Author Archives: rbc

It’s hard to think of something more exciting than the opening day of camp. Something everyone has been anticipating and planning for and dreaming about. This is true for everyone involved. The year-round team of directors have been working toward this day for months. The staff members have just finished more than a week of orientation and training. Of course, the campers are the most excited because this is their chance to finally enjoy camp life like they’ve imagined it. Whether arriving for the first time at Rockbrook or, as is true for some of the older campers, for their sixth or seventh year, this is a great day filled with cheers, smiles, hugs, a few butterflies, and the delight of anticipating something really fun.

If you were here, this excitement was obvious. From the mob of fired-up counselors jumping and cheering on the hill, to the jittery campers smiling and waving as they drove in, arriving at camp today was a celebration. Fresh name tags were hung, trunks and other luggage moved into cabins, and cabin groups came together for the first time. Overall, despite a little glitch here and there, the whole check-in process unfolded smoothly. With this many people involved, camp life can sometimes be an exercise in patience. Thank you for yours today.

Our assembly under the hill on the grass beneath the big walnut tree was a fun introduction to camp. The campers sat together in cabin groups and enjoyed the view of the mountains in the distance as Sarah introduced the line heads, some of the other directors, and described a few safety reminders to everyone. Lunch was Rick’s masterful Mac and Cheese, salad, and sweet, ripe watermelon. This has become a traditional first meal at camp for us, and it’s always a big hit.

Down to the Lake

Right after lunch, it was time for the middlers and seniors to head to the lake. With Sarah, the other directors and all of the lifeguards organizing, the campers took turns demonstrating their swimming ability. We ask them to swim out a ways, back using a backstroke, and to tread water for a minute. Doing all that confidently earns a blue wrist band and tag, and qualifies you to swim anywhere in the lake (the deep areas). Other levels have different colored tags and bands, and are more restricted to particular areas of the lake (more shallow areas), but everyone who wants to cool off at the lake can do so.

Rockbrook’s stream-fed lake is famously “refreshing,” so most everyone was happy to jump in to cool off on this warm afternoon. These “swim demos” are a true community event with other campers and staff members cheering as each person leaps from the dock into the water. The mood is upbeat, encouraging and celebratory. The Juniors will have their swim demos tomorrow.

While different groups were swimming at the lake, others were touring the camp, learning the locations of different activities. If new to Rockbrook, there are creeks to find, hidden cabins in the woods, and important hubs of activity. The Alpine tower, for example, is in the forest behind the gym, and the camp store is partway along the path down to Horseback Riding Center. Woodworking meets in the same building as the Lower Pottery studio, and Yoga sessions are held in the newly renovated hillside lodge. Rockbrook is not particularly spread out, but there are a lot of activity locations to learn.

Activity Skits

We rounded out the afternoon by gathering in the gym for activity skits. Using costumes and songs, these skits are silly presentations aiming to entice campers to try the different activities. We saw a climbing demonstration, a Bob Ross themed painting and drawing skit, a magical transformation of t-shirts into tie-dyes, a wild west dance battle, and a Mulan-themed riflery contest, just to name a few. The skits did a great job conveying the spirit of exploration and fun for everyone no matter their experience or skill level.

One of the best things about arriving at camp is meeting all the people, all of the enthusiastic, kind people each camper sees and talks to each day. Cabin mates, counselors, activity instructors, the camp moms, directors, nurses, kitchen and maintenance crews— this whole community coming together on the same day to introduce ourselves and begin enjoying each other’s company. It’s a marvelous moment. Everyone’s here, and we’re ready to roll!

Adapting to a Power Outage

We always say that camp teaches resilience, and today we had a clear example. About 4:30 this morning, a large red oak tree fell about a half mile down the road from Rockbrook and took down all the power lines with it. Normally, power outages around here are quickly repaired and we’re back to normal in a couple of hours, but sometimes it can take much longer. With this in mind, we installed a backup generator in 2019. It powers our kitchen, water system and health hut, but that’s it. During an outage, we’re still able to prepare and serve meals, use the bathrooms (though without hot water), and take care of basic health needs.

