Posted on

LOON’S EYE VIEW: LITs Hike Mt Washington During Staff Training

By Girls and Boys Camp Directors — Fran and Will

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered” —Nelson Mandela

This quote played repeatedly in my head as I returned to Mount Washington and visited Lakes in the Clouds last week. It was my first time back since I hiked the 6,288 foot mountain as a counselor-in-training (CIT) in 2015. I was accompanied by 40 first-year-counselors (LITs, as they are known) who were robbed of their own CIT experience last year because of the pandemic, along with three other seasoned counselors. Michael, Maya and I were all East Coast CIT’s in 2015, and Will, a former West Coaster, was set to be one of the CIT Directors last summer.

The 40 supposed-to-be CITs who returned this year came back to Coniston ready for staff, but we all knew that they lacked the important buffer a CIT summer provided. The last time these seventeen-year-olds were at Coniston, they were campers (most of them our campers, in fact) and now they were leading cabins of their own. While they were fully capable of taking on that challenge, Will and I thought they deserved even an abbreviated CIT experience before the summer began.

As we were talking about how unfair all of these losses were for these kids, we brainstormed ways that we could recreate some of our most magical traditions for the LITs during staff week; we settled on a surprise cog-up-hike-down Mt. Washington on the Friday before our first campers arrived. We told the LITs to be at the camp busses at 6:00 am sharp, and they were under the impression that the remainder of staff would be meeting them at Mt. Kearsarge in their own vehicles. After almost two hours of driving, many of the sleepy LITs began to catch on, wondering if we had gotten lost on our way to Kearsarge. We spent the day simulating a real-CIT experience, keeping them on their toes without letting them know what was around the corner. When we arrived at the Mt. Washington Cog railway station, we distributed the trail mix we had made, and handed them their tickets for the 45 minute train ride up the mountain. Since we had stored all of their cellphones on the bus, the LITs passed around my phone to take a few group selfies while they took in the view. “We should all hike down!” one of them suggested…be careful what you wish for!

The climate at top of Mt. Washington was true to its reputation. It was frigid, windy, and foggy. Luckily, the weather did not stop each would-be 2020 group from getting together with their group and smiling for photos on our communal phone. We divided everyone into the four hiking groups and allowed each bunch to pick out matching Mt. Washington t-shirts. One group at a time, we began the hike down to Lakes in the Clouds—an ancient CIT tradition spot. When we re-grouped at Lakes, the sky had cleared up and the weather was warm. We handed each of the 40 counselors their individual envelopes stuffed full of letters from fellow staff members and let them find a quiet spot with a view to soak it all in. Michael, Will, Maya and I enjoyed a nice moment on a rock at Lakes, reflecting on our own CIT experience and noting the significance of this moment for these kids. As we looked around at the future of Girls and Boys staff reading letters from their former counselors and new co-workers, many of them crying—we knew all the work that we put into fitting this day into an already jam packed staff week was worth it. 

A nice hiker walking through made note of the dispersed 17-year-olds reading their staff letters asking, “Who gave all these kids so much homework?” Although he did not directly comment on the fact that each of them was silently sobbing to themselves, he definitely seemed a bit concerned. One LIT came up to me afterwards, trying to act casual, and asked how his older brother (who was previously on staff) knew to write him a letter—clearly touched by his brother’s well-wishes. Many LITs commented on how meaningful their letters were, and the mood post-letter became much more sentimental. Our hike down the steep Ammonoosuc trail was filled with questions about being on staff and general getting-to-know each other conversations, as we shared our hopes and wishes for the upcoming summer. The line-leaders of each hiking group shifted, as each counselor took their turns making us all count off as well as practicing camp cheers and songs they would use on their own campers this summer. The four hour hike down seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, we were all together again at the base of the mountain.

