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It’s the night I’d say everyone at camp looks forward to. It’s the kind of once-in-a-lifetime event that can’t be recreated and is remembered by some for the rest of their lives. It’s a community celebration, a culmination of detailed plans, and a recognition of the many friendships formed over the course of the session. It’s banquet night, the unveiling of the surprise party and themed dinner presented by our 9th grade “CA” campers.

Transforming the Dining Hall

This session’s banquet theme gathered Renaissance characters and scenes transforming the dining hall into a fairyland of woodland folk, royalty, and city folk. The girls went all out decorating every inch of the walls in the dining hall with painted scenes. They strung ivy and small lights overhead in the rafters, along with streamers and stars. They arranged the dining hall to make a wide open dance floor in the center where they could perform skits and choreographed dances.

The Grand Entrance

One of the most exciting moments comes when the campers enter the dining hall and first see the CA girls dressed in their costumes. With fun, upbeat music playing, the counselors enter first, followed by the campers from oldest to youngest. The CA girls create two cheering lines and welcome everyone to the banquet in character. Unveiling the surprise, the costumed characters, plus the elaborate decorations filling the dining hall, makes for an amazing entrance. Everyone smiles, and can’t believe their eyes. Especially for the youngest girls, it’s a wonder-ful thrill to be met like this. And with a theme like this, it was truly magical.

In the banquet we found a King and Queen, crowned and robed. Dressed in long gowns, there were seven princesses, complete with tiaras and glitter. Woodland nymphs with pointed ears and flower headbands, plus four colorful fairies roamed about. There was a Satyr with horns too. From the town we met a jester, 3 milkmaids, a witch, bards, and knights. We watched a plot unfold where a princess was eaten by a dragon, the knights on a mission to save her, the witch helping with spells, and a dance battle to defeat the dragon. Later with the help of the fairies, they were able to return home. Each act of the plot included fun dances performed by the characters.

The fare served also aligned with the theme. They presented “Jousting Sticks” (fruit kabobs, mini corndogs, and mozzarella sticks). The main course was “Dragon Legs” (chicken legs) with “Dragon’s Blood” (gravy), “Medieval Mash” (mashed potatoes) and “Victorious Veg” (peas and carrots). For dessert, there were “Kings Chalice” drinks (root beer floats) and “Fairy Wands” (cake pops). With some candies added as table decorations, this was a feast.

Throughout the evening, between each act of the skits, and while the meal courses were being served, everyone enjoyed dancing and singing along to favorite pop songs. This was a chance to sing as loud as possible and dance with complete freedom with your camp friends. Smiling and laughing like never before, mostly because everyone by now feels so at ease at camp, this was pure exuberance. Whenever a new song came on, the whole dining hall jumped up and danced. It was about as much fun as you can imagine. Banquets are like that, and this was a fantastic example.

We began today with another chilly misty morning as campers and staff made their way to the dining hall for breakfast. Excitement soon filled the air as we saw what was for breakfast….waffles!! Some also noticed a banner on the wall, a few tables and chairs missing, and even a kayaking paddle where the missing table should have been. It seems the Hi-Ups had pranked the CAs. Here at Rockbrook we have a few rules about pranking. The first, along with everything else at Rockbrook, is that it must be kind. Second, the prank must be something that can be undone (e.g. nothing broken or ruined). And third, the group who pulls the prank must be willing to help undo it. In this case, the Hi-Ups moved the CA’s dining hall tables and chairs to the lake! When the CAs arrived, they were surprised to see their breakfast was being served waterside! Lots of waffle hunting and laughter ensued.

Morning Activities Begin

Morning activities kicked right into high gear as campers and staff walked to their first period activities ready to finish out the three-day rotation. Later this evening they’ll be signing up for their next set of activities. A couple of lucky cabins took a tour on our zipline and high ropes courses. They all had a wonderful time going across all three ziplines while shrieking with happiness! Today’s muffin flavor was blueberry chocolate chip. While most enjoyed the combo, a few picked out their blueberries to have a classic chocolate chip muffin.

At lunch, we announced several special trips: Sliding Rock, Dolly’s Dairy Bar, and Pucker Up Berry Farm. Cabins roared with cheers as they heard their cabins being called for some of these fun adventures. Lunch ended with mailboxes being emptied, cabin photos being taken, and the start of a relaxing Rest Hour.

