Description
Workshops
Conference Leadership
Pricing
Description
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Family and Friends has provided a safe and nurturing community for people of all ages, from all walks of life, since 1979 at Ferry Beach! We come together in community to grow, explore, learn, and build strong and lasting relationships! Family and Friends is the perfect vacation whether you come as a couple, an individual, a young adult, with your extended family, grandparents, or any combination of these. There will be something for everyone, with morning workshops and activities for adults, young adults and children. Multigenerational activities are plentiful in the afternoons and evenings.
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No one has to cook or clean up on this vacation! Come off the beach in the late afternoon, join friends for social hour, then join everyone in the DeWolfe Dining Hall, where we have a variety of choices for all kinds of palates.
So this summer, bring your spirit to the sea, stand upon the shore, and know you are home! Join us at Family & Friends, and discover or rediscover the magic that happens in the Ferry Beach community!
So this summer, bring your spirit to the sea, stand upon the shore, and know you are home! Join us at Family & Friends, and discover or rediscover the magic that happens in the Ferry Beach community!
Morning Adult Workshops
Each morning there are a variety of workshops for adults to participate In while youth and children are in their own programs. The adult workshop selection is located in the "Workshops" tab above.
Each morning there are a variety of workshops for adults to participate In while youth and children are in their own programs. The adult workshop selection is located in the "Workshops" tab above.
Family and Friends Youth Groups
During the week while the parents are in their morning workshops the children get to have their own workshop with their peers. The groups are broken down by age: 3-5 year olds (need to be potty trained), 6-7 year olds, 8-9 year olds, 10-12 year olds and Jr/Sr teens. The group age cutoffs can shift based on enrollment. The groups are led by at least 2 adults attending Family and Friends who have completed a background check. During the week you can expect to build a Covenant for the week, play games, create art and music, and learn about local ecology. The Jr/Sr teens typically will do a day trip.
During the week while the parents are in their morning workshops the children get to have their own workshop with their peers. The groups are broken down by age: 3-5 year olds (need to be potty trained), 6-7 year olds, 8-9 year olds, 10-12 year olds and Jr/Sr teens. The group age cutoffs can shift based on enrollment. The groups are led by at least 2 adults attending Family and Friends who have completed a background check. During the week you can expect to build a Covenant for the week, play games, create art and music, and learn about local ecology. The Jr/Sr teens typically will do a day trip.
Family and Friends Intergen Activities
Each evening and some afternoons there are scheduled interngen activites the whole family can take part in. Examples of some of our favorite activites during the week include:
Each evening and some afternoons there are scheduled interngen activites the whole family can take part in. Examples of some of our favorite activites during the week include:
- Trivia
- Sing down
- Ice cream social
- Masked ball
- Sandcastle contest
- UUlympics
- Talent No Talent Night
- Parade, closing circle & s'mores
Workshops
A TIME FOR SPIRIT
In this workshop we will tap into our deeper selves.
We will practice meditation, we will pray, we will spend time in nature, we will write, we will make art. (No, you don’t have to be a writer or an artist.) We will look at other ways to connect deeply with ourselves and our group. We will focus on how we care for our spirit so that we can have the energy and love within us to go out in the world with open hearts and open minds.
Thea Shapiro is an artist, Chaplin, teacher, yoga instructor and Reiki Master. She is a long time Ferry Beacher, though this is her first time at Family and Friends.
In this workshop we will tap into our deeper selves.
We will practice meditation, we will pray, we will spend time in nature, we will write, we will make art. (No, you don’t have to be a writer or an artist.) We will look at other ways to connect deeply with ourselves and our group. We will focus on how we care for our spirit so that we can have the energy and love within us to go out in the world with open hearts and open minds.
Thea Shapiro is an artist, Chaplin, teacher, yoga instructor and Reiki Master. She is a long time Ferry Beacher, though this is her first time at Family and Friends.
OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
Come explore the areas around Ferry Beach! This morning drop-in workshop will explore outdoor activities in and around the Ferry Beach campus and Saco Bay area. At least two activities will involve cycling so bring your bike! Some possible examples include a cycling/hiking trip to Peak’s Island, a jetty walk, and kayaking in the Saco River. The full and final list of activities will be presented at the orientation. Some activities may have extra costs. Also, many of the activities will require driving to a starting point – carpooling will be encouraged!
Donald Whisenhunt has been coming to Ferry Beach for 23 years and spent 12 years as coordinator of FUUTURES, while also leading the outdoor adventure track.
