Alex, Author at Camp Runoia

Lifeguards!

Posted on September 8, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

Ahhh September, the days are getting a little shorter and the nights are certainly cooler. It is a quiet, peaceful time of year around camp. Wait a minute what is going on at the waterfront? Lifeguard training? It looks like it is the directors and senior staff. What a great time of year to find time to sharpen up their skills.

Who wouldn’t want to be in the lake on such a ‘Fine Maine Day?’

For year round staff and those that commit to camp as part of their regular summer routine the late summer and fall are a great time to start getting prepared for the next season. We are constantly improving our own personal skills, planning and preparing, taking advantages of training opportunities and striving to be the best that we can be in order to provide an exemplary camp experience for our girls.

After a little down time at the end of camp we are back in action ready to get things rolling for 2016. In the month of September alone we will be renewing our certifications, attending workshops, meeting with other camp directors for round table discussions, taking online courses and of course working on site to make improvements and additions for the 2016 season. Camper enrollment is already ongoing and we will start our rehiring for staff later this month.

Our Runoia 2016 community is already forming and we are excited to connect with every new member.

The life of camp director is never dull and even when camp is not filled with campers and staff there is always something to do.

Camp Runoia provides us all with the opportunities for Building Life Long Skills!

Mid Summer

Posted on July 21, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

A Mid Summer Night’s Dream

After saying ‘goodnights’ during the summer, I walk up from Senior Village at around 10pm through the dark. The sky is filled with stars I don’t carry a flashlight as I know the paths well. Some nights are so dark there are moments when I think I may lose my way on others the moon is bright in the often clear, Maine sky. I am met on the kickball field by the odd firefly. They catch me by surprise and always seem so mysterious with their ability to produce light.

At the end of a busy day camp is quiet and still. The girls and many of the counselors are in their beds. They may still be reading or writing a letter home but most are already asleep. It is one of my favorite times of day at Camp Runoia.

As we embrace the middle of our camp season it is a great time to reflect on the gift of camp. To be able to live, work and play in such a beautiful place surrounded by nature and people who love being here is beyond compare. We have a deep appreciation for the gift that we have all been given.

As I fall asleep listening to the loons I imagine the magic that exists around me and dream of fairies dancing at Fairy Ring.

Camp Anticipation

Posted on June 10, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

I am nervous there are butterflies in my stomach, my nights are often sleepless and I start my days in great anticipation. It is almost time for camp! I have spent the whole year since the end of last August preparing for this. The stage is set and I eagerly anticipate the curtains opening.

The days become a blur with long hours both in the office and out on site. We are preparing, checking, double checking, chasing down information, finishing up the last projects and filling the waiting with work.

Even though I have done this many times it is always so new, so exciting and just a little nerve wracking. I will be met with a new audience while some faces are the same the mix is different. Will I recognize returning faces? Will the lake be warm? Will all run smoothly? Will the sun shine? Can we meet the promises that we have sold to families and to our new staff?

I am confident in Runoia’s ability to run smoothly like a well-oiled machine. We live for and store up our energy for this – the summer season when it truly is camp time. Maine is looking beautiful and ready for it’s summer campers and their families.

Bring it on it’s going to be awesome and we are going to totally make the Runoia dream team for 2015 a reality!

Singing

Posted on May 13, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

Perfect Harmony

This week is concert week for the chorus that I am a member of. It means two nights of rehearsal and two performances which equals a lot of singing. I love being part of a group of women that spends time together making music. We are not professional musicians but spend time and effort learning notes, exploring musical nuances and perfecting our performance. For 2 ½ hours a week I become lost in the complexity of music mastery and the production of choral sound.

At camp singing is a large part of our everyday lives. We sing silly songs, rowdy songs, quiet, contemplative melodies and most importantly we sing our Runoia songs. We spend time at Assembly learning songs; some have been sung for generations and others are new to Runoia. Old songs carry our history. Hearing them reminds us of our special place on Great Pond. We find ourselves humming Runoia tunes when we are far from camp and know that many of our alumnae sing them to their own children as lullabies.

Our camp songs have actions, guitar accompaniments, nonsense words, no words, harmonies, different parts or barely a tune. We make songs up to popular tunes, we lip sync, we cry while we sing: sometimes from laughing and sometimes because it is our last time of the season singing together.

