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2026 NOTICE of Annual Meeting
2026 NOTICE of Annual Meeting
Unirondack Board <board@unirondack.org>Thu, Sep 10, 12:53 PM (12 days ago)
to board, bcc: me
Howdy Membership!
Back with an update of all the things you need to know for the upcoming Members Meeting on October 10! If you are planning on attending the weekend in person, please register here! If you’re planning on attending via Zoom, an email will go out the day of the meeting with the link. This email contains lots of important things for you to know, so here is a quick TLDR list:
Review the meeting minutes from last year before October 10. We will be voting to approve them at the meeting.
Please take this community survey!
We’ve got the slate of candidates for the Board! They are Clyanna Lightbourn, Zach Ritter, and Chris Culver.
Membership will vote to approve any bylaw changes. View the attached PDFs to see those changes.
There will be a Town Hall on October 6 at 7pm.
You can attend the Fall Work Week October 5-9!
Meeting Minutes:
At each meeting, we vote to approve the minutes from last year’s meeting. Voting to approve the minutes will be one of the first things we do at the meeting, so please review the minutes before the start of the meeting on October 10! As a reminder, by voting to approve the minutes, we are confirming that they accurately represent what was discussed at the last meeting. If there is a topic that you would like to discuss again this year, that will happen at another point during the meeting.
Community Survey
We are asking all Unirondack community members to participate in this community survey! This comprehensive survey is for all Unirondack community members to give feedback on what is most important to you in Camp’s present and future!
Board Nominees:
We’re excited to announce the slate of three candidates! We think these individuals would make excellent additions to the Unirondack Board. They are:
Clyanna Lightbourn (she/her) is from Albany, New York, and serves as Campaign Director for the League of Women Voters of New York State.
Zach Ritter (they/he) is from Albany, New York, and is the Director of Artistic Planning for Contemporaneous, a NYC-based music non-profit.
Chris Culver (she/her) is from Ithaca, New York, and recently retired after 15 years as a nonprofit executive director and UU minister.
Members will also have the chance to nominate other candidates during the Members Meeting.
We’re also excited to introduce the new youth representatives who will join the Board in October. They are Gael Romero Silva and Serena Jaiclin!
Bylaw changes:
Over the past year, some changes have been made to the Unirondack bylaws. The membership will discuss and vote to approve these changes at the annual meeting. I’ve attached a copy of the old and new bylaws as well as a quick summary of all of the changes for you to review.
Unirondack Updates!:
We’ll be discussing lots of topics at the annual meeting, including some changes in Camp’s Executive Team structure and the budget from this past year. For transparency and extra time for discussion, we’re sharing some updates now. If you can’t wait until the Annual Meeting to discuss these things, the Board will be hosting a Town Hall to talk more about the open Financial Manager position and the change in Executive Team structure. This will take place via Zoom on October 6 at 7pm.
Exec Team Structure
The Board and Executive Staff are in the process of changing our executive-staffing structure away from the traditional hierarchy to a more lateral team model. This model would mean that executive level responsibilities are shared collectively by the executive-staff team and decisions are made through a democratic process under an established set of governing policies with guidance and oversight from the Board of Directors. The Executive Staff have been functioning in this way for a long while, with responsibilities being shared between the Executive Director, Camp Manager, and Camp Director, and we are now taking the steps to put this into written policies. To be clear, this does not change Camp’s bylaws in any way. The biggest changes to this structure are the removal of an Executive Director position and the addition of a Financial Manager, which better supports the needs of Camp and the responsibilities of the Executive Staff.
Budget Update from Caleb
We set our sights on some lofty fundraising and revenue goals last fall, but with the hard work of our fundraising team, some shiny new marketing, and our famous brand of thrifty Unirondack frugality, things are looking ship-shape for the end of our season! Here are some highlights as our fiscal year winds to a close:
Revenue was notably under our optimistic target for our spring and fall programs this year, BUT, that loss was significantly off-set by our summer programs, which brought in WAY more than expected. Youth trip programs in particular saw a huge explosion, bringing in more than 166% of our revenue target, and around 250% of last year's revenue.