Come explore the areas around Ferry Beach! This morning drop-in workshop will explore outdoor activities in and around the Ferry Beach campus and Saco Bay area. At least two activities will involve cycling so bring your bike! Some possible examples include a cycling/hiking trip to Peak’s Island, a jetty walk, and kayaking in the Saco River. The full and final list of activities will be presented at the orientation. Some activities may have extra costs. Also, many of the activities will require driving to a starting point – carpooling will be encouraged!
Donald Whisenhunt has been coming to Ferry Beach for 23 years and spent 12 years as coordinator of FUUTURES, while also leading the outdoor adventure track.
WRITING
The writing workshop has been a key part of the Family and Friends Conference for decades, and we are pleased to offer it again this year. Join a warm, welcoming and talented group of writers with the water and sand and breezes acting as your muse. Each day includes prompts, writing with each other, and then sharing what you work on over the week. The workshop culminates with a reading open to all conference attendees. The workshop is always well attended and adults of all ages join in.
Bill Trippe is a long-time Family and Friends conference attendee. Bill, his wife Michele, and their two grown sons have been coming to Family and Friends since 2001 and Bill has taught the Writing Workshop several times. During the other 51 weeks a year, Bill works in the publishing industry and teaches in the graduate writing program at Emerson College in Boston. His own writing focuses on short fiction and creative nonfiction.
The writing workshop has been a key part of the Family and Friends Conference for decades, and we are pleased to offer it again this year. Join a warm, welcoming and talented group of writers with the water and sand and breezes acting as your muse. Each day includes prompts, writing with each other, and then sharing what you work on over the week. The workshop culminates with a reading open to all conference attendees. The workshop is always well attended and adults of all ages join in.
Bill Trippe is a long-time Family and Friends conference attendee. Bill, his wife Michele, and their two grown sons have been coming to Family and Friends since 2001 and Bill has taught the Writing Workshop several times. During the other 51 weeks a year, Bill works in the publishing industry and teaches in the graduate writing program at Emerson College in Boston. His own writing focuses on short fiction and creative nonfiction.
ACTING!
In the Family and Friends Acting Workshop, Catherine Bloom and Emma Howard will lead the group in an exploration of acting in various forms, including improv, clown, scene study, and original monologues. The end of the week will culminate in a staged reading of the play “Dance Nation” by Clare Barron, a play about a middle school dance team that is intended to be read by actors of all ages.
Catherine Bloom is a New York based actor, playwright, and comedian. She has shown original work via Williamstown Theater Festival, Second City, iO Chicago, The Fisher Center, and Brooklyn Comedy Collective. She is currently making her Off-Broadway debut in her 2 person play “the care n keeping of you” which will premiere at Ars Nova in May 2023. Catherine is also ½ of the comedy duo “MA’AM” (The PIT, NYC SketchFest, Frigid NYC, and The Brick Theater). She is devoted to making work that is fun and dumb and makes you think… but not too much. Website: catherinebloom.org
Emma Howard is a former New Yorker, sometimes Baltimorean, and current resident of their childhood bedroom while they receive rejections from playwriting MFA programs. They were a founding member of NYC-based film and theatre company Unattended Baggage and have worked with UB to write and act in a one-person play and most recently a short comedy film. They write absurdist dark comedies about gender-based violence and psychiatry, and are heavily inspired by the art of clown. At the present moment they are making $13.80/hr as a spot op for a musical about lobsters.
In the Family and Friends Acting Workshop, Catherine Bloom and Emma Howard will lead the group in an exploration of acting in various forms, including improv, clown, scene study, and original monologues. The end of the week will culminate in a staged reading of the play “Dance Nation” by Clare Barron, a play about a middle school dance team that is intended to be read by actors of all ages.
Catherine Bloom is a New York based actor, playwright, and comedian. She has shown original work via Williamstown Theater Festival, Second City, iO Chicago, The Fisher Center, and Brooklyn Comedy Collective. She is currently making her Off-Broadway debut in her 2 person play “the care n keeping of you” which will premiere at Ars Nova in May 2023. Catherine is also ½ of the comedy duo “MA’AM” (The PIT, NYC SketchFest, Frigid NYC, and The Brick Theater). She is devoted to making work that is fun and dumb and makes you think… but not too much. Website: catherinebloom.org
Emma Howard is a former New Yorker, sometimes Baltimorean, and current resident of their childhood bedroom while they receive rejections from playwriting MFA programs. They were a founding member of NYC-based film and theatre company Unattended Baggage and have worked with UB to write and act in a one-person play and most recently a short comedy film. They write absurdist dark comedies about gender-based violence and psychiatry, and are heavily inspired by the art of clown. At the present moment they are making $13.80/hr as a spot op for a musical about lobsters.
