Collective "unplugged"- Psychedelic rock from the Hudson Valley, Kirtan & Drum Circle- Grab a drum and join in, Eliot Cowan- Book signing and Saskawhihiwine- The beautiful timeless sounds of the river. Admission is $10. Lodging and Camping spaces available onsite, book your reservations today.

There will also be food vendors, raffle- a weekend at the Blue Deer Center for you Hamlet and more, Homemade Dessert Auction, and Silent Art Auction. We need you help getting these events and raffles put together. If you would like to volunteer to help with one or more of these events please contact Jenn Schuman Or Aaron Bauman at 845-586-3225.

What's New at The Blue Deer Center this week...... Liz Warren joins the Fundraising Department.

This week, Liz Warren became the newest member of our staff. Liz will be working in the Fundraising Department as our new Fundraising Assistant. Help us welcome Liz. Next time you are at the Blue Deer Center, please stop in and say "Hello, Liz!" Here is a little bit about Liz from Liz.

Hello, my name is Liz Warren.  Over eight years ago, my husband and I bought a weekend home in Margaretville to escape city life. After four years of enjoying hiking and the amazing outdoors, we decided to make the Catskills our full-time residence and I opened a store on Main Street. Two floods and a dwindling economy has led me to pursue other career opportunities. Having over twenty five years of experience in the hotel/hospitality industry, having held positions from reservations management to event planning, sales and administration, I was confident I’d find something interesting.
I’ve landed at the Blue Deer Center and am so happy to be here! Beautiful grounds, great people and a meaningful purpose.  I look forward to working with all of you!

What's Happening at the Blue Deer Center this week.......

This week the Blue Deer Center welcomes Jeannie Zandi and her Living in Love program.

Jeannie is the director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the Heart on the planet, inspiring, teaching and supporting people to live from their essence as Love. A year before the birth of her daughter, Jeannie was plunged into a dark night of the soul that culminated in a radical shift of consciousness. She is known for her fearless clarity, tender mercy towards humanness, and a juicy, poetic and often humorous style that draws from Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Christian mysticism and the ongoing revelation of fully engaged living. Residing in Colorado, she travels widely in the U.S. and Canada, bringing a down-to-earth embodied teaching of living as love.

This just in!

What's just in? Huichol Art has just arrived from Mexico. The Blue Deer Center and Huichol Art Project has must received several boxes of Huichol Art directly from Mexico. These items are being added to inventory as we speak and will be available for sale in a few weeks. New Shelving and storage units are being assembled so you can see more of the items in our shop. Randy, Anna-Lena and others have been working hard to make these items available to you as soon as possible. Stop by and take a look! Here is just a small sample and pictures of the working being done.

See you at the Blue Deer Center!

What is happening at the Blue Deer Center?

Coming up at the Blue Deer Center

May 20th –“Deep Water” the story of the Ashokan Reservoir will be screened in Walton, NY at 7:00 pm. Find us at the Walton Theater. We will have a open discussion about the movie after the viewing.

May 22nd – Open Mic Night in Yurt. Our monthly gathering of musicians on the fourth Thursday of each month. Things get moving at 7 pm. Join us for some great times and wonderful music, you never know who will show up!

May 22-26 - Love is Alive   Five Day Retreat
Join Jeannie and friends for an exploration into the potent depth of what's often overlooked in the moment: being. Jeannie's gift for inviting people to join her in resting and rooted presence evokes a deep meeting with oneself and reality. Within that, Jeannie's humor and iconoclasm serve to bring people into an understanding that is beyond the intellectual, and an experience of the field of unity that includes all. Through silent and guided meditation, spontaneous talks, exchange with participants, and experiential exercises, Jeannie will host a space of clarity and warmth where the true richness of life can be experienced, and your innermost spiritual questions can be met fully.

May 30- June 4th Wisdom of the Divine Natural World, Plant Spirit Medicine as spiritual exploration and Discovery with Eliot Cowan.
This course is for those who wish to explore the natural world and discover themselves. You may be a beginner or a veteran. You may be a healer. You may have no interest in healing. You may consider yourself talented or dense, spiritual or mundane. It doesn’t matter. Whoever you are, you are a child of the world, and your Mother has much to share with you.

There is always something happening at the Blue Deer Center. Check out this link for more information!

 http://www.bluedeer.org/events

What’s new at the Blue Deer Center? Maria!

This week, the Blue Deer Center welcomes Maria Quintana to the center as support staff.  Maria will be helping both Aaron and Ted prepare for programs as well has keeping things beautiful around the center.

Maria’s Journey to the Blue Deer Center-
Maria first met Eliot Cowan when the search for the Center was just beginning in California. She always wanted to be a part of what was happening. Then for a while, as we all know life happens and she lost touch. One day while studying in a five elements course, she saw a link for the Blue Deer Center and click on it. She saw video of the river, Saskawhihiwine and felt an immediate emotional connection. With this longing to come to the center, so she did!

 Maria was here the last two summers for 3 1/2 weeks as a volunteer working on many projects including painting and helping with some minor carpentry projects. Maria then found that she did not want to leave. Maria found she always wanted to be here at the center or at the Huichol homelands. 

Maria will be here this year for our program season from May 1st to September 1st but is looking for work in the area and hoping to move here permanently. She says she is taking things one day at a time and she is looking forward to working with everyone, Ted, Aaron, Jenn, Mark and everyone else visiting and volunteering at the center. She already feels the team spirit and sense of community found at the center. She enjoys the way everyone works together and is inspired by this sacred place.

“I enjoy working in a way that is loving and caring, putting that into everything you do is important”.  She has great respect for Eliot Cowan, all of his work and the work of the Markame, all the volunteers and people who come to the center, especially the original peoples, The Haudenosaunee (the people of peace of the longhouse and Two Row Wampum) and Chief Oren Lyons who knew how to live in the right relationship so that it supports the next generations. They make the place and time spent here very rich.  

Maria brings many gifts with her.  She has worked as a painter, carpenter, landscaper, massage therapist, Tai Chi instructor and was an Olympic Athlete 1986-88 and World Champion Skier.

Maria says “the spirit is really important”, learning from the elders who have kept the teachings of wisdom, and being conscious of your moments in the world around you and how you move in that world. The Blue Deer Center welcomes Maria to the center for 2014 program season!

Spring Cleaning!

May 1st is a beautiful day at the Blue Deer Center. Warm breeze blowing and sunny skies over head made this day a perfect day for spring cleaning.

Aaron and Maria raking all around the ground preparing for spring shoots to start appearing. Around the Yurt is looking really great and the grass is getting so green with all the rain we have had in the last few weeks.

Working hard to keep things looking beautiful for upcoming programs and events at the Blue Deer Center. You will be hearing much more about the hard work of both Aaron and Maria as we gear up for our program season.

So many improvements from last year will give you a much more comfortable experience every time you visit the Blue Deer Center. No longer will you need to bring towels or sheets from home and with additional staff to assist with programs and events, you will find everything you need for a restful stay.

Everything will be ship shape for your next visit to the Blue Deer Center.