A Rafting and Riding Fiesta
For a bunch of Middlers and Seniors, today was a big day of whitewater rafting on the Nantahala. Right after breakfast we loaded up three buses of them, and with a picnic lunch packed and ready to go, we set out to meet our regular team of rafting guides at the head of the river. Rockbrook is fortunate to be the only girls camp to have a US Forest service permit to run trips on the Nantahala River. This allows us to hire excellent guides (people we know are great with kids), have our own equipment (top of line Avon rafts for example), and schedule trips when we want. It also allows us to take every camper rafting who is old enough (5th grade and older) for no additional fees. The weather today was absolutely perfect for rafting. Warm and sunny is ideal when it comes to the chilly water of the Nantahala, and also for inspiring splash fights between rafts. The girls had a great time paddling the river, singing camp songs during the calm sections, and screaming their heads off when heading down the rapids.
Down at the equestrian center, the riding lessons are going well. The beginners already have their favorite ponies to ride— “I love Annie, and I love Cool Beans!” And the intermediate riders are working on posting, while the advanced lessons the girls are practicing their canter and jumping. It seems the barn is always a popular place to hang out.
Lunch today in camp was a delightful picnic on the hill. Rick served up hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixins. He made a giant batch of macaroni salad, had coleslaw, potato chips and pickles to round off the plate. Same weather here: sunny and warm, but cooler than the past few days. The girls brought out their Crazy Creek chairs and spread out across the hill to soak up the mountain view and chat over lunch. It was one of those great, classic summertime feelings we always enjoy at camp.
“Happy Birthday Everyone!” was the theme for dinner. It was a special event called “Birthday Night” where we rearranged the dining hall tables so everyone with the same birth month can sit together. It’s really fun to find out who shares your month and maybe even the same birthday as you, and even more so, to share the special cake for each month. You can imagine it’s a busy day in the kitchen for Liz as she bakes 12 cakes! Fortunately, the Hi-Ups help decorate all of them. To make the event even more festive, we served Mexican food (tortillas, quesadillas, beans, steak fajitas, rice, salsa, sour cream and homemade guacamole), decorated the dining hall with brightly colored piñatas, posters and balloons, and had the girls dress up for a “Fiesta.” Latin music played over the sound system, and we all wished each other happy birthday (and other celebrities we could think of… “Happy Birthday Justin Bieber!”). Yummy good fun.
We spotted this article in USA Today about the art of letter writing, and how camps are a place where kids, and parents, can practice that skill, reconnecting to an important form of communication. We’re always encouraging letter writing at camp, both from parents to campers and vice versa. Go check out the article, and you’ll see why!
Celebrating the 4th
Waking up at camp on the 4th of July is unlike any other day. It begins with someone riding a horse down the line outside your cabin and yelling “The British and coming! Wake up! Wake up!” (a reference to Paul Revere’s ride in 1775). The equestrian staff dress up the horses with red white and blue stable wraps, ribbons and shiny stars, and get everyone going with their shouts and sounds of hoof beats. Some of the younger girls hop right out of bed to catch a glimpse of the horses as they ride by. Such a unique way to wake up!
Being Sunday, we held our flag raising ceremony after breakfast as we do each Sunday at camp. All of the girls, dressed in their white uniform and red tie, assemble in cabin groups forming a single line arching around the flagpole. The Hi-Ups present the colors and raise the flag. With the mountain view in the background, and today bright sunshine, we all then recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing America the Beautiful. Immediately afterwords, everyone quietly walks down the lower line toward the chapel, along what’s called the “path of silence.” The Senior Line campers presented the chapel ceremony today focusing on the theme of “growing.” Gracie and Nani played their ukuleles for us, several campers read favorite quotes, and Jerry added a few words toward the end.
At lunch, it seemed like it was nonstop singing! All those 4th of July, patriotic songs, the girls know were sung (well, kind of shouted, actually). We heard Yankee Doodle, America the Beautiful, and Party in the USA, among other favorite Rockbrook Songs.
For the afternoon event, we divided the whole camp into three large teams (red, white and blue, of course) for the “Firecracker Relays” down on the landsports field. Each team had girls from all three age groups at camp, making this event another good way to bring the lines together. Everyone dressed in their team color and even added body paint to really show their team spirit. The first relay presented a crazy challenge for the teams— take a frozen wet t-shirt and thaw it enough to put it on. Starting with essentially a block of ice, the girls did everything they could think of to warm it up. They sat on it, squeezed it between two bare bellies, yanked and pulled it, until it finally came loose. Some of the other relays were the “Partner Carry,” the “Bucket and Sponge,” the “Spoon and Egg,” and “Over Under” (a race to pass a ball down a long line of people alternating overhead and through their legs). The final relay, “Greased Watermelon,” happened at the lake, a perfect place to cool and wash off after the field events. I’m not sure who really “won” in the end, since keeping score wasn’t the point of it all!
For dinner, Rick and his crew prepared an amazing picnic on the hill for us. He slow cooked pork barbecue with homemade sauce, made coleslaw, potato salad, corn salad, roasted sweet potato fries, rolls and had sliced watermelon for dessert. And following an old Rockbrook tradition, we served the girls cans of Cheerwine we had chilling in the creek. What a feast, and huge hit with the girls after running around all afternoon.
The girls took some time to sign up for next week’s activities, but then got settled in the gym to watch a movie together on the big screen. Sleeping bags, crazy creek chairs, and pillows are standard equipment for this weekly event. Tonight we saw the animated movie Spirit, which is a sweet story about a wild mustang and its first contact with human beings, both Native Americans and western settlers. The girls absolutely loved the movie, shouting and cheering all throughout it.
