Dear Ann, Jenny, Tater, Chuck, Helen, Dave, Sarah, and Greg,I am writing/posting on behalf of only myself [I know it's silly, but being a COJ Board member, I have to be clear on this :o) !]I wanted to personally thank you for a fabulous 40th Anniversary Alumni Reunion weekend.  It was truly amazing.  I know how hard you guys worked to plan the event, publicize it, work registration, coordinate and organize the programming, and quite simply run the event.  I would see you all rushing to one thing or the other during the weekend and know how frantic it can be.  But, to me, it all went very seamlessly and everyone had a blast.  It took a great deal of work on your part both before and during the event, and I appreciate all of your time and effort to put on an event that benefitted so many!  I found myself on Saturday night on the bluff with one of my oldest friends that I hadn't seen in more than 15 years and I felt so profoundly grateful.  I was grateful to be there.  I was grateful to see old friends.  I was grateful that Chanco is now in a much more stable place and is not on the brink of closing any longer.  I was grateful that there is something enduring in Chanco in a world where so very few things remain the same.  I was noting the amazing similarity in all Chanco friends across all generations - in the feelings we all have for the place and its friendships. I was grateful for more than one opportunity to be doubled over with laughter until I cried.  I was grateful that my children have Chanco to come to.I was especially grateful that on Sunday I had the opportunity and the courage to offer a kiss and a "peace" to someone with whom I have not had peace.  I was then profoundly grateful when he offered that "peace" in return.  It then struck me that Chanco not only creates life-long friendships, it builds them and maintains them despite distance and geography, and I believe God's overwhelming presence there has the power to heal them, too.  I am so very thankful for that and for each of you for your time, energy, passion, love and hard work to help ensure the existence of a place we all love.  Chanco's Fall Fest was a huge success! There were lower numbers of attendance compared to last year, as with the Alumni Reunion, but a great deal of energy and quite a positive income from contributions and the Silent Auction.  I thank you, too, for all the work to coordinate the volunteer efforts on Saturday and saw many alumni hard at work to help with the clean up and set up of the camp.  Raising the tent with other alumni on Saturday made me chuckle as we tried to figure out the diblets, or dibbets, or gibbets or whatever those things were called!  And I funnily thought of the Amish and their "barn raising"...their whole village coming together to build a barn for one neighbor.  And I thought of the truth in the fact that many hands make light, fast work and, at the same time, build a community.  Working side by side with you on this warmed my heart and made me think "It takes a village..."  And though many of us are different and have different views and different skills, it still takes all of us to make Chanco work.  And I thank each of you for your part in that.  Finally, I thank you, Chuck, for including Julie Young and Melissa Thomas, in your "thanks" during your speech.  Julie and Melissa along with many from that generation have been tremendous in spirit, energy, and volunteer effort (such as Chanco Reps and securing donations for the Silent Auction) for Chanco.  They have really rallied for Chanco's cause, maybe more so than any other generation has within the last year.  And I think they sometimes feel "left out".  Us "older alumni" from the 70's and 80's tend to be such a large force, that I think sometimes they may feel lost in the gale.    So, THANK YOU, for including them!  In speaking for myself, regardless of the dollar amount raised by this event for Chanco, it is already a success in my mind [not that Chanco doesn't need the donations - hint, hint :o) ]!!.  Finally, there is a quote that I love from the movie "Meet the Robinsons" that speaks to me and to what I hope the relationship of the CCAA Board and the COJ Board will become..."Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long.  We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things because we are curious...And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.  Keep moving forward."  ~ Walt DisneyThank you again for all of your hard work, energy, and love for Chanco's cause and in putting on a weekend that those of us who attended will carry in our hearts all year (till the next one)!!Best to you all,Talley