After some group hugs and pictures, we gave the LITs the opportunity to “ask us anything” about the realities of being on staff, our own CIT experiences, and their own personal questions. After inhaling a bit of pizza, (14 pies, to be exact) we were ready to make the trek back to camp. Ignoring any requests for them to check their cellphones, or their unconfirmed questions about whether or not they were going to run in the lake when they returned, we blasted music and sang all the way back to Main Camp Road. It was only when all three buses arrived on the A-field that we let everyone know that they were, in fact, running in the lake just like the CIT years before them. To the tune of Eye of the Tiger, we drove to the top of Main Lawn, where current and former staff members, many of whom were siblings of unsuspecting LITs, lined the path to the lake in their own CIT shirts. After a tight group huddle, we sprinted and dove into the lake. It seemed like everything happened in slow motion, just as I remembered it in 2015. As I took a step back to look around at the forty LITs hugging each other tightly as all of staff roared, a few tears came to my eyes, it was truly a magical moment. 

After our tears dried and everyone changed out of their soaking clothes, there was a deep sense of gratitude—and closure. Will shared this sentiment as well, telling me, “Something I heard everyone saying tonight was how much closure they got today…I didn’t realize how it was the closure I needed too.” 

COVID took a little bit from all of us this past year in so many obvious and some subliminal ways, but if this day showed us anything, the strength and perseverance of the community of Coniston is not going anywhere. No pandemic is too strong to break the bonds that we have spent generations creating here, and I am excited to move into the future with a strong and united Coniston staff. And so the tradition continues…as we move into the summer, I hope that we all remind ourselves of the strong sense of community that day brought to us all. When the summer gets tough for us at camp and in the real world, I hope everyone reading this takes a little magic from the unwavering spirit of camp with them to their own trials and tribulations.

Posted on

CITs on the Road—Remarks from a Stranger

Coniston CITs made quite an impact when on the trail and shared “a generosity-of-spirit toward a total stranger”…

Dear Leadership at Camp Coniston,

My name is, Amy and I hiked to the summit of Katahdin and back on Wednesday with my two brothers, their spouses, and our combined children, ages 12-22, along the Saddle Trail. With a bit of a bum knee, I was slower than the rest of the group, and as I was descending the “boulder climb,” I could hear a lively group of energetic and enthusiastic voices approaching for at least 15 minutes until they were upon me. We were finished the big rocks by that time and standing, as opposed to using all fours, but I turned around to see the young, healthy, spirited group behind me, and said a friendly hello. I told them to please pass me, but the girl at the lead declined, stating that they were a “big group.” I relayed that I was also part of a big group of 9, but that they were ahead a ways. We stuck up a conversation, and I learned that the first two (immediately behind me) were from Needham and Wellesley, MA (also where I am from) and that they were CITs from Camp Coniston in NH, doing Katahdin as part of their training. I learned that half of them had just done Cathedral and half had done Knife’s Edge and that it was a bit terrifying … I found parts of Saddle terrifying! And after a lovely chat, I let the group of 18 go ahead.

They stopped to gather at the benches at Chimney Pond, but soon went past my brothers and me for a second time, their ever-cheerful selves.

I write to you to let you know how impressive your group of kids were, how wonderfully articulate and well-spoken, polite and cheerful, and with a generosity-of-spirit toward a total stranger (with high school and college aged kids of her own) at the end of what was an exhausting day for all.

Congratulations to you – you must run a fabulous camp which attracts fabulous kids – they demonstrated everything one could hope for in today’s young adults!

Posted on

LOON’S EYE VIEW: Welcoming Our Directors to Camp!

By Girls and Boys Camp Directors — Fran and Will

Ropes Director Rian Fried and Sailing Director Izzy Melia enjoying marshmallows at the staff S’mores Social!

Summer is finally here! This Monday, we warmly welcomed all of our program area directors to camp and couldn’t wait to kick the summer off—the best news however, was that every single director who arrived was fully vaccinated!

Although we had been at camp for about two weeks, we didn’t realize how much we needed the smiling faces of our old friends to finally let us take a deep breath and enjoy a sense of normalcy. It felt like Coniston again. There were hugs, laughs, recaps of our years of memories—it was camp.

