2023 marks the return of Spring!

Spring 2023: Thursday, June 8 – Sunday, June 11

Spring 2023 will be different from past Springs in two major ways:
– First, it’s a long weekend, not a week.
– Second, the planning will be bare-bones.

What does a bare-bones Spring mean? Spring staff will provide the space (Camp Glen Brook) and food (cooked by Dalia) and background logistics needed to make the conference happen, but will not plan any programming.

This means that it will be up to attendees to volunteer to make Workshops and Rings and Evening Activities and every other thing that happens at Spring happen. It will be the most DIY Spring has ever been! If no one volunteers to run any things, then we’ll just all be hanging out in a lovely spot with some lovely food and our lovely selves and making it up as we go along.

The estimated cost for the long weekend will be $360 per person, and we plan to open registration in late March or early April.

To keep everyone safe, vaccination and testing will be required to attend.

If you have any questions or are interested in helping make Spring 2023 happen, contact staff at staffofspring@gmail.com

At the Community Forum held during Spring 2017, a decision was made to separate the role of staff from the role of the Board. (In previous years, the staff and the Board were the same group of people.) Staff will now essentially function as a logistics group, tasked with planning for and putting on the conference on an annual basis. In contrast, the Board, which will have staggered multi-year terms, will be tasked with long-term vision and community-based decision-making, utilizing input from the community and from various committees and working groups.

Below is some relevant information that was presented by the Governance Committee and ratified by the community and the Board during the Spring 2017 conference:

We the Spring Community Form ratify the following operating procedure changes:

The Board Members shall cease to run the actual conference, and instead shall create and oversee committees at its own discretion or at the behest of the Community Forum, and shall give those committees a specific charge at time of creation.
The Board shall appoint a standing committee, referred to as staff, to run the actual conference using the current election process.
The Board shall elect the next Board, with the understanding that Board members shall serve for at least two years and rotate out in such a way as to provide continuity.
When any committee runs into something out of the scope of their charge, they shall inform the Board, who will deal with it appropriately.
The board shall convene a Community Forum yearly at a conference
The Community Forum shall select issues for discussion brought to it by the Board or by a community member, and the Board shall abide by decisions made at the forum.
When the Board determines that an issue requires the input of or a decision by the greater Spring Community, the Board shall, when the Community Forum next convenes, present that issue to the forum.
Board members may serve on various committees when practical and convenient.
No committee shall have authority over any other committee. Any conflicts between committees shall be resolved by the Board.
When the Board creates a committee, it shall create a liaison process between itself and that committee.
Any committee created by the Board shall include at least one community member, with the recommendation that committees be comprised of at least 50% community members.

Hello everyone!

Spring is just a little more than a week away and we’re all super excited to see everyone!

Arrival this year starts at 5pm, although if you’re interested in coming earlier in the day to help with pre-site setup, please let us know — we could definitely use the help! Opening Circle will be at 7:30 pm on Friday. If you won’t be arriving by 7:30 pm, that’s totally fine, but please let someone on staff know (you can just reply to this email). We will leave some food out for you in the kitchen.

When you arrive, head to the registration table to get signed in and get your info packet. If you’re new, there will be someone on hand to show you around and answer any questions you may have.

New things we’d like to draw your attention to:

* Our Conflict Resolution Policy draft document can be seen here: https://www.springsummercamp.org/spring-conflict-resolution-process-visioning-document/. If you’d like to volunteer for the Conflict Team, please either send us an email or contact Will or Coran onsite.

* Ideas and topics for the Spring Community Forum on Sunday afternoon. Details about the forum can be found here: https://www.springsummercamp.org/spring-community-forum-proposal/.

If you need help finding a ride to Spring, or if you have room in your vehicle to offer someone a ride, send Coran an email (cnewland@live.com) and he’ll help you get it sorted out.

Here’s a list of important things to remember to pack. It is a long list, so hopefully this newly-categorized version will help make it a little more easily readable!

Continue reading →

Hello SPRINGERS, Spring community, People who are awesome!

As you may know over the past few years Spring staff has been working on making Spring a non-profit. A lot of time, thought, and energy has gone into transforming boiler plate documents into something that will work for the Spring Conference and still meet the requirements as legal documents for a non-profit. And now we have reached the final stages!

We have put the most recent drafts of both the Articles of Agreement and Bylaws in Google drive (links below) to give you all a chance to look them over and comment before we start the incorporation process. So, if you are so inclined, please take a look at both documents and make comments or suggestions directly in the Google docs.

