June 2012

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June 29, 2012June 4, 2020 • News • Jeff Carter

Oblivious to the Weather

It seems like the weather is on everyone’s mind these days, everywhere except here at camp. While it’s been hitting triple digits for many cities in the southeast, Rockbrook has defied the forecasters and just today crept into the nineties. In fact, if you ask our Rockbrook girls about camp, they probably won’t mention needing air conditioning or feeling burdened by the humidity. That’s probably in part because it still very predictably cools off at night, reaching into the 60s, and making it comfortable sleeping conditions in the open-air cabins, but it’s also because, from the girls’ perspective, what we’re doing at camp -all of the adventure trips, in-camp activities, and special surprises- fills the day so completely. We haven’t slowed down one bit because of the weather. If anything, the girls are more fully engaged- shooting, riding, climbing, painting, hiking, tying, decorating, floating, and zipping all day long. It’s incredible to consider that all of it is happening simultaneously!

Another reason the girls seem oblivious to the weather is how well we all are eating thanks to Rick’s kitchen magic. Each meal brings out a surprise item, whether it’s the freshly baked chocolate chip scones for breakfast, the secret-recipe guacamole that accompanied our famous “taco lunch” yesterday, or the mountain of homemade smashed red potatoes he prepared with chicken tenders and green beans for dinner. He has also been serving an endless supply of fresh fruit at every meal- awesome strawberries, local sweet blackberries, watermelon, peaches, and of course bananas and apples available 24/7 out on the dining hall porch. Oh, I should mention the wild muffin flavor we had today: oatmeal, date, pistachio. Maybe a little on the healthy side, but I heard from several girls they liked them just fine.

You may have noticed that Rockbrook is an accredited camp, that we have agreed to meet or exceed more than 300 industry standards as defined by the American Camp Association. Among summer camps in America, these define the best health and safety practices for all aspects of a camp’s operation, facilities, programing, and staff qualifications. This accreditation requires an on-site visit to demonstrate and/or document compliance, and today was Rockbrook’s ACA visit (“inspection,” though they don’t like to call it that!). You’ll be pleased to know that our two visitors were very impressed with Rockbrook. After touring the entire facility, examining most of the activities, and reviewing a 5-inch thick folder of documents describing our policies and procedures, we sailed right through everything. This isn’t too surprising since we’ve done this well for years now (We were one of the first camps in the area to become ACA accredited back in the 1980s.), but it’s nice to strut our stuff a little and receive this kind of praise.

Wrapping up the day, local master storyteller Gary Greene visited camp for a campfire program of songs, stories and skits. As the sun set across the valley and the campfire crackled, the Middlers and Juniors joined Gary singing a few songs and acting out characters in a couple of his stories. Gary really knows how to focus a crowd, even when it’s about 100 little girls all under 12 years old! Meanwhile, the Senior girls were holding an “open mic” coffee house in their lodge. This was a chance for girls to sing or play an instrument, recite a poem, perform a dance or tell a brief story with their friends. Every performance, no matter how poised or polished, was wildly received with the whole line whooping and clapping at the end. To me that was another example of how supportive and encouraging the girls at Rockbrook are toward each other, how much they’ve grown closer and become good friends. For the typical teenager, that can be a big deal… To be accepted and included, in an important way, loved by her peers. Camp is a community with that power and that spirit. Seeing it action is always a real treat.

Camp girl balancing on gymnastics high bar

Camp girls soaking their feet in the creek

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June 24, 2012June 4, 2020 • News • Jeff Carter

The Embrace of Camp

Opening the main session of camp, like we did today, is a great event at Rockbrook, one bringing together enthusiastic staff members dressed in their camp uniforms, smiling and encouraging parents, and hundreds of super excited campers. The collective energy of all these people, most of whom have been waiting for this moment since last summer, is almost explosive. Like wild pogo sticks, girls were jumping up and down trying to hurry up their moms. They were squealing with happiness seeing each friend, whether a counselor or a camper. Reuniting with camp, rejoining the great community of people here, is an embrace that feels really good. While most of the campers arriving today and the staff greeting them already have Rockbrook roots, it didn’t take long for the new girls to sense how warm and friendly this place is. Cabin mates were quickly swapping stories, heading off to explore the camp together, to play a little tetherball, or to make a simple friendship bracelet while trunks were moved and other campers arrived throughout the morning.

