News Archives

Home » News » Page 24

June 24, 2014February 22, 2026 • News • Jeff Carter

An Upbeat Celebration

Opening the Kilns

Throughout the session, over the last few weeks, the girls have had their hands deep in clay making all sorts of small sculptures, decorative tiles, vessels like cups and bowls, and just about anything they can imagine. Both pottery studios were almost like factories with campers producing incredibly varied forms, works of art really, from the uniformly brown clay. More recently over the last few days, everyone took the next step of carefully painting glazes on their pottery pieces. The glazes paint on in dull-looking colors, but after the final step— firing in a kiln —they take on the shiny, more vibrant color you expect. Last Night Michelle, the director of our Ceramics Program, fired two completely stacked kilns containing all the work of the campers. That’s an almost 24 hour process, with the temperature slowly rising (to drive out any lingering moisture) and then holding at 1940 degrees for almost 12 hours. It’s very exciting to open the kilns after all that time and heat, and to see how the pieces ultimately turned out. This morning Michelle unloaded the kilns and set out all the finished pottery so the girls could claim their work. Such a colorful exhibit!

Every Camper Rides the Zip Line

By the end of the day today, even using part of the free time before dinner, Andy and the climbing staff accomplished the goal of allowing every single camper to ride on the zip line. The Rockbrook zip line is a huge thrill. It’s 450 feet long and begins after you cross a swinging bridge suspended high above a ravine between two large rocks. The bridge is about 100 feet long and has (quite intentionally) missing planks, forcing the girls to step carefully from plank to plank over each gap. So right from the start, an adrenaline focus comes naturally to mind. Of course, while on the bridge, the girls are wearing a climbing harness and are securely tethered to a safety cable above. Not long after that focus, when the girls clip their double-wheeled pulley into the main zip cable, and then leap off the launch rock into what feels like 150 feet of empty space below, the whole experience tends to elicit wide-eyed surprise. Some girls simply cling to their tether and smile as they fly down the cable, while others whoop with joy, hands stretched high in the air. Either way, the first thing we hear on the landing platform is, “I want to do it again!”

Rockbrook Olympics Banquet

Tonight was something everyone in camp was looking forward to, our end of session banquet. Based on a theme kept secret from everyone except the CA girls who planned every aspect of the event (costumes, music, decoration, food, skits, and choreographed dance numbers), the banquet is a fantastic party thrown for the entire camp. The CA campers spend all day decorating the dining hall, again in secret, until the theme is finally revealed as the campers enter through a tunnel of arms. Our banquet theme for this session… The “Rockbrook Olympics!” The CAs created a festive international party with posters of Olympic sports, flags of countries from around the world, streamers, balloons, and table decorations highlighting different countries and sports. They built an awards podium, and presented a synchronized swimming routine, a boxing dance number, as well as opening and closing ceremonies, complete with an Olympic torch. They served “Olympic Onion Rings” “Misty May’s Mixed Vegetables,” “Gold Medal Chicken Nuggets,” and “Shawn Johnson Strawberries.” Through the dinner, as the girls nibbled on all the different courses of food and enjoyed the candy also decorating the tables, they had dance breaks, spontaneously jumping up to dance in the cleared center area. The girls and staff members, all dressed in their blue RBC t-shirts, seemed so happy, laughing and dancing, pausing now and then for a quick photo. The banquet was a wonderful mix of fun dancing and food, colorful decorations and entertainment, but most of all, an upbeat celebration among now very close friends. These girls know how to enjoy themselves!

Campers and Counselor at final camp dinner

Leave a Comment

June 18, 2014February 24, 2026 • News • Jeff Carter

Happy and Excited

Surprise Pancake Breakfast

Ordinarily at camp the wake up bell rings at 8am giving the girls time to dress and do a few cabin chores before the breakfast bell at 8:30am. Today though, we surprised everyone with a special pancake breakfast held in each Line’s stone lodge. The kitchen gave us a head start by making a few hundred pancakes, but then teams of counselors, armed with griddles and huge bowls of batter, poured and flipped hot pancakes starting around 8. When the breakfast bell rang, the girls went to their lodges and found sausage and pancakes, milk and juice, but also a pancake toppings station loaded with all kinds of yummy sweet syrups, chocolate chips, marshmallow spread, butter, blueberries and cut strawberries. The girls spilled out into the sunshine around the lodges, sat in their crazy creek chairs, or lined up in the red porch rockers chatting while they watched the fog lift from the mountains in the distance. It was a lovely morning, and a big hit with the campers.