The deep breaths did not last for long, as there was much work to be done the next morning. We started the first day of training with a meeting in the Pavilion, which gave us the perfect opportunity to christen a few of our brand new benches! Our wonderful maintenance staff, Aaron, James, and Dave, have been spending a large chunk of their time building over a hundred new benches for camp this summer. As Session 1 suddenly seems not so far away, we are happy to say that we now have enough benches to seat every camper and staff member in a safe and socially-distanced manner. We plan on using these benches for events and traditions such as the Talent Show, Vespers, Campfire, or really any large group activity. Middler Division Leaders Annie Gallivan and Cami Auger shared their thoughts on the new seating after their meeting with us, “They are very versatile, we are actually using them in the S’mores Social this evening” Annie shared. “We really feel like they could bring us together even if we have to be six feet apart,” noted Cami.

After our first meeting it was off to the races. We sent the directors to their program areas to take inventory, do some house cleaning, and get in any last minute purchase requests. “I’m really excited about them, actually! We’ve had some issues with durability in recent years but I think these ones are going to make it through the summer, and hopefully longer.” remarked Leadership Director Noah Glenshaw upon the delivery of his newest shipment of dozens of outdoor basketballs. Noah also shared how proud he was of the hard work done today, noting two first-time directors in particular. Ecology director Hayley Horton did such a thorough job taking inventory she actually needed to print out two more inventory forms! Basketball director Ryan Doebele spent his day grinding on the courts, rake in hand, sweeping two-years-worth of leaves into heaping piles.

After a few more meetings with our CIT Directors, Lifeguard aficionado Izzy Caruso, and John Tilley, we are wrapping up our first day and heading to dinner where Chef Mike has prepared some chicken and veggies. Tomorrow we are back at it again, preparing program areas and writing lesson plans. We absolutely cannot wait for the rest of our staff to arrive tonight! Let the games begin.

Posted on

Special note from the Grantham School District, Superintendent

YMCA Camp Coniston worked with the Grantham School District to explore options for reopening schools. We offered our property to the school district to run open air classrooms. Even though our space wasn’t needed knowing we were there to help mean’t a lot. Read a special note of thanks from the superintendent below.

Dear Camp Coniston,

Kristen and I were both recently discussing Camp Coniston, and having some concerns about the fact that our teachers opted not to take advantage of your incredible offer this fall to use your space. 

I should have written this letter sooner, but I hope you know that your outreach to us and your willingness to help us through this horrible situation meant the world to us. Even though it didn’t work out the way I think we all imagined, your kindness and generosity was truly a bright shining light and a source of hope during a time where we were lost. 

The school board’s decision to open in hybrid and our teachers’ decisions to stay in the building this fall had nothing to do with how incredible and wonderful Coniston is. I think we were all trying to strive for the most normalcy we could find in this situation, and our staff was already facing too many uncertainties. They were focused on navigating their own spaces in a completely different way every day with our new protocols, and I think the prospect of navigating yet another space was just too much. 

There’s no doubt in my mind that our staff and students would have benefited immensely from time at Coniston. You have a special and beautiful place there — one that exudes a feeling of goodness, even just walking around taking a tour.

I hope you understand the perspective of the precarious state we were in with reopening. I also hope you know that — even without an actual program developing there — that the impact of your kindness resonated with many and will always continue to be one of the truly positive things that’s happened during the pandemic. 

Again, I should have written all this to you sooner, and for that I apologize. I’m not sure where you stand with your programming for this coming summer, but my hope is that you’re able to get back to some sense of normalcy. Thank you for the work you do with children and for all the good you do for the community. To use one of my very favorite quotes from Maya Angeou, “Good done anywhere is good done everywhere.” There’s no question that the Consiton good ripples out into the world. 

