Camp Unirondack

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Camp Unirondack
Camp Unirondack Location within the state of New York
Location	Lewis County, New York, U.S.
Coordinates	43°52′11.58″N 075°9′19″W / 43.8698833°N 75.15528°W / 43.8698833; -75.15528
Established	1951 (1951)
Website	www.unirondack.org

Camp Unirondack is a social-justice and intentional community-centered youth summer camp and conference center that is located in the western foothills of the Adirondack Mountains near Lowville, New York, on Haudenosaunee Land.

The camp was founded in 1951 when the New York State Convention of Universalists purchased 9 acres (36,000 m²) of a "forever wild" peninsula on Beaver Lake (a part of the Beaver River flow) near the border of the Adirondack Park.^[1][2] Unirondack is a member of the Council of Unitarian Universalist Camps & Conferences and serves the Saint Lawrence Unitarian Universalist District and the Metro New York City Unitarian Universalist District, as well as bordering regions, including Quebec, Ontario, Pennsylvania and Ohio.^[3] Each UU church in the region has a liaison to the Camp Unirondack Board.^[4]

Unirondack’s mission is to provide an environment that inspires people to explore responsible roles in the web of life through physical, mental, and spiritual challenges.^[5] The camp today is Unitarian Universalist (UU) in terms of programming and principles, and although many campers are UU, being so is not required for attendance.

Unirondack prides itself as a welcoming space for all genders, identities, and expressions inseparable from the organization's identity. It was among the first summer camps in the country to offer gender-inclusive cabins to their summer campers, and staff have participated in numerous national conferences to speak on the importance of LGBTQ inclusion in the summer camp world. Unirondack has no gender-specific restrooms, offers gender-inclusive cabins for all youth sessions, upholds respect for all individual pronouns, and offers queer-focused programming for all ages and generations.^[6]

Core values at Unirondack include:

• Camper Empowerment: Taking camper feedback into account when evaluating programs and policies. In the past, this has included schedule changes, the renaming buildings and cabins, staff and camp policies, the implementation of gender-inclusive housing and bathrooms, and menu changes.
• Campers' freedom in choosing activities: Each week, campers choose a week-long activity, a daily one-time-only activity, and have a daily period of daily Free Time. In order to maintain a sense of community, there are also morning and evening activities that are camp-wide.
• Sense of community: Unirondack strives to create community through sharing music and poetry at the campfire, being together at meals, and through games and activities. Unirondack staff aim to encourage respect for each individual, a goal influenced by the camp's Unitarian Universalist background.
• Radical inclusivity: Inclusion of historically marginalized groups through racial equality, gender inclusivity, or intersectional feminism, and reflection on how the camp has fallen short of that goal.

In the 1950s through the 1970s, summer sessions for different age groups were often organized around liberal educational themes. For example, World Citizenship Camp for middle schoolers explored cultural programming and relations between many different countries, often employing foreign exchange college students as counsellors. Liberal American kids often made their first acquaintances with people from Asia, Africa and Europe during these sessions. Another session was set aside for Liberal Religious Youth of high-school age in the Iroquois Federation, and later also the Mohawk Federation of upstate New York, who organized their own programs each year. One of the founders of Unirondack, Rev. Howard Gilman, was particularly well known for his efforts to bring inner-city youth outdoors to the Adirondacks during this period, where they met multi-ethnic age-group counterparts from less urban environments and formed lifelong friendships. Many learned to swim, canoe and fish in Beaver Lake and enjoyed the fellowship of singing around campfires each night, all non-urban experiences.^[7]

The camp has a sand beach on Beaver Lake, athletic fields, many row boats and canoes, and a combination boathouse/arts and crafts studio. Outdoor recreation, exploration, social events, educational activities, and arts and crafts are a regular part of camp programming.^[8][9]

Although Unirondack hosts spring and fall sessions and works weekends throughout the year,^[10] The focus of the camp is the summer sessions. The summer sessions are named after famous Unitarians or Universalists. Each is a week-long and is for a specific age range of campers:^[11]

• Barton, for ages 9–12
• Channing I & II, for ages 12–14
• Parker I & II, for ages 14–16
• Ballou I & II, for older 15-18 yr olds
• Trip Camp, for ages 15–18
• Family Camp for all ages

The camp also organizes week-long backpacking and canoeing trips throughout the summer. UU Congregations in the region may lease the camp for weekend retreats or meetings,^[12] or may visit the camp for "work/play weekends", a low-key way to enjoy the woods and contribute to the upkeep of the camp. Attendees spend Saturday morning cleaning and repairing facilities and the rest of the weekend hiking, canoeing, or otherwise relaxing in the outdoors.^[13]

• Official website