Lunch today turned toward the deep south with Rick and his team in the kitchen frying up sliced green tomatoes for everyone to make sandwiches. With a dab of his homemade rémoulade sauce, or a slice of cheese for the truly bold, this made a delicious sandwich. As a side, Rick prepared several pans of summer squash casserole made with a perfect balance of breadcrumbs, fried onions, cheddar cheese and butter. Cut cantaloupe, strawberries and grapes balanced out the table. Of course, the super-stocked salad bars saw plenty of action too, as did the peanut butter and jelly station.

Birthday Celebrations at Camp

When it’s your birthday at camp, as it was for Frances today, it’s a big deal. Before breakfast begins, the counselors will secretly decorate your cabin’s table with a colorful painted banner— Happy Brithday Frances! —to surprise everyone about your special day. Then at lunch, we interrupt the meal to carry out one of Katie’s (Rockbrook’s fabulous baker) delicious cakes, highly decorated for the occasion and lit with candles. The whole camp, which is close to 280 people, then sings a big boisterous version of “Happy Birthday” followed by chanting “Tell us when to stop!” Clapping in unison, one clap for each year old, everyone counts out until the birthday girl waves us off at the right number. Also, for birthdays we happily make an exception to our “No Packages” policy, making it even more exciting to receive a few presents from home. Sharing your birthday (and your cake!) with so many friends, is really a special experience.

Cabin Day at Sliding Rock

This afternoon, as is the case most Wednesdays, we paused our regularly scheduled individual activity periods and enjoyed special all-cabin and whole-line trips. It’s our “Cabin Day” (Have you seen this glossary of camp terms?) Some cabins were having “Paint and Polish Parties” where fingers and toes gained fresh color. Others had letter writing projects, cabin name plaques to paint, or had plans to hike the steep climb up to Castle Rock. The Juniors had a silly costume fashion show in the Hillside Lodge. The photos of that event are hilarious!

Late in the afternoon, all the Middlers and their counselors took a ride into the Forest for a picnic, a few chilly rides down sliding rock, and a frozen ice cream treat at Dolly’s. The girls had a great time playing groups games in the grassy field after our dinner of hotdogs, chips and fruit. The “I’m a Rockbrook Girl” game seemed to be the most popular as it got everyone dashing across the huge circle a group this size (about 85) required. Our timing at sliding rock was again ideal because we found the place deserted, leaving us free to slide as much as we wanted. The water is cold enough, and by now it was late enough, that most girls slid 2 or 3 times, even as a handful braved the plunge 8 times. Good fun. And an extra large scoop of Dolly’s ice cream made the evening complete. A little chilled, but happy and excited to sing on the bus, we made our way back to camp in the dark and called it “another wonderful day” at camp.

Leave a Comment

June 16, 2014March 1, 2026 • News • rbc

Taking the Plung into Blue Skies

From dawn to dusk at Rockbrook, girls are given a constant flow of opportunities to take courageous leaps. Our start to this week was no exception.

Campers sprang into action with their choices of four regularly scheduled activities. Girls are taking aim down at Riflery and Archery, learning to use their cameras to document their time at camp in Photo Journalism, and sprinting into action playing Dodge Ball in Gym Sports, just to name a few. In addition to the regularly scheduled activities, a whole bundle of surprises were offered at breakfast. The climbing staff signed up girls of all experience levels to climb Castle Rock. Rockbrook’s own natural rock face is located a short, hardy hike up the mountain behind the dinning hall. The climbing on Castle Rock offers challenges for beginners and experienced climbers alike, and is sure to offer every camper who tries the rock a stunning view of the mountains across the valley.

