Common Ground Center

Have you ever sought after an affordable, all inclusive family vacation with delicious, local, vegetarian food, in a beautiful rural setting like Vermont, with fun programs that you and your kids can enjoy, and that supports community values and respects diversity?

This is just what Peg Kamens and Jim Mendell were looking for when they started Camp Common Ground in 1994. It all began with a vision of the ideal family vacation. Then they visited many family camps, improved on the best ideas, and called some creative people they thought would be fun to spend a week with. Everyone said yes and they had their first summer of Camp Common Ground, a family camp based on the arts, music, healing arts, and outdoor recreation.

The Common Ground Center is now going on its 16th summer and has an expanding community of devoted campers, and a talented staff who can pull it all together. CGC welcomes families with diverse lifestyles and offers varied activities from watercolors to violin and cello to hip hop dance.

In 2004 they moved from rental sites to their very own 700 acres in Starksboro, Vermont where campers can enjoy a meandering stream, farm fields, a two acre pond, and miles of mountain hiking trails.

Since moving, CGC has started several other family programs that fit and further their mission to strengthen and support diverse families and communities: The Lost Arts Week (September 21-25th), for homeschooling families; Chinese Culture Weekend (July 17-19th), for families with adopted children from China; Overcoming Barriers (July 20-25th), for families with high stress divorces; and Camp Kaleidoscope (June 25-28th), for families with children on the autism spectrum.. And, of course, the original family camp, Camp Common Ground, is still running in one week sessions throughout August.

Multiage programs and programs for adults, children, and teens that unite movement, music, arts, and the natural world are offered at every camp. As a Common Ground yoga instructor stated: "I bring skills to Camp that I find are easier to convey than in another environment. Morning yoga for example, is just so inspiring - nature is right there and you don't have to play your babbling brook CD." Different activities are offered every week and may include massage, yoga, watercolors, glassblowing, photography, chamber music, massage, tennis, and much more. Many traditional camp activities, such as campfire singing, swimming, and hiking, are also incorporated.

All of these programs and activities aim to build and foster strong families within a diverse and supportive community, create lasting memories, and allow time for relaxation, rejuvenation, and play! People are encouraged to bring friends to vacation with and all campers go home with new ones. As one camper stated: "you make genuine, warm connections with people at Camp that sustain you for the rest of the year."

CGC is committed to environmental sustainability: programs and activities take place in converted barns or outside, campers and guests sleep in rustic cabins built with wood harvested onsite, and eat local, vegetarian, organic food, and the recent addition of three solar trackers has greatly decreased their carbon footprint.

The site is also available for rentals. Last summer they hosted family reunions, business retreats, and weddings, all of which enjoyed extensive hiking trails, beautiful scenery, and a peaceful atmosphere and fell in line with the mission to strengthen family and community values.

Please check out their website to find out more information: www.cgcvt.org or call 1-800-430-2667. They would love to add all of you to their growing community!