January 29, 2007

Overnight Traditional Summer Camps

We often describe Rockbrook as a “traditional” summer camp. Being founded in 1921, its age is one good reason for this. Likewise, when you step into many of the buildings at camp, each of the three stone lodges or the “Goodwill” cabin for example, you have that feeling of being back in time. Then, of course, many of the camp activities have deep roots going back to the earliest years. Girls today still enjoy horseback riding, hiking and camping overnight, archery, canoeing, and crafts, for example. Perhaps most significantly, there are many special events and aspects of daily kids camp life that make it uniquely itself. For example, there’s the end-of-camp “Spirit Fire,” the camp songs sung in the dining hall, and the encouragement girls find to try new things, meet new people, and live simply with an appreciation of the natural world.

There are certainly modern aspects of camp as well, but understanding these features, you can see how Rockbrook is, at its heart, a “traditional” summer camp.