As the last few parents said goodbye and headed down the hill, the first event was an assembly on the central hill of camp beneath the big walnut tree. In the bright sunshine up there, and with the occasional light breeze, the view of the mountains (and Cedar Rock off in the distance) was gorgeous. Sarah led the assembly, introducing the head counselors and special staff members. The Hi-Ups, our 16-year-old campers, stood up and taught everyone a couple of songs from the RBC songbook, including the 3 different “Line Songs” (each age group’s rallying chant/song). Karin and Courtney, our camp photographers, then snapped a quick photo of everyone according to the state (or country!) where they live. It looked to me that NC had the most, with GA and FL close behind, but there was definitely a wide range. You can see them all in today’s photo gallery.

Remember, you access the daily photos by logging into your parent account established when you registered for camp. The system allows you to “star” your favorites, email photos to friends (at no charge), and even post them to your Facebook wall. Easy sharing! You can also send “guest accounts” to friends and family members, allowing them access. There’s a way to purchase prints and hi-res downloads too. We post a lot of photos, some coming in late at night, so be sure to check back often.

After lunch, which was a great example of Rick’s wholefoods approach- his homemade macaroni and cheese, fresh fruit salad, local tomatoes, peas (and regular salad bar and PB&J station), we began a fun rotation where cabin groups took tours of the camp, visiting all the different activity areas and buildings. Later today when the girls sign up for their first set of in-camp activities, it will help them to know where to find Curosty, Goodwill, the Hillside Lodge, the Alpine Tower, Hiker’s Rock, and the Riflery range, for example. Another stop on the rotation was our gym, where Charlotte and Frampton charged everyone up with several “get-to-know-you” group games. They ran around playing “Birdie on a Perch,” raced together during “I’m a Rockbrook Girl and You’re a Rockbrook Girl if…,” laughed their way through “Chicken in the Hen House,” and played a little “Knockout” basketball. Breaking the ice a little with these games was just right to get the afternoon going.

The third stop in our rotation was the lake where everyone was treated to a quick dip to demonstrate their swimming ability, and afterward receive a personal swim tag and green swim bracelet. The entire lifeguard team, including Sofie and Sarah, help run all the girls through this process of jumping in the lake, swimming out 50 feet or so, back another 50 feet, and treading water for 60 seconds. For some girls, the “refreshing” temperature of our mountain stream-fed lake makes this more difficult (or at least a good reason to swim quickly!), but the majority of the girls do well, qualifying them to swim in the deep section of the lake and to ride the water slide. For girls who struggle, the lifeguards will offer to help them improve, and when ready, retest them, but in the meantime require them to wear a lifejacket in the shallow end of the lake. There are two free swim periods scheduled each day, so if a girl wants to work on her swimming skills, there are many opportunities to work with the lifeguards.

After dinner tonight the girls will have cabin meetings, getting to know each other further, and then making their first selection of activities. They’ll choose four different ones (2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon) that they’ll keep for 3 days before selecting a new set on Wednesday evening. The excitement level all day has been humming at about 100%, and now ready to launch, I suspect it will be difficult for everyone to sleep soundly tonight. Like most days at Rockbrook, there’s just too much to look forward to.

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June 16, 2012May 28, 2020 • News • Jeff Carter

Camp Mastery

Many of the girls at Rockbrook are becoming yoga masters thanks to MK and her extraordinary yoga class. Set in the beautiful, stone hillside lodge (which by the way would be a nice place for a wedding ceremony), there’s plenty of room on the hardwood floor for purple yoga mats. MK plays calm music and begins each class with stretching and relaxation exercises, before introducing 2 or three new Yoga poses. There seems to be an endless variety: tree, half and full pigeon, lotus, warrior, eagle, plank, child, frog and bridge poses. Some poses require two people to balance and harmonize together, adding even more challenge and interest.

Camp girls climbing tower wearing polka dot pants

The alpine tower climbing activity is likewise producing master climbers. Many girls have by now had multiple chances to climb, to work their way up, over and around the different obstacles of the tower. They’ve leaped across the Swinging Logs, scrambled along the Cargo Nets, and carefully balanced up the Corporate Ladder. They’ve done pullups over the Squirrel’s Nest, and enjoyed the ride down from the 50-foot-tall platform at the top. Some girls fearlessly flip upside down for a moment while being lowered (something they call doing a “spiderman”), while others simple hold on anxiously ready to reach the ground.