RUG HOOKING
Punch Needle Rug Hooking is very UU! It’s all about choices; color, design, patters. It is also about having FUN! Punch Needle Rug Hooking is gender inclusive! It is not just a “women’s thing”. One truly does not need any artistic ability for this workshop. So, be bold!
This will be a Beginnings workshop that will be opened up, later in the week, to those looking for a refresher or to have questions answered. In the Beginnings class, participants will make an 12” ‘coaster’ or wall hanging, and by so doing, will learn all (yes, I did say all) the skills necessary for making larger rugs. Choose from several of patterns offered or draw your own. The #14 and/or #10 Oxford Punch Needles will be used, along with a palette of beautiful and interesting acrylic yarns. The only things one really *needs* are a note pad, pen, & small scissors. If one has the following, then feel free to bring: *small lap frame *size #14 & #10 Oxford punch needle*worsted weight yarn (wool, if one has it, is just fine)*bent handled or curved-tip scissors (regular scissors work, too)*a simple design one already has in mind
Kelly Scott is a Certified Oxford Punch Needle Rug Hooking Instructor. Her love of the punch needle style of rug hooking started here at Family & Friends week at Ferry Beach. That love took off quickly. Kelly made 22 rugs in her first two years. Twenty of those were her own design. Her rugs have been featured in Green Mtn. Rug Hooking Guild’s Exhibition in Vermont and Wisconsin Valley Artist Assoc Annual Art Exhibition in Wausau, Wisconsin. Kelly Scott’s studio, in Rochester, NY, provides mobile hands-on classes and training for all levels of expertise in punch needle rug hooking.
Punch Needle Rug Hooking is very UU! It’s all about choices; color, design, patters. It is also about having FUN! Punch Needle Rug Hooking is gender inclusive! It is not just a “women’s thing”. One truly does not need any artistic ability for this workshop. So, be bold!
This will be a Beginnings workshop that will be opened up, later in the week, to those looking for a refresher or to have questions answered. In the Beginnings class, participants will make an 12” ‘coaster’ or wall hanging, and by so doing, will learn all (yes, I did say all) the skills necessary for making larger rugs. Choose from several of patterns offered or draw your own. The #14 and/or #10 Oxford Punch Needles will be used, along with a palette of beautiful and interesting acrylic yarns. The only things one really *needs* are a note pad, pen, & small scissors. If one has the following, then feel free to bring: *small lap frame *size #14 & #10 Oxford punch needle*worsted weight yarn (wool, if one has it, is just fine)*bent handled or curved-tip scissors (regular scissors work, too)*a simple design one already has in mind
Kelly Scott is a Certified Oxford Punch Needle Rug Hooking Instructor. Her love of the punch needle style of rug hooking started here at Family & Friends week at Ferry Beach. That love took off quickly. Kelly made 22 rugs in her first two years. Twenty of those were her own design. Her rugs have been featured in Green Mtn. Rug Hooking Guild’s Exhibition in Vermont and Wisconsin Valley Artist Assoc Annual Art Exhibition in Wausau, Wisconsin. Kelly Scott’s studio, in Rochester, NY, provides mobile hands-on classes and training for all levels of expertise in punch needle rug hooking.
YOGA
The sessions will include a flexible schedule of yin yoga, power vinyasa, restorative yoga, meditation, inquiry, and reflection. In yin practice we will focus on the connective tissue in the body and flow slowly, holding each pose for 3-5 minutes. Power flows will move through many poses at a faster pace. Accommodations will be made for people at all levels. Participants should bring a journal, mat, blanket, and pillows of all varieties.
Megan Cullinane (she/they) is returning to Ferry Beach to lead yoga once again! They fell into the community at Grace and Glory Yoga where they completed hundreds of hours of transformative practice, a Yin Yoga 60 Hour Certification program, and a 200 Hour Teacher Leader Development Program. Megan went on to further their knowledge at a Level One Aerial Yoga Teacher Certification with Vata Asana. She believes inclusion is the heart of yoga.
