YMCA Camp Coniston
| YMCA Camp Coniston | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Croydon, NH | |
| United States | |
| Information | |
| Established | 1911 |
| Motto | Live. Laugh. Loon. |
| Mascot | Loon |
| Facility | 1,558 acres (631 ha) |
| Employees | 223 Annually |
| Summer Campers | 1,724 |
| Primary Cabin Size | 10 Campers, 2 Staff |
YMCA Camp Coniston is a coed overnight summer camp located on the shores of Lake Coniston in Croydon, New Hampshire. Founded in 1911 as Camp Soangetaha, today YMCA Camp Coniston operates as an independent corporate association of the YMCA of the USA. The organization offers residential and travel programs to campers who are 8 to 16-years-old during the summer, and hosts various local programs during the school year. YMCA Camp Coniston has provided traditional, coed camping since 1916, making it among the oldest of its kind. The camp is often recognized for its programs, facility, and value.[1][2]
Location[edit]
Although the 1,558 acres (631 ha) plot extends into parts of Sunapee, Grantham, and Springfield, New Hampshire, YMCA Camp Coniston is located primarily on Lake Coniston in Croydon, New Hampshire. The 129 acres (52 ha) lake sits entirely within camp property, with the exception of an access ramp for public recreational use.[3] The region is often a recreational destination due to its proximity to Lake Sunapee and Mt. Sunapee. The camp is a less than two hour drive from Boston and is located 3 miles (4.8 km) off of I-89.[4]
History[edit]
Formation[edit]
YMCA Camp Coniston began as an outdoor club in the village of Meriden, New Hampshire in 1911. The nearby towns in western New Hampshire had vibrant, grassroots YMCA organizations for decades leading into the 20th century. Participants in these local initiatives created the “Rural Boys Institute,” a summer hiking club on the newly gifted bird sanctuary next to the Kimball Union Academy campus. Some local programs sponsored by the YMCA were based in Bartlett Hall on the Dartmouth University campus at the time. Students there decided to rename the Rural Boys Institute to Camp Soangetaha for the following summer of 1912, after a line from chapter three of Longfellow's “The Song of Hiawatha.” 1912 also marked a move from Meriden to a donated spot on Rand Pond in Goshen, New Hampshire.[5]
Camp Soangetaha[edit]
Camp Soangetaha was initially an all-boys camp until the summer of 1916, when the second half of the summer was reserved for girl campers, who participated in mostly the same activities as the boys in the early half of the summer. After 14 summers of borrowing, the YMCA officially acquired the property on Rand Pond in 1926 from board member G.H. Bartlett on behalf of Camp Soangetaha. It remained at that location until 1963. In that time, programs and quantity of campers continued to grow, and many traditions were created that still exist today. Of note, the lifeguarding and swimming program which began at least as early as the 1920s was uncommon for its time and is still a backbone of the Coniston camper and leadership programs.[6]
Move to Lake Coniston and Name Change[edit]
The board indicated problems with the facility on Rand Pond beginning in the 1940s, since expanded interest and growth meant the location had become undersized. After enough fundraising and organizing led by board chairman and community businessman and leader George A. Dorr, The YMCA of New Hampshire purchased the facilities of Camp Interlaken, a family-run all-girls camp in 1963. The owners of Camp Interlaken changed the name of the camp's lake from “Long Pond” to “Lake Coniston” in 1943, after the novel Coniston which took place in the area. After a brief stint as “The New New Hampshire State YMCA Camping Reservation for Boys and Girls,” the board selected the name “YMCA Camp Coniston” after the lake. It is a total coincidence that Winston Churchill, who wrote the novel for which Lake Coniston was named, was a founder of Camp Soangetaha, now YMCA Camp Coniston.[7]
School Year Programs[edit]
