Spring Sessions 2019

Friday, April 5, 2019 - 6:45pm to Sunday, April 7, 2019 - 2:00pm

 

 

Sessions Information

Nine Partners Quarter welcomes you to the 2019 NYYM Spring Sessions. These meetings, which carry on the business of the yearly meeting between the annual summer meetings, need the wide involvement of Friends to ensure that they reflect the diversity and depth of all our monthly meetings and worship groups. This spring we are again being warmly welcomed by Oakwood Friends School. All the sessions and committee meetings will be held on this beautiful campus. Below, please find information on registration, hospitality, youth programs, YM agenda and advance documents, and a detailed schedule.

We look forward to welcoming you to our region!

 

Registeration and Useful Information!

Online Registration is now closed. 

But you can still register in person! Come to the Registration Table at Spring Sessions.

 

Welcome to Spring Sessions!

A message from the clerk

It is always a joy to gather at our own yearly meeting Friends school in Poughkeepsie, where we can mingle with young Friends over excellent meals in their dining room and enjoy the lovely campus environment. It all starts with loving, Spirit-led, communal labor together. The choices, the decisions, are the responsibility of all of us, not of any one or two or ten or twenty of us.

We have both important business matters to discern and inspiring reports to consider from the valuable work of Friends that goes on all the time across our entire area. The more who can join us, the better will be our decisions, which will affect all of us. We will have a new budget proposal to consider and there is a chance that we may begin to consider some yearly meeting structure revisions as well. Please consider joining us if you are able. Participant expenses are as you are able to pay, or as you are moved to spend if you are able to help by paying a little extra. Pay as led applies to all three of our gatherings: Spring, Summer, and Fall Sessions. Advance registration is important so that informed planning can be made with some accuracy. Please make a note in your calendars and try to join us if you can. We need input from as many of our Friends as possible!

­—Jeffrey Aaron, NYYM Clerk

 

Friday Evening Program for teens and adults, 7:00-8:30 p.m.

We will begin our Spring Sessions with a Friday evening program on The Spiritually “Led” Part of “Pay as Led.” Sessions Committee is still working out the details of the evening, but Angela Hopkins (Ithaca) and Emily Provance (15th Street) will lead us in presentations and discussions of not only the financial considerations of being led, but also how Pay as Led is one part of the overall work of New York Yearly Meeting becoming more inclusive—age, race, class, and more. Please do plan to join us from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the Oakwood Friends School auditorium (theater). Optional for hungry travelers: you are invited to join Oakwood students for dinner at 6:00. The cost is $8.00.

 

Youth Program (13 – 17 year-olds)

The theme for the youth program will be “Solutions for Our Planet!”

  • Are you concerned about what is happening to the earth?
  • Are you wondering what Friends are doing about climate change, security of our food, and the possibility of economic disruption and the breakdown of society?
  • Are your parents coming to Spring Sessions?

If so, please come with them and become part of the Spring Sessions Youth Program. If your parents aren't coming to Spring Sessions, you may still be a part of this program with a parent-approved chaperone.

 

The NYYM Earthcare Working Group is eager to share with you what we know about solutions to world-wide problems of hunger, natural disasters, and their possible local effects. Together, we will tour the Oakwood School greenhouse and see the energy installations at the school. Then we will have a session to hear your thoughts about how Friends should be responding to the critical issues of our times. Saturday evening, we invite you to be part of the deliberations of the Witness Coordinating Committee as they plan for Summer and Fall Sessions. We anticipate that this will lead to your further involvement at Summer Sessions as we do our part to create a world that works for everyone. Friends have always made a difference in the world. This is your time to step into that role.

Children’s program activities will be planned as registrations are received

 

Medical Form for Children and Youth

A medical form must be completed for all children and youth attending sessions in addition to the registration form. The medical form is available on the NYYM website at www.nyym.org/sites/default/files/NYYM-Youth-Medical-Form-2018August.pdf.

 

Committee Meeting Space

Requests for committee meeting rooms should be directed to Karen Snare. Please make requests by March 20, 2019. Committee clerks should be aware that rooms will be scheduled only if we receive your request. Also, please remind your committee members to register to attend Spring Sessions!

 

Display Space

Requests for display space should be directed to Fred Doneit. Please make requests by March 20, 2019.

 

Meals and Snacks

Friday dinner is optional and not part of the Spring Sessions schedule – but you are welcome to join the Oakwood Friends School (OFS) students if your travel plans allow!

We have two breakfast options on Saturday and Sunday. Simple coffee, tea and muffins will be available for free in the registration area in Collins Library. If you need something more substantial, Continental Breakfast is available in the dining hall for $5 each day (bagels, cream cheese, toast, yogurt, granola, cereal, juice, milk, tea, coffee, fruit).

For Saturday lunch and dinner, we will join Oakwood’s boarding students in the dining hall for buffet meals. Sunday you may choose an optional bagged lunch if you’d like to get on the road. OFS always has vegan and gluten free options at each meal. See the registration form for prices.

 

Overnight Accommodations

We have four options for your overnight accommodations.

First, you can just plan your preferred stay on your own.