Articles of Agreement: https://goo.gl/MxHr0M
Bylaws: https://goo.gl/p7Phn5

We hope to be able to take the next steps with this after the Open Staff meeting on Nov 15th and officially be a non-profit by the end of 2015. In aid of this if you plan to comment please do so by Nov 14th. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read them both through. Your input is greatly appreciated!

If you have any questions about the process as a whole feel free to contact April directly (april@morefrogs.com)

Here’s more info about the Open Staff meeting: http://www.springsummercamp.org/?p=353
Please, RSVP [ https://goo.gl/oMlM9Z ] if you are thinking of attending, it’s helpful for us to know how many people are attending or hoping to attend.

Also, if you haven’t filled out the Kids at Spring survey you can fill that out here: https://goo.gl/3TCpUF

Thanks and thanks for being awesome!

Much love,

2016 Spring Staff
April, David, Jake, Kelly, Lorraine and Thor

Here were the workshops for Spring 2015

Daring Greatly with Sarah: In this workshop, we’ll dive deep our personal relationship with fear, our fears themselves, and how we want to transform them. We’ll use the safety and support of the group, Glen Brook, and the Spring community at large to stretch our boundaries, expand our comfort zones, and question our assumptions while compassionately engaging with what scares us. Through discussion, group activities and challenges, and extraordinary feats of derring do, we’ll figure out what it means to be courageous, and hopefully come away with heightened self-awareness and some badass new superpowers we can use in our everyday lives.

Let’s Write a Book with Bryce: Write genre fiction, (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Steampunk, Post-Apocalyptic, etc) with a fun group dynamic. We can plan the whole piece together and write some each day, adjusting the plan as we go. We likely won’t finish the whole thing, but if there are 5 of us writing two pages a day for 7 days that’s 70 pages. After Spring we can continue working on it over the internet.

DIY Canvas and Leather Adventure with Thor: Tips and tools to create personalized bags, pouches, backpacks and the like. There will be a limited stock of canvas, leather, Velcro, snaps and zips on hand, as well as old bags, leather jackets, and backpacks to deconstruct. Create something new or re-purpose something old.

A Pattern of Patterns with April: A discussion group centered around noticing patterns and habits in our lives, and working to create new patterns and/or change existing ones. This will be a largely informal discussion where we share strategies for changing and creating patterns and habits, talk about changes we would like to make, and encourage each other to follow through and keep the changes up after Spring. Drawing and doodling patterns during the discussion is strongly encouraged. (If this sounds familiar that may be because this workshop also happened at Spring 2014.)

Building Things and Walking in Funny Ways with Lorraine: Stilts and slack line (more description to come).

TableTop RPG’ing with Anthony

In which we explore the collaborative storytelling possibilities of table top role-playing games, in this case using the D&D 5th edition core rules. The workshop will involve character creation (this will be completed on the first day of the workshop), some mini-quests (playable in one session), and ideally a longer quest to fill out the week. Accessible to long-weekenders and full-week Springers, this workshop should serve as an introduction to tabletop role-playing games for the new gamer, and as an exploration of collaborative storytelling for all players.

For those interested, there is some helpful introductory documentation online at dnd.wizards.com (not required reading, but it might help move things along). Also, a snarky webcomic (see alt text) for perspective. I will bring several sets of polyhedral dice, but those who have dice are encouraged to bring them, too.

Games! with Tashin and Will: Inside games! Outside games! Board games! Card games! Frisbee golf! Play all the games! (more description to come)

Be-in with Jake: Not quite sure what to do? Want to do different things every day? Why not do it together?

Hello everyone!

This year’s Spring open staff meeting will take place on Sunday April 12th at Parts & Crafts — 577 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA 02143.

The open staff meeting gives you, the enthusiastic Spring attendee, the opportunity to see and participate in the inner workings of making Spring happen. Staff will present some of the big changes and decisions on the table this year, and listen with attention and gratitude to your feedback and ideas about Spring.

Continue reading →

Here are the Spring 2014 workshops

Making and Breaking Patterns with April: A discussion group centered around noticing patterns and habits in our lives, and working to create new patterns and/or change existing ones (with a bit of group support to help you along). Drawing and doodling patterns during the discussion is strongly encouraged.