At camp it is not the quality or musicality that matters so much although we do channel our inner Diane Smith and try to hit those odd high notes in Tumbledown and It’s Blue and White! It is more that we do something together. We can be heard singing in the Lodge, Dining Hall, around the campfire, in a sail boat or canoe, down the path to the waterfront, out on the hiking trails, for the camp Talent Show and in the vans. Songs are a unique part of our camp culture that we pass along orally and through our song book.

Songs and singing make us happy! Music has the ability to unite us. We may not always sing in perfect harmony but we sing together to celebrate our community, traditions and just because we can! It is part of who we are at Runoia it is our ‘Harmony’.

Listen to a few favorite Runoia songs here!

Meet the staff

Posted on May 1, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

A guest blog by Morgan Price

My name is Morgan and I will be the girl who runs around camp taking pictures, updating our social media sites, blogging about all of your exciting adventures and activities and helping with event planning! You will almost always see me in my bright colored, monogrammed hats.

A little about me: I am from Marietta, Georgia- right outside of Atlanta. I am finishing up my sophomore year at Georgia College and State University with a major in Marketing. I am highly involved on campus and have served a few different positions for my sorority Zeta Tau Alpha. At school I live in a house with thirteen girls and love it! I have two sisters, a twin sister and a twelve year old sister. I love shopping, exploring, traveling, cooking and dancing. I can teach you how to make an awesome friendship bracelet and love making crazy costumes!

Even though this is my very first summer spent at a sleep away camp, I am so excited for camp to start and I hope y’all are as ready for it as I am. I purchased my bright pink duffle bag and I am already shopping and packing for everything I need for camp. While Georgia isn’t exactly across the world, I am still excited to travel 1300 miles to see the beautiful state of Maine that I have heard so much about.

A “Little Life Lesson” from me:

Sing Loud, Sing Proud; dance like nobody is watching; and try everything!

I will openly tell you I am one of the worst singers to ever walk the planet, but that doesn’t stop me from singing. I love to sing even though I am not as talented as Taylor Swift I give it my best shot. Remember this when you are getting ready to sign up for activities each week. Camp Runoia offers many activities from Archery to Windsurfing and everything you can imagine in between. Just because you may not be the best at something does not mean you shouldn’t sign up for that as an activity!

Always remember “the best thing to hold onto in life is each other”- Audrey Hepburn

Love Morgan

A moment in time.

Posted on April 27, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

Vernal pools temporary yet essential.

As the snow finally melts here in Maine and we transition into what is often a short spring there are many new and temporary delights to be found. Around camp where the water is pooling in depressions or a small stream has widened on its way down to Great Pond you can now see vernal pools. While they will likely be long gone by the time the campers arrive for the moment they provide a temporary habitat for the creatures emerging from the winter. Although vernal pools may only contain water for a relatively short period of time, they serve as essential breeding habitat for certain species of Maine wildlife, including salamanders and frogs. The air at night is now loudly filled with the noise of spring peepers and wood frogs that are quickly mating and laying eggs before the pools dry up.

This time of year is energizing and engaging, we see signs that summer will soon be here and still have a quiet moment to enjoy the beautiful environment around us. How fortunate we are that Ms. Weiser and Ms. Pond found the perfect spot for Runoia amidst the tall, shady, pine trees. Much of our property is in a tree farm easement which allows us to keep the natural habitat available for all of our local wildlife.

While individual people’s time at Runoia may be temporary we are grateful to all who have stepped through the gates and left their mark on our camp. The vision of our founders and those that have preserved Runoia as a camp along with all of our girls and counselors breed the memories that will be preserved for a lifetime. The summer of 2015 like a vernal pool or lunar moth will exist for only a short moment in time yet will grow the spirit of Runoia for generations to come.

Camp and 21st Century skills

Posted on April 15, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

21^st century skills

There is a lot of buzz particular in schools but also in the wider community about kids reaching adulthood prepared for their future. There is a need for youth to be skilled enough to navigate the world into which they will be employed and living. These so called ‘21^st century skills’ will hopefully enable a young person to gain the greatest potential success in their life and will be sought by both higher education institutions and employers.

Summer camps have been watching this trendy terminology with a happy glint in their eye as the intentional learning that we provide every day in a safe and fun environment fits right into this model. Camps can easily argue that they can complement the developmental components of 21^st century skills in an environment that varies so greatly from school that it allows for more and varied success. Camps are not just a somewhat expensive commodity that either provides child care or a ‘fun’ way to spend the summer, they are learning environments where children don’t even realize they are engaging with skill development.

Camps often work hard to convince parents that first and foremost their children will be safe and secondly that they are providing good value for money in the skills that campers leave with.