We ended our 4th of July with a fireworks display for the girls. Jerry, Jeff and Richie launched everything from the dock at the lake while everyone else sat on the hill for a perfect viewpoint. Ooohs and aaahs, bright sparkling colors the sky, and exciting booms filled the air. Celebrating together at camp was really special and a lot of good old fashioned fun.
Banquet and Spirit Fire
The big surprise was finally revealed Tuesday Night— the theme for this session’s banquet. The CAs and their counselors select a secret theme for their banquet, which is essentially a huge elaborate party with special decorations, costumes, music, dance numbers, treats, and of course food, and the whole camp is kept guessing. What was the theme? Christmas at Rockbrook. The whole dining hall was decorated with posters of snow scenes, with garlands and spruce trees, and each table had wrapped presents, “snow” and candy canes. Several counselors dressed up as elves to join Rudolf, the Grinch, and Frosty the snowman. Even Jerry made an appearance as Santa!
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The CAs served an awesome dinner of sliced roasted ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, yeast rolls, cranberry sauce, and decorated cookies for dessert. It was so yummy! The girls had a great time singing popular Christmas songs like Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Jingle Bells, and Frosty the Snowman. The whole camp ends up dancing toward the end of the banquet, with girls snapping photos and giving each other lots of hugs. It’s a great time and a true highlight of the session.
The final event on Wednesday night is our Spirit Fire final campfire. This is a more serious time to enjoy traditional camp songs and remember the camp session and some of the important things we all shared during these few weeks. Everyone dresses in their uniforms. Campers and counselors prepare short speeches about their time at camp, and Sarah gives a final talk reflecting on how the session has gone and her hopes for everyone as they prepare to leave camp the next day. It’s always an emotional time because the girls have made such close friends while at camp. It’s as if the campfire is one big hug celebrating how close everyone has grown as they’ve had such fun here at Rockbrook. It’s quite amazing to see just how meaningful the experience is for everyone, campers and staff members included. It really is a special moment.
A Big Fiesta
A bunch of Middlers and Seniors took a whitewater rafting trip to the Nantahala River today. Our very own guides (Clyde, Kelsey, Sid, Mallory and John) gathered up the rafting gear (boats, paddles, helmets, PFDs and other safety equipment) and met us at the river. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the way, but by 1pm we were ready to raft. Since the weather was perfect, sunny and warm, we had a great time splashing each other, and even jumping in the water for a quick dip on calm sections of the river. Every boat ran the final rapid just perfectly.
Another highlight of the day was our dinner event— Fiesta Birthday Night! This is a special dinner where the dining hall is rearranged so that everyone in camp sits at a table according to their birth month… all the January birthdays together, and so forth. Each table shouts “Happy Birthday” to famous people born in their month: “Happy Birthday Barack Obama!” (August), for example. And, of course, each month has an elaborate cake to share as well. The food was an awesome Mexican Fiesta too. We had steak fajitas, beans, rice, homemade guacamole, diced tomatoes, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. The tri-colored peppers and onions really made it! All the campers dressed up for the Fiesta and the dining hall was decorated with piñatas and colorful posters. It was a great time.
After dinner, during the hour before evening program starts, the campers have free time, but we always have an optional group activity planned. We call these activities “Twilight Activities.” Tonight we had two Rockbrook Alumnae visit and hold a singalong. Elsa Claverie and Jo Littleton brought their banjo and Ukulele and a list of cool new songs to teach us. They actually weren’t “new,” but old traditional songs that we didn’t know. It was so neat to hear the singing, harmonies and enthusiasm in the room. It made everyone feel good… that feeling where the back of your neck tingles. There’s a short video on the RBC Youtube channel of the singing. Enjoy.
Meeting you in Charlotte
Are you ready for summer camp Charlotte girls? Judging from everyone’s enthusiasm at last weekend’s camp party at the Beltz’s home in Charlotte, the answer is “Yes!” With the new Rockbrook Camp movie and slideshow from last summer’s sessions all set to go, Sarah and Mandy met so many of our Charlotte NC campers and a bunch of their friends interested in learning more about RBC.
For returning campers, it’s always fun at these parties to see the new camp movie, spot yourself and your friends in the photos, and just to recharge your Rockbrook spirit.
And for new campers, meeting all the people, talking with the families, having the camp directors answer your questions, these parties really are one of the best ways to see why so many girls love Rockbrook.
It’s wonderful to see that Rockbrook is the girls summer camp Charlotte families are buzzing about.
Collect $200 Salary As You Pass GO!
Today was cabin day and the Senior line took an excursion to Sliding Rock. The temperature peaked at around 98 degrees, so it was a refreshing change for the girls. Sliding Rock is basically a large rock which mimics a gigantic water slide. It is located in the Pisgah Forest, and is just a little ways outside of Brevard. The girls went down a handful of times, and then were taken to the infamous Dolly’s for some ice cream. We were quick to get back to camp, for banquet was about to begin!
There was much anticipation in the air, for the kids were eagerly waiting outside of the dining hall to be called in for banquet. The CAs (counselor assistants) for this banquet were quite prepared, and hosted one smashing banquet! The theme was Monopoly, and the dining hall was set up in as if it were the board game. The posters were painted in various places on the board such as: Go To Jail, Chance, Community Chest, North Carolina Avenue, etc. The 4 of the 5 CAs were dressed up as pieces for the game, and were covered in silver paint. The other CA, Elizabeth, was the Monopoly guy. The skits involved the CAs moving around on the board by rolling dice, and advancing on the board. Jerry always has a role in the banquet skits, and this time he was the police officer, and took one of the CAs, Morgan, to jail! Thanks to the CAs and their counselors who put on banquet, they worked very hard and we all enjoyed another successful banquet!
