Author Archives: rbc

Seeing all the action at camp, all the happy busy kids here, it’s easy to forget that there are almost 100 people on the Rockbrook staff at any one time. There are many people working to make camp possible. There are the cabin counselors, the young women who live in the cabins with the campers, eat their meals with the campers, spend most of their day relating to them. These are the folks who most directly help set the tone at camp. They’re kind, silly, and enthusiastic. Most have been campers themselves when they were younger, and now have returned to Rockbrook to get their “camp fix” and benefit from the experience. Some have come from abroad to spend their summer at camp. And others are friends of people somehow related to Rockbrook and its history.

Cabin counselors are also activity instructors during the day. They are assigned to one or more activities where they guide, lead and instruct the campers as they do something. You can imagine this means the cabin counselors have a wide range of skills and talents. One might be certified to teach archery, and another to be a lifeguard. Some know their sports— tennis, volleyball, soccer, and gymnastics for example. Others have real talent painting and drawing, directing musical theater, or tying complex friendship bracelet patterns. Someone teaches the yoga classes while another belays girls as they climb Castle Rock. Every activity at camp has counselors directly involved at every turn.

Another area of staffing is our “activity specialists.” These are folks who do not live in a cabin with campers, but have special knowledge or skills pertaining to an activity, and therefore can be in charge. This summer we have specialists for ceramics, weaving, gymnastics, and candle/soap making. This also includes our adventure staff. These are certified instructors in whitewater kayaking and rafting, canoeing, rock climbing, backpacking, and ziplining. The best example of this is our riding staff. All 10 of these folks work to care for and train our 32 horses and also teach the mounted riding lessons all week.

The other areas of staffing are equally critical for camp to operate. These are the maintenance staff, bus drivers, photographers and videographers, the kitchen staff, and housekeeping staff. We should also recognize the fantastic team of nurses that staff our Health Hut, and perhaps most importantly, the kitchen crew that keeps us well fed with meals and homemade snacks (muffins!).

Together, along with the directors, all of these people help keep camp going. They help us stay healthy, active, and engaged with everything camp life presents. It’s a great group of dedicated people who love camp, enjoy being with kids and seeing them have fun. We’ve said it before; it’s the people that make Rockbrook.

After dinner tonight we loaded all of our buses, gathered 6 lifeguards and their gear, and took a trip to Sliding Rock. We took all of the mini session Middlers and Seniors and a few full session girls to fill the trip— 90 people in all. It’s quite a sight to see our 6 white buses and vans in a convoy driving into the Pisgah National Forest.

Looking at this photo you might think the experience of sliding down 60-feet of sloping rock and splashing into the pool at the bottom is painful. Or perhaps these girls are screaming because they’re terrified. Actually, their reaction is typical at Sliding Rock; it’s an uncontrollable scream of delight that erupts after feeling the cold water, accelerating down the rock, and anticipating the imminent plunge. Even over the roar for the falling water, these screams are plenty loud enough to be heard. Slide after slide the girls screamed and laughed, shivered a little bit from the cold water and evening air, but had a complete blast.

No Sliding Rock trip is complete without a stop at Dolly’s Dairy bar located at the entrance to the Forest. It’s become a camp tradition for everyone to take at least one trip there during their camp session. Tonight was these girls’ night. Everyone chose their favorite flavor and enjoyed a sweet treat as it was growing dark.

Back at camp, it was time for bed after this big fun evening out. So much singing in the bus, screaming and shivering at Sliding Rock, and goofing around at Dolly’s will wear a girl out! But that’s a good thing!

Today we opened our June mini session and welcomed 77 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, and about half are on the Junior Line (grades K-4). You could feel everyone’s jittery excitement as the cars pulled up at each stop in our drive-thru check-in process. I imagine the girls were feeling a unique combination of nerves, almost intolerable anticipation, but also deep-down eagerness.

Meeting your counselors and the other girls in your cabin amplify these feelings, but the best way to harness this energy is to get started doing things. So that’s what we do. The first job, after quick introductions, is to set up the cabin, making beds, arranging trunks, etc. But then it’s time to tour the camp, and get a sense of the different activity areas, the dining hall, and other landmarks like the stone lodges, the tennis courts, the gym, and the lake for example.