Paddling Adventures on the French Broad

The canoeing staff offered a trip down the French Broad, a river that snakes through the valley below camp with just enough light rapids to challenge beginners and warm up the experienced paddlers. Meanwhile, the kayaking staff gave girls a chance to learn how to “wet exit” down at the lake in preparation for the kayaking trip down the French Broad River that went out this afternoon. A camper learns her “wet exit” when she successfully pops the water tight “skirt” holding her into the kayak so she can safely leave the boat if she tips over. And in the afternoon a whole group of campers packed for an overnight trip to raft the Nantahala River. The opportunity for campers to try something new, exciting, and sometimes rather challenging is always present, even for example at the ever glistening Rockbrook lake. Well-known for its “cool” temperature, it can be a little daunting looking down at the water from the comfort and certainty of the dry dock. But finding the courage to take the plunge into something new around here is always mighty refreshing.

The Quieter Leaps at Camp

Not all the challenging leaps we see here at camp are the kind that involve cold water or staggering heights. Sometimes a leap is more subtle. It is learning how to take a round knitting loom and leading a ball of yarn on the complicated journey toward becoming a hat in Curosty, or turning a vine of bittersweet into a Dream Catcher in Folklore. It is finding the right balance of fuel and friction to spark a fire at WHOA! (Wilderness Hiking Outdoor Activities). A “leap” can also be seeing that two fellow campers are struggling to make a rubber band bracelet you know how to make, stepping up to be a leader, and guiding new friends in Jewelry Making or taking the microphone at announcements and sharing with a dinning hall of 275 people that you are beginning a Rockbrook A Capella group that will be meeting today at Free Swim!

Celebrating Every Step of the Journey

At Rockbrook, we invite campers to see how easy it is to try something new, without fear of “failure” because we celebrate both the glorious successes completed and all the incredible victories and views all the campers earned along the way. After climbing Castle Rock today campers were asked what color they would use to described their experience. “Blue” was the response of one junior camper “Because when you climb you are just focused on flowing up the rock, and when you reach the top all you can see is sky.”

So as the sun sets on our first full day of the June Mini Session and the beginning of our week, the sunset illuminates in full spectrum; celebrating the many colors of discovery we experienced today. And the misty mountains remind us tomorrow offers many more chances to leap, to climb, to stand up, to be silly, to reflect, to try again, and perhaps to reach the sky.

Leave a Comment

June 15, 2014February 20, 2026 • News • Jeff Carter

A Perfect Pirate Carnival

Today we opened our June mini session and welcomed 85 campers to Rockbrook to begin their 2-week session. It was an exciting morning for everyone, certainly for the girls arriving because they were finally starting their time at camp, but also for the current full session campers and staff already here because they now had a new group of friends to meet and play with while at camp. About half of the girls arriving today were brand new to camp, so for them this morning, and later during their camp tours, as they discovered each activity area or feature of Rockbrook— the huge rock face for climbing above the camp (Castle Rock), the water slide at the lake (“Big Samantha”), the zipline, horseback riding rings (and the tunnel under the road that leads to the riding area), all the tabletop and floor weaving looms in Curosty, and the crazy intensity of the dininghall, for example —ratcheted up their eagerness to get started. A quick assembly of the whole camp on the grassy hill got everyone singing a few camp songs, and gave each Director, Line Head, and the Hi-Ups a chance to introduce themselves.

For Lunch, Rick and his fantastic kitchen crew prepared a camp classic: tacos. With bowls of homemade guacamole, salsa, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, refried black beans, and ground beef, as well as stacks of crunchy taco shells on each cabin’s table, the girls broke records making their own tacos. One small Junior camper bragged that she ate 5 tacos in all!

The Tag System Explained

The mini session Seniors and Middlers spent their rest hour at lake hearing about how our “Tag System” works and demonstrating their swimming ability for the waterfront staff. Every girl who chooses to do water-related activities at camp (swim at lake, a rafting, kayaking, or canoeing trip, for example) must feel confident in the water, be able to swim comfortably for about 150 feet and tread water, unassisted, for one minute. We ask each camper to demonstrate this ability, and if successful, will receive a round plastic tag, identified with her name, to be placed on the tag board. The tags help the lifeguards know who is swimming when they are moved to different sections of the tag board. It’s a great system that’s been well established at Rockbrook for years.

