Rescuing RYLA

Rescuing RYLA
 
By Katelyn Pierson, RYLA Senior Advisory Team, and Scarborough RC Past President & President-Elect

 
There is no better dynamic duo than Portland Rotarians Emily Rumble and Sam Klemarczyk.  Over the past 14 years, I have had the chance to watch them grow into the transformational leaders they are today.  At the age of 16 they attended their first RYLA, and now 14 years later they are handing over the reins to the next directors, Jacey Chavez and Tim Moyer. As part of tradition, they will be placed on the distinct list of those that have shaped and directed what our District 7780 RYLA has become.
 
In RYLA we take the time to reflect. Think about this time frame: when they had their first camper year, our current 2024 campers were only toddlers. Emily and Sam have dedicated their lives and have made specific decisions that put RYLA first.  It would take too long to write all their accomplishments and how they have impacted the program, but it is safe to say that RYLA is not just a week at Camp Hinds at the end of June for them. RYLA is alive and a way of life; it is dedication to building curriculum, relationships with staff members, and coordinating the massive project we call camp.  
 
In 2019 they began the formal transition to taking over as directors and worked with past director Phil Giordano to plan for 2020, the year of the pandemic. That year Emily, Sam and Phil devised Plans A, B, C, D, E to ensure that RYLA would continue. Plan E was virtual RYLA for our staff members to ensure they were feeling connected and helping to manage their mental health during the pandemic. Coming out of the pandemic, they organized a RYLA Staff Retreat in 2021 to start building the momentum that was lost. Two years without campers, and dedicated hours to keeping RYLA alive, led to an amazing camp in 2022, and in 2023. Now, with 2024 camp being the year they transition the program to new directors, we have had another tremendously successful year.
 
The debt of gratitude I have, and I know many Rotarians, RYLA Staff, and even those that just know Emily and Sam has is beyond words. 
 
Personally, RYLA and all the work we have put into it, has given me so much over the past 14 years and I can thank Emily and Sam for most of it. Our friendship and bonds have only grown deeper. Even as our years together of planning schedules, organizing camp, training new staff members, and living through the camper week with the bugs and cold showers come to an end, our bonds of friendship endure. RYLA has grounded us and helped shape our lives, not only as leaders but as people.  
 
RYLA is about experiencing, learning, and processing. As I reflect on the amazing stories we shared, I along with all of District 7780, thank Emily and Sam for their service to Rotary and RYLA. We end the final campfire each year with a poem.
 
A Splendid Torch by George Bernard Shaw
 
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
 
I am of the opinion, that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
 
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.  I rejoice in life for its own sake.  Life is no “brief candle” for me.  It is a sort of splendid torch which I have hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
 
Emily and Sam, thank you for living your lives as splendid torches, for having a tremendous impact on positive youth development, and positively impacting over 1,000 campers and RYLA staff. You are an inspiration. I, and District 7780, thank you for your years of service and for living the values of Service Above Self. Friends for life.