Tournaments and Sock Hops

This Monday morning at Rockbrook started with a bang, literally! Three groups of girls were taken to Camp Carolina for Boys to compete in various activities such as riflery, archery, and tennis. The girls were triumphant in riflery, but unfortunately did not beat the boys in archery or tennis. After the tournaments the girls enjoyed a refreshing dip in the Camp Carolina lake. Two of my campers Courtney and Sami participated in the tennis tournament and thoroughly enjoyed their time today. Another one of my campers Cecile participated in the Archery tournament, and had the same sentiments. The sport tournaments are an oppurtunity for a few campers to show their skills against their rival: CCB.

Around lunch time Sarah and Mandy announced a Rockbrook surprise: 50s restaurant night! The dining hall was decorated in various themed posters, such as a jukebox and records. The kids were given a menu to choose their meals from, just like a real restaurant! The counselors played waitress, and took their cabin’s orders. Everyone enjoyed their dinner, and the surprise was a success!

Summer Camp

Another fantastic summer camp photo emerges from the archives! …archery class down at the sports field. Judging by the clothes and the car in the background, we think it’s from the 1930s. Still a popular summer activity at camp, it’s fun to see how things used to be.

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.

Archery at Camp

“Rockbrook is the best camp ever. We do lots of activities. Archery is my favorite. I like the feel of the bow in your hand as you are about to release the arrow. I like the sound of the arrow as it hits the target. I like the feeling knowing you have hit the target with a perfect shot. I love everything about archery. It is my favorite sport!”

— Larkin J., camper ’05