The afternoon brought the return of the “Redbird Olympics,” an all-camp event of games and relay races we hold down on our lower sports field. We first divided everyone into three teams (Red, White and Blue) making sure to include campers from all three age groups on each team. Each team then built their team spirit by dressing in their color, adding some face and body paint, and creating a team chant. While members of each team competed in different races, the others cheered them on. Pairs of girls tied a leg together for a 3-legged race. Other pairs squared off for a water balloon toss. Groups of 8 raced to thaw a frozen t-shirt by pulling and squeezing it, but also putting it under arms, on bellys and other warm body parts. Oddly, these were races, but we didn’t keep score as the groups rotated through the different activities, making it irrelevant which team “won” in the end. Funny how things can be more fun if you don’t keep score.

The highlight of the afternoon, however, was the slip ‘n slide and shaving cream battle that followed the relays. With bright, warm and sunny weather, getting wet and flying down a long, slightly soapy, piece of plastic is just great fun. Some girls launched themselves on their stomachs and others on their knees, but it didn’t take long for many of them to be sliding the entire 100 feet of the plastic slide. When the bottles of shaving cream came out next, it was nothing but squeals of delight as the girls raced around trying to slap white foam on each other. Soon arms and backs were slippery and white, but faces and hair quickly followed, with some girls ending up completely covered in shaving cream. Mastery again! Nobody was safe from getting at least a little of the white stuff on them, staff members and directors alike! The girls absolutely loved this whole scene. You can tell by that mischievous gleam in their eyes and the huge grin on their faces. Be sure to scroll through the photo gallery; you’ll see what I mean.

With everyone smelling so good after a quick shower, we announced during dinner that (surprise!) tonight we would have a square dance with High Rocks Camp for Boys. Our Senior girls would go there and they would bring their younger boys to Rockbrook so we could hold two dances simultaneously. Everyone was a bit shy at first, but with the help of the caller, soon gained confidence and learned the moves of the Virgina Reel, and basic square dancing. After a quick breaks for cookies and pink lemonade, the last few dances were even more lively and fun. A the end of the night on the bus ride home, I could tell that what began initially as skepticism about this being a “square” dance, had changed into chatter about how much fun they had meeting the boys and laughing at the mistakes everyone was making while dancing. These Rockbrook girls are so friendly and always quick to smile, they know how to enjoy themselves.

Wow, what a great day in the Heart of this Wooded Mountain!

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June 14, 2012December 30, 2020 • News • rbc

Zip Line Fever !

Rockbrook's bridge to start the zip line

Girl camper riding the Rockbrook Camp zip line

Throughout the spring and even into the last few days, we’ve been busily working on a secret project, and today we announced it to everyone at breakfast. Rockbrook now has a camp zip line! Not a simple, backyard sort of thing, it’s a 450-foot long, professionally designed and built, zip line, making it one of the longest in this part of North Carolina! The idea came to us over the winter when we noticed several huge boulders in the woods behind the camp. One was high and looked like a perfect launching spot for a zip line, but getting to it meant crossing a deep chasm over a creek. What to do? Build a bridge! But here too, we decided to make something fun, a bridge that would swing a little and because it was high in the air, would make your feet tingle and your heart race as you crossed it. The bridge ended up being about 100 feet long and about 60 feet in the air as it crosses from one boulder to the other. The girls wear a climbing harness and helmet, and are tethered by strong rope as they cross to hook into the special dual-wheel zip line pulley. The ride down the cable only takes about 15 seconds, so you can imagine how fast these camp girls are zipping. On the far end, across the camp over near the Junior cabins, there’s a gently sloping wooden platform that provides a soft landing. The person zipping just puts their feet down, and with the help of a staff member, walks up the platform to finish and unclip. It works great. Now our challenge is to let everyone in camp give it a try (if they want to) before the end of the session. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more photos of happy zipping camp children over the next few days!

Today Clyde took a group of Middlers and Seniors kayaking on the Tuckaseegee River, meeting up with Andria and Leland our main whitewater guides. The “Tuck” is a great intermediate level river for kayaking because it has plenty of rapids to challenge the girls, but also nice big eddies (calm areas behind obstacles in the river) and flat stretches for playing and instruction from the guides. Also today, Emily had a different group of girls backpacking in the Pisgah Forest nearby John Rock. With their tents, food and water, and other camping gear, they hiked in about 3 miles, spent the night and will return in the morning.