With thanks, 
Sydney

Dr. Sydney D. Leggett, Superintendent
Grantham School District, SAU 75

Posted on

Editorial to Special Edition Coniston 2020 Chronicle

It has been such a crazy year and nothing demonstrates it more than these items we forgot to mention in the Special Edition 2020 Chronicle…

In May 2020, John Tilley spoke nationally on Here and Now and statewide with Laura Knoy on New Hampshire Public Radio about how summer camps could operate safely during summer 2020. You can enjoy the audio and articles at these links:

https://www.nhpr.org/post/how-do-summer-programs-operate-during-pandemic-and-whats-lost-if-they-dont

https://www.nhpr.org/post/iconic-nh-tradition-summer-looks-uncertain

CLICK HERE to View chronicle
Posted on

What Camp Coniston gave to me…

I grew up in an Italian neighborhood in The Bronx, New York, in the 1960’s. My tiny world of a few blocks was very safe and sheltered. There were parks to visit, but no real wilderness that I was aware of.

Some years later, my mother informed me that I would be attending a summer camp in a place called Grantham, New Hampshire. As far as I was concerned I was headed to a far away land…possibly near Siberia. I went very reluctantly.

Up until that point I had only been to one other camp where I spent two months living in an open lean-two cabin…3 walls and an open door to raccoons, spiders and the occasional snake. I was terrified…but at the same time, I was starting to have an awakening to something special that lay beyond my four concrete blocks in The Bronx.

I remember the drive to Coniston…so many rows of pine trees on some never ending highway. I remember the first time we walked past the general store and down the slope leading to the lake. My first view of the lake that would begin a great adventure within my imagination. Little did I ever imagine that by summer’s end I would be sailing a Sunnie by myself, or learning to save a drowning swimmer when I could barely swim myself. I didn’t know I would be firing rifles and eventually teaching younger campers to do the same, or that I would be camping out in the dark woods and eating s’mores and being told it was lights out and  to put a sock in it! In what, I wondered?

At the end of my first summer, I remember sitting in the back of my parent’s car on the long ride back to New York…and I felt a sadness I had never known. I couldn’t believe it was already over, and that I might not see these incredible friends for a whole year. I just didn’t want it to end.

But I had a secret. A secret I couldn’t tell….

I was not the same person that arrived two months earlier. I was still Chris, but I was also now a member of the Church of The Great Outdoors. I just didn’t want to be inside. I wanted to be outside…to breathe the air, to smell the trees, to feel the river, to climb the hills…

And from that moment on, the insects were my friends, the thunder and lightning were music to my ears…

If not for Coniston, I would have always been a city kid…a little afraid of the dark woods, of the unknown, of the animals and sounds of the forest…

But no more….

And by the time I was 21 years old,  I was going down The Mighty Amazon River in search of the rarest monkey in the world, and soon after that driving in an 8500 mile race across South America…eventually discovering  that photography could take me anywhere I wanted to go…

And the adventures continued…

But I am here to tell all future campers…that you will never know what a summer at Coniston will unlock within you.

I had no idea when I drove down the driveway for the first time, that the key to my destiny might lie at the end of that road.

And here are a few photos from the life that I owe to 2 summers in the years 1976 and 1977….

Thank you Camp Consiton and to the many friends and staff I got to know in my youth.

…and to my dear mother, who raised us on meager means, but always sought out and found the meaningful adventures on our behalf.

— Chris, 70/80’s Alumnus

Posted on

Coniston’s New Program

CLICK HERE to Become a Tutor

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello.

In my last video update—I mentioned that exciting opportunities were in store for our Coniston Community.

I told you about Community Days. You heard almost 3,500 visits were made to Camp this summer.

Even though we closed our normal operations this summer, we didn’t let what we couldn’t do, stand in the way of what we could do. That is exactly the type of journey I’m asking you to take with us.

I’ve always tried to care for every kid at Camp. This project is just an extension of that philosophy.

Through funding from the State of NH, Coniston is starting a virtual tutoring program. Our first cohort will be New American, middle and high school-aged students from Concord. We need our community to step forward and serve as tutors.

Six years ago, we intentionally began to bring kids from this community, and others, to Camp. We wanted to ensure that Coniston looked like the state we’re in, and the state we want to live in. Now we are interested in beginning a program that may just light a path for all Coniston campers in the future.

Volunteering is open to everyone in our community. You can be anywhere in the world. All it takes to be part of this is access to a computer and to say “I’m in.”