Pirate Carnival on the Sports Field

The main event of the day, which began around 3:30, we held down at our grassy sports field. And like all great Rockbrook events, it combined costumes, special snacks and food, games, prizes, music, and dancing, all revolving around a theme. It this case, it was a “Pirate Carnival.” Chase, our Program Director, planned and organized the event with about 30 other staff members helping with each game. With beautiful sunny, warm weather, the girls arrived to find a variety of games—tossing a ball through a hoop, finding a piece of gum in a bowl of flour, a ring toss, bobbing for apples, a water gun and ping-pong ball challenge… all with fun pirate prizes like a gold earring or tattoo. Also, they could go and have a facepaint design, toss a cup of “slime” (think green, oozy water made from jello powder, flour, water and food coloring) at someone, have their fortune told, or decorate an eye patch. We also had two inflatable games, an obstacle course that seemed entirely too bouncy, and an elastic, running game where a strong bungee cord pulls you back when you run a short track. Two stations making cotton candy and another passing out snow cones kept everyone energized throughout the afternoon.

As you can see from these three examples (click the photos to see a larger version), costumes were also a big part of the fun. I’d say the majority of the girls chose to sport some kind of pirate gear like a bandana, eye patch, face-painted mustache, or golden earring. If not, then a bathing suit felt just right. This really was a perfect event, with every camper running from game to game, maybe stopping to toss the corn hole bean bags, or swivel a hula hoop for a minute. We sang along to the music, danced together, and laughed a lot having a blast for, gosh almost 2 hours! It was the kind of big camp fun we love around here, and we’re just getting started!

Leave a Comment

June 14, 2014February 25, 2026 • News • Jeff Carter

It’s Jug Band!

Kids make tie-dye t-shirts at summer camp

When girls select the craft activity we call “Hodge Podge,” they learn what could be described as a camp tradition: how to make a tie-dye t-shirt. Made popular in the 1960s, but before that practiced in West Africa for centuries, tie-dying found its way to summer camps. And judging by all the stripes, swirls and ribbons of color seen on t-shirts around camp, that tradition of using dye to decorate clothing is clearly still strong at Rockbrook. The process starts by soaking your cloth (usually a t-shirt, but anything cotton will do… Socks, bandannas, or pillow cases, for example) in a solution of urea which helps keep the cloth damp when the dye is applied. Next the cloth is twisted, folded or tied with rubber bands into repeating patterns like spirals, v-shapes, or bullseyes. Then, using plastic squirt bottles, you carefully drip different water-based colored dyes onto the cloth. After a day of letting the dye “set,” is very exciting to untie the cloth and discover how the dyes have blended and been absorbed differently where the rubber bands were tight. As you can see from this photo, the result are eye-popping!

Canoeing the French Broad River

This morning Andy and Emily led a group of campers on a canoe trip down a short section of the French Broad River. This river has its headwaters near the town of Rosman (still in Transylvania County, where Brevard is the county seat) not far from camp, and as it slowly grows in size, it passes by the Rockbrook Camp property adjoining several of our horseback riding pastures. This is very convenient because it allows us to begin a canoe trip upstream, and, as was the case today, paddle to a point on camp property to take out. There are several public places to put on the river so we can run a shorter or longer trip depending on the skills of the paddlers and the amount of time we have available. Today the girls had excellent sunny weather and spent a good hour and a half out on the water. The French Broad ultimately forms the Tennessee River, and from there leads to the Ohio, and finally the Mississippi River. So I suppose if we had enough time (i.e., probably a few months), Rockbrook girls could start at camp and paddle all the way to New Orleans!

