Skip to content
Spring Retreat 2026
Please join us on May 2nd at the Hampton Inn in Wells Maine from 9am to 3:30pm for a day of team building, membership building, lively discussions and important information to take back to your clubs! It will be important for every club to be represented at the retreat – clubs might want to consider helping to offset the cost for two or more members.
Cost:
$40 Registration (meeting room rental, lunch, coffee/tea, water). Registration is a 2 for 1 price for members who bring a non-Zontian guest. Payment can be made ONLINE or, If you would rather pay by check, send check payable to Zonta International District 1 by mail to c/o Janice Severance, Treasurer, 14 South Spring St., Concord, NH 03301
Discounted rate before 4/1: $180 hotel room with 2 queen beds (includes taxes and buffet breakfast) recommended for Friday night. Rooms are also available for Saturday for those who want to make this a special weekend get-away. Hotel Reservation Link. We can provide suggestions for Friday night dinner at a nearby restaurant on request.
Draft Agenda:
- 9-9:30 District Board – transition of leadership in the new biennium
- 9:30-11:30 Think – Play – Grow: Building Stronger, Smarter Zonta Teams with Charles Brown, Challenge Course Facilitator
- 11:30-12:30 Lunch
- 12:30 Update on Zonta Foundation projects with Mary Ann Rubis
- 1:00-3:00 Membership – focus on life transitions and what Zonta can offer at every stage. Facilitated by Lynn Currier
- 3:00-3:30 Wrap-up summary to share with club members
MORE INFORMATION
Morning Session
Think – Play – Grow: Building Stronger, Smarter Zonta Team
Play enhances learning. We learn the most when we are having fun. This facilitated team-building session will rely on a series of thought-provoking activities to challenge each individual participant, to increase awareness of the interaction and collaboration of the participants in the group, and increase the synergy and unity of the group as a whole. The activities will be high in problem solving but low in physical demands. No running (unless you want); maybe some jumping (but only as high as you choose); no trust falls; lots of thinking and exploring. After each activity we will take a few minutes to reflect on the decisions made and their impacts, and to propose possible ways that someone could run the activity in their own club. It’s time to expand your solution space, as a member of a Zonta club, as members of different Zonta clubs in partnership, with others, and as Zontians involved in helping others.
Charlie Brown, Challenge Course Facilitator
Charlie has been involved with team-building and challenge course facilitation for thirty years, starting with the Boy Scouts of America, then moving on to more challenging work with university level faculty and students, as well as with various governmental, business, and civic organizations. Before finding his love of team-building through play, Charlie worked in a state Department of Transportation where he headed a 200-person, fifteen-office organizational unit involved in engineering and land surveying (in 2012, of all managers in the 8,000 staff department he received the Manager of the Year award ). Along with a BS in Civil Engineering and an MBA, he has had training and has trained others in management and team building. He presently works part-time at the Springfield College East Campus Challenge Course.
