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Conistonians Volunteer in Their Local Communities to Keep Camp on the Map

This summer, many campers, alumni, community members, and afterschool families are volunteering in their local community to help the “Keep Coniston on the Map Campaign”. Thanks to a generous donor each hour of volunteering converts to a $5 gift to Camp. A big thanks to all Conistonians for making a difference in their local community! We hope you enjoy some of the stories, quotes, and photos from Camps volunteerism program below.

“The map is just incredible. What a clever way to engage campers and teach them the importance of being a part of positive change in the world.”

— Coniston Parent

Campers, Grace and Molly helped pick up trash around their town and local beach. Making the environment a healthier place for their community to enjoy.

Camper, Terry cleaned up a flower bed in his neighborhood that had a lot of litter and trash so the local gardener could replant flowers. 

Camper, Addison helped moved books for her local public library for a project to expand the Children’s section.

Alumna, Jennifer from the UK, virtually ran a Guide and Ranger program for girls aged 10-17, who previous to COVID-19 would meet in their community weekly. Similar to Coniston the girls are all from different backgrounds and many are going through personal struggles, making regular contact with friends so vital. Through projects, skills, and activities the girls learn to make new friends, build self-confidence and independence, while also learning how to be part of a larger community. Many of the morals, ethics, and life lessons we teach come from things learned at from my summers at Coniston.

Every Wednesday, CIT Claire and her mother have been volunteering at the Arlington Food Assistance Center. Their jobs have varied from sorting canned food/dry goods into categories so they can be distributed; filling plastic bags with bulk oatmeal and sealing the bags with a heat sealer; packing fresh fruits and veggies from large crates into small mesh bags for distribution; and cleaning up when she is done.

“We’ve decided to volunteer at the Arlington Food Assistance Center because the COVID-19 pandemic has caused food instability to skyrocket — people are dealing with unemployment and can’t afford food.

Everyone at AFAC is super careful to wash their hands, and wear masks, gloves, and hats when we work together. They play music while we’re there, and every now and then songs come on that remind me of Camp There’s a nice community feel, and we look forward to our Wednesday afternoons.”

—Claire

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Camp Winning Spirit Community Day

First of all, I need to tell you how grateful I am to YMCA Camp Coniston for its continued efforts to make the world brighter, despite the drastic changes COVID-19 has brought to all of our lives. The decision to offer Community Days is a shining example of your commitment to your community as a whole, and I feel tremendously blessed to be a part of it.

It was such a joy to see families enjoying all the beauty that Coniston has to offer; whether on or in the water, or running across the lawn to make s’mores. I will never forget the absolute joy with which two friends from Camp Winning Spirit ran out across the lawn, dancing in the rain.

So please know, I deeply appreciate Coniston’s invitation to pediatric cancer families this summer. On behalf of all of us at the Childhood Cancer Lifeline, thank you.

— Sylvia Pelletier, President of Childhood Cancer Lifeline of NH

The sentiment is shared by many families as well. Below are their messages and photos of appreciation.

For families of pediatric cancer survivors, the pandemic has further complicated our efforts to keep our kiddos safe and healthy. For our family, this meant continuing to remain on lockdown, even as summer has brought chances for others to head out safely into the world again. We are so appreciative of Coniston’s Community Days as one of the only true “days of summer” we’ve been able to enjoy as a family this year. We all left the day feeling energized and relieved that we were able to have some summer fun as a family. Thank you, Coniston!

— The Pepin Family

We cannot say enough about your amazing Camp and staff. Even though this year looked different at Camp my kids looked forward to it for weeks and had a GREAT time. Camp Coniston is for us about lifelong memories and bonding with the special family of Childhood Cancer Lifeline. The counselors do everything to make it fun and you can tell they love the Camp and greeting us every year. A heartfelt “Thank You” from our family for helping our special kids feel like kids and forget if only for a short time the weight of their illnesses.

— The Anderson Family

It was refreshing to have a day of respite at Coniston in the midst of COVID-19. Beth really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with some friends in person. We appreciate all of the efforts that made the day possible. Seeing some familiar counselors was great too. During this time of “social distancing” the day was a bright reminder that we all are in this together.

— The Brooks Family

Thanks so much to everyone for this event. It really means a lot to us. This year was a pretty big deal for Bradley because it was the first time he could go in the lake (so the first time we could all go in the lake). He had his port the last two times so he couldn’t go in because of the risk of infection. This was also his first time at camp since he finished his two years of chemo so he did a lot more running around. He even fell asleep on the car ride home

— The Rainford Family

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Alumni Community Day — An Inside Perspective

The Horton Family always takes advantage of visiting Coniston – our favorite place – whenever we can. Lynn and Sherm were campers and staff in the 1970s and early 1980s. When Coniston offered a Family Camp program (before the One Week / Session 5 program was added), we attended every summer. Our children, Bradford, Walker, and Hayley grew up with Family Camp and then attended regular camping sessions and Adventure Camp trips before being CITs and joining the staff. 

