I spent the past week at Cedar Lakes Craft Center, only about 40 miles from my home, leading an Elderhostel (AKA Exploritas) class in memoir that was titled: “From the Inside Out: Your Own Story, Your Own Words.” My seven writers humbled me: not only did they write well, but their life stories were so varied and rich that I came away feeling they had taught me more than I taught them. This is the best kind of workshop experience, I think, when the so-called teacher is learning along with the class, and the so-called students each bring their own expertise to share.
No one would call Cedar Lakes a dramatic landscape. But what it lacks in drama, the place has in charm. Cedar Lakes is tranquil, cozy, friendly, comforting, quintessentially West Virginian in its personality. The lodge rooms are simple but comfortable and very clean. The cafeteria food is better-than-average (especially the salad bar) and abundant. Well, the coffee’s not great, but it’s not awful, either.
Gloria Gregorich, who directs the craft and Elderhostel/Exploritas programs at Cedar Lakes, is perhaps the sweetest and most accommodating person on earth. She went all out to give my class everything we needed. When our first room was not quite right, she let us move to a better space. Did we need more paper, a quick printer repair, more comfortable chairs, a tape dispenser? Whatever the request, she responded quickly and cheerfully. I think she’s a gem.
On two of the evenings during the week, Gloria had arranged for evening entertainment. Monday evening, we heard the lovely harmonies of Mountain Thyme. On Wednesday evening, it was the Zucchini Pickers, and the high point of the evening was a dramatic recitation of “The Highwayman” with all the lights out. In the darkness, in the voice of an accomplished teller, that poem is still thrilling.
