Former N-Sid-Sen camp leader teaches song-writing technique

Having assisted Randy and Linda Crowe at the second junior high aqua camp at N-Sid-Sen, Walt Lofstrom, who was active in Kirkland UCC for 13 years while working at Hewlett Packard, came from Colorado for the consult in November,

Walt Lofstrom offers song-writing workshop.

As a musician, Walt led a session on Song CAMP, which he started through his church, Parkview UCC in Denver. 

He and his wife, Barb, were involved in camping 20 years in the PNC conference, and their son, Eric, who grew up at N-Sid-Sen camps later directed junior high aqua camp with Brooke Peterson. 

Walt and Barb moved to Colorado in 1992 and he worked in sales with Hewlett Packard.  While working there, he studied for seven years at Iliff Seminary, serving part time as a hospice chaplain.  He retired two years ago in 2007.

Through Song-CAMP (Children’s After-school Mentoring Program), he helps neighborhood children write songs.  About 30 third to fifth graders from Parkview Congregational UCC’s neighborhood came attend each of the two nine-week semesters of Song-CAMP.

“The program exposes the children to the church, but we do not talk about God unless they do,” Walt said. 

He guides the children—or adults such as participants at Consult—to write words about their experiences at school.

“It can be done at camps, having children write words describing their camp experience,” he said, telling of drawing stories out of the children and planning an instrument to put it to music.  He plays the guitar and asks, “Is this what you mean?”  Gradually, a song emerges.

He led consult participant through the process to write a song about their experience.

 

Copyright Pacific Northwest Conference News © December 2009