Author: Alex

The WISCO Girls Go to Maine – guest blog

Posted on by Alex

We were so lucky to have had the WoW (Women of Wisconsin) team at Camp Runoia this summer. Their dedication to overnight summer camp, creating amazing experiences for campers plus a desire to see the great State of Maine generated an epic road trip and a summer for the memory books.

In their own words….

It’s 4 in the morning, still dark, a little damp out, and four people with their summer’s worth of gear are looking at a small Nissan Versa with a determined squint. Collectively, we all understand “it will fit” and spoiler alert: with some very creative packing, it did. A forgotten wallet and an accidental detour later, the WISCO girls were on the road. We had compiled a 12 hour playlist to make the drive more manageable and at some points we took breaks to read listicles. Finally, we reached our layover in New York where racoons stole some baked goods. Again, we piled into the car and were about to finally make it: Maine couldn’t come soon enough.

The WISCO Girls arrived at Camp Runoia greeted by what we assumed were smiling faces, but everyone was masked, so who really knows? We comically unpacked our clown car: more and more things and people seemed to keep coming out. And so it started. Camp Runoia COVID Camp. We had arrived late, so we met only a few people and were herded into Sixth Shack. The next morning, we grabbed our warm beverages and hit the ground running.

Those two weeks of training were a whirlwind. Phrases like, “wash in, wash out” and “masks up, let’s go” continue to run through our brains to this day. Some topics were familiar, standard camp fare we’d been trained on for years, but some new and mysterious things such as The Pix, Pigtail Fridays, and The Soapies were demystified. We met all our coworkers and eventually were separated into our shacks- Emily and Mary stayed in 6th, Kerry went to 5th and Victoria to 7th. 

Our first pigtail Friday!

Once we had been sufficiently trained and quarantined, it was finally time for campers. We could fill a book with all of the wonderful adventures and experiences we had with our Runoia gals this summer, but we only have so much space, so we’ll provide you with some highlights: 

-Being serenaded by 6th shack’s original song “Green Bean Salad”

-2nd Shack’s Wolf Biology Lesson 

-Spooky loon calls

-Playing mermaids in Great Pond

-Attempting to learn Tik Tok dances the kids taught us

-The Talent Show

-A Floating Breakfast

-The Wicked Witch of the East, Bro

COVID protocols which seemed overwhelming at first quickly became second nature. Before we knew it, we were saying goodbye to our campers and packing the car to head home.

In the end, this crazy-covid-clorox camp (as Alex put it in one of her emails to us) ended up being just what we needed during the uncertainty of COVID. While anyone who has attended or worked at any camp knows that being at camp often leads to a summer of chaos, that chaos is predictable, familiar and sometimes even intentional. During a time where the world was (is) so rapidly changing outside of anyone’s control, it was that special predictable type of camp chaos that drew us to Runoia. All of us WISCO gals are scattered around the country now and it’s anyone’s best guess as to where we’ll find ourselves next summer, but we feel very lucky to have gotten the opportunity to spend Summer 2020 on Great Pond with campers and staff alike. 

With Love, 

The WISCO Girls 

Emily, Kerry, Mary, and Victoria 

 

Living Leadership – a unique CIT summer

Posted on by Alex

Providing opportunity for leadership and growth in personal development is a key component of all of Camp Runoia’s programming. Multi age classes and self directed goals allow campers to navigate their own skill development and girls of all ages are given a chance to have their voices heard. Older campers often take on the role of friend and mentor to younger girls and share their skills and love of camp activities with those that are in need of help. Skippers in sailboats, captains of teams, helpers at the barn and other opportunities to be up front all allow campers to gain leadership skills while working on their own goals.

The Counselor in Training program (CIT) is often the capstone of camper years and allows for a very intentional, full summer experience with a leadership focus. In typical summers CIT’s live as a group with their CIT Director and work together in and around camp to build skills. 2020 proved to be a whole lot different. Four amazing young women who were up for a new and evolving challenge joined Harmonyville for a different kind of CIT program. 

 

With the creation of ‘households’ and restricted interactions of groups it meant that in order for the CIT’s to get the best experience of actually working with campers they spent much of their summer living in cabins.  The CIT’s also joined us for staff training and were able to live together during that time and get some very intensive skill coaching before their move to live with campers. It was a very different approach yet worked incredibly well under the unusual circumstances. This group of young women were able to navigate not only the transition from being campers to taking on a more comprehensive leadership role but also having to be separated from their peers and fellow CIT’s. They truly were living their leadership development as they actively engaged with all aspects of daily life in camp.