Right from the beginning campers used headlamps and flashlights as needed. For example, this morning in the dining hall, we ate our breakfast by battery-powered lanterns and the early morning light from the skylights. All of the regular camp activities carried on just fine without electricity since so much of what we do is outdoors. Our office, on the other hand, has been without power all day, so thank you for your patience if you’ve been trying to reach us by phone or email. Most of the campers postponed their showers today, waiting for the hot water heaters to come back online, which they did, by the way, at 4pm when the power came back on (thankfully!).

Overall, these inconveniences required us to be a little flexible and a little patient, but life at camp always requires some of that. Camp girls know how to pivot to a new activity, switch gears because of the weather, and always find something spontaneous to do with a friend. At camp, what at first seems like challenges easily become fresh opportunities.

Yesterday our July Mini 2 campers arrived, finally ending their waiting for camp. All that anticipation turned into visible excitement as they checked into camp one by one. Cabin groups came together, as counselors cheered with each arrival. The girls set up their cabins, had a quick tour of the camp, and visited the camp store to collect their pre-camp gear purchases… all before an all-camp assembly on the hill and lunch.

Wizard of Oz All-Camp Event

The big event of the day was a “Wizard of Oz” themed all-camp event that sent the girls scampering about to try different fun activities. Most of the fun happened up on the hill, with speakers playing songs from Wicked and The Wizard of Oz echoing across the camp. One activity station was the “Yellow Brick Skittle,” where participants had to pick out all the yellow Skittles from about 10 pounds of them.

Another station was Broom Making with the Wicked Witch, where they made mini brooms using dried lavender, thyme, and hay. We also had apple slice decorating as a food option, kind of like mini candy apples with various toppings. We organized a scavenger hunt where kids searched for items like ruby slippers, flying monkeys, the Grimmery (a big book), and Galinda the Good Witch. Some items were hidden around camp, while others were staff costumes.

At Friendship Rock, we held “Elphaba’s Cry Workshop” inspired by the movie Wicked. This was an opportunity for anyone to perform their cry in front of everyone. We heard several impressive renditions of “Defying Gravity.” We had an “I’m Melting Dunk Tank” where campers answered trivia questions for a chance to dunk someone. Another activity was guessing how many silver Hershey kisses were in a jar; it was 216 kisses, and a Middler camper guessed it exactly!

There was also a lollipop toss called the “Lollipop Guild” (similar to cornhole), “Scarecrow Hay Day” where kids searched for scarecrow brains inside straw bales, and a costume relay race dressing up as scarecrows. Other activities included apple bobbing with the Tin Man in the lake, hair bow making with Dorothy in the dining hall, and hot air balloon crafting with felted 3D balloons. As for costumes, we saw lots of Elphabas, Galindas, Totos, Yellow Brick Roads, Munchkins, Scarecrows, Tin Men, and even an Emerald City!

Overall, it was a fantastic afternoon that showed our campers’ amazing adaptability. As they bopped between activities spread across camp, making the most of every opportunity, they proved once again that the best part of camp is simply being together.

We’re finding ourselves in a typical summer weather pattern. Like the last couple days, and probably for the next few, today began cool and foggy. The temperature and dew point hovered together around 67 degrees when we woke up, with the humidity about 99 percent. We’re pulling a lot of moisture out of the Gulf, and there’s no major weather system to push it out. As the sun warmed things up, all morning we enjoyed bright skies with big puffy clouds. Higher up near our surrounding mountains the air is much cooler, so as our moist air near the ground warmed, evaporating the dew, it began to rise. That clash between the rising moist air and the cooler air above it created what we expected: a thunderstorm.

Today’s storm happened just after lunch, around 2pm. Perfect timing! Our lightning alarm sounded and everyone scattered back to their cabins for rest hour. For the next hour or so we watched the storm drop more than half an inch of rain… all that moisture returning to the ground. By 3:30, the storm had passed and the sun was back out for the rest of the day. You can see how an afternoon thunderstorm can become a recurring thing. By the way, if you’re interested in the weather at Rockbrook, our weather station publishes its data here and here.

