Winter Adventure 2023 COVID Policy

The ECRS COVID policy was developed by the Board after consulting with various healthcare providers, reviewing CDC recommendations as well as examining COVID policies from other outdoor group events and conferences and with the ECRS community’s well-being in mind. Please note that the following requirements are subject to change in accordance with updated CDC guidelines and national Covid case counts.

1. Vaccination against Covid-19 is strongly encouraged but not required to attend Winter Adventure.

2. You must present a negative Rapid Home Test result upon arrival. It is recommended that participants test PRIOR to traveling so as not to have to return home should one be asymptomatic with a positive test result (see #4 below). In addition, participants are required to bring at least one unopened test with them to retest should symptoms occur during the event. **All attendees will be required to test again on day 3 of the event. ECRS will provide rapid tests**

3. All participants will be strongly encouraged to fill in a COVID-19 symptoms checklist completed on the day of traveling to the event to rule out any COVID risk factors. Again, it is recommended that this be done before leaving home so as not to have to return home if any of the risk factors are identified.

4. Participants with symptoms or who are asymptomatic with a positive test result, or who have been exposed to COVID within the last three days are asked to stay home. Your registration costs will be refunded.

5. Any participant who develops symptoms (coughing, runny nose, sore throat, muscle aches, fever, etc.) of COVID or other illnesses while at an ECRS event will either be required to return home or to quarantine at the event. If you return home, registration costs will be refunded. Attendees who have quarantined and have two negative rapid tests (48 hrs apart) may rejoin the event provided they continue to mask.

6. Masking is optional, unless you are ill (and not COVID positive) then masking is strongly encouraged after quarantining.

7. Flu shots are strongly recommended but not required.

* https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/interim-considerations-us.html

Click here to download a pdf version.

Folk dances give us a way to connect with other cultures around the world. Learn a variety of dances, fast and slow, serene and joyful, each chosen to move us in body, mind, and spirit. Great music, great exercise, great fun, and no need to do them “right”!

Guidance in safety and usage of hand tools, along with careful instruction, provides an opportunity to learn skills not often available at one’s home. Come experience this creative activity in a small intergenerational community, build self-confidence and “skills for life”, i.e., calming the mind, planning ahead, learning to take small steps, and creative risk-taking.

We’ll focus on the basic techniques of making wood utensils like spoons, illustrating what tools go best at each stage. Unique and meaningful projects emerge, from a variety of kitchen utensils, simple musical instruments, and magic wands. Carving allows for internal mindful exploration; we often challenge ourselves with each chop or slice of the subtractive process. Crafters learn skills alongside others, chipping away at layers of wood and self-doubt. As we accomplish a successful stroke, positive feedback is created, which reinforces that technique. Carvers’ skills develop at their own pace; as participants become confident in their abilities, they may help each other. I encourage carvers to recognize that techniques, concentration, and appreciation are often analogous to life skills, meditation, and reflection. While crafting as a community, we model a supportive environment. When one’s hands are busy, free-flowing conversations emerge, building a willingness to share thoughts and feelings, letting us all find the strength in the beauty within.  

Class requirements/materials
Class size is limited to 12 Students
Ages 15+
Participants must abide by all teacher instructions, and must read and sign the Liability Release Agreement.  For those under 18, a parent/guardian must sign the Liability Release Agreement on their behalf as well.

We are all storytellers. In this class, we will tell stories about ourselves and the people we know. We will have time to develop some fiction and non-fiction.

Bring your voice and/or musical instrument so we can sing and play together for fun. Don’t play an instrument? Please come and sing with us! Or play a verse on a kazoo. We’ll let the group pick from a songbook of lyrics and chords: Folk, rock, funny songs, pop, ballads, and some show tunes. I’ll also bring extra ukuleles. All levels are welcome.

Have you ever wanted to experience being someone other than yourself or perhaps an animal or inanimate object? Participants will be encouraged to use their imagination to bring whatever they choose to life. What does a table think when a flower is put on its top? How does a lion react when a rabbit tries to become its friend? How would the story go if your favorite fairy tale or fable had a different outcome? This class will consist of a variety of dramatic warm-ups, exercises, and games and will culminate each day with the creation of small group skits to be performed for the rest of the group.

The class will focus on singing a variety of a capella songs, mostly sea shanties and street corner doo-wop styles, though we may add in a few other international songs as well. Some sharing/teaching is possible (consult the leader early at the event for more details).

Think fun, not perfection (though we will explore styles and harmonies).

Why should the grown-ups have all the fun? ECRS offers a completely integrated program for children ages 5-9 during two class periods. Many activities mirror the cooperative play that ECRS is built on. Children may learn new games, create new crafts, sing silly songs, or even get the chance to share activities they have fun doing at home. Depending on age and interest, they may take a field trip to experience the more kid-friendly adult classes! Children’s Program during the remaining class period will be cooperative-led.

Note: Children are expected to stay for the entire program, and are the responsibility of their guardians at all other times.

There will also be childcare for ages 2-4.