This fabulous four accomplished so much over their unique CIT summer. Even with a reduced amount of time at camp and additional responsibilities they passed archery instructor training, managed to navigate a socially distanced lifeguard class, made connections with their campers, took classes in child development, homesickness and a multitude of other camp related situations and did it all while maintaining and building their personal friendships. Their growth was amazing and they worked through the hard parts and saw the benefits of being at camp even when it wasn’t what they had originally imagined. They built life skills that will serve them well as they head out into their junior years and begin to navigate what life after high school may look like.

 

We hope that this tenacious group will be back for more Runoia summers. Our counselor staff group will benefit from their skills, capable competence and true Runoia spirit.

Hope for next summer

Posted on by Alex

As we navigate life living with covid 19 and create our own ‘new normal’ managing all of the procedures and public safety protocols, even regular everyday life can get a little overwhelming. It is sometimes hard to see a way forward without taking two steps backward.  We are all living in an unknown time with so many questions about what the immediate and long term future may look like. Information still seems to change on an almost daily basis, schedules are always flexible as schools shift back and forth between in person, virtual and hybrid learning models. Talk of the looming holiday season and how that may look for families is becoming a more current conversation. Making plans for any travel or vacation out of state seems like an impossible feat. We are only able to navigate the present which for a culture that loves a planner and to have life scheduled out is proving very challenging for many.

So how on earth are we ready to open enrollment for camp in the summer of 2021?

The path to the lake is always there.

How do we make decisions when we don’t know what the future may look like? Perhaps it is time to just jump in with hope? Get the puppy, eat the cake and be sure to sign up for camp! We know from our experiences of this past summer that we can create a safe and engaging space for our girls to have an intentional summer experience.

Camp Director colleagues who were unable to open camp this past summer have been keen to chat with us about how our summer went.  They don’t really have specific questions but more are seeking hope for how they can operate in 2021. As everyone has different sites, programs and clientele there is definitely no magic ‘this will work for you’ solution. How we operated Runoia in 2020 may also look slightly different than how we do it in 2021 as we will be another year down the covid road. We talk often about attitude and mindset. Knowing that opening camp and running safe programs has been done encourages others that it can be done at their camp too. Camp Directors are a positive, resilient, creative crowd and are keen to dig into how they can operate safely in 2021. Sharing stories and telling our tale of summer 2020 helps the profession as a whole. The collective hope is that the most amount of campers can safely get to their camps next summer.

Hopefully our Harmonyville campers are telling their stories too! Other kids need to be hearing from their peers that going to camp next summer will be safe and fun. Peer sharing has so much value in generating a narrative that has substance.

We take pride in the fact that 2021 is Camp Runoia’s 115th continuous season of operation. We will definitely be ready for yet another amazing summer on Great Pond.

Garage band – creatively navigating covid

Posted on by Alex

My choir has been singing in a parking garage! We literally drive in, park on one side and then can spread out on the other side so that we can sing together. It’s never something I would have imagined doing.  It’s certainly not the same as a typical rehearsal space. The sound is at best interesting but it at least provides us the opportunity for community singing and some choral experience. We have had to be incredibly creative and intentional with the covid protocols.  Numbers are limited, everyone is 13 feet apart, masks and social distancing are strictly enforced when not on your X and the time is restricted to under an hour. Everyone is on board with navigating the rules and enjoys being together far better than when we are  meeting on zoom. Sometimes it’s chilly and as the nights are getting dark earlier the lighting isn’t great so it isn’t going to be a long term solution moving forward into the winter but it has worked for now. Having a great attitude and out of the box thinking has resulted in a workable solution and an unexpected outcome. I was skeptical at first but it has turned out to be incredibly fun and allowed us to shift out of our usual pattern and engage with each other differently with very positive results.

 

Working from basic goals and using mission based planning, navigating through covid has become a challenge facing many community organizations. While there are often defined protocols and procedures for many operations sometimes you just have to be a bit crafty and do what works best in your individual situation.  It would certainly have been easier to have just cancelled this semester of choir. It isn’t really essential, it’s more a social outlet than anything else and there is no hope of giving a public concert indoors anytime soon so we are not rehearsing for an event. Yet a desire to be together, to maintain our community and to engage in person drove the problem solving and created a workable solution. 