We were heartbroken at the news that Coniston wouldn’t be providing “fun in the sun” for campers this summer. Hayley was ready to be on the staff, eager to work in Ecology and Archery and with a middler cabin. As it was for most, the spring and summer were totally disrupted and the canceling of Camp was a big blow.

We were thrilled when Coniston announced the Community Days and that there was an alumni focused set of events! Three of us visited on a beautiful Monday and while we arrived after the opening bell, there was easy parking and a clear path to the check-in desk beside the dining hall. At check-in we got a wrist-band and sheet describing the day’s events and camp rules.

We were assigned a cabin in Girls Camp as a place to change into swimwear, etc, but our first stop was visiting Archery and shooting a few rounds. After Archery we did go swimming, on what used to be called “Family Beach” but what is now, I think, called Snorkeling beach.

The event was well attended and it was wonderful to experience the “sights and sounds” of camp. There were enough smaller kids attending (thanks to all the alumni who keep creating new Coniston Campers!) to make the camp (almost) feel like it would during a regular camping session. It was also great to see so many people enjoying the lake; kayaking, paddle boarding, canoeing, and swimming. At the end of day, when people were packing-out, it was both sad and beautiful to see the lake and camp return to it’s quiet, camperless state.

Staff and alumni were all extremely friendly while also respectful of distancing and wearing masks. Camp is great because there is enough space to spread out and stay safe. 

It was a fun and relaxing day and we really appreciated the opportunity to visit and to play. Thank you to the year-round and summer staff for making these Community Days possible and thanks to everyone for supporting the Camp through this challenging time!

Looking forward to our next visit!
The Hortons, Lynn, Sherm, & Hayley

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July 2020 Community Update

It’s been almost two months since we announced the closing of Camp for the summer.

Those two months feel like years. Years of quarantine. Years until the end of school. Years of watching the world grapple with hatred, racism, and ultimately—love.

While our goal is always to work for others, it is difficult not to make these times personal—especially when it is easy to feel like all we have is ourselves.

So we have set about to intentionally bring a little light to what can feel like a very dark time.

A generous donor has enabled Camp to open this summer for Community Days at no charge. These days at Camp are open to essential workers, local families, and the community in which Coniston exists. We hope grandparents can feel safe to see their grandchildren for the first time in months. We hope families can be together and boost their mental well-being at the lake. We hope to share our beautiful facility with local day camps and perhaps help their programs with the 15 summer staff the grant enabled us to re-employ. Find more details here.

As you may have heard, the Coniston Community has banded together to make certain Camp is here in future summers. While there is still work to do on the fundraising front, another donor has stepped forward to encourage the Coniston Community to volunteer near their homes this summer. There, campers, alumni, families, and you can sponsor your favorite program area by volunteering close to home this summer. Your children can help a neighbor, your family can work in a soup kitchen, teens and college students can work to bring justice for others. Those hours will help color in a beautiful hand-drawn map of Camp and keep their program areas “on the map.”

I want to state that I am unequivocally committed to making Coniston an antiracist organization that is welcome and reflective of our larger community. To that end, we have begun to examine our training, culture, and traditions operationally. In addition, we have assembled a board committee to promote diversity, equity, and anti-racism at the organizational level.

On August 7, we will host Carolyn Finney, PhD, author of Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors. This event will be open to community and board members and will be uploaded to the camp website so that all community members can watch and participate.

We are also preparing and grappling with opening Coniston’s five afterschool sites that serve over 200 families throughout the Upper Valley as we all prepare for what school schedules will bring this fall.

In conclusion, I look forward to the constructive changes 2021 will bring to our community. With over 800 applications already in, we can tell our families are as well. Our efforts at creating a small light during this time are reinforced by the fact that the first program to fill for next summer was a Service Trip. The concept that we can make a difference in the lives of others is one that lives in our community.

I look forward to a world where those lives help change the world in which we live.

With much love,

John

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Alumnus Helps Shape Community Days

With lockdown stretching on, it became apparent that there was a need to ease the anguish of isolation. Society was stressed. Indeed, we all were stressed. The psychological benefits of being outside and making connections are innumerable. People suffer from a lack of contact with others and from being confined to their homes.

