A message from our Singing Waters MT Board Treasurer, Hal Fossum:
Many of us supported the grand idea of Mimanagish run by Singing Waters Montana with our fingers crossed.
Uncross your fingers.
Our first full season was a success. We are still crunching numbers, but the camps came within a hair, plus or minus, of covering all the direct expenses of running the place. There were many highs and a few lows. The lows are especially informative. We have, for the first time, accurate cost information, and we have learned a lot about what works. Thanks to donors large and small, we are ending our first full season with more money in the bank than when we started.
The success of the camps is well reflected in our guests’ reactions. Several camps are already booked for next year, at their insistence. Some are expanding from weekend camps to weeklong ones. Spontaneous donations are common. We are reaching new groups, otherwise destitute for a place like this. Those groups “get it” right away, and they want more. This is exactly what we had hoped.
Time after time, visitors commented on how good Mimanagish looks, how good it feels, how good the food is. I’m one of them. On recent a September day, Dick and a small crew refinished Full Moon’s log front, and that represents a small fraction of the stewardship undertaken this year. There is plenty yet to do, but the place looks great.
We are not resting. On the docket is a 20 year plan for the USFS, which includes an ambitious plan for capital improvements. Next year, we must expand our staffing. Next year, too, will be a grand adventure for programs and camps that reach more people … and you, I hope.
I go to Mimanagish and marvel at its familiar songs: the roar of the Boulder, the birds, the chirp of squirrels, the snap of twigs under foot, the crackle of the fireplace, the laughter. It is the sweetest cacophony I know. And it is all there, better than ever, thanks in no small part to the faithfulness of people like you. Thank you,
Hal Fossum
Board Treasurer, Singing Waters Montana