A Trip to Dolly's Dairy Bar

Another event at Rockbrook that has become a tradition is a visit to the local ice cream stand known as “Dolly’s Dairy Bar” or just “Dolly’s” for short. I would guess every child in the area, certainly all the children at Rockbrook, believes Dolly’s has “the best ice cream in the world,” as one camper assured me. So it’s a big deal to stop and sample one of the unique flavors offered, flavors named after the 20 or so nearby summer camps. For example, there is “Rockbrook Chocolate Illusion,” “Falling Creek Fantasy,” “Green River Plunge,” and so forth. Each of these camp flavors is a different combination of ice cream and toppings already mixed in, and they are wonderful. Today after lunch we took two cabins of Junior campers to Dolly’s and had a grand time sitting outside licking our cones and posing for photos (often with freshly signed— by Dolly herself —stickers). Ultimately, the idea of making an “ice cream mustache” caught on and got a little messy, but that’s the kind of fun that’s easily cleaned up with a few napkins in the end.

Jug Band Campfire

Our evening program tonight was something we call “Jug Band,” an all-camp campfire that included live music and costumes in the spirit of traditional, though in a “Hee-Haw” inspired way, Appalachian culture. The counselors and campers dressed in their best overalls, straw hats, and flannel, braided their hair in pigtails, and painted freckles on their cheeks to complete the look. With three guitars, a banjo, ukelele and plenty of makeshift instruments like shakers and other “jugs” to play, we enjoyed a program of sing-a-long songs punctuated by jokes and short skits. “She’ll be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountian,” “Mountain Dew,” and “Wagon Wheel” were the clear favorites, even inspiring some dancing as well as singing. With the crickets chirping along and the occasional bullfrog from the lake contributing a note now and then, the whole camp sounded great. Great camp fun, and an excellent way to end the day.

Costumes and Silliness at costume campfire

Leave a Comment

June 13, 2014February 20, 2026 • News • Jeff Carter

A Powerful Feeling

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that while girls are jumping (in the lake), sewing (pillows), climbing (rocks), shooting (arrows), and acting (in improvisational drama games)… all up in camp, down by the river, they are also riding— horses, of course. Managing our riding program this summer is Kelsi Peterson who comes to us from the Equestrian program at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, NC where she is the show team coach. Directing the Rockbrook riding program is quite a job with 29 horses, 2 barns, 60 acres of pasture, and 6 staff members all needing attention, not to mention all the campers wanting to ride. Kelsi does a fantastic job with this, taking particular care placing every camper in a mounted lesson that matches her experience and riding ability. For those extra-excited campers, Kelsi and her staff also teach a regular class we call “Stable Club” where the girls learn— mostly by doing —how to care for the horses. Baths and brushing, hoof care and feeding, and mucking out stalls, there’s always a lot to know and do!

Learning on the Pottery Wheel

The girls taking ceramics are advancing through the different hand building techniques, experimenting with coils and slabs to make some pretty cool animal sculptures. Michele, who is our Head ceramics instructor this summer, is encouraging the girls to use their imaginations and create whatever comes to mind without much concern about what something is “supposed” to look like. They are learning that different color glazes and finishing tools can really make something unique. In addition, it’s been a big hit for the girls to learn wheel-thrown pottery techniques. Michele has been explaining and demonstrating all the steps to throwing a pot on the wheel: centering the clay, opening it up, pulling up the walls, and cleaning the top. Each of these can require some practice to master, so it’s a great feeling when the girls are successful at each point. Most of the girls are really excited to give it a try and likewise determined to master every skill. We are all looking forward to the end of the session when all of the kiln firings are done and the finished, colorful pieces emerge.

Hiking to the Hunger Games Waterfalls

This afternoon, Clyde led a group of Junior campers on a hike in the nearby Dupont State Forest to visit several of the county’s largest waterfalls. With a snack, water bottles packed, and with cameras set and ready, they were able to reach both Triple Falls and High Falls while out hiking. This area of the Forest has recently become popular thanks to the first Hunger Games movie, part of which was filmed at the base of these waterfalls. Today the water level was a bit higher than normal making the crashing sound of High Falls a little louder and the spray you feel on your face at the base of the falls all the more surprising. It’s a powerful feeling to be that close to such a huge waterfall.

After dinner, during that hour of free time we call “Twilight,” tonight we held a drumming workshop in the Hillside Lodge. Our friend Billy Zanski from Asheville arrived loaded down with different sized drums and led the drumming session for any of the campers who chose to attend. He taught us several basic Djembe rhythms and the girls played along taking turns on the Dundun bass drums. Several of the songs included a call and response chant while others easily inspired several of the girls (and counselors!) to get up and dance along. The whole session illustrated that even for young girls, drumming, contributing to a group musical experience like this, is something really enjoyable.