A quick assembly of the whole camp on the grassy hill gave everyone a chance to sing a few songs, meet the Directors, Line Heads, and the Hi-Ups, and catch a glimpse of the mountain view in the distance.

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, it really hit the spot. And since the weather was perfectly sunny and breezy, we turned it into a picnic and ate outside on the hill.

After lunch, during rest hour, the mini session campers who just arrived changed into their swimsuits and walked down to the lake to learn about our swimming “Tag System” and to demonstrate their swimming ability. They took turns jumping off the dock, swimming and treading water to prove how comfortable they are in the water. There are three different colors of tags based on swimming ability, each indicating which part of the lake is best for that person (deeper for strong swimmers, and perhaps wearing a life jacket for beginner swimmers). Everyone who wants to cool off in the Rockbrook lake can do that in some way or another.

We had another all-camp special event in the afternoon— a festival of sorts focused on the theme of “animals.” We called it “Petting Zoo.” And if you saw the farm animals on hand, you can see why! The girls were able to feed a calf, a baby pig, a couple of goats, and chickens. There were many animal-rated other activities too: hobby horse races, animal costume bingo, making felt animal headbands, a flamingo ring toss game, face painting, and a huge limbo line. Of course, there were animal crackers as a snack, and with many of the girls dressed in different animal costumes, we had an afternoon menagerie!

Saturday at camp is mostly a day of regular activities. “Regular” means a schedule of two periods that meet in the morning and two in the afternoon. These are the time slots when the girls rotate through the different activity options available around camp. Woven between these slots are blocks of free time when a game of tetherball, or reading your book, or taking a shower is what feels right. Two of these free time blocks are “Free Swim” periods when the lake is open, giving girls a daily opportunity to cool off even if they did not take swimming as one of their activities.

After dinner on Saturdays, we always plan a special event. We usually keep it a surprise, and like all great camp gatherings, we integrate a theme that inspires a genre of costumes.

Tonight it was two-part event. The first for an all camp scavenger hunt, where the girls roamed about the camp in their cabin groups looking for gold coins. This “Gold Rush” was challenging! The coins were carefully hidden, sometimes under bushes, behind trees, and even in the creek. Also hidden has a special “Golden Nugget” that if found was worth a unique prize itself.

Also roaming about were counselors who acted as “Bandits” intent on stealing the gold a cabin group had gathered. The bandit would approach a group and demand its gold. The group could keep its gold if it could answer a riddle or sing a particular song that the bandit named. “What’s the 14th word of ‘Oh I was born’?” (“toot” is the answer.) Or an easier one, “What’s the first name of the woman who founded Rockbrook?” (“Nancy”). Avoiding the bandits and finding as much gold as possible— that was the game. The prize for the most gold and finding the golden nugget was a trip to Dolly’s later in the session.

The second part of the event was a “Hootin’ and Hollerin’ Square Dance” held down on the Rockbrook House lawn. This large, flat, grassy area is perfect of a large group dance. The girls had a great time learning a few moves like a do-so-do, the Virginia slide, and version of the Boot Scootin’ Boogie.

The girls came dressed for a county dance with lots of denim, flannel shirts, bandannas and boots. We saw a few pigtails and western hats too.

The Hi-Ups enjoyed leading the dances, picking out the music to be played, and setting the silly, fun tone of the whole event. A highlight was the huge line of girls, hand-in-hand, “winding the clock,” spiraling inward toward the center of circle.

Outdoor dancing with your friends on a warm summer evening. Clapping along to the music, smiling and laughing at the awkwardness of it all. Suddenly feeling free to let go a little… what could be better? And what a great example of the joy camp inspires.

We love surprises at Rockbrook. Today the campers had two extraordinary surprises, one that they were eagerly awaiting and another that was totally unexpected. In both cases, I suspect these surprises included completely new experiences for the girls.

The first happened late in the morning. Without explaining, we interrupted the girls and told them to gather down at the landsports field. When they arrived, they were greeted by nine furry new friends, nine llamas. Yes, a herd of llamas had come to Rockbrook, just for a visit. We thought the girls would enjoy interacting with these fascinating animals, and we were right! They took the llamas for a walk and had loads of time to hug and pet them. Of course, they made great companions for photographs, but the highlight was racing the llamas. Lined up on one side of the field, a few of the girls took off running to the other side, llamas easily keeping up with their sprint. So fun! Came to camp; hugged a llama. Check.