We are 85% of the way to our fundraising goal, which is absolutely mindblowing. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our dedicated fundraising team, and of course the incredible generosity of all of YOU, our beloved community members, we've hit fundraising numbers that we haven't seen in years! This has made a huge difference for camp that didn't just make magic possible this year, but also in ways that have improved camp's financial stability for years to come. It's not too late to help us get that 85% to 100%, so keep an eye out for more opportunities to contribute!
Our summer staff worked very hard this year to cut expenses, save money, and thrift our way toward incredible budgetary success. Through a culture of creative problem-solving, low-cost HIGH-FUN activities, and DIY fearlessness, we managed to come in way under budget on a long list of smaller expenses. And those little bits added up to a whole lot. All told, we estimate that by October 1st, we will have saved 20% of our total projected operating expenses.
So, with everything said and done, and one month left to wrap up our fiscal year, we are looking at a high likelihood of finishing out the year with extra money in our pocket. And that's very good news, heading into next year's budget, with a walk-in fridge that needs replacing and a pavilion that needs repair!
Unirondack is on track and where we want to be. We couldn't have done ANY of it without the ongoing help and support of our community. So thank you for making donations, attending programs, telling your friends about Camp, helping out at work weekends, and all of the gazillion other ways you help us take care of this place. Thank you!
Okay, you made it through! Woot! I’m so looking forward to seeing you all at the Members Meeting! Please let us know if you have any questions– or bring them to the Town Hall! Don’t forget, you can also attend the Fall Work Week leading up to the Members weekend to get a full Unirondack week!
With peace and love,
Abby Townend (she/her) and the Unirondack Board
2025 Annual Meeting Minutes
2025 Annual Meeting Minutes
October 11th, 2025 Annual Members Meeting
Start at 1:30 pm eastern time
Welcome!
Roll call: 33 Members present
Douglas: A couple of things we have been doing:
Major change to executive staff: Executive Director, Camp Director, Camp Manager
Lauren Hunt: Executive Director
Kristen Fiore: Camp Director
Elizabeth Bashur: Camp Manager
Recognition of outgoing senior staff
Lauren Hunt (she/her); Executive Director
Lauren has been on staff for about a dozen years. Lauren began as crew, eventually becoming
Crew Chief. About a dozen years back, she took a break from being staff to join the Board,
eventually becoming president. In October 2017, after as year as “intern ED,” Lauren took over
as Executive Director – a post she has held these past 8 years.
Kristen Fiore (she/her); Camp Director
Kristen has been on staff for about 16 years, mostly as Camp Director and Co-Director for those
years.
Elizabeth Bashur (she/her); Camp Manager
Elizabeth has been on staff for 19 years. She is remembered well as the Art Shop Director and
more recently as Camp Manager and Co-Camp Manager.
All three of them have had a dramatic impact on the identity and direction of our camp. They
are all three concluding their employment. Their contributions through the years have been
deeply appreciated. We are grateful for all they have done and release them with our blessing
and love.
—---------------------------------
New staff coming in!
Alex Arnopol: Executive Director
Caleb Seguin: Camp Director
Sam Meister and Arson Allen: Co-Camp Managers
—---------------------------------
Tracy Hollands: We would like to offer a motion regarding the naming of some of the spaces here at camp
Wayne Manor: Vote to make it an official name
Recognize John and Mark Guillaume who built it and also built the addition onto Gilman and Upper Sweet. Immense contributions John here is the 50s, Mark here in the 90s
We would like to paint their names on the double handled saw that they donated and display that
Renaming lower Sweet from Oneonta/Toad to Bug
Heather Sheridan seconded the motion
Does anyone know the original circumstances that named it Oneonta? Yes, named after specific congregations in New York that contributed to camp.
Why change Oneonta/Canandaigua? Those towns appropriated the indigenous names and that is why we decided to change them.
Kristen, Lauren, and Eliz didn’t want things on camp named after them.
All in favor of the proposed name change?
1 abstain, remainder voted “Yes”
Motion passes!
—-------------------------
David: Couple quick updates
We are currently running a big fundraiser and you will hear more about this coming up
We are very excited to announce that we are bringing back the annual dinner! We have the option to host this in NYC or Albany. Those are the only two options we are voting on. You can vote for both. This will be in mid April on a Saturday, place and date TBD
Votes for NYC:
3
Votes for Albany:
Dozens
Albany decided!
