Flight of the Vampire 5K

On Halloween, directors Jessi Nixon and Mandy Horton ran in the local Flight of the Vampire Race, along with Rockbrook girls Leah Emory and her mother, Lynn.

At the Finish Line with Leah and Lynn Emory

Rockbrook’s Local Connection

Mandy and Jessi set up a table at the Transylvania County Commerce Expo this week. Many local folks stopped by and shared stories about their connection with Rockbrook over the years. RBC is well-known for being involved in the Brevard community. It’s founder, Nancy Carrier, also helped started the Brevard Music Center. Jerry Stone, Rockbrook’s previous owner was involved in founding the Transylvania County Boys and Girls club and other local programs for kids.

“My Dewcoat is Up in My Cabin….”

There are lots of references to rain, or as we say “Dew”, in the songs we sing. The “dew” actually has to “do” with the amount of  forests we have around here and subsequently transpiration, or the evaporation of water from the plants.

Generally,the weather’s  fairly cool in the morning, then warms up a lot until it sprinkles during Rest Hour, when everyone (including counselors!) takes a nap in their cabin. There are a handful of days where the activities switch to the “rainy day” schedule, which usually involves playing games in the dining hall or lodge. Of course, jumping in puddles and singing in the rain are really fun, too!

Brevard, NC, also known as the “Land of Waterfalls”, has nearly double the amount of rainfall per year as  Seattle.In fact, it has a temperate rainforest climate. The area is rich in biodiversity and has lots of green foliage.

Rockbrook’s horse pasture in part of the French Broad River Basin.With the large amount of rain the past few days, it is currently under water! Folks around here aren’t too worried, because this happens every so often. Farmers in the area make use of the large, flat, flood plains by planting sod during the summer.

If you come to camp next summer, remember your dewcoat!

Time off in Brevard

Street Dancing on Brevard

Here’s an event calendar link to some great local events/happenings in the area around camp:

www.brevardnclive.com

Celebrity visits Brevard

Mandy Mississippi

Is that Hannah Montana???!!! It’s actually Mandy, our program director out on the town for Halloween. If you were at the end-of summer staff party, you may recognize the super-cool fiber optic wig and remember the rather enduringly ridiculous farewell song – “We sure hope, we’re Facebook friends!”

White Squirrels of Brevard

Feeling squirrely

While spending a summer at RBC, you’re sure to see the rare white squirrel that populate Brevard. One legend has it that Nancy Carrier, the founder of Rockbrook and family to the Barnum & Bailey Circus folks, let her pet white squirrels go and that’s how they came to be in this area!

Street Dancing Fools

Angela, Hally, Eva and Meggy

Brevard, the small town about 4 miles from RBC, is known for its fabulous summer street dances! It’s super-fun and anyone can join in. There’s live ol’ time music and people that actually know what they are doing to help new folks out. It’s a great way to spend a night off in town!

Street Dancing in Brevard

Jessi's Taking RBC to India!

Yup, November 21 I, Jessi Nixon – Staff Director at Rockbrook Camp, and a small brave team of other young professionals, will be flying to Gujarat, India. All of this is happening through Rotary International. I’ll be staying with Rotarian families who will act as our personal tour guides for a month. In addition to all the usual sites, we will also get an insiders’ look at similar vocational settings – like schools and child care operations for me. In exchange, we will give presentations at Rotary meetings about western North Carolina and our work – in other words, I’ll be talking about Rockbrook! Imagine trying to explain RBC in 6 minutes or less! I’ll be sure to post a link to our blog in case you are interested in keeping tabs on me .

Jessi