As camps are busy looking towards the summer of 2021 and enrollment is opening up, having a positive ‘can do’ attitude and being able to think outside of the box is going to move us forward. At Runoia we are glad to have had these past summer experiences to build off of.  We feel confident that we can be flexible and navigate covid protocols while still maintaining our camp goals and mission. We want to be part of the solution for camps so that the most children possible get a summer experience that is tech free and engaging. We are planning, thinking, reflecting and know that we will be ready.

We can’t wait to share our 115th continuous summer on Great Pond, creatively navigating whatever comes our way and helping our campers to have an amazing summer. At Runoia we model for our girls that we are resilient, capable, competent and confident. Summer camp is a place to grow and we are confident that we will all be doing that, building life skills that are relevant to the world that we live in.

Moving forward – covid camp ‘experts’

Posted on by Alex

We are in demand. We have become an overnight sensation as covid camp ‘experts’. Having been one of the very few camps that opened for campers this summer, many of our professional peers want to know how we did it. What was the magic plan that we used to operate camp with all of the required protocols and stay covid free? How can it help others as they work towards summer 2021? The conversations are engaging and also help us to process our own experience as we grow from this past summer and plan for next season. We are by no means ‘experts’ but we have some good experience to share. Our Maine camp community is committed to helping all types of camps so that more campers can have a great camp experience if what we did can help others we are happy to chat.

We are still riding high on our success, proud of the efforts that we put in and the outcomes that resulted so are happy to talk about the things that we learned and the pieces that did and didn’t work well. We do however caution that what worked for us may not work for others. Our plan was specific to our camp, worked because of the amazing people involved and was supported by our Runoia families. It is still  hard to know how 2021 may shake out and what restrictions will be in place at that time so right now broad strokes are the planning way to go. We also clearly see that not everything that was successful for us at Runoia will work for other programs. 

Before heading into our 2020 summer we educated ourselves as best we could and learned an awful lot of new information. From reading and absorbing endless amounts of literature,  listening to medical professionals who as camp parents really understood the context of what we were trying to accomplish and also from having a staff that totally bought into providing our campers with the best experience possible under the circumstances we were able to devise a plan that would work for us. Even when there were day to day changes in advice and protocols we stayed true to what we believed were the best options for Runoia.

As schools now struggle through the fall semester we see plans instigated then modified with a population that is far less containable than camp. With hybrid models and distance learning being a reality for many students we wonder what kind of emotional shape our kids will be in by next summer. School is hard right now, teachers and administrators are doing their best and trying to provide for all children, meet curriculum requirements and follow state mandated protocols. I can navigate the management of a whole camp a lot easier than I can the schedules of my two children in different schools alongside my own job.  Come June camp will be a welcome relief for everyone.

The unpredictable and shifting school year is very disconcerting and the anxiety of a possible school based covid 19 outbreak is always looming. We know that by the summer our campers will be ready for the simple security of being on Great Pond with friends enjoying participating in fun outdoor camp activities. 

As we chat with our peers we remind them to look at what they value most about their camp. The relationships, the beautiful facility, the history and traditions. We must all  move forward with courage knowing that camps can open safely and can continue to provide children with healthy, intentionally developmental outdoor experiences.  We can learn from the experiences of this past summer and be ready for an amazing season in 2021.

We can’t wait to celebrate Runoia’s 115th season.

The 2020 name story

Posted on by Alex

CRH name story 2020 – A Summer unlike any other!

The name story is a tradition that goes into the Log. It contains the last names of everyone who was at camp for the season – this year it is our staff and CIT’s.

It was a summer like Runoia had never seen, with a Sirois global pandemic raging . The directors May have worried for a moment but then put on their thinking caps and in a hot Minnick figured out how to open camp. Instead of Tremblaying with fear they Weavered together a brilliant plan, Knoxed on wood and hoped that they could pull it off. If you had been Perrin into a crystal ball you couldn’t have predicted this summer!

Camp needed a few additions to be able to navigate the Covid 19 protocols so Jackson’s, Eddy and Craig showed up to put in sinks, they needed a few Moremen to help pitch some tents. The O’Malleys were too busy so Dresdowed with masks on Johnson, Lee and Robinson Philips showed up to help. The Billings for all extra supplies came pouring in which almost Bokored the bank.

The summer weather was spectacular with lots of ‘fine Maine days’ . It was incredible that the grass didn’t get Brown without any rain.  The awesome kitchen crew had all of the Franitza’s blowing in the kitchen to keep it cool.

