Goals of Far View Ranch

For over sixty years, Far View Ranch has provided children with a unique opportunity to spend an "old-fashioned" summer on the farm, far from the pressures of crowded urban life. For many children, rural experiences are unattainable. The chances to milk a cow, collect fresh farm eggs, work in a garden, or swim and fish in a lake are increasingly rare. Children may know how to access information on the internet, but few have had a personal relationship with a horse, learned to drive a tractor, bottle fed a calf, or eaten corn just husked moments before.

We are committed to providing children with this experience, because we feel that as our culture moves farther away from genuine connections with the earth, and our most valuable natural resources are replaced by technology, our children are losing an essential connection with life and are themselves becoming personally lost in a complex world.

Our camp is small, and much like an extended farm family, where all its members are important to the running of the farm. Children work with animals, in the garden, and together, gaining a practical sense of responsibility and learning to work and play collaboratively with others. Farm work blends into play, with daily swims in the swimming hole, soccer games and water fights on the big front lawn, trail rides on 1000 acres of open foothill country, home-cooked meals, and singing around an evening campfire.

We believe in providing this opportunity for all children, and feel that the importance of what the summer camp provides can be expanded to include many more children, and we are working to develop year-round programs for children and families here at Far View Ranch. Because we live at the ranch, and our lives revolve around care of the facility and planning and implementing programs here, we are also making strong connections with local business and involving neighbors in our work here. We believe it is important to create an environment where diverse groups of people can learn to work together, where children can become partners in an essential life experience, and where differences can enrich rather than divide us.

Directors Pete Lea and Ruth Palmerlee, working hard on the Ranch.

Call them at: 1-800-488-0721 or E-Mail them at:farviewranch@sbcglobal.net

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