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Alumni News 2024

Eric Rightor hosted the President Joe Biden at his YMCA!

“We got word from the White House that Joe Biden wanted to deliver a speech from NH with the release of his new budget.  Given the nature of helping families, lowering drug costs, etc, the Federal delegation of NH recommended the Granite YMCA amongst others and after scouting a number of spots to host, they settled on my Y.  My life got derailed on Friday, touring Secret Service and WhiteHouse staff around everywhere, and hosted the event on Sunday with all the NH delegation of reps, senators, and business leaders.  For my work, I got the nod to meet the POTUS and get my picture with him.  WILD.” — Eric Rightor

 

This photo was taken in Milwaukee after the Marquette men’s basketball game on February 10th. Many of us Sanders era have been following Oso’s amazing college basketball career, including having zoom watch parties and attending games in person

L to R: Beth Farrey Worthington, Dawn Ferguson Ighodaro, Oso Ighodaro, Osaso Ighodaro, Linda Pinkham Wiewel. 
 

 

Congratulations to Sonya Freeman, for starting her new job at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center specialising in psychiatry. 

 

Kyle Olson has been a camper and staff member at Coniston for 18 summers, last year working as our Assistant Summer Camp Director.
Kyle is now opening his own Camp this summer! Kyle is the founder and executive director of Camp Moraine, a brand-new day camp in Beverly.
 
“Starting a camp and building its community has always been a dream of mine, and I can’t wait to share my vision and Coniston experience with the campers of the North Shore.”
 

 

It was great to connect with so many Conistonians in California this March! Thank you to Coniston Ambassador Jocelyn Tetel for hosting our LA event at the Skirball Cultural Center!

 

 
 
Nicole Berthiaume, John McNair, Nate Levine and Brackett Lyons from our year-round team, connected with Camp friends in Manchester, NH this March!
 
 

 
 
 
 
Congratulations to Naomi Malam for welcoming her baby girl, Allegra Shav Luraschi, this January!
 
 

Alex Grip, ’06 CIT / Staff ’07-’09 and his wife Arianna  welcomed their baby girl Collins Grip into the world this past May 12th, 2023.

Congratulations! We can’t wait for her to be a camper.

Congratulations to Eric and Melissa Rightor! They welcomed baby Siena in January this year. We hope the new addition the family is bringing you all the joy in the world!

 

 

Our team had a great time at the New England Camp Conference this March! Coniston’s Summer Camp Directors; John McNair and Nicole Berthiaume and Boy’s Camp Director; Nate Levine went to the conference to connect and learn from other Camps. They even crossed paths with Camp alumnus Kyle Olson who is opening Camp Moraine this summer!

 

Cassie (Short) McLaughlin just ran her 11th marathon and finally broke 3 hours, something she has been trying to do for a long time. She ran the Myrtle Beach Marathon with a time of 2:56:15 and came in 3rd place overall female!
 
Congratulations Cassie. What an incredible accomplishment!

 
 
John Tilley and Lindsey Tompkins connected with Camp friends in Denver, CO this April! John and Lindsey were in Denver attending the NAYDO conference.

 
Coniston alumnus – Hans Williams – has been touring all over the US, performing his music and has had many conistonians in the audience cheering him on. A huge group of Conistonians supported Hans at his Boston show this April! Kim Johnson watched Hans’ show in Seattle this Spring!

In Memoriam

It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to Aaron Turner, from 2001 to 2022, he was Camp’s Facilities Director.

When the history of Coniston is written Aaron will be a major character. His hands provided much of the energy behind building Coniston’s remarkable facility. For anyone who worked with him they will remember that smiles, fun, and wit were as abundant as the nails and screws on every project. Laughter and work were the basis of our friendship and Aaron is a friend we will sorely miss. Our love and sympathy go out to his two sons, Austin and Bryce who are also members of the Coniston Community.

Jesse Barden, passed away peacefully in the comfort of his home in March. Jesse was a camper at Coniston and went on to be a 94′ CIT and counselor. Since that time, he and his Coniston friends continued to get together for yearly reunions.

Jesse worked for his family business, Barden’s Concrete, and was an integral part of its success over the years.

David Barden, a beloved Coniston community member has passed away. For many summer he was a program director at Coniston, and is most remembered for his campfire ghost stories.

David was a dedicated teacher and finished his educational career as a guidance counselor. In retirement, David spent time counseling and volunteering at Pope John High School, Camp Mason and youth mentoring with Big Brothers.

Sean Usle, a beloved Coniston alum who was a camper and counselor in the 70s/80s has sadly passed away.

His fellow Coniston friends shared some of their favorite memories of Sean from his time at Coniston on the 70s/80s era Facebook page.

Upcoming Events

Help us get Camp ready for summer by joining us for our Volunteer Work Day on June 8th! This is a great opportunity for the Coniston community (18+) to reconnect with friends, meet some of our summer staff, and enjoy some time by the lake! Volunteers will help us with a clean-up Camp, as well as setting up program areas for the summer and other fun tasks that will be essential for us to be ready for our 2024 campers!
 
 

We will be hosting a 20-year reunion for our 2004 Coniston CITs! 2002 and 2003 CITs are also welcome to join the celebration! The reunion will take place at Coniston on Friday June 28th.

Register now at: https://coniston.org/event/2004-cits-20-year-reunion/