The second surprise was tonight’s banquet, the big all-camp party to celebrate the session that the CA (9th grade) campers have been working on since the second day of camp when they devised the party’s secret theme. The theme guides their selection of decorations for the dining hall, their costumes, the food, music and dance performances. So what was their theme?

They brought together the idea of a dinner casino club and various Greek gods and goddesses, and called it “Dining with the Divine.” Using painted panels for the many gods and goddesses, strings of lights and elaborate table decorations, the dining hall became “Club Olympus.”

All of the CA campers dressed (and acted) like different gods and goddesses, with Athena, Hera, Ares, Zeus, Hermes, Hestia, Achilles, Demeter, Aphrodite, Persephone, Poseidon, Dionysus, Apollo and Hades all making an appearance. Their counselors also dressed up, each as a different Muse, like Thalia, Ourania, Terpsichore and Erato.

The menu included pasta and red sauce, chicken nuggets, bread, grapes, and very decadent dessert cupcakes “from the underworld.” Of course, there was some candy involved as well!

The program alternated between dance performances by the gods and goddesses and other dance songs where the whole camp could get up and dance together. Everyone especially loved the choreographed dance of the muses.

The banquet ended with the CA campers singing a song to their counselors, and then their counselors singing one to the campers in return. The Hi-Ups followed with songs to their counselors as well.

The evening ended with the entire camp gathering into their cabin groups and singing “Rockbrook Camp Forever,” one of everyone’s most loved songs. It can be a little emotional as the girls and their counselors stand arm in arm singing the song multiple times. It’s a collective hug, a heartfelt musical embrace that brings everyone together. Came to camp; hugged each other. Check!

Why be a junior counselor? This is a question I have heard many times, especially from counselors on other lines who are accustomed to living with Rockbrook’s older campers. I’ve considered the question many times through the summer.

Recently, one of my former campers from earlier in the summer wrote me a letter, updating me on her post-camp life and asking how the rest of my summer had gone. “Dear Ellie,” she wrote on the envelope, continuing the rest of her sweet notes inside. She wrote about how much she missed me, and asked me to say hello to some of the other counselors she had bonded with throughout her session. The love that this camper expressed for her counselors (many of which were not even in her cabin) is a true testament to how the Junior Line really becomes a family. 

The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” comes to mind often on the Junior Line where cabins up on the top of the hill go on exciting adventures together, support each other, and share in each other’s triumphs and joy. We clean cabins together, swim together, and laugh together. 

Living with our youngest campers is truly, in my opinion, the most rewarding experience one can have at camp. Many of our Juniors are coming to camp for the first time ever. They’re embarking on a huge journey, and being part of that first step is an incredible privilege. Although I’m not a parent myself, I like to imagine that there’s a lot in common; I’m introducing my girls to my favorite place in the world and helping them turn Rockbrook into their home away from home. 

Junior counselors experience Rockbrook like no other counselors. I’m constantly looking at Rockbrook through fresh eyes, sharing my campers’ new experiences and sharing their unbridled joy. I dance when we get to go to Dolly’s, scream with laughter when someone drops a meatball on the ground, and shed a happy, heartwarming tear when I watch my girls reunite with their parents at the end of the session. 

So why be a junior counselor? Because the juniors love like no other campers do. They love their new cabin mates, their new adventures, and their counselors who help make it all happen. They especially love Felix, the camp dog. Being a junior counselor is full of ice cream, hair braiding, and watching groups of girls become sisters — I wouldn’t change it for the world. 

—Ellie Culin, Junior Line Head

Sunday morning again took on a more relaxed pace. After our active weeks at camp, we love a little extra sleep and a casual breakfast in our pajamas. It actually felt a cooler, almost fall-like, in the morning, so most of the girls showed up with an extra long-sleeve layer. A fun treat of doughnuts complimented the regular breakfast fare. With the only the full session girls here at camp— the August mini girl finished their session last week —we now can eat all together in the dining hall and still space out the tables appropriately. This has been a nice coming together of sorts after being spread out previously on the two eating porches.

