The Good Kind of Busy

Walking around camp, you can’t help but notice how busy —the enthusiastic kind of busy— everyone seems to be these days. All kinds of craft projects, for example, are taking shape: tie dye T-shirts unfolding to reveal their colorful patterns, woven mats unrolling off the looms in Curosty, glaze being carefully painted on ceramics pieces, and new bracelets showing up in campers’ mailboxes as surprise gifts from a “secret buddy.” There’s lots of physical activity too: tennis serves and volleys, archery and riflery targets with plenty of new holes, sweat- (and laughter-) inducing games of dodge ball in the gym, and impressive gymnastics exercises that require some real strength. With all this cool Nature around us, we’re ready for outdoor adventure also, with girls climbing the Alpine Tower and Castle Rock, canoeing and kayaking in the lake, and practicing their fire building techniques in the WHOA (Wilderness Hiking and Outdoor Adventure) activity.

Each morning after the first activity period, we all pause for a “muffin break.” It’s almost a race to swing by the dining hall and pick up one of Alison’s freshly baked muffins, and it’s definitely a topic of conversation to find out what flavor she’s made on a particular day. It could be something classic, like “poppy seed,” or something original like “chocolate chip sprinkle.” Today we had “pumpkin spice.” It’s neat to see girls just grab a warm muffin and chomp right down on it, no matter what the flavor. They might not have selected it by name, like from a menu, but at camp, they just dig right in and would probably be surprised to know they’ve eaten and enjoyed something with pumpkin in it!

Speaking of food, the kitchen has been getting quite a few thank you notes recently. Campers and counselors alike are feeling compelled to express their love for the food Rick and his crew are serving us. It takes a lot of work to produce homemade meals for 300 people. Imagine hand dipping sliced green tomatoes to fry for the lunch sandwiches, or kneading by hand 35 pounds of flour and butter to make the biscuits this morning, or preparing 200 pounds of barbecue chicken. Rick also makes an extra effort to stock local fruits and vegetables: this week serving corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, blueberries, bell peppers and peaches. The knowledge and care he brings to the food really comes through and everyone at camp benefits. So yes, we’re busy (again, in the best sense of the word) around here, and we eat really, really well!

Today I think we set a new record for bringing campers to Sliding Rock. We started with a small group of about 25 mini session Seniors and their counselors by packing a picnic lunch and heading into the forest around noon. In the bright sunshine and over the roar of the falling water, the girls had a great time screaming their heads off sliding down the chilly ride. Later, around 5:30pm, we loaded up all of Rockbrook’s Middlers, which turned out to be a huge group of 95 people once we got all of the counselors and lifeguards in the equation! We headed straight for the Rock, and fortunately found it mostly deserted so we could all slide plenty of times. Many of these Middlers had never been to Sliding Rock before making this an even bigger treat for them. An hour or so later, we gathered everyone again and drove to our favorite picnic area in the forest, a special spot ideal for large groups. The girls were probably most excited about our last stop, however: Dolly’s Dairy Bar.  “This is the best place in the world!” one camper yelled as we pulled into the parking lot.  It certainly is the only place where you can order a cone of “Rockbrook Chocolate Illusion,” which might be a little over the top, in all its chocolate glory (but probably not!).  Combine this many girls with this much ice cream and you’ve got a grand time.  I have to say it was a little late, and definitely dark by the time we arrived back at camp, but I didn’t hear a single complaint or even comment about that.

Big Busy Thursday

Today was another big busy day at Rockbrook as the campers began their second set of activity choices, trips went out of camp in several directions, and we enjoyed all-camp special events. Down in the Lakeview Lodge, which this session is the meeting lodge for the Middlers, the dance classes were swinging. All three of our historic (built in the 20s) stone lodges have wooden floors, a big fireplace, and windows wrapping around, and the Lakeview Lodge has mirrors on the wall of one end making it a really cool dance studio. The dance classes always have several things going on, usually a new move or dance step to learn, a group choreographed dance to work on, and a silly game like “Freeze Dance” to keep things lighthearted. It’s a good balance of action, coordination, concentration, musical rhythm and goofball fun, and the girls really enjoy it.