Senior Line Flour Ball Game

Cabin Day is usually an activity done together as a cabin and is planned out by the counselors. Today, the Senior Line (our 7th-9th graders) did something a little different; they had a line-wide cabin day! The counselors worked hard prepping a unique game that mixed the campers, dividing them into 12 different groups that would compete in the game.

The game was a battle of sorts where each group had “tools” they could use to score points against others. These “tools” were sections of pantyhose filled with flour! Tied into small balls, there were black pantyhose balls and white ones too, each worth different points. A team would score points whenever they hit someone on an opposing team with one of the balls. Needless to say, the girls enjoyed firing these balls at each other on the hill. And since they were all dressed in dark colors, the white flour left a mark when hitting someone. The prize awarded the group with the most points was an ice cream treat.

In addition to trying to cover one another in flour, teams walked around camp to find counselors who had special tasks for them to complete in order to earn other candy treats. Some of the tasks included answering trivia questions, building a human pyramid, and various hula hooping challenges. The Seniors roamed all over camp making new friends from other cabins and having a grand afternoon.

Other Cabin Day Fun and Sliding Rock

Meanwhile, we had cabins watercoloring at Rockbrook Falls, down at the archery range playing games, climbing the alpine tower, and tie dying some t-shirts. By the end of cabin day, everyone looked happy to have spent time with their cabin mates. After dinner, another large group of campers and staff headed off for a chilly evening sliding down the rock— at Sliding Rock, that is! Dressed in swimsuits and ready to slide, the girls sat down in the stream at the top and slid the 60 feet into the pool at the bottom. It’s a classic summertime mountain thrill, and these Rockbrook girls loved it! And of course, Dolly’s was the final stop of the evening. Another action-packed, happy fun day at camp!

—Casey Blair

Today the June mini campers arrived. Wide-eyed with anticipation and excitement literally bursting through the sunroofs of some cars, it was clear these girls were eager to start their summer at camp. Our drive-thru check in process unfolded smoothly with each stop only taking a couple of minutes. Driving around the lake and finally reaching the top of the hill, the counselors jumped and cheered, adding to the festive atmosphere of the day. The full-session girls carried on with their Sunday morning schedule of flag raising and Chapel gathering, but they too were excited to see more camp friends arriving. By noon, a brief spot of rain came through, so instead of out on the hill, we gathered in the gym for a quick assembly. This was a chance to welcome everyone, have a few introductions, and sing a couple of songs.

Opening Day Nerves

I asked a few of the arriving campers how they felt, and while most said they were excited, several also said they were nervous. I tried to reassure them that being a little nervous on opening day was very common, even for seasoned, returning campers. Like the start of anything, there’s uncertainty involved, and if you care how something will go, it’s just natural to feel some nerves. Being nervous is just that, so once we get going and begin to dissipate the uncertainty that came before, everyone begins to feel better. At camp, feelings of nervousness fade fast as soon as we begin— finding our penpal, meeting our counselors, setting up your bunk, getting a sense of how kind everyone is at camp, seeing that there are all kinds of girls here and that it’ll be easy to fit in, hearing the enthusiasm in the camp songs, even tasting something yummy and familiar, like the mac-n-cheese we had for lunch.

The Candy Land Carnival

The main event of the day happened after rest hour, just as the rain stopped. It was a Candy Land Carnival down on our grassy landsports field featuring two large inflatables, games, music and special food.

First the food. It was an excellent treat of freshly made mini donuts for each camper. Our local donut-making food truck, Jenny’s Mini Donuts, had come and was busy pumping out the treats. The campers took turns by cabin groups coming up the pink truck and deciding if they preferred cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar on their donuts. As you might imagine it took quite a while to make donuts for 200 campers and 60 staff members! But they were delicious, and definitely worth the wait.

Meanwhile, the carnival games and inflatables entertained everyone. Both of the inflatables involved a pool of water. The girls had come dressed in their swimsuits, and since the sun had come out, the afternoon heat made the final splashes feel great. One inflatable was a steep slide into a pool about a foot deep, and the other was a side-by-side obstacle course where two people raced through the course to the pool at the end. This was a little challenging, but doing it with another person made it more fun, and more entertaining to watch.

For both inflatables, crowds of girls gathered around to cheer for each person as they splashed into the pools at the bottom. Campers raced campers; counselors raced other counselors. Everyone got in on the fun. I’m certain lots of girls jumped back in line multiple times! A little messy and a little wet, they raced and raced.