Second, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Red Roof Inn (.4 mile from campus) for $79.99 per night. All rooms have 2 queen beds. Call 845-462-7800 and tell them you are with the Quaker Group. REGISTER SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.

Third, Nine Partners Friends are welcoming overnight guests. Please contact Jean Doneit with your specific needs regarding hospitality (allergies, etc.). Home hospitality requests will be honored on a first-come, first-served basis, and cannot be guaranteed, especially after the registration deadline of March 20, 2019.

Finally, we have a VERY limited number of dormitory rooms at Oakwood. Contact Karen Snare for more information if you are interested in staying on campus. (Please know the rooms are not accessible.)

 

Sustainability

We ask participants to consider their environmental impact when attending any NYYM gathering. Carpool with other attendees from your area, for instance, using the most fuel-efficient vehicle of the group. Bring a travel mug and water bottle with you—some even bring their own utensils and plates! Bring a warm sweater, so that we don’t have to turn up the heat in the entire building for the comfort of two or three people. Instead of printing out the advance documents, save them to your computer or tech device and read them electronically. If you do print them out, be sure to share! Return your nametag holder when you last leave the venue, so it can be used again. Whatever ways you can think of to lower your carbon footprint, to reduce and reuse, will be greatly appreciated.

 

Volunteer!

We have many opportunities for participants to volunteer. Please consider spending a few hours of your time (or more!) to help us host the Yearly Meeting Sessions. We primarily need folks to open their homes to our participants. Many of our attenders cannot afford to stay at a motel and so they depend on our generosity in sharing our living spaces. As noted above, Jean Doneit is coordinating host offers and hospitality requests. She has questions for you to fill out either way. If you are interested in any of the other volunteering opportunities (greeters, registration table, microphone runners, clean up, etc.) please contact Melanie-Claire Mallison at MsMellie@gmail.com— she has a volunteer Google doc to share.

 

Transportation:

Driving to Oakwood Friends School

22 Spackenkill Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

Oakwood Friends School Travel Instructions: www.oakwoodfriends.org/about/travel-directions/

MapQuest and Google Maps both have adequate directions. They may bring you from the south by Route 9D instead of Route 9. This is slightly shorter but more complicated.

If you would like written directions, contact Karen Snare.

Public Transportation

Metro North and Amtrak both stop in Poughkeepsie. To arrange to be met at the train station, please contact Karen Snare.

Motels near Oakwood Friends School

All of these are along South Road (Route 9). Use your favorite online search engine to get the best price!

Red Roof Inn. (0.4 miles from campus) See above for info about blocked rooms

2349 South Rd, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Hampton Inn (walking distance)

2361 South Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Courtyard by Marriott (about one mile from campus)

2641 South Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Holiday Inn Express (about 1½ miles from campus)

2750 South Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Questions:

Host Task Group members are standing by to assist you!

Don Badgley

Jean Doneit

Melanie-Claire Mallison (sessions-clerk@nyym.org)

Karen Snare

Dare Thompson

If you have questions about registration, please contact Helen Garay Toppins, office@nyym.org or 212-673-5750

For questions about hospitality, contact Jean Doneit

For general questions on campus logistics and meeting spaces, transportation, directions, or the nearest motels, contact Karen Snare

During the weekend of Spring Sessions, if you find yourself lost on the way, or need to contact the Host Task Group for other reasons, you may call Don Badgley, Karen Snare, or Dare Thompson (see your NYYM Yearbook for contact information)

 

2019 Spring Sessions Schedule

 

Friday Evening, April 5, 2019

6:00-8:45p.m. Registration;   Collins Library

6:00 p.m. Optional dinner with Oakwood students - $8.00; Cafeteria.

7:00-8:30p.m. Program on The Spiritually “Led” Part of “Pay as Led.”   Theater

Angela Hopkins (Ithaca) and Emily Provance (15th Street) will lead us in presentations and discussions of not only the financial considerations of being led, but also how Pay as Led is one part of the overall work of New York Yearly Meeting becoming more inclusive—in age, race, class, and more.

 

Saturday, April 6, 2019

8:00-9:00a.m. Registration, display set-up, and continental breakfast; Collins Library

9:00-9:45a.m. Meeting for Worship; Theater

10:00-11:45a.m. Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business; Theater

12:00-1:00p.m. Lunch; Cafeteria

1:15-3:15p.m. Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business; Theater

3:30-4:45p.m. Committee Meetings [Section 1]

5:00-6:15p.m. Committee Meetings [Section 2]

6:15-7:15p.m. Dinner; Cafeteria

7:30-9:30p.m. Coordinating Committees:
   General Services; Collins Library History Classroom
   Ministry; Turner 300
   Witness; Collins Library 2nd floor study space

 

Sunday, April 7, 2019

7:45-8:45a.m. Registration and continental breakfast; Collins Library

8:45-9:45a.m. Meeting for Worship; Theater

10:00a.m.-12:00p.m. Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business; Theater

12:00-1:00p.m. Lunch; Cafeteria
(Pre-ordered box lunches, can be picked up at the registration table in Collins Library)

1:00-2:00p.m. Clean up, pack up displays, and head home!

 

 

Sessions Documents & Resources

Resources for this Session

Sessions Minute
Minutes, Spring Sessions 2019 04/23/2019