While a lot of things were different so much remained the same. The Kells were ringing more often for meal shifts and program times. As always the camp food was great, it wasn’t too Clancy but sure was delicious.  Spaghetti on the first night with Marini Saucier was a hit. There were  the usual Heubergers and Wieners at Saturday night cook out’s. Delicious cookies that were Bakewell’d and even the old Cobb salad was spiced up with some Mintz from the garden.  The Oldfields looked the same with the addition of a Weiss big tent under the Goodoak on the kickball field. Campfires on Sundays needed some social distancing but singing with masks on wasn’t too bad.

Sadly none of the international staff or campers could travel so there wasn’t any speaking of French or Spanish on Sundays. While it was sad not to see old friends campers quickly became close and Maxwell all of their opportunities. 

The counselors and staff were super stars and spent all of their time at camp with no Maroneing. They finNagled some deals with local vendors and even got Days deliveries which was very Hamby. One of the staff Garrod and headed to the lake for some fishing.The Bickford vans stayed parked in the lot as there were no trips heading out.

The time flew by and before long the final Hornbsoteled and it was time to pack up and head home. Everything got cleaned and put away,  staff got out the Kirby vacuum cleaners to give the shacks a good clean, ‘Stanislawski on the lake’ said Gibson, Harris the ski boat driver. They Lorenz the flags and there were a few tears “Hommel I’m so sad to be Guimond home” lamented a camper.

It could have been a very Solimine summer if camp had closed but instead it turned into a fantastic experience that went off without a Hitch.

By Alex Jackson celebrating her 25th summer on Great Pond!

‘Masks up, Let’s go!’

Posted on by Alex

 

‘Masks up, let’s go!’ become our new mantra for Harmonyville. It not only speaks to the practical action of putting up our masks but also to digging into covid-19 protocols and operating camp safely and with intention.  With safety procedures in place like masks, increased hand washing and sanitation we are living the camp 2020 Harmonyville experience. Our blog posts haven’t been a priority as we have been busy making the camp magic work but we thought you would like to know how it’s going.

After all the weeks of planning, sleepless nights, reading and the re reading of protocols from all of the governing bodies we are here on Great Pond running camp!

So far our staff group is on site, training and practicing the’ how to’s?’ of not only camp life but also of navigating covid-19. We are working hard to iron out the teething challenges and hope to have all of the kinks figured out before our girls get here. It has definitely been a lesson in being ‘patient with the process’ and setting realistic and attainable goals. Our first day goal was just to make sure everyone was fed and had an assigned bed to sleep in! There are some things that are simple to make safer, cleaner or more socially distant and others that are really difficult. We are trying, failing and then trying again in order to perfect new operating procedures. The learning curve was initially really steep as it is also a challenge to unlearn the ways that you have been doing everything for so many years. Now after a week we really have it down and feel confident that our approach is working well.

The entire staff team is amazing, everyone is helping to figure out better ways to organize equipment, manage meals and maximize all of the fun that we can have at Runoia. We help remind each other to bring our masks, wash hands and sanitize and are all pitching in to get everything ready for opening day. Everyone is committed to making this the best summer that we can for our campers while keeping everyone as safe as possible.

When it comes to wearing masks we really recommend that campers practice at home. It is a bit odd at first to wear your mask when you are in the company of the friends that you don’t live in a cabin with. We got used to it pretty quickly and we can smile with our eyes really well now. We found that wearing our name badges for a lot longer made it easier to get to know everyone. It’s hard to remember names when you don’t get to see all of the persons face. Be sure to pack a few masks, they get kind of sweaty or lost in a pocket. It’s fun to start to recognize people by their mask style!

Things at camp do certainly seem a bit different yet so many things are the same: swimming in Great Pond on a hot day, watching the sunset, loons calling on the lake, the smell of pine trees, laughter, rain on the shack roof, ferns everywhere, people to hang out with, activities to try and a myriad of other little things that make Harmonyville so magical.

We are Runoia girls and we can do hard things! We are making the very best of a challenging situation, growing through it and we will be ready to help our campers have an absolute blast!

“Masks up, let’s go!’

