Camp Blog

Today marked the arrival of the campers attending the second of our July Mini sessions. It was an exciting morning for everyone. Of course the arriving campers were bubbling with anticipation for their camp session to start. After waiting for months, or even a whole year, it was finally the day. The parents too seemed excited, excited for the opportunities awaiting their girls, but also thrilled with the process of meeting everyone in the check-in process. One parent commented on how enthusiastic everyone seemed this morning. That was certainly true as families made their way around the lake and to the top of the driveway where the counselors were jumping and cheering for each arriving camper. I’d say this excitement carried the full session campers too because these arriving mini session girls would be new friends to enjoy camp with. It was a cheerful morning all around!

Arriving at camp can bring with it feelings of nervousness too. As expected— it’s totally normal —there were several girls who looked like there were some butterflies fluttering inside as well. Excited yes, but also a little nervous, even for the returning campers. Sarah and I tried to reassure everyone that once we get started at camp, begin actually doing things, these feelings fade fast. Meeting cabin mates and counselors helps, but it’s also a great relief to realize that what’s cool at Rockbrook is being your true silly self, singing really loud, and being nice to everyone. It doesn’t take long to see how it’s going to be easy to fit in, and have a lot of fun with all these friendly people.

The full-session girls continued with their regular Sunday morning routine, raising the flag and gathering for Chapel. “Togetherness” was the theme presented by the Senior campers. Just before lunch we held a quick assembly in the shade of the huge walnut tree on the hill. It was an opportunity for Sarah to welcome everyone, make a few introductions, and each line to lead everyone singing a couple of camp songs. Felix, the camp dog, also made an appearance.

The highlight of the day awaited us after rest hour. We had a Candy Land Carnival on our grassy landsports field, complete with two large inflatables, games, music, and special food.

The food was a unique sweet treat. We had Jenny’s Mini Donuts, a local food truck specializing in donut-making, at the ready to serve up their treats. Throughout the event, we called each cabin group of girls to visit the pink truck and chose between cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar toppings for their donuts. Each camper received a tray of mini donuts to enjoy as they wandered around the carnival. The donuts were a big hit!

Meanwhile carnival games and inflatables kept everyone moving. Both inflatables involved water elements, and since we had bright sunny summer skies, the afternoon heat made the splashes even more refreshing. One inflatable featured a steep slide into a one-foot-deep pool, while the other offered a side-by-side obstacle course where two people raced to reach the pool at the end. The challenge of the course added an extra layer of excitement, and participating with a partner made it even more enjoyable, both for the participants and the spectators. A crowd of girls gathered around each inflatable, cheering on the participants as they splashed into the pools below.

Among the candy-themed games was a life-sized Candy Land game spread across the grass. Teams of girls took turns “rolling” a giant inflatable die and advancing along a colorful trail made of rubber mats. Similar to the board game, certain squares had special effects when a team landed on them. For instance, landing on Gramma Nutt’s square meant going back five squares, whereas landing on Missy Lolly’s square rewarded everyone with a lollipop. The first team to reach the end of the trail also won a small candy treat.

Another game challenged the girls to toss inflated donuts onto a cone, which turned out to be trickier than it initially seemed. Fortunately, the girls could try as many times as they wanted until they successfully landed a toss. Similarly, one game involved tossing beanbags at a target, aiming to get the beanbag through a small hole. Another game involved a crazy challenge of unwrapping a wad of plastic wrap that had layers of small candies embedded in it. The challenge came from having to use your feet instead of your hands to unwrap it!

Throughout the event, the girls sang and danced along to lively pop music, including a few candy-related songs. Hits like “I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow and “Lollipop” by the Chordettes made appearances, creating a joyful and energetic atmosphere.

With superb summer weather, dozens of new friends, lively music, tasty treats, and active games to play, it was a fantastic way to spend the afternoon and an even better welcome for the new session girls.

It struck me again today about how special it feels at camp right now. Today is the first day between our two July mini sessions, that time of the summer when only the 4-week second session girls are here. It feels special for a number of reasons. First, because the July Mini 1 session girls have left, it’s smaller; we have only 140 campers instead of 220. This makes activity classes more intimate, trip logistics easier with fewer campers going, and generally everything slows down a notch or two. A bigger difference though is that these full session girls have by now relaxed and fully embraced camp life. For most of them, this is not their first year at Rockbrook, so they also have a deep understanding of what it is. They know its rhythms, the freedom and opportunities, the familiar patterns to their days. They instinctively know what to do and where to go. Camp is easy for them. And this makes it even more meaningful because it feels like it’s their camp, their special place where they can play, be goofy, dig deeper into their interests, and feel even stronger waves of confidence everyday.

Even more significant, however, is the warmth of friendship glowing among these girls. Spending this much time together has brought them closer. They’re talking together more casually, laughing together more frequently, and helping each other more spontaneously. They’re being sweet to each other, easily kind and positive about the people around them. Everywhere you look there are pairs, threes or groups of girls enjoying each other’s company.