Often parents may focus on hard skills – did their child get better at tennis or swimming? It is the camp benefits that are perhaps less tangible which meet the 21^st century skill set, a deeper appreciation for nature, the ability to build relationships and make connections, greater independence, more resilience (it does rain at camp sometimes!).

We are proud to be actively promoting 21^st century skills and look forward to sharing more moments of learning with our girls this summer. Camp Runoia building lifelong skills.

Camp trunk?

Posted on April 7, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

A trunk or not a trunk? that is the question!

I am a first time at sleep away camp for my youngest daughter Mom this year. My oldest did a whole bunch of programs that either just required a duffel bag or a suitcase. She was more the college campus, camp kind of girl! it’s been a while so I am back shopping for camp supplies.

Today’s question for deliberation is what to pack in to? A trunk or duffel bags? and if we do decide on a trunk what type? my head is already swirling just contemplating thinking about it. You would think as the camp director I’d have a clear vision but it seems that there are so many pro’s and con’s for each option. To me the ubiquitous trunk screams sleep away camp and is a connection to the long time tradition of kids packing up for the summer and heading out by train to camp. But wait this is 2015 and no one arrives by train anymore and we won’t be traveling far with her stuff!

The girls that bring trunks to camp love them as they are a great catch all for spare towels and linens dress up clothes and all manner of junk you can just throw in there before cabin inspection. You can sit on them, use them to get up to your top bunk and play a round of cards on top. Trunks these days comes in such an array of styles and colors they can be an identity statement and it’s also pretty cool to bring your parents old camp trunk.

Duffel bags are easy to pack and can be tucked away on the luggage rack collecting dust bunnies until the end of the season. With all of her stuff unpacked she won’t forget about items that may be stored in the trunk and will be able to see everything.

Whichever option we go with I am sure it will work out fine it usually comes out about 50/50 amongst the campers. There are then those international staff who manage to put everything they need for the entire summer into one small backpack maybe that’s what we should do!

Spring has sprung

Posted on April 1, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

This weekend the first in April is a busy one. For some it is the beginning of Passover for others a celebration of Easter for almost all it is a time to get together with family, shake off winter and greet the new season. April is a time of hope and the promise of better weather, new life growing from the once frozen ground and an end in sight to the school year it brings a promise that summer is just around the corner.

In the camp calendar April is the beginning of our busy season a time of planning and of preparation. We are nose to the ground getting everything ready for our staff and campers arrival in June. Most of the hiring is done, beds are filled (don’t worry for those still considering camp we have a few spots open) and staff training planned. We are filling in the summer schedule with camping reservations, adventurous day trips, competitions at other camps and a myriad of other fun events.

Our families and staff are also preparing so we field a lot of questions about paperwork, what to pack and the other little details that bring it all together. We love sharing the excitement of those that will be coming to join us for the summer and are always happy to talk through concerns or trouble shoot challenges.

April gets us fired up, filled with excitement and raring to go, we are impatient for time to go by quickly, the last of the snow to melt and the ice to be off the lake. We throw an a Runoia T-shirt even though it is still only 40 degrees out and celebrate that Spring is here and summer will soon follow. We are excited!

A journey to camp

Posted on February 22, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

Is it a torch or a flashlight?

Perhaps the greatest adventure of my life was my first trip to the US. I had just finished my second year of college and having spent the previous summer living back at home and working retail full time had I was in search of a different opportunity. Luckily my college was a big early proponent of ‘abroad’ experiences and the being a ‘camp counselor at American summer camp’ was a popular choice for sports science majors.

I have vivid memories of the planning, packing and journey. Remember this was back in the dark ages before the internet so I had little clue what the place looked like and had honestly never heard of Maine! My entire knowledge of American culture had been absorbed from the limited US TV shows on British television. It was likely some combination of ‘Fame’ and ‘Starskey and Hutch’! This was also before the time of the super Walmart and I thought I needed to pack every item I could possibly need for the next 3 months in my human sized backpack it never dawned on me I could shop when I got there!

I was giddy with enthusiasm, met a random girl who was working at the same camp at the airport and headed out into the wide blue yonder.

What a trip it has been! While I have traveled to many countries and had many experiences that trip to the US was truly a life changer.

Now over 20 years later summer camp has become my career, the journey has taken many twists and turns and I have met so many amazing and interesting people along the way. I could never have imagined that I would have ended up living and raising my children in Maine.

Having the courage to take the first step of the journey can lead you to places you never imagined. Be daring and go for it.