Plenty of Smiles

This, the last full day of camp, is always a strange day of wrapping things up, cherishing moments with friends, and feeling a little melancholy knowing that we’ll all be heading home tomorrow. As we pack and move luggage, there is a certain reluctance to let camp end, even as there are last minute activities and time to be together.

Today we picked up our finished pottery projects. All of the pieces the girls made and glazed during the session have been fired, their shiny colors now leaping up at you from each dish, cup and piggy bank. This is the first time the campers have seen how the kiln has magically transformed their work into these amazing creations, so it’s very exciting for them.  Katie and Will, the lead ceramics instructors, take great care to fire everyone’s work and have it available in time to take home.  It’s so cool to see how everything turned out!

Down and over at Rockbrook’s Equestrian Center, Audrey and her crew of horseback riding instructors invited everyone down for their “Barn Party.” This is an event with riding demonstrations, mounted games, and decorated horses. Everyone who took horseback riding was invited to participate and plenty of other campers came down to the main lower riding ring just to watch the festivities. The funniest game was “Herding Cows” where three staff members, dressed as cows in white t-shirts and black spots wandered randomly while riders tried to guide them to a pen. It was pretty funny to see and hear (moo!). It was a fun, cheerful event for everyone, complete with chilly popsicles as a surprise treat at the end.

Lunch was a classic camp favorite: grilled cheese sandwiches and Rick’s homemade tomato soup. They also served an awesome fruit salad that included the sweetest pineapple. After lunch, we all assembled in he gym for this session’s production of Schoolhouse Rock, our camp-wide musical. This is a play written just for kids and is based on the popular TV series with its well-known songs: “The Great American Melting Pot,” “Conjunction Junction,” and “A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing.” All three age groups had roles to sing with a couple of solos mixed in with choral numbers. These girls have talent!

Rockbrook’s traditional “Spirit Fire” brought our day to a close just beautifully. As dusk approached, the whole camp, all of the campers and counselors dressed in their uniforms, gathered around a campfire circle by the lake to spend some time reflecting on everything camp has meant to us over these last few weeks. We remembered all the fun events, and those moments where things couldn’t be funnier. We expressed our thanks to one another, recognizing that Rockbrook is wonderful chiefly because it encourages all of us to be our best. It inspires us to help each other enjoy camp together. I suspect that’s one of the main reasons it’s such a friendly place. The Spirit Fire can sometimes be a little emotional too as the girls realize the close friends they’ve made at camp are going home in the morning. Tonight too, there were a few tears, but also plenty of smiles.

Following a long tradition, we ended the Spirit Fire by each camper and counselor lighting a small white candle from the central campfire. Sarah and the other Directors first lit their larger candles and everyone else filed by to light their candle. We then spread out around the lake singing a couple of last songs. Standing around the lake, shoulder to shoulder gazing at the candlelight and softly singing with chirping crickets in the background, this is a scene generations of Rockbrook girls have experienced. It’s a truly beautiful moment they will remember for a very long time.

Early Sliding Rock

For today’s cabin day, that weekly day when we change from our activity schedule to whole-cabin events, we reached into our bag of tricks for the Middlers. The Pisgah National Forest is still quite crowded this week, and we wanted to take the girls to sliding rock. Avoiding the crowds is important when you need to bring 85 people, so what did we do? We went when there was nobody else there, when, we might say, nobody would be crazy enough to go— in the morning before it officially opened! We have a relationship with the Ranger to allow us to go “at our own risk,” but we always bring several lifeguards, staff members trained in wilderness first aid, and of course plenty of strong counselors. We had the place 100% to ourselves from 9 to 10am. So was the water cold? Oh yes, but no colder than usual, and the air temperature was in the 70s, so it really was fine, and super fun for everyone. Then to add even more chill (a creamy, yummy chill) to the equation, we stopped at Dolly’s Ice Cream Bar so everyone could have a cone of the their favorite flavor. I asked the girls if it was too early for ice cream or if they were too cold to have some, and they of course screamed “No!” This was one of those completely surprising, very fun group events we love at Rockbrook.

During the first free swim period and during rest hour, the mini session campers packed their luggage so we could move their trunks. Tomorrow is their closing day and we have to say so long for now, so a little preparation is needed. The afternoon activities moved indoors when it started to rain (another of our afternoon thundershowers), but this gave all the age groups extra time to finish up projects and just spend time together.

At dinner, the Hi-Ups decorated the dining hall in an “Under the Sea” theme for a “mini-banquet.” This a special dinner that brings together skits, costumes, dance performances and food… a themed party for the whole camp. The campers and counselors wore their red RBC t-shirts making the whole dining hall almost glow with red.  Looking around the dining hall, I was reminded again just how great these girls are with each other and how close they’ve grown over the last couple of weeks.

After dinner, the mini session girls and their counselors gathered in the lower line Lodge for their closing evening program (counselor impersonations) and a fire in the fireplace. Like the Spirit Fires that close our main sessions, this one, even though it was inside due to another spell of rain, included traditional songs, a few girls talking about their favorite moments from the session, and Sarah relating her thoughts about Rockbrook and what it means for us all. In the old stone lodge and before a beautiful crackling fire, it was a very nice setting to think back and recall all the fun we’ve been sharing. There are always a few tears at these closing campfires, but they are the good kind of tears. They are born from our camp friendships and connections, that while marked by a period of separation during the school year, will certainly last until next summer, and beyond. This is definitely good stuff.

Packing for Camp Like a Pro

We’ve always known that Charlotte knows her stuff when it comes to camp, being at camp, and getting ready for camp. So it wasn’t too surprising to learn that the Coleman Company, that makes lanterns, tents, coolers and all sorts of outdoor gear, wrote an article about Charlotte’s tips on packing for camp. It’s a short, easy article, so you should go check it out.  You can read more about Charlotte’s packing tips in the Rockbrook Parent’s Manual and on our web site.

Let's get Packing!

Packing for Camp!

Have you checked your list for camp? Have you found your trunk? Well, now’s the time to start gathering all your stuff— clothes, flashlight, towels, sunscreen, water bottle and bug spray . Everybody’s laundry is sent out each week, so you don’t have to go too crazy packing clothes. Oh, and don’t forget to pack some costumes. You’re gonna be dressing up!

Go check out the complete packing list, and get packing!