The History of our Thank You Stones

If you were wondering where the idea of Thank You Stones cane from at Riversotne, Here is Adam Kaplan’s summary….

The genesis of the Thank You Stone, has its roots back in the logging days. It comes from a tradition back then called Keylogs.

Back in the day when they were cutting down trees at an incredibly fast rate, the easiest way to transport the logs to the sawmills was to drag them down to the rivers and then float them down to the mills. There were men whose entire job was to haul these logs to the river….they were called Swampers. Anyways, in those days, there were so many trees being floated down those rivers that sometimes they got clogged up and there were log jams. These log jams were a big deal, because if the logs could not get down to the mills, then none of the loggers could make a living. The freeing up of these logjams was critically important to everyone that was attempting to make a living out there.

It was discovered that these logjams were the result of a few logs getting turned the wrong way and clogging things up on the rivers completely. These logs were known as the KEYLOGS. That is to say, that these logs were the KEY to unclogging the river and allowing it to flow again. So, brave men would walk out onto the rivers across all of these logs to try to shift these KEYLOGS so that they would pivot back into position and the river could flow again…allowing everyone out there to earn their living. As you can imagine, there was a huge amount of force and pressure behind these logjams, so sometimes when you would free up that KEYLOG, the river would rush forward with enormous and heavy logs shooting down it. Needless to say, it was extraordinarily dangerous for the folks out there on the river. Many of them were seriously injured and even killed as the river raged back into its normal flow. Still these brave men ventured out there….

In the evenings, as the men would sit around their campfire, a tradition developed. As the fire would burn down until it was just coals, the loggers would each take a piece of wood and toss it onto the fire to thank the men that had braved the force of the river to free up those KEYLOGS so that everyone could earn a living. Within minutes, the campfire, which was all but out, would roar back to life. A brand new fire….created solely from the gratitude of others. KEYLOGS.
As our summer camp….we engage in a very similar tradition. Each Sunday night, we have a large campfire at which we, as a camp family, learn about something together. Towards the end of the night, our fire, like that of the loggers, has burned down to just coals. It is at this point that the campers are invited up to the campfire with a piece of wood place it into the fire to recognize someone for doing something kind for them during the week. Each person walks up to the fire, places their log on the fire, and then turns to the group to explain who did what for them that week that made such a difference. And so it is that a line of 9-15 year old boys (and their counselors) appears each week to stand up and express public gratitude for the kindnesses that they have received. At the end of the ceremony….we once again have a huge fire….a fire built out of the kindness and warmth of our community.

At Riverstone, we wanted to offer the kids the same opportunity to publicly thank others for the kind things that they have done….After about 10 seconds, we realized that it was probably not a good idea to light a campfire in the middle of the community room! So we came up with something else…..the Thank You Stone. So, each student is afforded the opportunity every week to stand up in front of the entire school to thank someone for things that have made a difference to them. They walk up with their Thank You Stone, and explain to the entire school community what this special person has done that has made such a difference to them. And then they hand that special person the Thank You Stone. An enduring and permanent reminder to that person, that if they put some effort into it, they can make a difference in someone else’s life.

Thank you Adam!