Greetings! Last weekend, I went on my second official trip to Björklunden (pronounced Bee-York’-Loon-Den), which is Lawrence’s retreat center in Door County, Wisconsin! Basically, it’s this gigantic, beautiful lodge situated right next to Lake Michigan that is operated by Lawrence, and it is used on the weekends as a retreat center for Lawrence student groups/organizations and classes. Björklunden (means “Birch Grove by the Lake” in Swedish) was originally the summer home of a Chicago couple back over 100 years ago, and then their children took over the property and gave it as a gift to Lawrence in 1963. It’s been used as a retreat center for students and professors since the mid ‘90s, and it’s underwent a few major renovations over the years, so the building is very updated and filled with lovely amenities!
I went to Björklunden last weekend with the clarinet studio, which includes everyone at Lawrence who studies with the clarinet professor, David Bell. Our “clarinet weekend” trip to Björklunden happens every year, and we go up there to bond, play music together, and take walks through the woods and along the lake shore…and we had homework to do too. But going to Björklunden is always such a nice change of pace from regular Lawrence life, and I always come back from Björklunden feeling rejuvenated and closer to the group I went up there with.
The weekend began as we all congregated by the bus pick-up area at 6:00 pm on Friday, where we boarded the bus that would carry us on the 1 hour and 45 minute trip up to Björklunden. Since Björklunden is so large (it can house up to 150 people a time!) there is always more than one group up there every weekend. The other groups at Björklunden that weekend included the voice studio of Teresa Seidl, the volunteer center student staff, and the trivia masters (they write the questions for our annual Trivia Contest!). When we arrived, we picked our rooms, settled in for a few minutes, and then relaxed in the beautiful “great room,” where the Björklunden staff served us chocolate chip cookies!
After this initial “welcome” when we arrived, all of us in the clarinet studio looked through a collection of clarinet duets, trios, quartets, and ensemble pieces and decided which of them we wanted to play with each other the next day. Then, completely out of the blue, my friend Madeleine turned on some swing music in the background, and those of us who are involved with swing dancing at Lawrence started dancing together! Somehow, within a few minutes, we transitioned to Irish dancing, and then Balkan dancing, and after about an hour or so, all of us had learned and/or danced about six different world folk dances! Needless to say, we are a pretty quirky bunch. But this “impromptu folk dancing session” is a great example of how social groups at Lawrence are so unique—because we’re all really atypical and quirky! In the clarinet studio, we are all connected by one common interest (music/clarinet), but we each have so many other interests that when we all get together, we never really know what quirky activity we’ll end up doing! And with its ample space and relaxed setting, Björklunden is the perfect place to have these unforgettable experiences.
Of course, clarinet weekend did also include clarinet playing! A few of my friends and I found a collection of Klezmer pieces for clarinet quartet, and we had a great time rehearsing those and performing them for the studio on Sunday. It’s really wonderful how Björklunden is so perfectly designed for Lawrence students—there are practice rooms everywhere, a recital hall for rehearsals and performances, lots of study spaces with windows that look right out to the forest, and, in keeping with Lawrence’s high dining standards, the food is excellent! In many ways, Björklunden is very much a “summer camp experience” (albeit a luxurious one) that is built into our college educations, and it is such a gift that we have this incredible opportunity.
Here are some more pictures:
