News from Mentoring to Manhood New England

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2020 End-of-year Fundraiser a Smashing Success!

The Board of Directors and friends put up some matching funds and the community responded generously.

Thanks to all who contributed to raising $1500 to support MTMNE's ongoing efforts!

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Belated Happy Birthday!

Better late than never...

Happy Birthday to our beloved (and sometimes beleaguered) Jeff Kidman!

And a big shout out to Jeff for hosting a birthday fundraiser via FaceBook. Jeff's community responded with

$500+

in gifts to support the ongoing work of MTMNE.

Thanks Jeff!

(Psst! Inspired to donate? Visit donate.mtmne.org & thanks!)

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MTMNE Champtionship

March 2021

Attention Friends, Nerds, Game Lovers!

The Mentoring to Manhood Championship is in play!

If you think you have what it takes, join in either of our ZGroups, and challenge the current Champion for the Title. Good luck!

Zgroups are Sundays and Thursdays at 7:30. Contact Jeff Kidman at [email protected] for information on how to attend.

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Hero's Journey series in progress

March 2021

They will continue to be Wednesdays at 7:30 PM EST. Come join us to check them out! Contact Jeff Kidman at [email protected] for information on how to attend.

Hero's Journey Revisited

The October Hero's Journey series was well worth the trip. So, we're walking that path again. This time we are led by a current Journeyman, who brings his own unique gifts to light the way.

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Special Zgroup Series

Exciting news!

We have some great Zgroup meetings planned for the next 4 weeks. They will continue to be Wednesdays at 7:30 PM EST. Come join us to check them out! Contact Jeff Kidman at [email protected] for information on how to attend.

October 14th - Jeff Kidman makes zoom feel like cool rituals we do on the weekends! 
October 21st - Steve Honyotski gets us asking What is Manhood anyway? 
October 28th - Josh Sampayo revisits the 6 ring circus! 
November 4th - Jman Lorenzo on the benefits of Losing Control! 

Past and present Journeyman who have completed our Adventure Weekend are all invited to attend. Fathers and former mentors are also welcome to attend.

If you know of a teenage boy who has not done the Adventure Weekend, please get in touch with us to discuss his participation, at [email protected].

We hope to see you there!

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Jmen in Young Shakespeare Player's The Tempest

Another mentor and I went up to Greenfield to see the first matinee showing of YSP's The Tempest. Two Journeymen perform in the production! Two shows today and two tomorrow. Find the details here: http://youngshakespeareplayerseast.org/upcoming-events/

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BTMNE meets in Greenfield

BTMNE of Western MA met today, 12/13/15, in Greenfield. We played around a bit outside before checking in. We also watched the movie Freedom Writers. It provoked a great conversation about a number of topics, including race and violence. We could have talked for a lot longer than we had time for!

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Hadley (South Deerfield) & Greenfield go Geocaching

Hi. On 11/15/15, our groups met together at the new Hadley meeting place in South Deerfield. We circled up and checked in. From there we set off on foot (with a couple canine companions) to search out three local geocaches (items hidden in the woods that we tracked down by GPS). After we found those, we mounted up (OK, got in the cars) and headed afield to search out a more difficult cache. We trekked uphill in Sunderland to find a the cache called "Into the Earth's Crust," which was located in a very cool cave. Lot's of fun!

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Hadley and Greenfield Sites 03/01/2015

Hello!

We met for a joint Jgroup at North Star in Hadley.
Jmen: 9
Mentors: 5
We feasted on (un)healthy snacks for a while. Interestingly, this was raised by a Jman in check in circle. He really missed the way we have traditionally done check in first and this sparked a discussion...but before that I set some context around being respectful of the building and other parties that might be renting the premises concurrent with us. I also expressed how I want to be and how I want the circle to be respectful of all voices so that everyone can be heard. This got a bit of talk going and I felt was generally well received and accepted. Then the jman raised the point about snack and check in, which the group talked about for a bit, hearing from a number of jmen and mentors. We agreed to revisit it at the end to see where we were and how we wanted to start the next group.
The check in, after all that talk, felt tight and powerful to me. One mentor offered the idea of a "laser" check in, where you get right to your truth without much story. He was able to model that and that further set the tone and intention for check in--while allowing that you might not know what you have to say and that is OK.
After that, the boys got right back to the snacks! No surprise I guess. Then we broke into smaller groups to play cards or check out youtube or what have you. About 30-45 minutes later than we should have, we acknowledged an energy build up and a bunch of us went outside to horse around. There was some king of the mountain on a handy snow pile and some throwing balls around. After that we went back in to check out.
We had to hold our focus while another group started up next door--we could hear some pretty funny/distracting stuff. This gave us a bit of struggle, but we managed to revisit our check in/snack discussion and resolve to check in next time 15 minutes after the start time. If you are there on time and need to snack, you have some time, but there is a known and limited amount of time before the check in. A few other issues surfaced and were noted such that hopefully everyone felt heard and that all needs will be met going forward. 
Sam and I also announced the RTF dates and that we would like to hear from Jmen that want to staff. I expressly stated that we are looking for a commitment and contribution from the Jmen toward making it a productive weekend. Before I even did that, one of the Jmen who has staffed in the passed said it himself! "This is not ROPA!" he told them, "this is serious stuff," and, "there is not much time to fool around." Several remained interested and will be following up with me or Sam.
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Hadley and Greenfield Site 02/01/2015

Hi,

7 Mentors
11 Jmen (including three relatively new boys, 2 from Greenfield, 1 Hadley)
Western MA met together at North Star. We had a big check in circle, a little smaller as three people arrived late (2 Jmen did a check in/check out at the end of the group).
After our circle, the group split, with 4 Jmen and 2 mentors heading into Northampton for some sledding, and the rest staying at North Star to hang out--and eat.
Sledding was fun (big hill, lots of space, not too cold), no serious injuries! and colorful conversation. 
Once the sledders returned, there was time for a bit more hanging out before the check out circle.
And I got home in time to stack wood and watch the Patriots win!
Cheers,
Grant Bialek
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