Teaser: We will be kicking off a 75th anniversary fundraising campaign. Dan and Devin and Luke and lots of people are helping with this. Coming in the Spring. Also doing some stuff before then.
Want to get involved now? We meet weekly! Talk to David Pynchon
One more thing! Vaishali has been taking tons of pictures and will be asking you some questions on video this weekend to make content for our online presence. No requirement to participate, can say “no” before or after the recording.
Dan Gottfried: Motion to accept the 2024 Member’s Meeting
Tracy Hollands: Second the motion
All in favor of these minutes: Majority
Abstentions: 6
Oppose: none
Motion approved, 2024 Member’s Meeting minutes accepted
—-----------------------------------
To vote on:
Douglas Taylor for second term as Board President
Been President these last 3 years, running for another 3 year term
Jesse Ditkoff running for second term as Member at Large
Tracy Hollands running for Treasurer
Motion to accept the slate: Cathy
Second: Stephanie
All in favor?
Majority
Opposed: 0
Abstain:0
Motion Passes!
Marty Ross and Mia Rothfelder are also present now, bringing member attendance to 35
—-----------------------------------
David: April 25th, 2026 we will have the annual dinner in Albany!
Center Square, Westminster Commons
More details to come!
—----------------------------------
Lauren’s Executive Director Report
We had an accountant start in May. One of the reasons we are suggesting this new way of presenting things. Fiscal year ends September 30th, so that only gives 10 days for the books to be closed, which is not enough to present finalized information.
Instead, we will give a past two year review of budget vs actuals
Provide estimate for last year’s budget
Audited finances to be presented in January by the new Executive Director
Net revenue for FY 23: -$97,211.00
We did plan for this because we are going through the executive staff transition
FY 24: Budgeted 24 deficit: $64K. Actual deficit: $40K
Credit to fundraising and staff being creative
Projected budget is zero sum for FY 26, 27, 28. Could even end up with a surplus due to excellent fundraising work
The new generator has been a significant expense but we really need it because we also lose water when we lose power. That alone was $30K
Dan Gottfried: Last year’s confusion at the member’s meeting seemed to come from people feeling not being up to speed on the board’s decision because the camp has never had a $60K deficit in a year in its history. Why did we go down this road?
I have no question that the Leadership of camp has been extraordinary
Douglas: Board understands that transparency and communication didn’t work last year, and we are working on it. This is partly why we are changing to this January town hall meeting to talk about the financials
Phil: Everyone’s been talking about the historical controversies, one thing that hasn’t been said is there is a fear that this deficit could continue. The presentation of the deficit being $0 is very comforting, thank you
Someone: seeking clarification, my understanding is that the multi-year deficit was largely or wholly due to having a senior staff transition that took that much time
Correct
Dan Gottfried: We traditionally have not looked at fundraising as something that supports our operating expenses during the year. More for emergencies or infrastructure improvements. Is there a conscious decision to fundraise for operating expenses?
Lauren: about 5 years ago started a recurring donation campaign fundraising. Goal to make camp affordable for everyone. Campership requests increase as long as prices go up.
Alex: to add to that, I’m very passionate about diversifying income streams
Cass: time check of 3 pm
Douglas: I want to encourage everybody who is concerned about the money at camp to come to Board Meetings
Ultimately everybody wants camp to be here in 30 years and it is important to talk about this at the annual meeting because that is when we are here together
And we want to provide accurate numbers in January for the health of the camp
—----------------------
Caleb and Kristen’s Director’s Report
2025 Registration:
Average fee paid in 2025 was $1,130
This was even though we had fewer campers because we created a tiered pricing system. This was Caleb’s idea and he also created a new 4th tier that was the highest price. Caregivers who can register their kids immediately picked the highest tier and that made a huge difference
We had a $50,000 increase in registration revenue
In 2023 and 2024, we had 115 campers age out. This is the largest number of campers we have had age out in the 2 year span since starting tracking 15 years ago.
There’s no clear and obvious pattern in terms of the impact of Covid on registration.
