Written by BJ Neuenfeldt and Ivy Little
What an odd name! Very hard to store your typical teen… so how did this name evolve?
Detroit Storage Evolution
In the early 70s, the Church of the Holy City in Detroit decided to sell their church building. The intent was to purchase a new location with the proceeds of the sale, but markets didn’t allow that, and they found a place to rent for the time, but that spot (the Royal Oak Women’s Club) seemed to work so well that they stayed, and stayed, and still to this day in 2021 are meeting and worshiping there. But, back in 1971, they needed a place to store the important things they had from the church at Meyers and Curtis—it so happened that Almont, at the same time, was undergoing big changes as well and a gravel pit was dug and with the money, and some fund raising, and financial support, a new dorm complex was built, and two of the oldest dorms were torn down while the other two were relocated, one is the current craft cottage and one was set off to the side with no camp purpose but lots of empty storage space. Detroit asked, and Almont answered that, yes, the paperwork, choral music, and some furniture could be stored in this building, and so for many years it was called “Detroit Storage.”
As the youth population began to grow at camp, the class space was limited and someone went in there and thought “this is a good usable space.” So the Detroit archives were moved to a little room in the building created for this purpose, and the rest was outfitted with lovely cast-off furniture. This became the teen classroom, and then a place for the Survivors to hang out. When the question was asked “where are the teens?” the answer was often “oh, in Detroit Storage!” Eventually it became such a great clubhouse that the name just morphed into Teen Storage.
Recently a group of teens have been working on a makeover of the space with the repurposed furniture from Pfister Lounge. My granddaughter, Ivy Little, will tell a bit about that project.
Teen Storage Update
Teen Storage has needed a deep cleaning for who knows how long! We were able to move all the old sofas and some random junk that had been collecting in there over the past decades and threw it all into a dumpster. Obviously with the help of some other teens. It was hard to get rid of the sofas where we have all been sitting and sharing laughs, good cries at Tam Talks, inside jokes, writing silly notes on the walls, and so many other special memories. But it was time for them to go, so we all decided on one sofa that we thought still had some life in it, the coma couch (so comfy it pulls you into a coma) as some of you may know it. The rest were replaced with the (slightly used but new to us) sofas from Pfister Lounge. It was definitely a big project, and it is far from finished, but I can’t wait for all the new memories to be made there! A big thank you to all those who helped move and were open minded to some changes that needed to happen, even if we weren’t ready to let go of what was there before.
Helpers included: Wyatt, Molly, Oliver, Nathan, Kristofer, Gillian, and a few adult family members who got in on the fun!
Read the full issue of the December 2021 Messenger
Meet BJ Neuenfeldt and Ivy Little
BJ (Betty Jean) Neuenfeldt has been affiliated with the Swedenborgian Church her whole life, she currently serves on the Committee on Admission to the Ministry (CAM).
Ivy Little is a life-long Almonter and an active part of the Swedenborgian Church Youth League (SCYL), she currently serves as Clear Blue Sky editor.