February decorated birthday cake at camp

Tonight was also everyone’s birthday at dinner with the return of “Birthday Night,” a fun Rockbrook tradition where we rearrange the dining hall to allow the campers and staff to sit according to their birth month. This time the counselors in charge decided to create an “Under the Sea” theme, so many of the cakes, one for each month, were decorated with water-related features. The dining hall also decorated with colorful banners and several staff members dressed in costumes added to the effect. Boy we sang “Happy Birthday” a bunch of times, ate a lot of cake, and had a grand time.

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June 13, 2012May 28, 2020 • News • Jeff Carter

A Community of Fun

This is a time of camp when everyone seems to be settled in. After only these few days together we’re singing the songs louder and more confidently, taking on higher level activity challenges, and most importantly, happily greeting so many more new friends we see around camp. That’s the really cool thing; you can feel the whole community growing closer and caring for each other. And of course, knowing this many people this well, we all are having even more fun. There’s a friend around every corner, someone waiting to join you in whatever the next thing is. “Let’s go get changed for horseback riding!”

One of the oldest buildings at Rockbrook is a 19th century log cabin called Curosty. Originally constructed in nearby, Rockbrook’s founder Nancy Carrier moved it here to serve initially as the camp’s office. Now it houses our fiber arts activities. Inside you’ll find girls learning to weave using all kinds of looms and techniques. They are weaving narrow belts and headbands on tabletop looms, wider and more complex fabrics on the floor looms, and simple designs on lap looms… All surrounded by the hand-hewed timbers of this 150-year-old cabin. On the back porch of Curosty, in the shade of the oaks and hemlocks and nearby a gurgling creek, our Needlecraft activity meets. This is another wonderful opportunity for our campers to step back in time and learn classic needlework crafts like knitting, cross stitch, and embroidery. Working with colorful threads and yarns, the girls are threading, twisting and knotting strands into beautiful designs. Different from some of the more physically active, thrilling activities, stepping into Curosty is calm and conversational.

Guess what happens when you let eight 2nd graders dress you in anything they want. That’s right; it can be pretty crazy, and that’s exactly what the Junior Line girls did tonight to their counselors. For their evening program, and with all sorts of costume props at their disposal, the girls didn’t hold back as they added multiple layers and accessories. Hats, scarves, sunglasses, tiaras, dresses and skirts- nothing seemed out of bounds. The finale was a wild fashion show in the Junior Lodge, which had everyone rolling with laughter. It’s great for the girls to see their counselors be such good sports, throwing themselves into all this silliness, just letting go and enjoying themselves no matter who might be watching. After all, that’s exactly what “having fun” often means.

Also tonight all the Middlers and their counselors took a trip into the Pisgah Forest for a picnic dinner. Rick and his crew packed us yummy Burritos, chips and fruit to eat, and after a short drive we had the whole crew (92 people in all!) skipping and frolicking through the grass of our favorite secret spot. Back in the buses, we then headed to Sliding Rock for a few trips down the rock. A rain shower from earlier in the day had swollen the creek a bit, making it a slightly faster ride, but it had also warmed up the water temperature a bit (though I suspect the girls didn’t really notice!). Sliding Rock is a real mountain treat, and is something Rockbrook campers have enjoyed for generations. Finally, we made a stop at the famous “Dolly’s Dairy Bar,” located at the entrance to the forest. Everyone picked out their favorite flavor for a cup or cone, like “Rockbrook Chocolate Illusion,” to top off the evening.

Happy Girl Loving Camp — This is awesome!!

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June 8, 2012October 21, 2023 • News • Jeff Carter

A Campfire of Songs and Stories

Camp girl throwing pot on ceramics wheel

Ceramics has always been a popular craft activity at Rockbrook, and this session is so far no exception. Poke your head in the “Upper Clay” studio, which is an open-air work space next to the dining hall, or the “Lower Clay” studio, which is a narrow stone building in the woods down along the path leading to the stables, and you’ll see lots of muddy hands. That’s because seated around the work tables, there are campers rolling clay into coils, pinching it into small cups, and flattening it into slabs. Joining these parts together, interesting sculptures are emerging. Perhaps most amazing is what the girls are doing on the electric pottery wheels. Katie and Will, our two lead ceramics teachers, have been teaching wheel-throwing techniques, giving the campers tips and individual instruction as they practice centering the clay and pulling it up into a bowl or cup, for example. Learning to throw a pot on the wheel is an advanced ceramics technique, but these girls are handling it easily. It will be great to see how their pieces turn out once they are glazed and fired.

