SHEHAQUA FAMILY NEWS

Winter retreat early bird special ending November 29! Register and pay now for the reduced rate!

This year's Winter Retreat and New Year's Day celebration are bound to be the event of the year. Join family and friends for a rejuvenating experience. This year's theme is Step by Step: Creating the Life You Love. It centers around the power of intention. Through looking at the small steps we can take on a daily basis to experience the joy of growing, our hope is to empower participants to create the life they love. Education for each age group will be based on this theme. The retreat will be filled with group activities and sports to get everyone up and moving and bonding with others.

Accommodations at Manatawny include 8 cabins with 4 beds each, and 5 other buildings with a total of 11 rooms. The early bird special ends November 29, so make sure to register and pay for the retreat as soon as possible.

The retreat will lead into our New Year's Day celebration on January 1. The event will consist of fellowship, musical offerings, an inspiring talk to usher in the New Year, and a feast to be shared by all. Because this event is catered, registration and payment is required even for those only coming for the day on January 1. We encourage everyone coming for the New Year's Day event to bring a dessert or side dish to share. Registration and payment for the Winter Retreat as well as for the one-day event on January 1 must be made by December 21. We look forward to seeing you at the retreat and/or the New Year's Day celebration.

Winter Retreat Scholarships for High School Aged Participants

If you are a high school aged participant you might qualify for a scholarship ($50 to $100) to attend the Winter Retreat. These scholarships are not handled by the Shehaqua Family. Contact Kyra Moyer – [email address redacted] – for more details.

Shehaqua Council Election: Call for Nomination

Our yearly Shehaqua Council Election is coming up in February 2016. Six out of the nine seats on the Council will open up, and they will either be filled by present Council members running for re-election or new candidates like you. Please consider nominating yourself and running for election! This is a special opportunity to serve the Shehaqua Family.

What does the Shehaqua Council do? The Council creates or modifies policies that govern all Shehaqua programs; approves Shehaqua Family program plans and budgets; and selects the Operations Team Facilitator.

What will you commit to if you get elected? Serve for a two-year turn; attend bi-monthly council meetings through Zoom video conference calls (about 90 minutes long); attend a one-day summit in spring in person; be prepared to serve on the Council as facilitator, administrator, or scribe if need arises.

Who is qualified to be on the Council? To qualify for the election, you must have attended at least two Shehaqua programs in the last three years; have demonstrated involvement at Shehaqua programs (for example, helped with a volunteer assignment at camp, or worked as a member of a circle); be at least 17 years old; and have a sincere desire to serve the Shehaqua Family.

Ready to run? You can sign up right here.

Nominating Someone Else. If you can't run yourself, but would like to nominate someone else you think is qualified, we welcome that. There are two ways to do this: You can send the potential candidate a personal email and encourage them to sign up online.

Or you can download this form (a Word document) and send it to them to complete and email back to [email address redacted]. The information on the application form is the same as online.

The deadline for nominations is January 2, 2016. More about the election process in a future newsletter.