Northern New England School of Religious Education
NNESRE -- Winni Week, an interfaith camp on lake Winnipesaukee
NNESRE was founded at Dartmouth College, more than 90 years ago. Since that time, it has sponsored a summer conference/camp each year, held for many years at the University of New Hampshire and more recently at Geneva Point Center on lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire -- Camp Winni.
'Winni' is a weeklong experience — July 30 - August 6th — of celebrating family, friendships and community on the beautiful shores of Lake Winnipesaukee at Geneva Point Center, one of the finest family camp facilities in the northeast.
There are 195 acres of shoreline, beaches, woodland trails, and recreational facilities for all ages. Living quarters consist of a three-story inn, cottages, cabins, a motel-type unit, and a small camping & RV area. Other facilities include a rustic chapel, large indoor areas for group assembly (or dance), a store, a health center, clay tennis courts and the outdoor chapel at left.
The school, NNESRE, is a non-profit organization dedicated to religious and life long learning. Most conference seminars are held during three 55-minute sessions each morning, Sunday through Friday. Afternoons are left open for recreation, although many times groups get together for pursuit of mutual interests.
The Camp/Conference started in 1914 as a training conference for Sunday school teachers. It has since become an interfaith and interracial community of families and individuals living together for a week of learning, playing, and deepening friendships. In its early years it met on the campus of Dartmouth College. The Hanover Gazette, in a 1918 article, described it as achieving, "...true balance between serious thought and wholesome fun" — a tradition that has survived to the present. The conference transferred to the campus of University of New Hampshire in 1916, missing a year in 1915 because of World War I. The conference moved again, for the 28th annual session, to Phillips Andover Academy with nearly 400 Registratents. During WWII—in 1943—the UNH dormitories were requisitioned by the military for boot camp training. In 1925 the conference was held for the first time at Winni — Geneva Point Center (GPC).