One of the candy-related games was a life-sized Candy Land game spread across the grass. Teams of girls would “roll” a giant inflated die and move along a colorful trail of rubber mats. Like the board game, certain squares had effects whenever a team landed on them. For example, if you landed on Gramma Nutt’s square, you would have go back 5 squares. But if you landed on Missy Lolly’s square, everyone won a lollypop. The first team to reach the end of the squares also won a small candy treat.

Another of the games challenged the girls to toss inflated donuts onto a cone, which ended up being much more difficult than it sounds. Luckily, the girls could try as many times as they liked until they succeed to land a toss. Similarly, one game involved tossing beanbags at a target trying to get a toss through a small hole. That one too took some practice to conquer.

Throughout the event, the girls sang and danced along to some fun pop music with a few candy-related songs mixed in. “I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow, and “Lollipop” by the Chordettes made a appearance, for example.

Under the sun, with friends, great food and music, games to play and treats to win, it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and an even better way to launch our June Mini session.

The weather in this part of North Carolina is extraordinary, often impressive, even astonishing at times. We’re located in the western mountains and have enough elevation to help us stay cooler in the summer, but also far enough south to moderate our winters. We are surrounded by national and state forests (many hundreds of thousands of acres) and are far enough away from large cities that we enjoy remarkably clean air. By the way, we haven’t seen any impact from the Canadian wildfires affecting areas of the northeast. This morning when we woke up, everyone was surprised how chilly it was. Checking the Rockbrook weather station, the low temperature was 44 degrees! Brrrr! Time for another layer! Once the sun rose from behind the hill it warmed up fast. By noon it was 70 degrees, and later in the afternoon, the temperature hit 80. Perfect!

Climbing the Alpine Tower

Yes, perfect weather for climbing. Our Alpine climbing tower, which is located in the woods a short distance from the gym, sees climbing all day long. It’s a 50-foot tall system of logs cabled and bolted together providing dozens of different routes to the top. It can accommodate up to 6 climbers simultaneously, each exploring different routes and overcoming unique climbing challenges on their way up. This makes it an excellent place for learning how to climb, even for our youngest campers. They start by learning essential climbing knots, understanding rock climbing equipment like an ATC, and practicing belay commands used by climbers worldwide.

The Alpine Tower provides such a variety of climbs it takes quite a while to conquer them all. Some are direct routes to the top, stepping on the small holds and gripping others one by one like a ladder. Others involve pulling up on ropes or rope cargo nets, and navigating swinging obstacles. A few are really challenging because they are vertical or even overhanging, or involve more arm strength to reach the next hold.

Some girls are even climbing the tower blindfolded just for the fun and added challenge. It’s incredible to witness how they can successfully climb without the ability to see the next hold.

After each climb, there’s an exciting thrill of swinging on the belay rope, sometimes even upside down, while being lowered down.

Fiber Arts in Curosty

Another area buzzing with activity at camp are our fiber arts programs. In the activity Curosty, campers can weave headbands, bookmarks, placemats, among other projects on our vintage restored looms. The historic building the activity takes place in is even older than the camp itself! On the idyllic back porch, campers can work on their weaving or needlepoint while listening to the creek rushing by. Campers who especially fall in love with weaving spend multiple other free-swim periods perfecting their projects, adding extra color, beads, or other personal touches.

Paper Crafts in KIT

In the other historical building on camp, Goodwill, named after Nancy Carrier’s birthplace, another popular activity takes place: KIT. KIT, which stands for “Keeping In Touch”, focuses on paper crafts. Campers take advantage of our arsenal of craft supplies, using colorful paper, stickers, rhinestones, stencils, markers, and beads to perfect their masterpieces. Some favorite activities to make in KIT include stationary, greeting cards, journals, calendars and keepsake boxes. KIT has some of the best vibes on camp, with the cozy lighting of Goodwill combined with laughter of campers as they create their unique projects makes for a truly special scene.

One last word about the importance of sending Mail. After lunch, all the campers rush to check their mailboxes to see if they received a letter. Here are some content ideas for writing to her at camp. It can truly put a smile on your campers face to see a letter in their box, even if it is a short note. So keep those letters and emails coming, your camper will truly thank you!

