Guest Period One is my favorite time of year and I know it is yours, too. There are about 500 of you who show up this same week each and every year to Kanuga, and it's like we never left. We pick up right where we left off in conversation, and the only thing that has changed is that our kids are older (not us). We immediately fall right back into GP1 habits. We marvel over the beauty of the mountains. We see who is new, who is missing, and what staff changes were made since we left. We inspect our cabins from the previous year to see if anything looks different. We go find our usual table in the dining room. We greet new babies, new families, and we get to know them. We find our spot in an inner tube in the middle of the lake and sit there all afternoon (okay, maybe that is just me). We hike the trails that are as familiar as our own faces by now. We deliberate on hard decisions: do we pretend we are crafty and weave a basket, or do we read our book in utter silence? We tie dye and we eat- over and over, we eat. GP1ers get the benefit of 4th of July fireworks 6 out of every 7 years. We fill our week with catching up, catching naps, and then we all go home, refreshed and renewed.

But Kanuga's property and facilities- the very thing that keeps us coming back- they keep on showing up for all the people, and they are in need of work. Making a gift to Kanuga in any amount today means you understand how important it is to keep this place operational and a place we can truly 'just show up' at the end of June each year and have our favorite week of the year.

Maybe you give regularly; maybe you don't. I would invite you to give something- anything- today to contribute to this place that we love so much. I want my children's children's children to have the same experiences I got to have at Kanuga, and giving what I can today pushes that goal closer to reality.

(Plus, we have to totally outdo all the other GP weeks.....don't let the team down.)

With gratitude, Melinda Plue