Finally, today was “Twin Day” at camp, so if the girls felt compelled— and a great number did —they would dress together as twins. This meant switching the the left shoes, or wearing the same t-shirt, or in this case dressing as “Camp Carolina Boys.” I think I spotted several princesses too. You just never know what these girls will come up with!

Leave a Comment

June 11, 2014February 25, 2026 • News • Jeff Carter

It’s Good Like That

This photograph was taken this morning during “Muffin Break,” that time between our first and second activity periods when just about everyone in the camp treks to the dining hall porch to grab a freshly baked muffin. And yes, it truly is everyone in camp— campers, counselors, activity instructors, and directors alike. The muffins are just that yummy. Muffin Break happens at 10:45am, just about the time when a little snack feels particularly good. The flavor, of course, is a surprise. One day it might be something traditional like Lemon Poppyseed, and the next, a strange flavor like Chocolate Chocolate Chip. It’s perfectly normal late in the morning to ask someone, “Hey what’s the muffin flavor?” even if you might guess from the delicious smell drifting out of the kitchen. Today, our excellent baker Katie, wowed us all with her banana muffins. It’s a pretty good bet your girls will be talking about muffins after camp!

Send Letters Home

Have you written a letter to your Rockbrook girl yet? Please remember that everyone here loves receiving mail, and handwritten, “old-fashioned,” paper letters are the best. Sure you can pound out a quick email, but nothing beats a thoughtfully written letter from home. Here is the info you need to stay in touch.

Whitewater Kayaking Takes Off

Yesterday, I wrote about how whitewater rafting is popular at camp, but it’s also true that whitewater kayaking is gaining steam. This can largely be attributed to the fine instruction provided by Leland Davis and Andria Baldovin Davis. Leland and Andria have worked with Rockbrook for the past four summers both as raft guides and expert kayaking instructors. They are both veteran whitewater boaters having paddled all over the world and literally “written the book” on whitewater kayaking in America. They are also great with the girls… kind and encouraging, patient and enthusiastic, consistently successful inspiring even the youngest girls to love kayaking. It’s neat to see so many girls at camp digging into this more technical adventure activity.

Senior Line Triple Treat

The big trip of the day gathered all of the Senior Line girls (the 7th, 8th and 9th graders) and combined three events in one, a triple treat for an evening of food, games, an exhilarating mountain pastime, and a sweet dessert. The first stop for our convoy of five buses was a picnic dinner of hotdogs and all the trimmings up in the Pisgah Forest. We ate and then spent some time playing “I’m a Rockbrook Girl” in a grassy field. Akin to musical chairs where one chair is missing, this game gets everyone dashing about when they have something in common. It’s a fun way to digest a bit before the next stop— sliding rock. Here again, the “refreshing” mountain water common to these parts makes this natural water slide (It’s about 60 feet long with a deep pool at the bottom.) all the more exciting. Most of the girls took several rides down the rock, and as it began to get dark, and rain a little, we all packed up to drive down the hill to Dolly’s Dairy Bar located at the entrance to the Forest.

Sure, we were cold. Sure, we were wet. But that’s not enough to keep us from enjoying our favorite flavor of ice cream from Dolly’s. It’s too delicious, and we were having too much fun to miss this perfect way to end the evening. I do remember turning up the bus’s heat on the drive back to camp. Life at camp in the mountains. It’s good like that.

Leave a Comment

June 8, 2014February 27, 2026 • News • Jeff Carter

Ready to Go for 2014

Welcome everyone to Rockbrook Camp for its 2014 summer sessions! This is perhaps the most exciting day of the year for all of us at camp because it’s when camp finally comes back to life, when the enthusiasm of campers, the energetic anticipation of staff members, and the many months of careful planning by Rockbrook’s directors join forces again to create this wonderful place. Everyone looks forward to the opening day of first session, especially those of us that think about camp all year long… campers, counselors and directors alike. So welcome! This is going to be a great summer.