Spring to the MOON! with Will: No longer known as ‘An Explosively Good Time.’
Also no longer known as ‘Fun with Flying Phalluses’
Also no longer known as ‘The Rickety Rocket Racket’

Come learn the fundamentals of model rocketry, hands-on, with your host: Will! Rockets will be entirely scratch-built from as many reclaimed materials as possible: paper towel and wrapping paper tubes, plastic and paper nose cones, parachutes out of crappy shower curtains. It’s not quite upcycling, but it beats shelling out $20-30 for a rocket kit! Motors and launch equipment provided by your workshop leader along with a ton of supplies.

Remember always, however, that this is Spring. Anyone can make a rocket. You are encouraged to make yours fabulous. To this end we will be working extensively in the Art Barn. All Rockets will need to pass a basic safety inspection before being considered for flight.

A MARVEL-ous Superhero Role Playing Game with Coran: Have you ever wanted to fight along side the forces of good? Fly through the sky with Superman. Swing through a city with Spiderman. Beat up villains with your brains and brawl with Wonder Woman. Or… talk to fish with Aquaman? Well, you can’t because I don’t want to get sued. But, you can still play superheroes if you want. You could have a telekinetic speedster, or an animal controller brick of a bloke. Who you get is up to the die; how you play… well that’s all on you.

DIT Fit – Do it Together Fitness for a DIY Conference with Denise: This workshop is a chance to play and make extra endorphins to enhance your week. Its always easier with a buddy…or ten. As a group (DIT!) we will choose from a variety of body moving, sometimes blood pumping activities to suite our mood and the weather that graces our little slice of heaven that is Glenbrook. Options to choose from include but are not limited to: taking a run through the pastoral neighborhood, tetherball championships, dance class in the barn, playing outside in the rain (obligatory hot cocoa and lounging afterward), swimming, locating and occupying climbable trees, acroyoga in the field, playing kickball, and frisbee. Creativity and endurance is encouraged, along with generous victory cool downs where we lie in the grass. Additionally, if you are wanting to try your hand at teaching a yoga class, sharing your acro skillz, or becoming a drill sergeant to a troop of running free spirits, then this may be the morning workshop for you. Don’t be intimidated, without stillness there is no movement, and there will be plenty of both.

The Person & The Poet: A Poetry Workshop with Seb: In this workshop we will engage in a critical study of contemporary poets such as Louise Gluck, Anne Carson, and John Berryman and we will also create a space for us to write and workshop each other’s work. We will do a lot of reading, writing, and sharing.

Using Spring As A Jumping Off Point To Create The World You Want with Lydia: This workshop will be a space for us to muse over what makes Spring what it is. We will discuss the world-changing implications of creating this kind of community and ways we might apply our experiences here towards transforming society. In this workshop we will look at the inspiring, the practical, the social, the political, the liberating, the far-fetched, the personal, the challenging, and the pragmatic. As we consider the world-changing implications of our own experiences in community we will also look at what we can learn from other movements and groups. Let’s share our dreams and make big things happen!

Be-in with Bryce: Bryce has no idea what he wants to do. He has a vague inkling that it’ll be outside and maybe involve a game or building something… Or both. So if you are similarly indecisive come join him and whoever else shows up that day and figure out something to do.

If the workshop you want isn’t listed, this is a DIY conference, so email Jake and tell him about the workshop you want to run!

Hey there! Are you wondering what the schedule for Spring 2014 looks like?

You’re in the right place. This is draft 1.4, and we’ll update it if anything changes.

	Saturday		Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
9:00	Arrival	8:00	Wake up and woo woos	Wake up and woo woos	Wake up and woo woos	Wake up and woo woos	Wake up and woo woos	Wake up and woo woos
	Tours / welcome wagon / find your room / Mailbags	8:45	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast
	Workshop sign-up	10:00	Morning Meeting	Morning Meeting	Morning Meeting	Morning Meeting	Morning Meeting	Morning Meeting
	Games & one-shots	10:30	Workshops	Workshops	Workshops	Workshops	Workshops	Clean up!
	Hooray! Brunch Buffet	12:30	Lunch Prep	Lunch Prep	Lunch Prep	Lunch Prep	Lunch Prep	Lunch Prep
12:00	Orientation	1:00	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1:30	Break	2:00	Afternoon Meeting	Afternoon Meeting	Afternoon Meeting	Afternoon Meeting	Afternoon Meeting	Closing Circle
2:00	Week-long workshops	2:30	One-shots Free time	One-shots Free time	Big Group Check-in Free time	One-shots Free time	One-shots Free time	Goodbye Spring! See you next year
5:00	Dinner Prep	5:30	Dinner Prep	Dinner Prep	Dinner Prep	Dinner Prep	Dinner Prep
5:30	Dinner	6:00	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
6:30	Rings	7:00	Rings	Rings	Rings	Rings	Rings
8:30	Big Group Game	8:30	Bonfire	Dance Party	Free time & Workshops	Auction	Coffee House
10:00	Worship	10:00	Worship	Worship	Worship	Worship	Worship

Hey there campers! The open staff meeting is coming up very, very soon, and we (2014 staff) are really looking forward to seeing you there. It’s a great opportunity to hear about planning for the 2014 conference and share your ideas with the community.