Visitors to Rockbrook are sometimes surprised by the variety of activities they see happening. It’s true; during each of the four activity periods per day, there will be campers and counselors engaged in sports, outdoor adventure, arts and crafts and of course horseback riding— more than 22 different options here in camp (not including the additional out-of-camp trips offered the older girls). What’s amazing is that these activities all happen simultaneously. In our little haven, you’ll find girls building and practicing skills, being physically challenged beyond their “comfort zone,” exercising their creativity, and exploring nature. They’ll be trying things they’ve never tried before, and all among friends who are quick to encourage and accompany them along the way.

Garden Art: Creating with Nature

The activity we call “Garden Art,” which the campers sometimes shorten to “Gart,” is a great example. As you might expect, this is an activity that takes place in our flower garden, and involves making art using the colorful plants growing there, plus various found objects like rocks and twigs. Using cloth, paint, and different types of string and cord as well, the instructor Bailey has many projects for the girls to try. For example, today the girls were painting stones and combining leaves and leaf-patterns to their designs. Other projects Bailey has offered in the past include pressing flowers onto cloth, macrame using plant stems and colorful cords, dyeing fabrics with indigo and other natural plant dyes, and flower arranging. Bailey is always coming up with new and exciting projects, so girls never know what they’re going to do next. Gart is a wonderful summertime activity that helps girls of all ages build their appreciation for these garden plants and inspires them to create in new ways.

Free Time: The Camper's Choice

In addition to the four activity periods, we also have three blocks of “free time” each day when the campers themselves decide what they would like to do. Hot and sweaty after an active morning? Head down to the lake to jump off the diving board, fly down the water slide, or splash around floating on a tube. Both before lunch and again before dinner the lake is open for “free swim.” Feel like playing a game? Wander down to the gaga ball pit, or one of the tetherball courts, the gym for basketball or the tennis courts. Are you curious about what creatures are living in the creek by the Goodwill cabin? Take off your shoes and wade right in! The shady breeze at the top of the hill overlooking the mountains might be the perfect place to dive deeper into that book you brought to camp. One of the red porch rocking chairs looks like a nice place to just sit and relax, working on a friendship bracelet tied to your water bottle. After dinner, during the “twilight” free time, the mountain view looks amazing in the golden evening light. Come out to the hill where there will always be folks soaking it in. Maybe a nice hot shower will feel right. It’s the camper’s choice.

Rafting the Nantahala River

Today was our first rafting trip on the Nantahala River. We gathered up all the Senior girls interested in going and split them into a morning group and an afternoon group, making it possible to raft everyone on the same day. Since the early 1980s, Rockbrook girls have been taking this trip. It’s that popular, popular for several reasons. It’s got a real sense of adventure: cool safety gear that allows you to get up close to a force of nature. It includes a hefty dose of fun socializing in the rafts, which easily turns into hilarity as the raft bumps into a hidden rock unexpectedly or someone falls backwards into (or out of!) the raft. It’s playful and silly as each crew plots different ways to pose for the camera. The water of the Nantahala is very cold, and that too adds to the excitement. Today’s gorgeous weather made that even more so. The final rapid of the day, the “Nantahala Falls,” is a screaming fun double drop rapid that thrills everyone. It’s a fantastic way to end the trip and is always everyone’s favorite.

Just for fun, we turned dinner into a costumed event: a night on the red carpet. With a wide runway of red paper on the floor as they entered the dining hall, campers and counselors arrived in their best “dress.” Sure there were a few dresses, evening gowns, and long skirts, but there were also feather boas, silly wigs, sunglasses and hats. It was fun to show off our outfits, laugh a little, and act like a movie star as we ate. Dressing up for dinner… even better when at camp!

“We welcome you to Rockbrook Camp; we’re mighty glad you’re here…” As the camp greeting song goes, today we all enjoyed that sentiment— the feeling of being welcomed to a special place. Some have been waiting an entire year to return to their “haven in the mountains,” while others have been wondering and dreaming for months about what camp will really be like. For everyone though, both campers and staff members alike, today was a blend of excitement and joyful relief, of nervous enthusiasm, and of eager anticipation. And smile after smile, after smile.

So welcome everyone to Rockbrook! What a wonderful opening day today and start to the 2023 summer season! The cars arrived at a steady pace throughout the morning, easily making their way through our “drive-thru” check-in process. (Thank you for arriving according to your designated arrival times, and for having your camp forms and medication processing completed.) The lush forest of Rockbrook and the colorful containers glistened in the sun from the slight rain we had the night before. The mob of cabin counselors clapped, and cheered, and literally jumped with excitement as campers arrived all morning.