In these blog posts, we will report bits and pieces of camp life. In addition to the photo gallery (which you access only after logging into your parent account), these daily posts will provide a little detail about what’s going on at Rockbrook. They won’t be a “full report,” so to speak, but instead something that comes to mind as I recall the day, or feel compelled to comment on a photo or idea drawn from the people and events of camp. I hope you enjoy reading.

“A few butterflies” is how one mom described her daughter’s feeling this morning as the campers were checking in. Even when this might be a girl’s 3rd or 4th year coming to camp, those first moments driving up, meeting your counselor and experiencing the buzz of opening day— it can jangle the nerves. At the same time, it’s a happy feeling because there are smiles everywhere… So many examples of “run-scream-hug your camp friend from last summer” kinds of moments, friendly introductions, and excitement. There might be some jitters at the beginning, but with something this big and enthusiastic that’s pretty normal.

And of course it takes very little time for jitters to soften into a new smile and feelings of belonging. The feeling of camp is just infectious that way.

Settling In and Exploring Camp

A little rain overnight made the ground this morning a little soft when we opened (especially our sports field parking area!), but as the morning progressed, the sun held brightly the rest of the day. The girls settled into their cabins, set up their bunks and began to explore Rockbrook. One new find was the Gaga pit. I’ll explain that more later, but think of it as an arena to play a special version of dodgeball. It addition, the campers staying on the lower line of cabins were surprised to find the newly renovated bathroom we call the “Be-Bop.” The “Half-Pint” cabin likewise was rebuilt last fall, making it the newest of our 25 cabins at camp.

The sunny weather made everyone’s “swim demonstrations” pleasant and fun. Our chilly lake, which is kept “mountain stream cool” by the creek that feeds it, can be a little shocking at first, but the encouragement from all of the lifeguards and the directors, as well as the vigor of the swimming itself, make it all a thrill. Bright warm sunshine made it all the better. The results? Everyone who tried, passed and received a green swim tag.

Activity Skits in the Gym

Following the afternoon swims, camp tours, games in the lodges and cabin meetings, as well as a brief assembly on the hill to learn songs and meet this session’s Hi-Ups, we all gathered in the gym to watch the activity instructors and counselors perform short skits and songs to introduce all of the options available to the campers during the activity periods. This included costumes that integrated special gear, like the climbing instructors in this photo, music, props and even a few dance steps from some. These skits are also a neat way for the campers to see that their counselors, just like them, are having fun by acting silly, laughing and being supportive all the while. I did notice about 4 different references to the recent Disney movie Frozen… It’s just a hunch, but that might be a major theme all summer long!

It’s been a perfect opening day of camp. We’re all excited and ready to go.

Leave a Comment

January 9, 2014July 21, 2020 • News • Grace Wallace

The Rockbrook Guide to Winter

If you are reading this right now, then you are more than likely caught in the midst of the Polar Vortex. And while it’s true that “Polar Vortex” sounds like the rejected title for a cheesy sci-fi novel, the reality of icy arctic winds swirling their way down from Santa’s workshop to where you sit this very moment is enough to make anyone long for an end to winter.

Last Tuesday, each and every US State had temperatures fall below freezing (true, you had to climb to the top of the highest mountain in Hawaii to find temperatures of 21 degrees, but it totally still counts). This means that, at some point in the last few days, every American Rockbrook camper (including me) has been bundled up against the cold, dreaming of warmer days. To those campers who are warm and snug in the balmy southern hemisphere: oh, how we envy you.

It’s not that winter doesn’t have it’s perks. What’s not to love about hot chocolate, crackling fires, and quiet evenings spent indoors with your family? Winter gives us an opportunity to slow down, appreciate the small things, and enjoy the quiet.

Still though, this Polar Vortex business might be taking this whole “winter” thing a bit too far. Sure, catching snowflakes on your eyelashes is one of life’s beautiful joys—but watching icicles slowly accumulate there is less enjoyable. True, everybody loves bundling up in cozy winter clothes—but when frost begins to weigh down your fur-covered boots, and you begin stomping around like you’re transforming into a Yeti from the toes up, suddenly those clothes are a bit less glamorous.