We’ve been having lots of families visiting camp this week, having guided tours, in anticipation of next summer (already!).  We always encourage new families and their girls who are interested in Rockbrook to visit camp, and for some reason this has been a big week for that.  Getting a firsthand sense of the place— just how friendly and relaxed the people are here, for example —is a welcome spot of reassurance that may not come through from just reading our catalog.  It’s so great to meet these new families and to hear their stories about how they’ve found out about RBC.

In gymnastics, Elaine our head instructor is working with the girls and teaching them a few moves on the mini trampoline. She sets up the tramp at the end of the carpeted runway and positions landing pads all around. Then, with a couple of counselors spotting, the girls run down, plant both feet firmly on the tramp and jump up and onto the landing pads. Starting off with a good solid jump, they can advance to doing tucks, splits, pikes and even flips in the air. Over on the Alpine, they’re doing a different sort of trick— climbing blindfolded! It’s one of the new challenges over there; after climbing all 50 feet of the tower, up one of the many different routes, the girls can elect to climb again without being able to see. They get plenty of help from their friends on the ground shouting out instructions (“A little higher with your left foot!”), so they do quite well, sometimes climbing even more confidently than without a blindfold.

Clyde and Kelsey signed up a group of girls to go whitewater kayaking on the Tuckaseegee River all day. This is an intermediate river suitable for kayakers who are comfortable in their boats and who have previous whitewater experience. It has several excellent rapids and offers great opportunities to practice catching eddies and ferrying. It is a dam control river, and the water was up nicely, making it a fantastic trip. By the way, “Tuckaseegee” is a Cherokee word meaning “place or river of the turtle,” and sure enough, we just about always see turtles in the river over there.

For our evening program tonight, our friend Gary Greene, who is a wonderful storyteller, singer and musician, came over for an all-camp campfire. He brought his guitar to teach us a few songs, and of course presented several stories for us to enjoy. He’s really talented and quick to involve the campers in his performance, animating different parts of the poem “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, for example. This was also a chance for some of the counselors to get in on the act. Grace and Gracie transformed themselves into gypsies, acting as occasional story and joke tellers throughout the evening. They had all of us cracking up with their flamboyant accents and witty vignettes.

One last thing… If you haven’t heard the news about Malia Obama, the President’s daughter, attending summer camp, here is an article discussing it. It’s a very nice article, well worth reading, because it affirms the benefits of camp for all children.

Girls Gymnastics Camps

The gymnastics camp activity at Rockbrook is designed for girls who want to explore gymnastics as a sport for recreation and personal growth. It is one activity offered as part of our overall traditional summer camp program and is not really for girls who want to train for gymnastics competitions (like this gymnastics camp). Instead we focus on offering instruction in fundamental gymnastic skills and techniques, activities that will be both fun and helpful no matter what your gymnastics background. Our instructors teach children’s gymnastics classes throughout the school year, so they are well prepared to design different lessons for the different age groups and ability levels. Ready… flip!

Girls Camps South

Here’s a question that people ask frequently. “What are the different activities offered at Rockbrook Camp?” Or, “How many different activities can the girls do at camp?” It’s really quite a list, but if you can imagine all the fun things girls would like to do at camp, Rockbrook covers the bases. Here’s the list.

• Archery
• Riflery
• Gymnastics
• Sports (basketball, soccer, group games)
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Drama/Play
• Nature Discovery
• Dance

• Curosty (jewelry making, basket weaving, loom weaving, knitting)
• Hobby Nook (batik, candle making, leather working, woodcraft)
• Hodge Podge (tie dying, fabric painting, misc. decorations)
• Pottery (wheel-thrown, hand-built)
• Journalism & Creative Writing
• Digital Photography

• Backpacking
• Day Hiking
• Sea Kayaking
• Whitewater Kayaking
• Whitewater Rafting
• Whitewater Canoeing
• Alpine Tower Ropes Course Climbing
• Rock Climbing
• Mountain Biking

• Horseback Riding
• Barn Club (Horse Grooming & Care)

Four different general categories— Skill-based, Creativity-based, Adventure-based, and Equestrian-related— that’s 26 in all! There’s certainly a lot going on. Lots of action! And this doesn’t count any of the extra special events! Learn more about these camp activities on the main RBC site.