Earlier in the spring, Coniston received correspondence from Howie Kalfus, a Sanders’ Era alumnus and former camper Parent. He visited our 1600-acre property with his family to see his parents in late April. It was the first time these Grandparents had been out of there house in a month and a half. His powerful letter to Camp is on our blog and told us of how his reunion reminded him that no matter where he gathered, because they were together, that place became home.

Coincidentally, at the same time Coniston staff had been separately musing over the concept of running a program where families would drop by camp and participate in activities while maintaining social distance. This would enable multiple generations to see each other safely, perhaps for the first time in the summer.

Our plan was simple. During July and August a community program would be run on-site. Sign up for the program would occur on the new Coniston website. A small staff of fifteen additional staff would be rehired to run activities like swimming and sailing, hiking and field games, and even arts and crafts.

On July 12, we launched Community Days with a group of fifty two nurses and family members. They spent the day at Camp rediscovering a sense of normalcy, joy, and connection. It felt incredibly important for something so straightforward. Through a generous gift from the Brown Foundation Coniston did this free of charge all summer for local families. By the time it all ended, almost 3500 visits were made to Camp without a single report of COVID-19!

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Virtual Vespers Keeping the Coniston Community Connected

Keeping people connected during this time is important work Camp can easily do. To that end, we have reached out through social media to our Community and beyond, providing activities in which families and youth may participate, weekly inspirational and spiritual presentations (aka vespers). Through this type of programming Coniston’s engagement has seen an extreme rate of growth and we even have people join us with no previous connection to YMCA Camp Coniston. Read a few testimonials below:

“Evening Vespers was always a time of quiet contemplation and inspiration.  Bob Sanders would frequently offer a message dealing with camp life and how to make the best of it.  His presentation usually had to do with developing relationships.  45 years later Coniston’s virtual Vespers are very nostalgic and often very personal.  But the themes haven’t changed that much, and I still find them refreshing as they remind me of the importance of relationships that the Coniston experience always provided.”

— Dave Barden, Sanders’ Era Alumni

“Aaaahhh, Virtual Vespers!  It’s a time to decompress after a day at work.  It’s a chance to reconnect with camp friends, for whom camp represents a happy place, filled with lingering memories, and sometimes a growing-up place where we discovered who we really are.  It’s a virtual visit, a step back in time to days when we walked along the pine-needle-covered roadway under a green canopy by sparkling lake waters to late-afternoon vespers.  The vesper speakers inspire us with their earnest words of reflection and leave us smiling.  Thank you, Camp Coniston, for continuing the summer magic.” 

— Karen Fitch Parker, Camper and Staff Member, 1967-1977

Just like every evening at Camp, a little after 5:00pm (EST) the Camp bell rings and cabins make their way in silence to Boys & Girls Vespers. To so many Conistonians, this reflective time as we come together and sit by the lake is an extremely important time. At 5:15pm (EST), Vespers begins by a counselor who shares a personal message or life lesson that helped shape them into the person they are today. 

To stay informed and join us each week we recommend you add Virtual Vespers to your calendar by clicking this link.

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Coniston Community Fundraisers

The Coniston Community has stepped up in a BIG way and hundreds of campers and alumni got involved in very unique ways to ensure the future of Coniston.

CONISTON BRACELETS
1st-year staff members, John Shelley and Ellie Wilson jumped into action when they heard Camp needed help by creating a fundraiser. These entrepreneurs sold homemade friendship bracelets and more importantly found a way of keeping the spirit of Camp alive during these times.

CONISTON TRIVIA NIGHT!
On June 25, 2020 over 150 CIT groups across the country from the late 90’s through the 2010’s gathered for a special trivia night fundraiser to help support Camp during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the generosity of so many, thousands of dollars were raised.

More than just a financial boost, the night was an opportunity for old friends to reconnect, laugh, and reminisce about summers on the lake. Congratulations to the 2001/2002 CIT team who took home the big win to have the donations to Camp made in their honor!

CONISTON HATS
After spending five summers at Coniston, Kiley MacLeod knew that she wanted to help the place that has given her so much. She created a fundraiser to sell custom embroidered hats.

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Community Collaborates to Keep Outdoors Safe

The outdoors provides many people a breath of fresh air and a place to clear their mind and get some exercise during state’s stay at home orders and reopening plans. Getting out to enjoy the local bike trail or take a local hike is an activity that many have taken up to help provide structure or relaxation. Outdoor recreation has been increasingly sought after giving everyone the ability to exercise, clear their head or just take in some beauty while maintaining proper distancing measures. However, hiking mountains or exploring rivers does come with some risks. 

With access to the outdoors there are many people and puppies (Yes, we said dogs!) behind the scenes that ensure the safety of those venturing to explore their backyards and communities. This past weekend, New England K9 Search and Rescue came to Coniston’s property to practice and train. At Coniston, these air-scent trained rescue dogs are able to practice land and water rescue scenarios to hone their skills and remain trained and ready to execute. This collaboration helps ensure the safety of many people exploring their local areas and allows New England K9 Search and Rescue an ideal free space to constantly train and keep people safe. Even during quarantine these volunteers help keep New Englanders exploring the outdoors safe in case of emergency.

New England K9 Search and Rescue aims to provide, without cost, trained search and rescue personnel and K9s to the law enforcement agencies of Vermont and New Hampshire to assist in their efforts to locate lost and missing persons. They offer assistance to the Upper Valley Wilderness Response team and have been helping the local area since its founding in 1981.

From Coniston, we would like to say thank you to the New England K9 Search and Rescue for volunteering your time to keep New England safe. We are very thankful we are able to collaborate with New England K9 in order to ensure a safer and better community.

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Career Counseling for 2020 Staff

Coniston staff make connections and are naturally skilled at adapting to a situation and solving problems effectively. In the summers, it is what they are asked to do on a daily basis, executing at a high level. With Camp unable to occur to ensure the safety of our campers and staff, it left our staff with the prospects of finding a new job or internship for the summer. With summer approaching many staff may be feeling overwhelmed with navigating the job and internship search in the current COVID-19 climate. However, we are privileged to experience the support from the Coniston community.

Patricia Hunt Sinacole, founder of the human resources consulting firm First Beacon Group and mother of one of our Counselor In Training directors, volunteered to sit down with the Coniston staff via Zoom to help them navigate finding summer employment and continue to professionally develop. Pattie covered many topics from immediate plans such as improving resumes and LinkedIn profiles to reaching out to employers and providing valuable skill sets to gain experience. Pattie sat down with every attendee and helped tailor a plan to their specific needs for summer internships or employment.  Each plan depended on the attendees interests and motivations for summer employment, such as gaining industry specific experience or financial compensation. At the root of the conversation was the opportunity to pivot the skills utilized at camp to lead staff to a summer that helps them gain valuable experiences.

Among the many ideas and pieces of advice offered was the idea of pivoting the skills our staff excel at during the summer and utilizing the connections they make. Whether it is embracing entrepreneurship and helping a restaurant or retail company adapt to new guidelines through remote internship or utilizing the childcare and lifeguarding skills learned at camp and offering childcare, staff were encouraged to look at their own skills and recognize creative ways towards a summer that fulfills their professional needs.

Coniston staff was also encouraged to utilize and recognize their networks including family, friends, their schools resources and of course the Coniston Community. Conistonians were also sitting in on the call as prospective recruiters and looking to gain information on the current needs of staff, while offering their advice for career exploration and experience. Coniston staff member Michael Hawley, found an internship in wealth management through the Career Counseling meeting with Pattie showing the power of Coniston connections at work. If you have any opportunities or are willing to offer guidance for staff or recent alumni please post in the YMCA Camp Coniston Career Development Group on LinkedIn or contact nicole@coniston.org.

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Thank You to our Coniston Nurses!

Doctors, nurses, and public health officials are an essential pillar in providing our society with comfort and safety. In many cities in lockdown, healthcare workers are thanked every night for their work. A chorus of applause and cheers echo through the city from the apartments and balconies along the empty streets. A daily act of gratitude to the people who are working above and beyond. Coniston would like to extend an enormous thank you and encourage others to display their gratitude to healthcare workers in our local community and nation.

We also extend a resounding thank you and Class A Clap to our camp nurses who provide safety and comfort to thousands of kids every summer at camp. They are a driving force in making Coniston a welcoming and comfortable place. However, it’s not just Coniston that they impact. When they are not supporting our campers and staff many of them are school nurses and help keep children stay healthy and safe all year.

Our nurses are so important to us. While they are keeping camp and their local communities healthy and strong they are also helping our communities stay connected. Many of our nurses have taken on the role of helping send hundreds of kids to camp on camperships from their local districts. By doing this, many children who may not have had the chance, have had the opportunity to enjoy a summer (or many) by the lake as campers then as counselors, Program Directors, Boys’ and Girls’ Camp Directors and leaders in the Coniston Community. Beyond the Coniston Community, our nurses are also dedicated to send members of the Concord Refugee Community to Camp, giving more people summers at Coniston. Their work cannot be quantified as they are a cornerstone to the camp and local community. Words could never explain our gratitude for your efforts and selflessness.

To our camp nurses and all healthcare workers, who tirelessly work behind the scenes we say thank you for taking time away from your jobs and lives. You truly are the best.