November 2015 - Camp Runoia

Giving Thanks by Chris

Posted on November 30, 2015October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

Giving Thanks

Greetings from Camp Runoia! It’s hard to believe that the summer has passed, fall is on its way out and winter will be upon us before we know it. As we all prepare this week for Thanksgiving, I am inspired by the holiday and what it is really all about. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the chaos of life, particularly this time of year with all of the material things which are constantly being forced upon us. Sometimes we forget about the things in life that really matter. Family, friendship, and community are of paramount importance and should be recognized and celebrated. The neat thing about sleepaway summer camp is that we are asked to leave most of our material possessions at home and focus on the here and now. We ask our campers to invest in the community in which they are living and to focus on making friends, trying new things and experiences, all of which result in personal growth. I saw this poem which inspired me to write this blog.

Best Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here, so our minds have turned
To what time has taught us, to what we’ve learned:
We often focus all our thought
On shiny things we’ve shopped and bought.
We take our pleasure in material things,
Forgetting the pleasure that friendship brings.
If a lot of our stuff just vanished today,
We’d see the foundation of each happy day
Is special relationships, constant and true,
And that’s when our thoughts go directly to you.
We wish you a Thanksgiving you’ll never forget,
Full of love and joy—your best one yet!

By Joanna Fuchs

Camp cooking.

Posted on November 18, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

Campers at Runoia have been developing their outdoor cooking skills for many years. Wilderness trips have been an integral part of the program since camp opened 110 years ago. Can you believe that back in the day campers used their bloomers to stash their lunches in when they went off canoeing!

Regardless of how far you are hiking or canoeing you have to eat and the food can make or break the success of a trip. Trying everything from re-hydrating dried mixes to baking a cake in a Dutch oven many girls get their first taste of cooking at camp. Campers are involved in all aspects of trip menu planning and then meal preparation.

From an 8 year old flipping their first pancakes to a 15 year old menu planning and cooking meals for a whole week and with everything in between; Runoai girls get a taste of independence and begin to build their own life skills around the campfire.

Food on the hiking trail has to be light weight, well balanced, nutritious and high in energy. Trail mix, no bake cookies and other high protein snacks can be a great boost when you still have miles to go to your campsite. Cooking over a camp stove requires good organizational skills, often a menu that needs minimal pots and some creativity for making the meal tasty. A canoeing trip may allow for a little more equipment and often includes a reflector oven or Dutch oven so baking around the fire becomes a great option.

There is often nothing more satisfying than sitting around the campfire with a tin plate and a spork eating a meal that you have waited all day for and that you helped to cook.

Always a bonus if it is followed by reflector oven brownies or s’mores.

Celebrating Camp Birthdays at Runoia

Posted on November 12, 2015October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

Having a birthday at camp is special and fun in many ways. It’s a birthday bonanza!

There are the songs. The cards. The decorations. There is the birthday party on birthday night. There are the cakes – your cakes and all the other cakes. There are more songs and costumes and loud, crazy, silliness. Lots of birthdays are celebrated at Runoia each summer and they are something everyone looks forward to each session.

Songs are silly songs like: I thought I heard my grandmother say that so and so’s birthday was today with a fee fo and a fi fo… OR Ice cream soda water ginger ale pop, the cake the cake with the candles on top, get ready get ready your pearly white teeth… ALL Runoia campers and alumna can finish the words to these crazy songs.

So whenever your birthday falls, think of the playful Runoia celebrations, the special moments given to girls whether it’s their birthday or not. The whole camp has a party – that’s pretty sweet!

Messing with Time by Chris Mercier

Posted on November 2, 2015October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

It’s the time of year we turn back the clocks. As the last few colorful leaves cling on the trees, they await their perpetual fall to the forest floor, and here in the northern hemisphere, we prepare for the shorter, darker, colder days. The joys of summertime and summer camp start to become a distant memories but much like the leaves on the trees, we cling to these memories and experiences and they bring us such great joy.

We are reminded of this phenomenon every year when we set our clocks back an hour and brace ourselves for the long winter months. We are engrossed in our hectic lives of work and school routines and it is also a perfect time to reflect on the amazing experiences from summers’ past. I saw this poem and it inspired me to think about the double meaning of messing with time and turning back the clocks and how it relates to camp and personal growth:

Sometimes we have to
turn back the clock
to face our fears.
Search back through our memories
to find out how and when they began.
Look deep within our soul
for the answers that we seek.
Locate the source of our torment
to eradicate it complete.
Our fears began somewhere
and the only way to find out where and when
is to turn back the clock.

-David Harris

Summer camp provides an incredible outlet to our youth to face their fears both physically and socially and to try new things that they never would have tried back in the safety of their lives at home. The simple concept of creating our own community for seven weeks in Maine where we work, play, learn, sleep and eat together each day can be a source of fear and uncertainty for many of our new campers each summer at Camp Runoia.

Once we experience it, we realize the value and importance of what we have created and the lessons and personal growth that ensue. The bonds and the connectivity that we experience in our own “bubble” each summer is a hard concept to relate to unless you have experienced this on your own.

As the days get shorter and time has “changed” I would challenge you to ask yourself…if you could turn back time, what would you

have done differently? We all know that this is not possible, but the beauty of summer camp is that each summer, we all have the opportunity to start fresh and build off our experiences from the past summer. We can conquer our fears and take the experience to the next level. What is it like to live in a cabin away from home? What does it feel like to try the “Dragonfly” for the first time? How will I ever hike to the top of Mount Katahdin?

Runoia girls face these fears each summer head on. They are willing to try new things and go outside of their comfort zone. Once they accomplish the unknown, they have such a great sense of empowerment and accomplishment. Time is an incredible concept. It can be welcome, or it can be a burden, but most of all it allows us to experience new things, learn about ourselves and reflect to strengthen ourselves as individuals.