To the Editor:
The Heldeberg Workshop has opened its gates for its 61st summer of outdoor learning and activities. This follows the summer of 2020 when for the first time in its history it offered classes online only due to the pandemic.

The workshop held its first classes in the summer of 1961 when four local mothers decided to set up a series of programs that would give their kids things to do in the summer that were both educational and fun. 

Operating initially in the Voorheesville high school building, the program eventually expanded to the point at which areas were needed outdoors for the workshop’s classes in field science and adventure.

As a result, the workshop purchased a parcel of over 200 acres on Picard Road, and over the years the construction of a large pole building and many lean-tos permitted the moving of all its courses onto what has become known with some reverence as “The Land.”

Consisting of a wetland, an orchard of antique apple trees, and a spectacular talus slope reaching to the top of the Helderberg escarpment, The Land now is the site of summer courses in science, music, art, ceramics, weaving, fly fishing, kayaking, archery, cave exploring, and many other activities. It also is the locale of weekend courses for families in spring and fall.

As the summer progresses, the workshop will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary of “Adventure in Learning” by announcing exciting plans for its future of service to young people and families on its beautiful land beneath the Helderberg cliffs.

Mike Nardacci

Board member

Heldeberg Workshop