It’s wonderful to see girls hugging more, walking arm and arm, sharing chairs just so they can sit close together. These girls love each other, and also this camp (yes, in that order, I’d say), in surprising and marvelous ways. That’s what’s extra special about camp right now— it’s a palpable expression of what camp is all about.

All of the regular camp activities are still happening too. The zipline course for example, saw groups flying through the trees all day. This is a unique course built among the huge rocks up behind the main part of camp. It includes three zip lines and three challenging bridges to traverse, making it both challenging and thrilling at the same time. The first zip sends the girls right in front of Stick Biscuit Falls, the waterfall you can see from the back of the camp office building. The final zip is the longest and fastest ride of the course. It launches from a large rock face and goes almost 450 feet back into camp giving everyone on the hill a clear view of the fun.

The pottery studios at camp— there are two: upper and lower —are always fun places to visit. Pottery is a popular activity option, so they are ordinarily filled with girls busily shaping clay, some rolling it into coils or flattening it into slabs, maybe extruding it through a press, or carving designs into a more finished piece. Off to one side, there’ll be girls sitting at the potter’s wheels, like today when all the wheels where spinning. It takes some practice to get the hang of throwing on the wheel, but everyone can learn to center their clay, and pull up a bowl or pot of some kind. It’s very satisfying to finally get it. With some drying and glazing and then some time in the kiln, they’ll have beautiful works to show.

Finally, this was a special day for all of the Taylor Swift fans out there, and here at camp, that means just about everyone. Today she released the re-recording of her 2010 Speak Now album. In response to a dispute with her original record label, Taylor Swift is re-recording her early albums, and this is the 3rd in that series. It includes new “Taylor’s Versions” of the original songs plus previously unreleased songs written when she was working on the album originally, songs “From the Vault.” To celebrate, we held a Taylor Swift dance party in the gym during the evening twilight time. We played all the songs form the Vault on the new Speak Now, plus a few of our favorite original cuts. This lasted only about 45 minutes, but it was a fun way to keep our “Swifties” satisfied.

Camp life is a good life these days. You might even call it a great life!

Just down the road from Rockbrook is a wonderful family farm called the Pucker Up Berry Farm, also known as the “PUB Farm.” It’s owned and cared for by our friends Wendy and Eric Manner. The farm specializes in high antioxidant fruits and berries like elderberries, blueberries and blackberries. It also grows all sorts of flowers and vegetables.

The Rockbrook Juniors take a trip to the PUB Farm during their session of camp. It’s a chance to learn about the plants and animals there and to enjoy the environment. Counselor Lauren Plowden went with a recent group and wrote this account.

“When my campers heard the announcement that we would be skipping rest hour and taking a trip off campus, screams filled the room. As a Junior Counselor at RBC, I have the privilege of taking my cabin to Pucker Up Berry Farm.

This farm is located at the bottom of Becky Mountain and is home to lots of chickens, bunnies, exotic wildflowers, and berry orchards. It’s essential that our campers have the opportunity to explore nature in ways they maybe wouldn’t be able to at home. At the farm, campers can choose to hold the animals such as bunnies or chickens, sample some growing blueberries and enjoy the wildlife the heart of the wooded mountain has to offer.

Every child has the chance to build their own bouquet of wildflowers which we then bring back to camp and use as centerpieces in our dining hall. Bouquet making is a wonderful part of the trip and allows me and the juniors to dive into creativity, colors, and gardening.

My favorite part of the trip was exploring nature with my awesome campers in Junior 5 and seeing them try new things. Of course this trip wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Dolly’s Dairy Bar. We filled our stomachs up with yummy ice cream and sang camp songs all the way home on our hot 80 degree July day. Days at camp are never the same and you never quite know what surprises are in store for our campers!”

Horses in the middle of camp? This was clearly no ordinary morning, nor an ordinary day. It was the 4th of July! On this day, it’s been a long tradition at Rockbrook— we’re not sure how it started— for the campers to be awakened by the sounds of hooves and shouts of “The British are coming! The British are coming!” With the horses groomed and decorated with flag-patterned ribbons, and all manner of red, white and blue, the riding staff rode up and down the cabin lines yelling for the girls to wake up. Despite rubbing their sleepy eyes, the girls made their way through the morning fog to gather around the flagpole on the hill. The Hi-Ups raised the flag, and everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang “America the Beautiful.”

The British staff members we have at camp this summer found this a little amusing. One said, “uh, we’re already here!” To prove it, they all jumped in the lake holding a tea bag. Hmmm, perhaps as a show of solidarity in the face of all this American patriotism…?

This patriotic spirit extended beyond the horses; red, white, and blue decorations could be seen all around camp. The dining hall was adorned with table decorations reflecting the theme, and campers wore hats, headbands, beaded necklaces, t-shirts, and other items in patriotic colors. The girls joyfully sang their favorite patriotic songs during meals, such as “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” adding to the usual lively camp songs. There was no doubt that these girls were ready to celebrate the 4th!

We kept our regular Tuesday activity schedule, but with the addition of patriotic colors. American flags fluttered in the wind as girls participated in various activities— zipping through the woods on the zipline course, and sporting stars and stripes as archers, potters, weavers, tennis players, and climbers. The campers even brought the patriotic colors with them on a hike to Rockbrook Falls and to the barns for their riding lessons. Likewise for the group of girls who took a climbing trip to Looking Glass Rock.

During the dinner hour we had a rainstorm come through so we moved inside the dining hall for our 4th of July burgers, fries, and all the fixin’s like lettuce, cheese, tomato, etc. There was also plenty of watermelon to go around, and homemade coleslaw. For dessert, the baker made red, white a blue, swirl cheesecake bars, which we very popular.

The rain stopped just in time for everyone to gather on the hill for an event of silly games. All of the age groups and the counselors gave each game a try. One involved blowing up a balloon and using the air to try and blow three paper cones off the table. Another challenged the contestants to move pingpong balls from one bowl to another using a spoon, but not their hands. There was also a game that involved tossing a pingpong ball and bouncing it off a clipboard and into a bucket. The final challenge was to break open a watermelon using only rubber bands. It takes a lot of rubber bands before the melon explodes! The games involved everyone in a way, as the girls cheered for their friends participating.

As darkness fell, the highlight of the day was our very own Rockbrook fireworks show. We gave out glow sticks to all the girls, and cranked up some dance music to make it even more of a celebration. For the next 25 minutes or so, everyone enjoyed a sing-along dance party, with the girls twirling their glow sticks and cheering with each sparkling blast in the sky. It was an exhilarating way to end a great 4th of July at camp.

The Sunday schedule at Rockbrook begins with a welcome chance to sleep in. Everyone arrives at the dining hall around 9am, where we enjoy a special treat of donuts along with our breakfast. Later in the morning, everyone changes into their camp uniforms for a flag raising ceremony that includes reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing “America the Beautiful.” We all line up around the flagpole on the hill where the Hi-Ups present the flag and raise it. Then, the whole camp silently walks down the lower line to a special area of the camp with rows of benches for everyone to sit. This area we call “Chapel.”

The chapel gathering is not a religious service, despite the name implying that. Instead it’s a celebration of our camp values, camp goals, and more general themes we can all embrace. It provides a chance for us all to slow down and reflect a bit on what’s important about our camp experience. Each week a different age group of campers presents the Chapel program, selecting a theme. Past themes have included, community, adventure, kindness, respect, happiness, and nature, for example. Today’s Chapel theme was “Individuality.” The Middler campers sang songs related to the theme; “This is Me,” by Demi Lovato, was one today. They also take turns speaking about the theme and its importance. One camper today said it was good to celebrate each individual, but “that doesn’t mean any one person is better than another.”

Each Chapel gathering is also a chance for Sarah to talk about the theme. She ordinarily does that by reading a children’s book that is somehow related. Today she read, Weslandia, by Paul Fleischman. This is a story about a boy named Wesley who creates his own civilization in his backyard using a mysterious plant. It’s really a story about the power of imagination and the importance of being true to oneself even if it means being different. The story illustrates how it can sometimes be difficult for kids to be proud of their individuality, but community and cooperation help make it easier. All great themes for Rockbrook!

A little rain during rest hour helped cool things off before the main event of the day: an afternoon color scavenger hunt followed by a color blast shaving cream fight and slip-n-slide! That’s right, three events in one! The first had cabin groups dashing about camp looking for counselors hiding. The groups had to collect “colors.” Each counselor hiding was wearing a specific color, and once found the girls collected that color.

The shaving cream fight that came next was a hilarious blast. Wearing swimsuits, everyone met down at the grassy landsports field. With cans of shaving cream ready, and counselors stationed with colored powder, the girls arrived and immediately knew what to do. Spray those cans and smear liberally on anyone nearby! This quickly turns into a mad, chaotic scrum of splattering shaving cream, squirting foam, and slippery white coatings slowing growing on everyone. Specks of green, pink and blue color added to the scene.

This is less of a fight than a collective event. The girls “helped” each other empty their cans of shaving cream, helped each other with their new foaming hairstyles, and helped each other cover even more of themselves with the spray. Cooperation to make the whole event more fun!

There was fun pop dance music blasting, but you could barely hear it over the shrieks of laughter and chattering go on. This is messy camp fun, the kind of deep affirming silliness that feels great to embrace.

With water hoses spraying, it only made sense to slide down a big sheet of plastic. Everyone was already slippery, so even better! Take a look at the photo gallery to get a sense of just how much crazy fun we all had.

Once again, the secret to all of this, the “special sauce” that makes this so much fun, is the friendship that permeates this community. It’s a widespread kind of feeling too, something that goes beyond your “best friend.” Everyone’s friendly at camp, so everyone’s receiving the positivity of being among friends. You could see it today, as there was no holding back who you sprayed. When you can laugh with anyone, anyone can get sprayed with shaving cream. All so good, and so much better here at camp.