MSF 2019 is currently scheduled to include kids.
6/19/04
Dear
Festers,
Hard as it is for me to believe, we are about to celebrate the
22nd year of Midsummerfest. We've all changed quite a bit in
that time and I've worked hard to adapt Midsummerfest along the
way while still remaining true to it's original essence. (See Mission
Statement) The most recent adaptation has been to
incorporate children into Midsummerfest. Although we remain
committed to the idea that Midsummerfest is a weekend for
adults, we love our friends and their children and we are
pleased that they want to expose their children to the
Midsummerfest experience. The challenge for me is how balance
the very different needs of an increasingly diverse group of
Festers – children, parents attending with their children,
parents attending without their children and adults who don’t
have children at all.
Each year after Midsummerfest, I encourage Festers to give me
feedback on what worked and what didn’t work for them that year.
For the past two years, the feedback has been almost entirely
centered around children’s issues. From parents: concerns about
the timing of meals, the desire for a shorter weekend, and child
care. From those without children: concerns about the Deck and
Central Area being dominated by children, the feeling that
parents weren’t adequately supervising their children or that
kid-friendly non-parents were being over used. Both groups have
been reluctant to address these concerns directly with each
other and I have become concerned about a growing frustration on
both sides.
I’ve struggled with how best remedy this situation and have
considered everything from changing the structure of
Midsummerfest to be entirely children-oriented to prohibiting
children entirely to having separate weekends for families and
adults. In the end, after getting input from many Festers, both
with and without children, I’ve decided on something in the
middle and crafted the following policies:
• Children’s
activity schedule in which each parents take a turn
supervising to allow non supervising parents to have the
opportunity to sit and relax with adults and for the children to
enjoy their MSF experience even more.
• Children must be 5 to attend MSF and one adult must accompany
each child. Special kids pricing is now available. First time
kid Festers must spend one weekend on the property before MSF.
(Note: if this weekend is a Work Weekend and the kid Fester is
not old enough to help practically, then the weekend will not
also count as a Work Weekend for the kid Fester and a
supervising adult.) Children 13 and older will be considered
adults with the same rights and responsibilities as adults.
• Expanded Central Area accommodations to allow for more
conversation areas
• All Festers must arrive on Friday and depart on Sunday
• All Festers, parent and non-parent alike, must participate in
the Duty Roster to an equal extent. We encourage parents to
select duties that they may perform with the assistance of their
children
• Meals must be served at the scheduled times. If children wish
to eat at times other than the designated meal times, parents
must provide their own food. Those wishing to sleep late should
sign up for duties other than meal prep.
• All MSF attendees should be full Festers – able to participate
all activities and responsibilities. No Duty Roster stand-ins,
baby-sitters or other persons whose participation will be
limited may attend.
Midsummerfest will continue to be structured around adults but
will attempt to incorporate children in a way that is both
enjoyable for them and the adults. I want to thank those Festers
who had a role in crafting these policies. As usual I, upon the
conclusion of Midsummerfest, I will be looking for feedback in
an effort to create the best possible experience for everyone.
See you in Vermont!
Ian (Uncle Fester)