YMCA Camp Coniston provides after school services during the school year for five elementary schools in Plainfield, Lebanon, West Lebanon, New London, and Sunapee.[8][9]
YMCA Camp Coniston is responsible for organizing Youth and Government New Hampshire District 9. Currently, Kearsarge Regional High School, Stevens High School, and Newport High School are the participating schools in that district.[10]
Each fall and spring, local students in grades 5 to 8 visit camp for a day or weekend and participate in teambuilding and outdoor learning activities. The towns of Grantham and Croydon hold community days at the camp facility. Several non-profits use the facility in the offseason.[11]
Summer Programs[edit]
YMCA Camp Coniston's most well-known program is its traditional overnight camping program for boys and girls on Lake Coniston. The first eight weeks of the season are split into two-week-long “sessions” for campers who are eight to fifteen years old.[12] The daily schedule includes family style meals, group activities, program areas (such as archery, canoeing, and swimming), and free choice time. Two week sessions also include an “overnight,” when campers will stay with their cabin mates and counselors at one of several camping structures around the most forested parts of the lake.[13]
YMCA Camp Coniston additionally hosts travel and service opportunities for campers offsite. The Adventure program, for twelve to fifteen-year-olds, are week-long trips to locations around the north-eastern United States and the province of Quebec, accompanied by outdoor recreational activities along the way.[14] [15] Service Trips are available to high-school students, and combine components of the Adventure program with opportunities to work with volunteer organizations as a group.[16]
Campers have the opportunity to apply for the CIT, or Camper-In-Training, leadership program for the summer they are sixteen years old. CITs explore either New England (as East Coast CITs) or the American southwest (as West Coast CITs), and participate in leadership training in different aspects of camping. Additionally, all CITs receive training in American Red Cross CPR and First Aid.[17]
Since 1996, YMCA Camp Coniston hosts the Childhood Cancer Lifeline of New Hampshire's Camp Winning Spirit for families of children with cancer on Labor Day weekend each year[18]. YMCA Camp Coniston received the “Champion of Children” award from the Governor's Office of New Hampshire in 2010. The award honored the organization's reputation as the “‘go-to camp for kids with chronic [health] disorders.”[19]
Notable alumni[edit]
- Noah Kahan, musician
- Winston Churchill (novelist), author
- Blythe Danner, actor (Camp Interlaken era)
References[edit]
- ↑ https://www.campratingz.com/reviews/653/Summer-Camp-Coniston.html
- ↑ https://www.topeducationdegrees.org/50-most-amazing-summer-camps-in-the-u-s/
- ↑ https://wildlife.state.nh.us/maps/bathymetry/coniston_croydon.pdf
- ↑ https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4586317,-72.1060678,15z
- ↑ http://coniston.org/html/history.html?m=1x2
- ↑ Tuohy, Lynne. “Camp Memories.” Mount Sunapee Magazine, Summer 2011.
- ↑ Tuohy, Lynne. “Camp Memories.” Mount Sunapee Magazine, Summer 2011.
- ↑ http://www.globalsummercamp.org/summer_camp/1137
- ↑ http://www.coniston.org/afterschool/
- ↑ http://coniston.org/downloads/chronicle/ConistonChronicle2018Fall.pdf
- ↑ http://coniston.org/downloads/chronicle/ConistonChronicle2018Fall.pdf
- ↑ https://nhcamps.org/For-Parents/Camps-Directory/agentType/View/PropertyID/55/YMCA-Camp-Coniston
- ↑ http://coniston.org/html/parent_handbook.html?m=2x5
- ↑ http://coniston.org/html/adventure-camp-trips.html
- ↑ https://www.outdoored.com/companies/ymca-camp-coniston-inc
- ↑ http://coniston.org/html/service_trips.html
- ↑ http://coniston.org/html/CIT_program.html
- ↑ http://www.childhoodcancerlifeline.org/camp.htm
- ↑ https://www.topeducationdegrees.org/50-most-amazing-summer-camps-in-the-u-s/
External Links[edit]
Coordinates: 43°27′23″N 72°7′2″W / 43.45639°N 72.11722°W
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