Staff Director Sofie has been working around the clock to bring our campers an amazing team of counselors this summer! She has been doing interview after interview to pick out the most fun, talented and spirited gals around. Here is a sneak peek at a few of our returning counselors.
Christine Alexander-George Washington University
Hunter Futch-Millsaps College
Michelle Postma-University of Georgia
Meg Ammons-James Madison University
Michelle Batlle-Stanford University
Haley Hudler-Denison University
Chelsea Bighorn-University of Arizona
Stephanie Brown-University of South Carolina
Maggie Cameron-Wake Forest University
Elizabeth Fowlkes-Auburn University
MacKenzie Collins-College of Charleston
Blaisdell Shaw-Santa Monica College
Chase Nelson-Univeristy of Tennessee
Camp Counselors Hunter and Maggie enjoying carnival!
Just who will you meet at Rockbrook in 2011? More to come later!
Forehand! Backhand! Lob! Volley! Groundstroke! Cross-court! Serve! It’s all tennis.
And at camp there’s plenty of chances to play tennis. Campers can sign up for tennis as one of their scheduled activities, which gives them about an hour on the courts. They can grab a friend and hit a few balls around during their free time before lunch or dinner. They can even get in a quick game after dinner during the “Twilight” time before evening program. And finally, girls can look forward to the end-of-session tennis tournament with Camp Carolina, a long tradition at Rockbrook.
With all this tennis going on at camp, Rockbrook girls can really learn a lot. They can build their tennis skills and become much better players if they want. But at Rockbrook, no matter what we do, the most important part is to have fun doing it! That’s why tennis can be pretty silly. It can turn into some kind of relay game, a trick shot contest, or even a new dance move. No pressure. No intense competition. No worries about whose the “best.” It’s a girls tennis camp dedicated to having fun, even when that means mostly playing around. Yes it’s all tennis, and it’s all fun.
Elizabeth O’Neill Verner by Marie Danforth Page, 1937
There are many fascinating and inspirational women who have been a part of Rockbrook and it’s history. None more so than the artist Elizabeth O’Neill Verner of Charleston, South Carolina. Mrs. Verner was a long time neighbor of Rockbrook, her seasonal home Hanty Branch Hill is located next door.  Her daughter Elizabeth Verner Hamilton was the first camper at Rockbrook in 1921. Mrs. Verner and Mrs. Carrier were good friends and Mrs. Verner was often recruited to come teach the campers the art of sketching and pastels. We can imagine her walking over from her home, ready to teach the enthusiastic campers. She is mentioned in the journals and scrapbooks of several campers from the mid 1920’s. It must have been a great occasion when Mrs. Verner was in attendance.
While at Rockbrook she also created an etching of the waterwheel that ran the power for the camp. We will be sure to share that image with you in a later blog posting.
Rockbrook campers sketching with Elizabeth O’Neill Verner
As an artist, Mrs. Verner is recognized as the “matriarch of the Charleston Renaissance” and is considered the “best known twentieth century woman artist of Charleston. “She is famous for her etchings and pastels of life in Charleston. Her studio The Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Gallery is still in operation in Charleston and is the oldest fine arts gallery in the city. She is such a well respected and important artist that the state of SC has named their highest honor in the arts after her. The Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Awards recognize outstanding achievement and contributions to the arts in South Carolina. According to their website: “These awards honor South Carolina arts organizations, patrons, artists, members of the business community, and government entities who maximize their roles as innovators, supporters and advocates of the arts. In 1980, the Verner Awards took on a special significance with their designation as the official “Governor’s Awards for the Arts.”
Mrs. Verner’s great great grandchildren are current campers at Rockbrook. What a treasure that they can share in their families wonderful legacy at RBC!
Do you know about the North Carolina Children and Nature Coalition? It’s based in Asheboro, NC and is a non-profit organization dedicated to reconnecting children with nature. In response to the growing evidence documenting the benefits children gain from playing outside, benefits we have discussed here and here, this group strives to keep people informed through its web site, publications, conferences, and public policy initiatives.
Of course, Rockbrook fully supports this mission. Camp life is immersed in the natural world, offering a daily celebration of its wonders and hidden beauty. Every minute, as children newly experience nature at camp, they are inspired to grow more confident, cooperative, and compassionate.