Returning campers reunited with camp friends as new girls slipped right into cabin groups. Soon there were groups of girls just walking about, immersing themselves step by step into camp, visiting the lodges, marveling at the rushing creeks, and likewise beaming with excitement.

Gathering Under the Walnut Tree

By about noon, everyone had arrived and we were ready for our first gathering on the hill under the walnut tree that looks out across the mountains. This was a chance for singing a few songs, and for Sarah to introduce the directors, line heads and other special staff members. We learned the line songs, and the Hi-Ups, who are our 10th-grade campers, said hello by teaching everyone the “Coconut song.” Funny and silly right from the start!

The Feeling of Celebration

That’s something you realize pretty quickly when you arrive at Rockbrook. There’s a sense of relaxed freedom here that creates a feeling of celebration for no particular reason. You’re surrounded by friendly and welcoming people. You’re immediately a part of something special, and you can tell a lot of exciting things are happening. All the spontaneous singing, clapping and dancing around here— in the dining hall, on the buses, almost whenever we get together —is simply an inevitable expression of this celebration. It’s contagious, joyful, and honestly a little shocking how different it is from regular life. I’m sure that has a lot to do with why everyone here so eagerly soaks it in. Today was no exception. With the arrival of the campers, that incredible joy was energized and we all began to feel recharged, truly ready for camp.

Rick’s homemade Mac-n-Cheese, along with sweet, juicy red watermelon, and a green salad made our first lunch together. That’s a meal that’s become a tradition of sorts for our opening days. The warm yummy cheeses and crunchy breadcrumb topping make for just the right dose of comfort on the first day. The gluten-free and vegan version was popular popular today as well, since it had a little spice to it. Meals at Rockbrook are served “family style” with each cabin group sitting at its own table. Each cabin then has family-sized dishes of each menu item that then gets passed around. If something runs out, then a camper will get up and take the dish back to the kitchen for seconds (or thirds!).

Swim Demos at the Lake

After lunch, it was time to head to the lake for what we call “swim demos.” This is simply a chance for everyone to demonstrate their swimming ability and receive a swim bracelet and buddy tag that qualifies them to sign up of paddling trips (whitewater rafting! —for girls 5th grade and older) and enjoy free swim times each day. It’s a simple test that assures the lifeguards that girls can be comfortable in the water and can tread water for a minute without struggling. Each age group arrives to take a turn jumping off the dock. Our “refreshing” mountain stream-fed lake can be a little shocking at first, but today the girls seemed to have no trouble. I did hear a few screams after girls felt the water, but I’m sure the bright warm sunshine made a difference too.

Touring Camp and Getting Gear

Meanwhile, the cabin groups set off on short tours of the camp, visiting important activity areas. They learned, for example, how to find the tunnel that leads to the riding center, where to meet for the climbing activity, and where the health hut is located if they take medications or need something from the nurses. One stop was the camp store where we began to distribute all the camp gear campers pre-ordered. Soon you’ll start to see girls wearing their new swag. By the way, it is possible for them to purchase other items at the store if needed. We’ll keep track of purchases and let you know the total spent on closing day.

Later in the afternoon, the counselors and activity instructors presented skits to introduce all the activities we’ll be offering at camp this session. Set to pretty silly songs, and at times with dance moves and plenty of costumes, we all enjoyed a fun variety show for about an hour. Later the girls will be signing up for their first set of activities, now with a better understanding of what each involves.

It’s been a marvelous opening day, full of already-surprisingly-loud songs, smiles and laughter. All around, there are excited girls ready to jump into the spirit of camp. Amazing!

Everyone looks forward to it. It’s a wonderful surprise. It’s a celebration. Some call it a “blow out.” It’s guaranteed to be unique, fantastic, incredible. It takes weeks of planning and hard work preparing. It’s loud and colorful, entertaining and enticing. It’s campy and creative. It makes everyone smile, laugh and dance. Here at camp, it’s a gathering of your very best friends. This is the banquet.

Hogwarts Great Hall

The theme for our third session 2022 banquet was focused on the characters and styling of the Harry Potter book and movie series. The CA girls (9th graders) and their counselors worked their incredible magic to transform the dining hall into the great hall of Hogwarts with its long tables and floating candles.