Changing and growing

Posted on by Alex

A couple of weeks ago for a spring treat and a little at home entertainment, I bought five baby chicks. They were already a week old and just the cutest, little, yellow, fluffy balls. What a difference a couple of week makes. They have doubled in size, are almost completely brown, have started to grow wing and tail feathers and are flapping around more practicing their flying skills.  They remain as noisy as ever, eat a ton of food and are messy as anything. They just do their chick thing day after day and in no time at all will be out with the rest of the flock and laying eggs to earn their keep. It is surprising how quickly they mature and grow and is just incredible to see it happen right before your eyes. We can only hang onto the memory of those cute little fuzz balls while we appreciate the delicious eggs of the grown hens.

 

It seems that like the chicks the world around us is changing rapidly right before our eyes too.  We live in a somewhat sedentary state while waiting to spring back into action. The future seems to be filled with the unknown and lots of unanswered questions of ‘what’s next?’ ‘how will we..?’ We really do not know what to expect from one moment to the next. It’s hard to move forward and make plans and any plans that we do make need to be fluid and open to change at a seconds notice. We know that we cannot go back to how things were just a few short weeks ago so will keep growing into this new phase of life. We will develop plans, be willing to change and move forward as best we can.

Keep growing and changing Runoia girls, we can do hard things and even if we may lose our fluffy fuzziness we will grow some really great useful wings!

Crumbs on the carpet – a lesson in flexibility

Posted on by Alex

At my house you leave your shoes in the mud room when you come in and there is never, ever food upstairs! It was the way it was in my childhood home and the way my kids have always known it to be. Until now! While we are still managing to leave the muddy, spring boots in the mudroom there are now crumbs on my upstairs carpets.

As bedrooms have become classrooms, office space, choir rehearsal rooms, places to ‘hang out’ with friends or a place to gain a tiny piece of solitude, so the snacks have migrated upstairs. The myriad of other uses the upstairs now has means that food has apparently gone where the people are. Online school includes BYO homeroom lunch, snack times and the apparent constant need to have endless beverages all day long.  There are now crumbs, wrappers and tea cups in places they have never ventured before.

We have had to change and modify our spaces, our practices and everything about our daily living to be able to successfully navigate working and schooling from home. Every day is a new adventure in adaptation and flexibility.

How grateful we are to our amazing Runoia camp staff who have dug right in and figured out some creative and interesting ways to engage our campers who are missing their after school activities. Many of these staff are teachers by day and are navigating their own virtual or online school days and then come home to drum up fabulous camp fun. Jen has shifted from all things horses to all things Runoia Youtube, Barb is a super hero ukulele player trading a bathing suit for other costumes and numerous other staff are making videos, hosting EP, singing songs at campfire and prepping talents for this week’s talent show. We are so grateful for their willingness to be flexible, adaptive and to show up and show off their incredible skill sets.

We know that it’s hard to imagine what the future may bring or understand how tomorrow may look different than today. We will keep adapting, changing and being flexible. We will use our life skills to move forward and we will keep sharing our talents with our camp family.

The great thing about crumbs on the carpet is that they vacuum up pretty easily!

A selfie to build Runoia community

Posted on by Alex

As people that know me well will tell you, that while I may appear to be a confident, up front, extrovert, I tend to prefer the shadows and the back of the photo shot. This new world that we are living in has required a lot more up front camera work than I ever could have imagined and has really required getting out of my comfort zone practically and emotionally.

I have needed coaching from my younger professional friends about the art of taking a good selfie and how to show up in a zoom meeting so that you don’t look like you are staring out of the window or looking at your knees. I found things on my laptop that I never knew that it could do and have stretched my technology skill set to the max.  Who knew that something as simple as a small sticker by your camera would encourage you to actually look at it not at the screen? and definitely don’t read the comments while you are on live they are so exciting and distracting.

My greatest realization in the past couple of weeks is that it is better to show up virtually than not at all.   It is really not about the quality of the photo, what you are wearing, if the singing is pitch perfect or how messy the house looks, it’s about connection. Connection with the people who physically miss our faces in their everyday lives. Connection with those far away who are holding onto the familiar to get them through today’s challenges. Connection with our groups and communities for whom we are a grounding anchor. Connection with the people who we may not even know that we have an impact on as we move through our lives.

I don’t think I will ever get to love taking ‘selfies’ or going ‘live’ but I’ll keep trying to get better at it because the connections have great value to me too. We are developing new and continuing to build on existing relationships in ways that we never knew were really possible. It’s amazing!

Our Runoia community is strong and stretches generations and endless miles.

Keep reaching out and connecting anyway that you can.