Dancing in the Rain

Sometimes we’re simply caught in the rain, getting wet and cooling off. This can inspire some pretty silly stuff. For example, yesterday the Hi-Ups decided, since they were already wet, to dance around in the rain and then roll down the hill wearing trash bags. Why? For no particular reason other than the fun of it. Today, a couple of senior campers found themselves walking in the creek, and soon with no warning having a splash battle. Both examples ended up with everyone soaking wet and laughing hysterically. Once again, there’s proof that camp offers a joyous freedom to relax into the world, to be fully present and playful, no matter what the weather. We adults might occasionally summon the courage to say, “Ah, what the heck!” and dance in the rain, soaked to the skin. But kids at camp? They do it instinctively and without hesitation. Lucky them!

Craft Specialists at Camp

Several of the craft activities at Rockbrook are led by day-staff specialists, artists and craft artisans who can offer more knowledge and experience than a cabin counselor. These are crafts where more instruction makes all the difference. Woodworking is a perfect example. It involves a range of essential skills and concepts, not to mention sharp cutting tools that require careful handling. Pottery, too, benefits from experienced teaching, especially when girls are learning to throw on the wheel. Having someone close by to demonstrate techniques and offer hands-on help can be the key to success. Weaving in Curosty and Needlecraft are two more examples. In each case, the girls are learning something new, often quite sophisticated, even as they’re simply having fun exploring their creativity.

In the end, it’s a summer day at camp with its misty mornings, midday showers, muddy hands and feet, and a special unbounded laughter we cherish. It’s a daily rhythm we’ve come to love, rain and all.

Rockbrook is always a place of celebration, but the 4th of July gives us an extra special reason to kick things up a notch! And the festivities start first thing, even before the rising bell.

The riding staff members, dressed in their finest red, white and blue, ride decorated horses up into camp! This morning, they spread out and rode down each cabin line shouting, “The British are coming! Wake up! Wake up!” (a playful nod to Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride). We’ve done this for years at Rockbrook, but it’s still a fun surprise for the girls to wake up hearing hoofbeats outside their cabins. A little sleepy-eyed, the girls stumble out onto the hill and gather around the flagpole where the Hi-Ups lead a flag raising ceremony.

British Counselors Take a Dip

Down at the lake, the counselors we have from the UK performed a short skit that ended up with all of them jumping in the water, proving again that the British are already here.

Red, White and Blue All Day

All this patriotic spirit and celebration, continued throughout the day. Red, white and blue decorations transformed the dining hall with streamers, posters, and ribbons hung in every direction. We set tables with patriotic headbands, stickers, glitter, and temporary tattoos that quickly became the most popular accessories of the day, giving our regular camp activities an extra dose of stars-and-stripes sparkle.

Rick's Special Tamales

Rick and his fantastic kitchen crew prepared a special lunch for everyone, something that he serves only occasionally because it takes multiple people three days to make. Using traditional ingredients, they made us 4 different varieties of tamales. Masa corn flour, stock, and different fillings like cheese, chicken, peppers and onions, plus two different sauces (a red and a green) are all wrapped in a corn husk and then steamed for two hours. Altogether they made about 1,200 tamales! Giant pots of steaming tamales filled the kitchen. Unwrapping warm, freshly steamed tamales for lunch. What a treat!

We served dinner on the hill, a classic meal of burgers, french fries, and watermelon or pineapple. The girls were surprised to find they could have a can of Cheerwine soda kept cold in the creek.

Counselor Hunt and Pie Eating

The evening activity began with a classic counselor hunt. Ten counselors hid around the camp and each cabin roamed together looking for them. Only one cabin managed to find all ten, completing their map and earning a prize trip with Casey next week. We also held a pie-eating contest. We’ve found over the years that it works best to have counselors eat the pie and the campers cheer them on. It’s actually quite difficult to eat a whole pie, but Blaire was able to beat six others in the contest.

As it grew dark, we topped the day with our own fireworks show. Casey gave out glow sticks to all the girls, and as they gathered on the hill in their crazy creek chairs, we blasted fun music. For the next 30 minutes or so, we enjoyed a dance party while the boom and sparkle of fireworks lit up the sky. As the girls twirled their glow sticks and sang along to the music, they cheered with every colorful burst.

From early galloping horses to the nighttime fireworks spectacular, the 4th of July today at Rockbrook was a day-long celebration of camp fun, red-white-and-blue flair, and good times with friends. Happy 4th of July!