They painted more than 100 panels depicting scenes from the books— portraits of Sirius Black, Harry Potter, Dumbledore, Dobby, and Nearly Headless Nick.

There were paintings of broom sticks, owls dropping letters, the flying car, Hagrid’s motor bike, wands, chocolate frogs, and Bertie Botts Beans. There was also the Mirror of Erised, Fluffy the 3-headed dog, Fawkes the phoenix, and Hedwig the owl.

They displayed detailed drawings of all four of the Hogwarts House crests: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

On the tables, each camper found a pair of Harry Potter glasses, a magical wand, and a Hogwarts Express train ticket. Spider ring and lightning bolt temporary tattoos were there too. Everyone also enjoyed a souvenir cup and of course fun candy treats to help amplify the mood between each course of the meal.

The Costume Cast

The CA costumes represented an amazing range of Harry Potter characters. The cast list included students from each house, but also some of the Hogwarts professors like Mad Eye Moody, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, even Professor Dolores Umbridge. One student dressed up as Dobby the house elf. There were two french Beauxbaton girls. There was also Rita Sceeter, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Hagrid roaming about the banquet.

These characters worked together to perform choreographed group dances to “Magic” by One Direction, “Black Magic” by Little Mix, and “Enchanted” by Taylor Swift. Between those performances, we all got up and danced to other pop songs. This was a dance party filled with a celebratory energy.

The food was magical too! The menu included: “Magic Wands and Potion Chips,” “Mrs. Weasley’s Chicken Tenders,” and “Troll Tater Tots.” The dessert was particularly creative— “Golden Snitches” made of cookie dough balls rolled in gold colored sugar. Each camper had a small can of soda to drink as well.

Whether the campers were familiar with the world of Harry Potter or not, there was a magical, other worldly quality to the whole event. The CA girls transformed the dining hall turning it into a unique, immersive experience like we’ve never encountered before. For some campers, this was their first banquet, and for others this was another great one to remember.

Like one of the main themes in the Harry Potter novels, this banquet was proof of the power of friendship. It was more than it could have been and was elevated above the ordinary because it happened at camp, a place where the girls already know each other, care for each other and feel accepted and encouraged. Smiling, singing and dancing, this banquet had great energy. A magical time together at camp.

Our Sunday afternoons at camp always involve a surprise special event for the whole camp, and today was a great one. You might be able to guess the general theme of the event if you remember the list of costumes for this session. One was called “petting zoo.” It clearly has something to do with animals, but in what way?

Well first of all, it’s a great theme for costumes because it can be anything related to animals. The girls could customize and get creative in all sorts of ways. Add ears! Add a tail! They could be a banana or a monkey. One camper dressed like a “pregnant chicken,” and another like a cow. The most popular animal costume was probably a cat, complete with ear headband, and whiskers. One of the funniest was a girl who described herself as a “zombie cow.” There was a shark too, and even a couple of horses.

Animal Face Painting

To add to everyone’s costumes, 6 counselors set up face painting stations on the dining hall porch. Using foam brushes for large patches of color and thin bristle brushes for details, they painted incredibly detailed animals faces for the campers. Pigs, bears, and animals with whiskers soon began appearing. At times, the counselors painted abstract, animal-related, patterns and prints. Even the tiniest design added to the spirit of the event.

Games and Dancing

All over the camp there were animal related activities to enjoy. There was a wild hobby horse obstacle course relay. There was a cool spray limbo game that challenged everyone to “go low.” There was a silly ring toss game that involved girls tossing rings onto an inflatable flamingo hat. One set of counselors led several country line dances in the gym. There were familiar pop songs too, keeping the whole scene festive.

Live Snake Presentation

The different age groups took turns visiting the Lakeview lodge to hear a presentation on snakes. With several amazing examples brought out and displayed, the girls learned where the snakes came from and about their behavior. For example, most snakes run away from predators, but others will “play dead.” The stars of the show were the 4-ft long boa constrictor from Columbia, and the 5-ft long grey banded rat snake. The campers were able to touch these two snakes and get right up close to them to “pet them.” Some of the girls were a little frightened, but others were intrigued to discover the snakes were cool, dry, and not slimy at all.