Sessions will be on Zoom. We have a staff member who will help orient you. Her name is Izzy Caruso.

English, Math, Science, Social Studies—we need folks who can be matched with students needing help with a variety of subjects.

So click here. It will lead you to a google form. There you can give us information and Izzy Caruso will contact you.

If you are interested in more details we have a webpage for that. The address is www.coniston.org/tutor

Coniston needs you. Our community needs you. Campers THEY need you. Please.

I’ll be back with even more good news soon!

John

Posted on

YMCA Camp Coniston Land Acknowledgement

YMCA Camp Coniston in Croydon is located on the lands within the Lake Sunapee watershed in N'dakinna, the traditional lands and waterways of the Abenaki, Pennacook and other related Wabanaki Peoples past and present, we acknowledge and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations for thousands of years from the beginning of time.

Paul W. Pouliot, Sag8mo and THPO Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People COWASS North America, Inc. Abenaki Nation of Vermont, Inc.

The following is a little lesson in Ethno-Etymology:

We have been in the process of decolonizing the numerous colonial narratives and town folk tales and histories that seem to always be embellished to create a sense that someone or something unique happened in that local.

What we can tell you is that most of the “place name” tribal identities were created by colonial people and later by ethnologists that were seeking to micro-manage our histories.

As for the Sunapee area, it was probably inhabited by extended family groups from the Merrimack valley areas of the main village of Pennacook.

For your information here is a little narrative that we previously submitted to another interested party in Sunapee.  The Sunapee translation has been revised and anglicized by and for historical commercialism “Goose Lake” such as seen lately – “Soo-Nipi.”

The actual translation in Abenaki for Lake Sunapee is “Seninebi” = rock = “sen” + (in) water = “nebi” == “Seninebik” = = rocky lake place.

Within the word Sunapee or Soo-Nipi – there is no Abenaki reference to the wild goose or a lake in the shape of a goose.  Our case in point is that the Abenaki translation for:  Goose = “W8bigilhakw” / Goose (Canadian) = “W8btegwa” / Goose (wild) = “W8btegua” or “W8btegwak” (locative word form).

We think that there are possibly two explanations for the changes:

  1. Goose was added for some commercial, tourist, or hunting purpose.

  2. The Goose reference was removed from the original lake name – which we actually think was the case because colonial people could not say the word.   It is our belief that the original name was something like “the Stoney Waters of (or where) the Geese (came) or were to be found.”   This would be something like this – Seninebikw8btegwak = “rocky water place where the wild geese were located.”

For example: This was found to be the same case in Rochester’s Gonic” area where the actual name was “Msquamanaguanagonek,” “at the narrow salmon spearing place,” later shortened by early colonial writers to “Squamanagonic,” and finally condensed to “Gonic” (Rochester).

FYI – In the Abenaki language the “i” is the strong “e” sound and “8” = Ô or ô = French nasal long “o” sound.

We know that we have been going off track from your original inquiry, but we think that it is important to first “de-colonize” the history related to any place name inquiry.

Posted on

CARES Act Tax Credits

In late March 2020, Congress passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill in response to COVID-19, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and with it came many tax benefits for almost any taxpayer who makes charitable contributions in 2020. This blog is written to help educate our community on how it can impact your charitable contributions in the 2020 tax year. Please consult a tax advisor to discuss your specific circumstances.

The window for taking advantage of these benefits closes on December 31, 2020. Be sure to plan accordingly.

Are you planning to itemizing deductions?

Prior to 2020, households who itemize their deductions could only deduct a maximum of 60% of adjusted gross income (AGI) for cash donations. For 2020, the CARES Act has eliminated this cap and households can deduct 100% of their adjusted gross income.

This could theoretically mean zero taxable income. For example, if you have an AGI of $100,000, you would normally be able to deduct up to $60,000 for gifts to charity.  With the temporary changes in the CARES Act, you could now deduct up to your full AGI of $100,000 if you give that much to charity in 2020.

In the event you have made a multi-year pledge, you might want to accelerate payment of the pledge balance in 2020 to take advantage of the deductions available.