This year the staff members decided to rent a new site to host the meeting, and we want to be sure you know why. So here’s our thinking behind the renting of Earthdance.

Continue reading →

Welcome to the new Spring website! More news posts coming soon!

Here are the workshops from Spring 2013

The World of Small Craft with Sandy: Let’s make things and hang out!Each day will focus on a different material and/or technique for making art and/or crafts. There will be several project suggestions at a variety of experience levels to help you explore making art and/or crafts.Because everyone can be creative, and anyone can create, this workshop is open to both newbies and professional artists (and anyone in between). You should be able to find things to make that are both challenging and accessible regardless of experience or skill level. The projects will also include useful crafts, small gifts, and art for art’s sake.Because we only have a week, and a limited suitcase size, each project idea will be for something small enough to fit into a mailbag and finish in one day.

Spring Remix! with Anthony: We’ve had Sproing! (Spring, the musical), and we have Coffee House every year. We have conversations deep and humorous. But we haven’t answered the question: “Will it blend?” In this workshop, we will grab snippets of Spring, short or long (with consent from those recorded), cut them up, mix them together, and throw it at the wall to see what sticks. Many stock loops and audio clips will be available to add, but at least part of the workshop will focus on recording pieces of Spring, and use of “found audio.” I will provide computers/software for recording and editing, as well as recording equipment (microphones, etc.), but if there’s something you really want to record, feel free to bring it!

Board Game Workshop with Dan: As usual, we have an abundance of games of all kinds available to us. Board games, card games, party games, you name it! Whether you’re looking for a several-day-long epic RPG or a casual 10-minute card game, there will be plenty of others willing to play, and you might even learn a new game. We sometimes even have game designers play-testing their newest creations!

Write On! with Athena: Let’s manifest a creative space to climb up our writers blocks and find our voices. I’m hoping for us to share our writing goals and then satisfy them, however modestly. We will find a quiet nice place to be…and we will write. We will encourage each other along throughout the week. This won’t be so much a “learn a new writing style” workshop as it will be a “dust off your writing goals” workshop. Hopefully by the end of the week, that poem/story/biography/etc that has been spinning around in your head for a while will have made its way onto the paper. In other words, this is a do-it-yourself writing workshop, with a little help from your friends. Because it’s always better that way, isn’t it.

Inclusion and Oppression: Hard Work, Deep Love, and Dreams with Choya: Spring is transformative and powerful because we try to create a space where every person in our community can feel safe and loved enough to express their most authentic selves, free from some of the externally (and internally) imposed constraints of our day-to-day lives. In this workshop, we’ll get into our community values in order to talk about what that means to us, individually and communally. To support and anchor our conversations, we’ll create a shared understanding of oppression, power and privilege, and consider various parts of our identities (both socially charged, like race and gender, and less-so, like food preferences, hobbies or family situations). We’ll compassionately rise to the challenge of being our best selves – and, oddly, it will be fun! This workshop will use gentle facilitation, transformational discussion, personal reflection, activities and creativity.

Co-Listening/Peer Counseling with Lydia: In this workshop we’ll be learning how to listen effectively to each other and the role that can play in clearing our minds and healing from old hurts. We are all born wanting to connect, collaborate, learn and celebrate. We all experience social conditioning and emotional hurts which interfere with our ability to think clearly and flexibly. By taking turns actively listening to each other we will tap into our natural emotional healing process (through laughing, crying, talking and being present with each other) and support each other in reclaiming our full humanity.

spring

summer camp for adults

Category Archives: news

2023 marks the return of Spring!

Spring Community Forum 2017 results

Welcome to Spring 2017, and what to bring!

Spring is becoming a non-profit, staff wants your feedback

Spring 2015 workshops

Here were the workshops for Spring 2015

Open staff meeting!

Spring 2014 Workshops

Here are the Spring 2014 workshops

2014 Schedule

2014 open staff meeting… and why Earthdance?

Welcome to the new site!

Spring 2013 Workshops

Here are the workshops from Spring 2013