The NC Children and Nature Coalition and other state-wide environmental education organizations have launched a campaign to establish a “Children’s Bill of Rights,” a formal recognition that children need and deserve outdoor experience. They put it like this.
Every North Carolina child should have the opportunity to discover, explore and connect with natural spaces and wild places close to home, in neighborhoods and cities in North Carolina, from the mountains to the sea by:
Playing in a safe place outdoors,
Camping under the stars, learning to swim, riding a bike,
Using their senses to experience the natural world,
Visiting a farm, seeing how food is grown, growing something,
Exploring a stream, splashing in a wave, catching a fish, stomping in a puddle, playing in the mud,
Hiking in a natural area and following a trail,
Rolling in the grass, playing in the sand, climbing a tree or searching under a log,
Sharing nature with a parent, guardian, mentor, teacher or environmental educator, and visiting a zoo, aquarium or environmental education center.
We are currently gearing up for another fun-filled summer at Rockbrook led by so many wonderful people! Some folks think that our staff is simply comprised of our cabin counselors and activity instructors. However, the Rockbrook ship needs a variety of crew members to keep it afloat and continue its fun summer traditions. Here is a glimpse of the wonderful non-cabin positions we hire for every summer.
Kitchen Staff: These folks work closely with our Kitchen Manager Rick Hastings to prepare all of our meals and snacks each day from scratch. From sprinkle muffins in the morning to cookout food on the hill, the kitchen staff keeps us energized and happy!
Liz baking some yummy treats!
Nurses: Our nurses are usually moms of campers who keep us healthy. They live in our health hut, pass out routine medications, evaluate any injuries, coordinate doctor appointments, and keep track of our campers during their time at camp.
Adventure Staff: This group is comprised of some experts in their respective fields who typically live off camp and come in most days to lead a variety of trips. They are specially trained to lead backpacking day and overnight trips, whitewater kayaking trips, rock climbing trips, and a few others. Most are trained to drive buses and get our campers to and from camp safely.
Lexie helps our campers climb safely
Maintenance Staff: Led by our year-round caretakers Mr. Richie and Mrs. Connie, our extra maintenance staff who join us during the summer keep our facilities in tip top shape. They routinely clean the bathrooms and dining hall. In addition, they help us move the heavy stuff around camp, paint and any other miscellaneous tasks to keep camp beautiful!
Office Staff: In addition to our camp directors, we bring in a fantastic office team for the summer so that our directors can move about camp and work with our campers more easily. They handle camper forms, luggage, the camper photos that go up daily, parent communication, and really anything that arises.
We sure appreciate all of these folks and what they do to keep us going!
What is a gimp? Originating in France and popular even today at summer camps worldwide, it’s what we call a lanyard. Did you know that “Scoubidou” (pronounced in your best french accent) is its original name? They’re called “Scoubies” for short, and can refer to either the colorful plastic strands used or the final project of repeated knots. Sometimes, when the material is braided, it is called a “Boondoggle,” a name that appears to have come from the boy scouts and their tradition of braiding a ring of leather straps to hold a neckerchief.
At camp, this traditional arts activity is insanely popular. You can see it everywhere.
This lanyard material is also referred to as “Gimp,” following the name for twisted treads (usually silk, cotton or wool) used as decorative trimming on dresses. Our familiar lanyards have quite a history!
The world record for the longest Scoubidou (Boondoggle, Gimp, Lanyard) is held by Manuela Dos Santos of Brancourt, France. On November 11, 2008, she finished her Scoubi— 1,673 feet and 2 inches! An amazing project. It makes us wonder if the strands she used were single long pieces or sections tied together.
Mrs. Carrier and Peggy on The Rockbrook House lawn
Many campers and staff from the early days of Rockbrook often mention Mrs. Carrier’s dog and sidekick, Peggy. We were thrilled to find a photograph of Mrs. Carrier and Peggy together so we could “meet” the girls favorite mascot during those early years. Here is a great excerpt about Peggy, written by a former camper:
“All the campers knew and loved the Great Dane, “Peggy”, who followed Mrs. Carrier wherever she went. She seemed in her canine way to be part director, for she watched the girls as though responsible for their safety. She was a harlequin, the bright patches of white over-lapping the black spots, and though her bark was frightening, she had the gentlest of natures. Seeing her bounce up the hill at the side of Senior Lodge, one knew that Mrs. Carrier could not be far behind and that as long as her mistress stayed in the camp area Peggy would be nearby.”