Are you planning to take the standard deduction?

The CARES Act allows for up to $300 in charitable contributions per individual and $600 per household to qualify as an above-the-line deduction, meaning you don’t have to itemize deductions in order to claim the deduction.

For example, if your individual and you don’t have $12,400 in qualifying expenses to deduct then you take the standard deduction (standard deduction for an individual is $12,400). The CARES Act increases that amount up to $12,700 if you donate $300 to a non-profit. Thus you would get more money back in your return. Pending your tax bracket it could be anywhere from $50 to $150 back. 

Are you interested in corporate giving? 

In the past corporations were able to deduct charitable donations up to 10% of taxable income. The CARES Act raises the cap to 25%.

Posted on

The Missing Summer by Alumnus Jack Berthiaume

What are your greatest camp treasures?

Skills and lessons? Yes. Lifelong friends? Absolutely. But when you gather a group of alumni together though, camp stories become equally treasured. The sillier, wackier, and more unbelievable, the better. Camp stories beg to be shared and stretched like silly putty across our collective Coniston memories, gaining magic and bending accuracy with each pass.

There is one story, however, that did just the opposite. It disappeared.

A couple years ago, alumnus and camp legend Paul “The Wall” Marcotte donated some amazing items to the camp archive that he came across online. There were postcards and letters that gave a bit more insight into what camp life was like through the last century. Even among this wealth of new archival material, there was one item that stood out: a letter from former camp director Maynard L. Carpenter, who helmed Camp Soangetaha (which eventually became Coniston) during its early years.

The contents of the letter were as shocking as they were brief. It read: “As you know there was no camp last year on account of the War but I hope that you will be able to be with us this year.” It was dated May 14th, 1919. Camp was cancelled for the summer of 1918.

Fast forward to this spring. I was devastated to hear that traditional camp programming was not going to happen this summer. But after the initial shock set in, I could not stop thinking about the other missing Coniston summer and the war that cancelled it.

To me, the truth behind why we never heard about that summer is because the real story is not about what did not happen. The real story is about what happened afterward. In the summers following 1918, summer camps all over began to change. People returning from serving in the military, many of whom were about the same age as summer staff, introduced elements of their experience as they redesigned camps. Camps went from weekend outing clubs to far more structured, sophisticated organizations.

Consider Camp’s layout for example. Coniston’s layout dates to the early 1920s. We have rows of uniform cabins with a central base area. We have daily flag ceremonies. We start the day with reveille and end it with taps. These traditions were adapted from the shared hardships and military experiences of the counselors who would come back to camp starting in 1919. In contrast, suburbs were popular in the 50s and 60s, and camps from that time are spread out like suburbs.

The traditions that were introduced almost 100 years ago, because of that missing summer, have become a part of the DNA of Coniston. In the same way that you can tell the story of a tree by looking at its rings, our shared experiences in 2020 will join to shape the Coniston community of the future.

It is hard to imagine the camp that would become YMCA Camp Coniston during the missing summer of 1918. At that time camp was just a group of individuals with some supplies, borrowed space in the woods, and the belief that time outdoors, together, was the cure to a lot of what was wrong with the world. Through the darkness of this year, I find inspiration in picturing how much we have grown in the past 100, and how that growth has been able to positively affect the lives of countless individuals. I find hope in imaging the summer of 2118. What will it look like? History would dictate that the answers begin with the Coniston community of 2021.

The fact that for the two times camp has been canceled, they are almost exactly 100 years apart, during a pandemic, going into the 20s is a special coincidence.  It reminds me of a dining hall quote from Ivy Baker Priest: “The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end, may also be only the beginning.”

Jack Berthiaume spent each summer (and a couple winters) at Coniston from 2005-2019. Today, he applies his camp lessons daily as a graduate student at the University of Washington and in his work at a nonprofit on Vashon Island, Washington.

Coniston has a track record of success in the face of society’s biggest challenges. If you found this read interesting, you may also like coniston.org/history. There, you will see how Coniston has used the power of camp to overcome everything from the Great Depression, to international political strife, to the plight of wild songbirds.