The rifle range is another place in camp that sees constant action, with campers signing up and filling every class period it’s offered. Perhaps it’s the thrill of shooting the gun, hearing that distinctive “pop!” when you pull the trigger, and smelling the gunpowder, but I think the girls also like riflery for the satisfaction it provides after scoring on the target (“hitting the black”). It’s also an activity so different from what’s available at home, and something in which the girls can experience real improvement and success- even scoring a bullseye now and then. Later in the session we will be challenging Camp Carolina for Boys and hold a riflery tournament to see who has the best team of marksmen (or -women!). Cliff DeMeritt, who has joined our staff after retiring from being a law enforcement sharpshooting instructor, has been working with the girls to improve their technique, so we’re hoping to see a great showing at the tournament.

Camp horse barn — Wrapping up an afternoon of summer horseback riding

Tonight’s evening activity brought our friend Gary Greene back for a campfire and program of story telling, skits and songs for the Junior and Middler campers. With a crackling campfire set, Gary played his guitar and led the girls in several songs. One favorite was “Little Cabin in the Woods,” a funny song with hand motions that’s sung repeatedly (and fast) while words are dropped leaving just the song’s hand motions in the end. Gary had the girls singing, laughing and smiling in no time, yet also on the edge of their seats, wrapped into his telling of a Norwegian folktale. A few counselors also led a favorite camp song or two- “An Austrian Went Yodeling” with more hand motions -rounding out the evening. A classic camp night, and the girls enjoyed it thoroughly.

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June 6, 2012May 13, 2020 • News • Jeff Carter

Silly and Chilly

If you’ve been following the photo gallery, you know dressing up in costume is a regular occurrence around here. Every other day or so, we have a special event, or just an announced theme, where we encourage the girls and the staff members to dress up or create a silly character. And the sillier, the better! You should see what these girls come up with when they combine hats, dresses, wigs, make up, paint, glasses and all kinds of improvised props like sticks, leaves and brooms.

A great example of this was the “Disney Photo Shoot” the girls held on the hill after dinner, during the hour of free time we call “Twilight.” It’s a time when the girls can hang out, take showers, read, play tennis or tetherball, but when they can join an optional camp-wide game or activity. The “Photo Shoot” was just that: a chance to dress up and pose for a few photos. It seemed to be most popular with the Juniors (K-4th graders), but the counselors were also pretty excited about the chance to pose. I’m not sure how these costumes were “Disney-related,” but I’m sure if we asked, the girls would have a clear answer. In the end, of course, that doesn’t matter because dressing up is really just for the fun of it. It’s a chance to let go a little, to laugh with your friends about how crazy we look, and to be completely indifferent about what people might think. It’s camp!

Camp child doing gymnastics on balance beam

Down in the gym, Elaine Trozzo our longtime gymnastics coach is working with the girls. After a thorough warm up with plenty of stretching on the deep blue padded runway (flexibility!), she has been helping them with beam techniques (balance!). Elaine and her staff of counselors are great at tailoring each class to every camper’s level of gymnastics experience. Beginners might be practicing on the low beam, while more advanced girls can work on the full-sized balance beam, for example. Each day the girls can enjoy a different gymnastics event. Maybe the high bar, the mini trampoline, or the tumbling runway- there will be helping hands, instruction and encouragement to make it great.

It looked a little cloudy as we pulled out of camp with all of the Senior girls loaded into 4 buses, but we were hoping the rain would hold off for a picnic and trip to sliding rock. As we drove along Looking Glass Creek in the forest though, it started to sprinkle a bit, so suddenly our picnic needed shelter. Fortunately, we knew just the place were we could all sit and eat while waiting for the rain to stop. You might guess that it was a bit chilly at this point, but did that prevent us from stopping at sliding rock? No way! The rain had finished, and dinner had really energized the girls. Yes, the water was “FREEZING!” but that didn’t prevent many of the girls from enjoying the plunge. I do think the squeals were partly due to the water temperature, but also from the sheer delight that comes from such an extreme experience. With Dolly’s Dairy Bar at the entrance to the Forest, we had to stop on the way home. It’s funny how despite being chilly and wet, nobody was too cold for an ice cream cone!

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