The sessions will include a flexible schedule of yin yoga, power vinyasa, restorative yoga, meditation, inquiry, and reflection. In yin practice we will focus on the connective tissue in the body and flow slowly, holding each pose for 3-5 minutes. Power flows will move through many poses at a faster pace. Accommodations will be made for people at all levels. Participants should bring a journal, mat, blanket, and pillows of all varieties.
Megan Cullinane (she/they) is returning to Ferry Beach to lead yoga once again! They fell into the community at Grace and Glory Yoga where they completed hundreds of hours of transformative practice, a Yin Yoga 60 Hour Certification program, and a 200 Hour Teacher Leader Development Program. Megan went on to further their knowledge at a Level One Aerial Yoga Teacher Certification with Vata Asana. She believes inclusion is the heart of yoga.
Conference Leadership
Minister of the Week:
Rev. Michael Hall
For those of you who weren’t able to attend last year’s Friends & Family gathering, here’s a few words about our minister-of-the-week, the Rev. Michael F. Hall---who returns to us for a second year.
“I had such a wonderful time getting to know you all last year, I was hoping to join you again in 2023. To engage with and serve such an interesting, kind and inclusive group of people, and enjoy it with my beloved Jill and our youngest child Sylvie, at beautiful Ferry Beach was just a fantastic experience!”
Rev. Michael is looking forward to working with Tim Horne and the coordinators once again, to leading Sunday worship and daily chapel in the Grove again--- a bucket list item he was able to check off last year, but it will never grow old---and to being there for you as needed.
By the time we are together in July, Michael will have just begun his 12th year as settled minister of the Keene Unitarian Universalist Church (KUUC) in Keene, New Hampshire. In 2023-24, KUUC will celebrate its 200th year of lively, loving and liberal religion in the heart of the Monadnock region.
Rev. Michael Hall
For those of you who weren’t able to attend last year’s Friends & Family gathering, here’s a few words about our minister-of-the-week, the Rev. Michael F. Hall---who returns to us for a second year.
“I had such a wonderful time getting to know you all last year, I was hoping to join you again in 2023. To engage with and serve such an interesting, kind and inclusive group of people, and enjoy it with my beloved Jill and our youngest child Sylvie, at beautiful Ferry Beach was just a fantastic experience!”
Rev. Michael is looking forward to working with Tim Horne and the coordinators once again, to leading Sunday worship and daily chapel in the Grove again--- a bucket list item he was able to check off last year, but it will never grow old---and to being there for you as needed.
By the time we are together in July, Michael will have just begun his 12th year as settled minister of the Keene Unitarian Universalist Church (KUUC) in Keene, New Hampshire. In 2023-24, KUUC will celebrate its 200th year of lively, loving and liberal religion in the heart of the Monadnock region.
Musician of the Week:
Timothy Horne
Tim Horne is thrilled to be back for his 2nd summer as Musician of the Week. Although new to Family and Friends, he is no stranger to Ferry Beach, having served as accompanist for ChoralFest for about 10 years. Tim has been the music director at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, NY for more than 30 years. He also accompanies numerous choral ensembles at the high school, college, and community level.
Timothy Horne
Tim Horne is thrilled to be back for his 2nd summer as Musician of the Week. Although new to Family and Friends, he is no stranger to Ferry Beach, having served as accompanist for ChoralFest for about 10 years. Tim has been the music director at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, NY for more than 30 years. He also accompanies numerous choral ensembles at the high school, college, and community level.
Pricing
Pricing per Person |
Adult: $560.00 (Includes Conference Fees + Meals) Youth: $420.00 (Includes Conference Fees + Meals) Off-Site Daily Fee (Commuter): $60.00 Adult / $40.00 Youth (Includes Lunch Only) On-Site Daily Fee: $19.00 (On Campus and Not Registered for Programming. Does not Include Meals) |
Lodging |
Lodging Prices Vary Base on Selection. See our Lodging Page for pricing information. |
Membership |
Membership must be paid to attend any Ferry Beach program and is due annually. Individual Membership: $35.00 Family Membership: $60.00 See our Membership Page to learn more and to purchase or renew a membership or add on to your reservation. |
Register |
Click here to register. For help with your registration, or to register by phone, call the office at 207-282-4489 or email registration@ferrybeach.org |
Our mission at Ferry Beach is to awaken hearts to explore, grow and renew the spirit of universal love.
We work by creating programing and events in the areas of Arts & Culture, Education, Spirituality, Sustainability, Personal Growth and Justice & Action.
We work by creating programing and events in the areas of Arts & Culture, Education, Spirituality, Sustainability, Personal Growth and Justice & Action.
