Programs

Our programs offer experiences that cannot be readily found indoors at conventional venues in the city, and the 3 R’s and the 3 M’s are a convenient way of identifying what makes our programs special. 

FWC programs allow you the opportunity to Relax, Renew, and Recharge. When visitors gather to share time, food, and ideas in the arms of the Blue Ridge, they are able to let the worries of the day drop away ….. and as they do, their minds, bodies and hearts all find a slower, more natural pace.  Then, more relaxed and open, visitors are able to take in the intangible gifts of the natural world and feel their energy picking up….. a sense of optimism and hope replacing ennui and cynicism… and a real sense of personal well-being suffusing them from head to foot.  They have relaxed, been renewed, and leave recharged. 

The three most important intangibles underpinning the 3 R’s are the 3 M’s: Memories; Moments; and Magic.

Perhaps the nicest things you take home with you from your visit to the Friends Center are the memories:  how nice it was to wake up on a crisp, cold morning and smell wood smoke; the sounds from your walk or sit on the bench; or the way the light played across the surface of the pond as the fog lifted and the sun rose.  These help focus moments in which we see something of extraordinary beauty, we have a real ‘Aha!’ insight, or we feel taken out of ourselves into something larger and grander and more wonderful than our everyday life.  The exquisite coloring of fall leaves. That flash of ‘Aha’ about how to deal with that problem that was turning over in the back of your mind while you gazed at the flowing water.  The feelings that arose as you watched clouds cross the full moon rising above the trees.

Lastly there are the unexpected, serendipitous and wonderful bits of magic that often spice up your visit….. an owl flew silently through the woods just as you were thinking of a wise elder who mentored you years ago….. the words of Thoreau that suddenly jumped off the page and shook you awake even though you had read that same passage many times before.  Magic happens at the Friends Center, and the comments left by visitors in the Niles Cabin Guest Book reflect that.

Regardless of whether you come to participate in a Work Day or for a poetry workshop, the Friends Center offers you the 3 R’s, the 3 M’s and much, much more.  Please pay us a visit and discover these gifts for yourself.

Illustrating the variety of the programs we offer, here is a partial list of some prior events: