Camp is like a snapshot. The memories and the times that we had here will stick in our mind not as the continuous flow of activity that it was, but as the individual actions that make up the movements.  Images are the one thing that stick with us throughout time.  They are powerful tools that create emotion and linger longer than any words we could ever hope to say.  When we see the camp Runoia logo there are many emotions that come through.  There is joy at seeing camp, there is pride at being associated with it and there is annoyance at the memory of wearing uniforms. Images of girls running races, riding horses, climbing towers, all trigger memories of fine Maine days and warm summer nights.  When we think back on the summer and our times at camp what we will remember most will be the images created here, frozen pieces of time caught and preserved forever as if on film.

Throughout the summer we create projects to take home.  In wood burning, images are preserved evermore on pine or aspen, never fading.  In arts and crafts pieces are made with paint, string, or papier-mâché, taken home and enshrined eternally.  These images and these designs will continue to remind us of fun times and laughter years after camp is over.  Taking one look at the old, yet well preserved, artwork will overwhelm us with memories and flood us with the happiness and serenity that we associate with camp.

Not only do we cherish images associated with camp but we also cherish what camp does to our self-image and our confidence level.  At camp we grow as individuals and gain lifelong skills that we will use in the many years to come.  Once you go to camp your image of yourself is changed forever.  You discover things about yourself that you would never have known about.  You become sailors, riders, archers, climbers, artists and even wilderness guides.

Images hold so much for us than just their lines and strokes.  They hold emotion and memory that can only be brought out by looking at them.  Years from now when a person picks up this log and looks at the images enclosed within this book they will see themselves not only as the person they were at camp, but as the person they have become.    

That is why I hereby dedicate the log of 2014 to images.

-Isabel Snyder