After the flag raising ceremony led by the Hi-Ups, the girls turned their attention to the notion of “joy” in their chapel gathering. The Senior line girls decided on the theme, and led the program. It included a rendition of the song “Joy to the World,” and a reading of “Ferdinand,” the story of the bull who would rather smell flowers than fight like other bulls. Joy can be found in the most unexpected places.

We had a quick assembly on the hill were we announced the mop awards, recognizing the cleanest cabins. We likewise announced campers who were especially helpful around camp this week (the “bend-a-back” honor) and others that showed remarkable camp spirit at some point.

The main event of the day was an afternoon carnival of games and inflatables down on the grassy landsports field. The girls wore their swimsuits because one of the inflatables was a giant, dual water slide where two campers could slide at once. The other was a crazy obstacle course race, also for two campers at a time.

The games included a ball toss challenge, a surprisingly difficult pingpong ball toss into jars, and another that involved water guns fired at pingpong balls. There was a hula hooping club, a face painting station and a caricature drawing table staffed by two counselors. The silliest game was a team event that had one girl tossing cheeseballs onto another girl’s head as she wore a plastic shower cap with a blob of shaving cream on it. The goal was to “catch” the flying cheeseballs in the shaving cream. We found yet another form of camp hilarity involving shaving cream!

Throughout the event we played up-tempo music turning it into a fun outdoor dance party as well. With this kind of camp enthusiasm and ideal sunny weather, it was an afternoon of positive energy, smiling faces and laughter— girls feeling totally relaxed and confident. It was one of those classic camp experiences that can’t really be recreated anywhere else. It takes these people, and this place, and this spirit. That’s a rare combination, but thankfully you can count on it at Rockbrook.

What an excellent Saturday we’ve had today! It’s been a wonderful mix of summertime camp action and time to relax with these great friends in a beautiful environment. All over Rockbrook girls were busy making things. They were weaving on the looms in Curosty, and baskets outside with their feet in the creek. It was glazing day in pottery, so girls were selecting colorful glazes and carefully painting them on their clay creations. We’ll fire everything in the kilns later in the week.

The needlecraft activity was showing off their knitted water bottle holders, and Hodgepodge was sewing tote bags from tie-dye t-shirts. The archery girls were firing arrow after arrow, just like the riflery campers shooting round after round at their targets. And down on the tennis courts, there were games to help practice their strokes.

There were adventurous girls at camp today too. Climbing the alpine tower has become an obsession for some, with their goal being to climb all three sides. Every camper is having a chance to ride their Rockbrook zipline course with its three exciting zips and 3 challenging suspension bridge elements. A small group of girls went rock climbing on Castle Rock this morning, trying their best on three different routes up there. Horses were ridden all four activity periods, keeping the barn staff busy providing mounted lessons.

With our recent sunny and warm weather, the lake has been packed with girls cooling off. While some swam their “mermaid laps” others did tricks off the diving board. A few girls found a friend and floated around in a couple of tubes, feet dangling the water while they chatted. During both the morning and afternoon free swim periods, the giant water slide saw non-stop action. The girls made their way around to the far side of the lake, climbed the tall tower, and screamed to a splash landing 60th below.

In the late afternoon, and after dinner, the three lines (age groups) each had a shaving cream fight down on the grassy landsports field. Dressed in their swimsuits and full of energy, the girls took their cans of shaving cream and proceeded to empty them all over themselves and all over their friends. They ran as they sprayed. They splattered the white foam as they slapped hands. They created a very slippery hair salon for each other. They marked a “six-pack” on their stomachs. In a couple of cases, they covered every square inch of their skin with the white foam. They laughed hysterically as if this was the funniest thing they have ever experienced. Then with some help from a water hose, they launched themselves down a sloping sheet of plastic making a giant slip-n-slide. The photo gallery has proof of all this, proof that this classic camp event was very big fun.

These are the days we love at camp. They stand out because they feel so natural, almost expected at this point in the session. Friendships are stronger and confidence more established. We know the routines of camp life and enjoy the comfort they provide. This is genuine, healthy stuff, and exactly what these girls have needed all year. Their time at Rockbrook is a welcome relief, a return to the joys of being a kid with plenty of time to play outdoors with friends. So good!