But, never fear, chilly Rockbrook-ers! Nothing brightens a gloomy day like a smidge of camp cheer—and lucky for us all, that camp cheer is available to us even in the Polar Vortex-iest of days. All you have to do is take some of those classic camp staples, and give them a little tweak, and voila! Winterized Rockbrook!

1. S’mores Hot Chocolate

Oh yeah, you read that right. Hot chocolate AND s’mores, in one stunningly delicious concoction. We all know that camp just isn’t camp without those three heavenly ingredients coming together at least once to form the most perfect three-bite snack in the history of both bites and snacks. But why should you wait until summer comes around to enjoy this beautiful treat? There are tons of recipes out there for S’mores Hot Chocolate, but this one is absolutely the most delicious.

2. Chevron Scarf

Needlecraft is one of my favorite activities at camp. What could be more peaceful than sitting on the shady back porch of Curosty, listening to the stream ripple past, and knitting up some Christmas presents for your family? Quiet, cozy winter evenings give you the perfect opportunity to work on your needlecraft skills. And you don’t have to choose just one boring old color for that scarf you’re working on (unless it’s Rockbrook Red—Rockbrook Red is never boring). We like to spend our summers perfecting all sorts of exciting patterns for friendship bracelets—why not use one of those? Find a knitting pattern for a chevron patterned scarf, which can remind you all winter of those beautiful bracelets that your mom made you cut off in October because they were kind of starting to smell.

3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Every coffee shop in the country spends all winter throwing pumpkin flavoring into every drink and snack they offer, but we all know that the best pumpkin-flavored snacks are the little morsels that our camp-baker-extraordinaire (Katie) cooks up for muffin break. I talked to Katie yesterday, and she pointed me in the direction of a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe that is almost identical to hers. I know this post is supposed to be about “winterizing” camp traditions, but let’s be honest, there’s no need to winterize muffins. Muffins are excellent at all times, and in all weathers. Of course, everyone knows that these muffins taste best when eaten outside in the sunshine, after a morning of camp activities, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make a gloomy winter day a little more delicious.

4. Campfire Bonding

What are the three most important elements of a campfire? Being with people that you love, some good music, and, of course, a fire. There’s no law that says a campfire has to be outside. All you have to do is start up a fire in your fireplace, gather around it with your family and friends, leave those cell phones and computers far, far away, and just enjoy being with one another. And don’t forget to sing. Whether you’re singing Christmas carols, old camp songs, or the latest offering from T-Swift, there’s nothing quite like singing to chase away the bite of winter, and remind you that summer can’t be far away.

This is the time of year is when camp starts to feel furthest away from us—it seems like a horribly long time since we’ve been there, and an even more horribly long time until we get to be there again. But even on those coldest days, when the news is filled with headlines about “Polar Vortexes,” “Snowmaggedons,” and “Snowpocalypses,” the spirit of camp is never really that far from us. Sure, throwing on our swimsuits and jumping into the lake isn’t really an option, and it’s probably not the best idea to go white water rafting, or to have a shaving cream fight, but all it takes is a little creativity, and you can give any boring old winter day a bit of camp flare. And these aren’t the only ideas out there—if you can think of any other ways to give winter a camp-y twist, feel free to post them in the comments section, or on the Rockbrook Facebook page!

So enjoy your snow days, fellow Rockbrook-ers—summer will be here before you know it!

Leave a Comment

Opening the Kilns

Every Camper Rides the Zip Line

Rockbrook Olympics Banquet

Surprise Pancake Breakfast

Birthday Celebrations at Camp

Cabin Day at Sliding Rock

Paddling Adventures on the French Broad

The Quieter Leaps at Camp

Celebrating Every Step of the Journey

The Tag System Explained

Pirate Carnival on the Sports Field

Canoeing the French Broad River

A Trip to Dolly's Dairy Bar

Jug Band Campfire

Learning on the Pottery Wheel

Hiking to the Hunger Games Waterfalls

Send Letters Home

Whitewater Kayaking Takes Off

Senior Line Triple Treat

Settling In and Exploring Camp

Activity Skits in the Gym

Explore Topics

Sign Up for the Newsletter