Her Dream Fills Woods With Music
Strains of Bach floated among Camp Neewahlu’s pine trees last week like cultured spirits.
The music lured visitors down steep dusty paths, past dilapidated sheds and a sleeping dog to a grassy shore on Lake Coeur d’Alene where children puffed on French horns and trombones.
A blissful smile spread over Cathyanne Lavins’ face as she watched the young chamber ensemble in front of her. String players practiced in the dining hall behind her.
“This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she said. “I’m having so much fun, it must be illegal.”
Cathyanne dreamed of running a music camp since she attended one in college 20 years ago. The isolated setting, the immersion in music, the constant companionship of other musicians - kids need all those elements during the summer to inspire them to practice, she said.
Life finally gave her the opportunity to attempt the camp 18 months ago. She had the musical connections from years of playing violin with the Spokane Symphony and teaching private lessons. She also had tenacity.
“She reminds me of a dog with a bone who won’t let go,” Peggy Mahoney said with a chuckle. Peggy is a Coeur d’Alene middle school music teacher and Cathyanne’s partner in the camp.
Last summer, Cathyanne started small with a youth symphony. Dozens of young musicians turned out. Most had music-loving parents searching for more opportunities for their children. Cathyanne hoarded their support for her camp.
The musician friends she asked to teach at the camp signed on eagerly. Pianist Kendall Feeney. The Spokane String Quartet. The Spokane Symphony’s Fabio Mechetti.
Cathyanne rented the Campfire camp on Kidd Island Bay, hired seven college students as counselors and registered 40 teenage campers from throughout the West.
“We wanted 80. Thank God we got only 40,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Cooking for 40 is amazing.”
After breakfast, the kids rehearsed. After lunch, they practiced, attended classes with master musicians, rehearsed. After dinner, they played and had dances and treats, although some still wanted to practice.
Cathyanne planned three performances for the group and wanted proficient musicians. They didn’t disappoint her.
Next year, she wants 200 campers and, after that, her own camp with weeks of programs and performances. But nothing will eclipse the satisfaction of this first year.
“If I die on Aug. 5, I will have fulfilled what I wanted in life,” she said as Kendall Feeney played haunting music for the campers on the grand piano. “I’ve never been happier in my life.”
The Coeur d’Alene Music Festival orchestra will perform at 1:30 p.m. today at Art on the Green in Fort Sherman Park. The performance is free.
Enough is enough
Linda, who lives in western Kootenai County, has a good reason for keeping her full name out of her story about house guests: they now live down the street from her.
But they started as down-and-out friends Linda tried to help. They stayed with her six times, then decided to build nearby. Linda considered them close friends but chose not to loan them money when they asked.
Big mistake. Not long after Linda turned down their request for a loan, they sued her and all her neighbors. They didn’t want to share a community road that cut through their property. They lost.
But they won “the ever-lasting scorn of the neighborhood,” Linda says. And she learned to watch who she invites into her home.
What’s the oddest experience with house guests you’ve had? Chuckle out a tale for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; fax to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo