Category: Year Round Programs

YOUTH AND GOVERNMENT GOES VIRTUAL 

This year, YMCA Camp Coniston staff, along with dedicated teachers, worked virtually with Stevens, Newport and Kearsage High Schools to deliver Youth and Government sessions to serve 300 teens from 30 schools throughout New Hampshire. Coniston’s main role was assisting the press corps—a body of a dozen students from different districts that write, edit, and publish newspapers during the sessions. Sessions were held virtually, which allowed students to communicate differently and perhaps change the process for planning in the coming years. We look forward to the 2022 sessions this March!

YMCA Youth & Government is a national program of the Y that involves thousands of teens nationwide in state-organized, model- government programs. Students from every corner of the U.S. have the opportunity to immerse themselves in experiential civic engagement and to, quite literally, practice democracy.

 

Read on to find out what our wonderful Alumni have been up to this past year!!

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.

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%.

Each Thursday, this summer, campers from the New London and Newport Recreation Departments Day Camp joined us at Coniston. Permanent use of Coniston buses this summer eased socially distant transportation requirements. YMCA staff helped keep kids safe on the water and help train visiting-staff in group management. Below is an email from the Newport and New London directors.

When Coniston called to invite our camp to visit this summer there was no hesitation in my response. At the time of the call we weren’t sure how we were going to conduct our camp and I was searching for activities to do with our kids. Ordinarily we would travel across the state to various attractions, but those trips were canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

I was ecstatic to learn that our campers would get the opportunity to experience what Coniston had to offer. I have lived in neighboring Newport for most of my life and have never had the opportunity to visit Camp. I worked in the same school with one of the camp nurses and the horseback director. Both of them rave about their summer jobs and frankly I was a little jealous.

This “hidden gem” in Croydon with the rustic cabins and the pristine lake is breathtaking. Our campers loved every minute of their visit. Of course the swimming, tie dye shirts and field games were nice, but the kayaking and archery were our campers favorites. Many had never done either activity before.

Each time I looked at our campers participating in the various activities, I kept thinking how lucky these kids are to be able to enjoy this facility and the many different outdoor adventures it has in one location. Our days at Coniston pale in comparison to anything we would have done at our camp this summer. One camper even asked if we could go back to Coniston next year. Hopefully (for your sake), this won’t be possible, but if it was, I would put you on our calendar right now. This would easily replace our trips to Weir’s Beach or Chunky’s Movie Theatre.

Our campers live in a town without a lot of opportunity and we were grateful that they were able to get the chance to use the Coniston facility. Additionally, we were beyond grateful to have the Coniston staff available to instruct our campers without any cost to us.

Your generosity has made it possible for our campers to create memories that they will cherish for a lifetime and in a time when our campers didn’t have much to be thankful for, I want to thank you for making our campers believe in the kindness of strangers.

— Becky Merrow, Day Camp Director Newport, NH Recreation Dept.

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