Since posting last, a lot has happen. Shortly after my last posting on our summer workshops that we had been putting on with all us Thompson sisters together, we decided it was time to have just one more last year of these wilderness workshops or teachers across the United States of America. We had only done them a few years as the Thompson Sisters all together. Before that we held workshops, classes, etc. in our own areas as we were each working for different universities. When we started retiring (part time at first and gradually going into full time from the universities) we had started the summer workshops together as a sisters team. We needed to spend more time taking turns caring for our elderly parents and helping our with our home based FHC Educational Office located in the state of New York on their farm. We are just a small family group running the family Faith-Hope-Charity Educational Group with our brothers running the mission organization and us sisters running the educational organization. Now the younger generation will be taking over.
Things have been changing so fast in our world that we have had to constantly make changes. With the issues of educational facilities having change from strictly boys and strictly girls bathrooms, showers, etc., we had to take a look at our camp program set ups and decided that we would have to go with individual bathrooms, showers, etc.This is a lot more costly and until more can be built at each camp, the number of attendees at a time had to limited. So we have been spending more of the organizations energy and time on technology of videoing type of educational program from the nature and historical camp sites to the classroom in the individual schools. Our camps had not been set up for technology as they were strictly wilderness camps.
Then this year with virus that has attacked us worldwide and the strict regulations in the states of New York (where our home office is) and Michigan (where the main camps are) things had to be reorganized again. We (the Thompson sisters) were no longer able to travel to New York to take turns caring for our elderly parents and running the home office. Younger generations in New York are filling in. With the governor's orders, the programs that we were working with (training interns, etc.) was done away with and we had to close our educational office. First we thought this was just until fall but now the program has been terminated completely. It is back to the drawing board to see where we go from here.
We are working on more on-line type of a program. I hope, I will be able to get back to you with more information before long. The free educational materials that I spoke of are still being worked on and I hope to share them soon. Our technicians had to spend their time on working on technology at the camps.
We are now planning on a trip to Canada with our parents and all the siblings with their families for a family reunion at the Thompson and Gleason properties which are next door to each other and are where our parents grew up. Our parents want to go there at least one more time while they are still physically able. We are hoping with all the shut-downs from the virus that we are able to and that it will be safe to do so this fall. I guess time will tell, none of us sisters have been to New York since this all started.
Naomi
