September 2020

Dear World,

The cabins are finished! And they are extremely popular with travelers – they have both been booked every weekend and most weekdays since we opened them in July. Most of our visitors have been folks from major cities within a day’s drive, just wishing to get away from the confinement and even the unrest that has been our constant companion all summer. We are happy that we can offer such a beautiful, peaceful place for people to recharge.

Our five college students that rented our guest house for the summer terms asked last month if we would allow them to stay on through the fall term. The groups that had booked the guest house for reunions and meetings in the fall had all canceled, so having the students stay a few more months helpful. They are all very thankful to have a safe haven with good Wi-Fi where they can stay healthy and participate in their online classes.

This month and into the fall, we’re going to be working with friends to build a “sacred grove” on the farm, planting trees and building an arbor-covered path along the creek and through one of our pastures, ending at Bri’s Chapel. We hope that the grove will be a blessing to all who wander through it, and we can’t wait to get started on it.

We had hoped to begin marketing our “Learning for Life” 10-week session for young adults to begin in January 2021, but we’re not sure that’s a good idea right now. Kentucky’s public schools were ordered to be solely virtual until at least the end of September, and it’s probable that our governor will extend that even further. Residential colleges are meeting at drastically reduced capacities and most institutions have opted for online classes this semester. At the moment, we’re watching and waiting to see what will be the right choice for us.

It is exciting to us that several of our Folk School Alliance member institutions have begun offering in-person classes again, and that it is going well for them! We love learning about the virtual offerings our FSA colleagues have been doing as well, but we are definitely (along with all the other folk educators we know!) committed to the in-person experience as a top priority. We are certain that we will need the “folk” kind of education more than ever as we emerge from the current pandemic.

We shall overcome! We will do it together, and it will be amazing.

Jennifer Rose Escobar
Happiness Hills Farm