If you can write, you can WRITE! Through fun, original writing exercises, we will stimulate creativity and break through writing blocks. Want to learn what part of your brain houses your imagination? After some playful warmups, you will be given a series of prompts to write what you know best – the stories of your lives. In a safe, supportive, and confidential environment you will share these stories with the group. This class is designed for people who have always wanted to write and never thought they could, experienced writers with a regular writing practice, and everyone in between. Come and discover your authentic voice and the written expression of your deep heart.

Other class details
Class size is limited to 14 people
Ages 15 and older
Participants are encouraged to bring a journal or notebook.

Part of the ECRS Winter Adventure experience always includes some late-night dance festivities, but after a certain hour of the night, the dances aren’t always taught. Are you new to ECRS? Have you ever wanted to join in on the dancing on New Year’s Eve but don’t know the steps? Join the Siftar cousins to learn classics like New York, New York, Suavemente, and Ciuleandra! Starting the week off strong, we’re offering a 2-day mini so you can finish big!! No prerequisites are required – just come ready to dance and have FUN! Can’t wait!

You have too much stuff! You want to free up the physical and emotional space it fills, but don’t know where to start. In this class, through group discussions, exercises, small group interactions and looking inward you will learn strategies to get you started on your decluttering journey and achieve sustainable results. Participants will define a “first step” decluttering project (maybe a closet, desktop, guest room, etc. or a category such as books or clothes) and will leave with a customized action plan.

Improv theater. Come and learn the basic skills of improv that are actually great skills for life. We will use simple theater games as playful and fun warm-ups, then do a few comedy improv games with an audience. Always challenge by choice. Never tried improv before? This class is easy and fun for everyone.

This is social dancing and loads of fun! Dances vary from lively to slow and elegant, simple to more complex, all to beautiful Celtic music. Enjoy gender-free partnering and a new partner for each dance. The only requirements are the ability to walk quickly and smile to others along the way!

Discover the incredible power of self-compassion and acquire practical techniques to gently quiet your inner critic, all while embracing mindfulness tools that enhance self-awareness.

Interactive, non-strenuous, everybody-wins party games for all ages including large and small group games, partner games, brain teasers, table games, minute mysteries and at least one loud, noisy game!

A Cooperative Children’s Program, organized and staffed by parents and volunteers, will be available during the late morning class period. 

If you’ve seen a play or a movie and imagined yourself as one of the characters, if you miss your time in the school play, or if you just want to be someone else for a minute, here is your chance! Comedy, drama, we have it all. Using scripts we will rehearse, perform, and discuss a collection of scenes. Explore, discover, and create!

With paper, paint, print, collage, and our reservoirs of Creativity, how can we enVision a more Equitable, Sustainable, Just and loving World for All Life on Our Mother Planet Earth? Posters have historically spoken for Just Causes: this one certainly merits WINGS to FLY!

Additional requirements
Class size is limited to 12 participants
Ages 13 and up

What does it take to be an ECRS leader? How does ECRS leadership differ from leadership in other situations? This two-day class will examine what it takes to be an effective leader in any situation but will put particular emphasis on ECRS leadership philosophy. This will be an active, interactive experience focusing on identifying one’s leadership abilities and skills. Some group dynamic theory will be included. This course will consist of discussions and experiential activities designed to develop, identify, and/or improve one’s leadership potential and impact.

Active, non-sports, strategy, and field games that everybody wins! The games will challenge everyone in the group no matter what their skill levels. Heads & Tails Tag, Bodyguard, and Smaug’s Jewels are just a few all-time favorites!

Most popular board games are a competition between players to see who can win, however, there are some awesome games that call for all players to be on the same team in a race against an automatic game mechanic. Each class will start with a description of rules for a different collaborative board game and then a discussion about best practices for collaborating given each set of rules. Then we’ll play the board games in groups together, and finally end class in a group discussion of what worked well and what could be improved about the game rules, as well as the strategy players can adopt.

“The 1963 Children’s March” in Dramatic Reading and Songs
An unprecedented number of demonstrations swept the country in 1963. Civil rights organizations demanded the right to vote, full access to jobs and education, and an end to segregated public accommodations. These demands were met with strong resistance and violence from local governments. “The Children’s March” is a dramatization of one 1963 event, written by Charlotte Blake Alston in 2013 for the Singing City Choir. Class members will take parts for dramatic readings, and we will all sing the accompanying songs.

Additional class requirements
Instruments welcome
Bring an old toothbrush if you can
Class size is limited to 16

Explore and unleash your potential through joyful movement. Engage your senses and listen to your body with a smorgasbord of dance and moving with purpose. We will do familiar dances and some not-so-familiar ones, all at your comfort level. Warning: this might change your life by positively shaping the way you think and feel.

Additional class requirements
Ages 11+

Why should the grown-ups have all the fun? ECRS offers a completely integrated program for children ages 5-9 during two class periods. Many activities mirror the cooperative play that ECRS is built on. Children may learn new games, create new crafts, sing silly songs, or even get the chance to share activities they have fun doing at home. Depending on age and interest, they may take a field trip to experience the more kid-friendly adult classes! Children’s Program during the remaining class period will be cooperative-led.

Note: Children are expected to stay for the entire program, and are the responsibility of their guardians at all other times.

There will also be childcare for ages 2-4.