Live Bluegrass Music

One final treat was the live bluegrass, old-time acoustic band that played during the event. Featuring our friend Ray Adams (who is also the camp bookkeeper!) and Madeline Dierauf (who is a member of our adventure staff this summer), the band also brought together a local banjo and upright bass player. The band played for 2 solid hours highlighting traditional mountain tunes. All of these musicians have played for large audiences, and they came together just for us this afternoon. It sounded fantastic! The girls probably didn’t realize it, but it was a real treat to have this caliber of music live at Rockbrook.

Live animals and live music. What a fun Sunday afternoon!

Our first set of whitewater rafting trips for this camp session happened today. Bus and van loads of Middlers and Seniors, 60 in all, made the trek over to the Nantahala River to take a wet and wild ride. It’s now a deep tradition for Rockbrook girls to raft this popular river, one that we started way back in the 1980s. Rockbrook is fortunate to have a forest service permit allowing us to run trips without outside help, using our own gear and our own hand-picked guides. That makes a big difference to maintain the upbeat, friendly vibe of Rockbrook on these trips.

Of course rafting is exciting and fun— wearing the cool gear, riding in the raft with your friends, the shock of the “freezing” cold water, goofing around for the camera at different points along the trip, and the thrill of bumping and splashing through the rapids. We were lucky today to have excellent weather, warm and sunny skies keeping everything bright all day. This is the kind of outdoor adventure we love at Rockbrook— thrilling, funny, and packed with friends. Perfect!

Camper-Created Clubs

Here’s something I spotted on the bulletin board outside the dining hall. Can you tell what it is? It’s a flier announcing one of the many camper-led clubs at Rockbrook. Starting a club is something that’s caught on this summer for some reason. Anyone can start their own club. All you need is 2 or more people with a common interest, and then a time and place to meet. So far this session, girls have announced about a dozen of these clubs, each designed to invite others to join. During the announcements after meals, club members can come up and pitch the details of their club.

The 0% club is one of my favorites. It’s a club that invites people to show up with any kind of fear, and then working together, they reduce that fear to zero. “We will fix that !! 🙂 ” Isn’t that amazing!? Another is the “Finding Things” club. This one meets at the dining hall, and you can show up if you need to find a lost item. The members of the club team up and help you find it. This club fixes things too. Other clubs celebrate certain individuals, for example the “Sofie Society” and the “Ismini Club.” There’s a “Lima Bean” club for all those (and their like-minded allies) who “love lima beans.” There’s a “Space Club” for anyone who “cares about space.” There are clubs devoted to different book series like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, as well. We can only imagine the conversations that happen in each of these clubs.

The Spirit of Club-Creating

I love the spirit of this club-creating phenomenon! It shows how the girls here understand the value of joining a group of people, of being open and accepting of new friends, and belonging to something with a shared interest or concern. They may not be able to tell you a deep reason why they are forming their club or why they enjoy doing so, but I think it’s a wonderful expression of our camp culture— enthusiastic, positive, inclusive, social, and little zany too.

I feel like all of us would benefit from joining the 0% club… but that’s another discussion.

Costumes and Granny Day

Camp is a place where costumes are expected and celebrated. It’s common, in fact, for at least someone to be wearing something that transforms their look. It might be as simple as a pair of goofy sunglasses or hat with cat ears, or it can be a whole body banana suit, both of which I spotted earlier this week. We know that wearing a costume provides a special freedom of sorts. It allows a person to let an otherwise hidden aspect of their personality show. It’s a chance to parade something of yourself, or perhaps to expose your creativity, all just for the fun of it. Sometimes, we’ll dedicate an entire day to a costume theme, like today’s theme of “grannies.” All around camp, you could bump into folks who were more hunched over than usual, who seemed a little grey or who had a raspy sounding voice. People were wearing nightgowns, using walking canes, and a few seemed to have wigs. Many campers adopted names of their old lady personas. You could meet an Ethel, a Gertrude, and a Nellie today at camp.

Bingo Night with the Grannies

Tonight’s evening program continued this theme by gathering everyone back in the dining hall for a rousing bingo tournament! Like all expert bingo players, the girls kept multiple cards up to date as Casey and Marston, our Bingo Matrons, spun the basket of labeled pingpong balls and announced the letter/number of each ball that emerged. We played Frank Sinatra, danced a bit, and had a grand time slowly filling our cards until someone shouted BINGO! That won a prize of some sort for the entire cabin group playing— cookies and milk, popcorn, or popsicles, for example. It was another example of Rockbrook girls being a little silly, playing a game together, laughing (a lot!), and enjoying the feeling camp.