In 2023 and 2024, we had churches saying, “It’s probably not worth your time to come visit because we don’t have a youth group" and then that changed this year
There has been a huge influx of youngest campers this year
+11 Barton
+18 Channing I
-8 Ballou I
-29 Ballou II
Caregivers are registering their kids later and later. We had 26 kids registered in June this year, double what we had last year. This is difficult to prepare for
We were understaffed because of this and so we threw out a call to staff alums and hired them on short temp contracts. Very successful, having that fresh energy made a huge difference
This Spring we had our social media and online presence professionally audited and we failed
We were not generating enough content and not posting enough or engaging the audience or reaching a new audience.
So we hired Vaishali as our digital media storyteller!
Social media engagement/views went up 287% in a couple months
70 new followers gained in less than 2 months
Views from non-followers went up over 100%
What we’re planning for 2026:
Dramatically improve SEO with help from experts
Continue an active and engaging social media presence
Partner with creative and skilled community members
Vaishali’s photography is outstanding and it is going to make our marketing so much better from here on out
New Things from 2025!
Trip Leader Sam Berman came back! New trips in the Spring and new mini trips in the Summer. Plans to offer more youth trip camps in 2026. Rejuvenating the energy and philosophy of trips at camp
Bear and Otter mini trips were wildly popular and sold out in an hour
We went screen-free for our summer youth sessions in the middle of the summer, and it went really well. It was shocking, and the youth probably appreciated the top-down instruction in this particular instance because phones are so addicting
Accessibility Changes
We have a golf cart now and it was a big hit. Very useful because any staff can drive it, didn’t need to have specific drivers with insurance. Camp driver made a training plan for use of the golf cart
Bell lights to make bells accessible to those with hearing needs
Added bench backs to campfire circle benches
We acquired couches in Stevens
Racial justice team. Newly hired racial justice director Pep is excellent. Now we have a racial justice team, majority BIPOC group also including some white staff members
Some need for structural changes to make the team more effective but going in the right direction
Morning Program Recruitment, we called in professionals thanks to Lyndon’s connections
New for 2026!
Accessibility Changes: more bell lights and sound system for speech amplification in Gilman
Session Changes
Landed on Model H
Session 1
8-12
Session 2
11-13
Session 3
12-14
Session 4
13-15
Session 5
14-16
Session 6
15-18
Session 7
15-18
These new sessions present an opportunity to rename our sessions because the 4 names we have had are no longer enough. This is a call to adapt with our adapting community
Why is this important?
There is value and a cost to tradition. We are constantly examining whether traditions still make sense to us or not.
Some important considerations:
How do our session names connect us to Unitarian Universalism?
How well do our session names represent our current community culture and program?
How well do our session names welcome and help us connect with new community members?
How do we ensure that our naming practices align with our values as an organization?
One of our core values as an org is to be anti-colonial in nature. Naming things after individual people is deeply colonialist. Please note that we are not saying the practice of naming things after individual people is wrong or should be abolished.
Our trip camps are named after animals because animals move and trips move. Our onsite sessions will be named after plants because plants stay in one place.
This idea celebrates the 7th UU principle: being a part of the interconnected web of life
Reflects the way that youth interact with this space and the ecological community
These names are familiar and welcoming to new participants
Consistent with this move away from colonial naming practices
Discussion around appreciating care in this proposal and wanting to maintain UU connection in some way
15 Minute Break
Co-Manager’s Report
Spring Program Registration was good
Opening Work Weekend:
Replaced broken retention tank in the pump house
Fixed some broken pipes in Anderson
Completed installation of new siding in one half of shower house
Repaired campfire circle archway (which had collapsed over winter)
Removed some fallen trees on the road
Woodstove in the lodge from Devin is great
5th year of Writers & Creatives Retreat, very successful
Women’s weekend was great
Family and Friends Weekend is a great Spring weekend to give young campers a chance to try out camp before they’re ready to do sleepaway camp on their own
Queer Youth Advocacy Retreat
In the Spring his year instead of the Fall, resulting in more youth able to attend, and more new attendees able to sign up for summer programs afterwards. This year’s QYAR also marked the first retreat organized by our Racial Justice Director, Pep Marie
Young Adult Weekend
This year, the Young Adult Weekend led by veteran Unirondack counselors, was held during staff training, which was a new, successful, creative solution to the increasingly challenging spring schedule
Motion to adjourn from Tracy
Michael seconded
All in favor? Unanimous
Meeting adjourned at 5:50 PM
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