If you have any Peggy stories you would like to share we would love to hear from you!
“I worry about how much time my kids spend looking at a screen.”
We’ve heard this more than once recently, perhaps not so surprisingly when you consider how many electronic screens are part of our lives these days. For our kids too, in addition to television, there are cellphones, computers, tablet computers, ebook readers and hand-held video games. Screens are everywhere, even in our pockets! With this kind of availability and often unlimited access to technology, we now see that the average 8-18 year old child in America is spending 53 hours per week consuming electronic media.
We’ve discussed before the value of unplugging from technology and how camp gets kids out of the virtual world of screens and into the actual world of nature. Camp turns off the screens and gets kids actually doing things instead of just watching.
It’s worth underlining another benefit to turning off the screens. It’s the simple fact that by getting kids outside and giving them lots of fun things to do, they stimulate and utilize all their senses. They feel things— mist in the morning, hear things— owls at night, smell things— galax along the trail, and even taste things— s’mores (!), that can’t come from a screen. By bringing all of their senses into play, instead of just their eyes and ears, kids activate and develop their brains in important ways that can enrich their future experiences.
This is another way camp really matters to kids. It’s fun in creative, imaginative, and sensuous ways. It’s stimulating in the best sense.
In a time when we all lead such busy lives it is nice to have a place like Rockbrook where you can step out of the hustle and bustle of the modern world and live a more simple and thoughtful life. We recently discovered a chapter in the Rockbrook Memories Book that was written in the 1960’s that expresses this same thought. Whether it be the 1960’s or the 2010’s, we all appreciate that Rockbrook provides a haven for girls to reconnect with themselves, friends and the natural world.
“Living in a world so filled with change that it is difficult to communicate with one’s grandchildren, it is good to know that girls still enjoy living close to Nature, hiking down mountain trails, sleeping under the stars, cooking over an open fire and swimming in a rocky pool. It is refreshing to discover that there is one area, at least, where time has stood practically still. That area is summer camping where a cardinal is still a cardinal and although one may picnic on plastic instead of paper, one gets the same thrill from a mountain sunset or a flamboyant rainbow covering the earth with its semi-circle of jeweled colors.”– Mary Bissell McIver Thompson
Our good friend and Rockbrook Alumna Phyllis Shaw sent us word of the passing of former Rockbrook counselor Sue Alley. Sue and Phyllis were counselors together in the early 60’s.
Phyllis says: “Sue and I kept up closely, bound by that Rockbrook connection. Despite her numerous health issues over the years, she maintained a positive outlook and spoke of her health problems with wry humor. I last saw her two years ago when I got a last-minute weekend fare and flew out to surprise her for her birthday–a real Rockbrook SURprise, for sure!”.
We were saddened to hear of Sue’s passing, but are so thankful to have such a wonderful group of Alumnae that create our huge Rockbrook family. Her obituary can be read below.
Sue B. Alley (February 17, 1940 – February 24, 2011)
Sue B. Alley, age 71, a resident of West Chicago, died February 24, 2011, at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Illinois. She was raised in Elmhurst, the daughter of Edward and Bess Baierbach.
She graduated from York High School where she was active with women’s sports and GAA. She received a Bachelors degree in Physical Education from IL State University. She was a camp counselor at Rock Brook in North Carolina and Lake Geneva Youth Camp. On October 17, 1964 she married Scott Alley. She was a member of College Church in Wheaton and Lombard Gospel Chapel.
She was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame as a super fan. She enjoyed watching Wheaton Academy Sports and following her “grandchildren” Andrea, Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin.
She is survived by her husband, Scott, two daughters, Jenny (Tony) Dudasik of LaGrange Park, and Carol (William) Melton of Mulberry, AR, and one sister, Jean (Ben) Hinckle of Dongola, IL.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
A visitation will be held on Monday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Lombard Gospel Chapel, Stewart and Pleasant St. in Lombard.
Memorial gifts may be directed to An Open Door Adoption Agency, Melton Fund, P.O. Box 4 218 E. Jackson Street, Thomasville, Georgia 31799 (opendoor@rose.net)
