Author: Pam Cobb

Alex Steps Into Director of Camp Runoia; Pam Becomes Director Emerita

Posted on by Pam Cobb

We are thrilled to share that Alex Jackson, who has been with Camp Runoia since 1995 and co-Director for over a decade, has stepped into the position of the Director while Pam transitions to Director Emerita. As part of this transition, Mark and Pam will step back from the day-to-day operations of camp later this fall. With Alex’s 28 seasons of experience at Camp Runoia and her role as a leader within the Maine camp community, including as a member of the Maine Summer Camps Board of Directors, she will keep Runoia’s tradition of excellence going forward. Under Alex’s continued leadership, camp retains the same culture and energy, which has helped Runoia campers build lifelong skills and friendships for over a century.

We share news of our retirement with joy knowing Alex and the team around her will continue Camp Runoia’s strong legacy. Our confidence in Alex is unwavering. She is a seasoned leader and a loyal, dedicated camp professional. We have partnered with Canyonlands Camps to make this transition possible. Founded by a visionary wife-husband team, Canyonlands Camps believes in getting youth into the Great Outdoors to build confidence, community and lifelong skills. These values resonate deeply with us and with the Camp Runoia community. 

What’s next for us? We will continue to enjoy our home on Great Pond, and look forward to being Camp Runoia grandparents, sharing the Runoia experience as Molly, Sawyer, and Frannie continue to grow and thrive at camp amongst all the other campers we adore! Our daughter, Jai Cobb Kells, will contribute to the camp experience in her role as Assistant Director in the summer. Pam will continue her work with the mission-driven Camp Runoia Alumnae Organization (CRAO), championing Camperships and the Diversity Advisory Committee. Additionally, Pam will bring her experience and expertise as a founding advisor to Canyonlands Camps. She will also continue to stay connected to the Maine camp community, including as a board member of the Maine Youth Camping Association and as a member of Maine Summer Camps, Maine Camp Experience, and a long-standing camp director’s round table group. Mark will remain involved in local lake and land conservation efforts to protect and preserve the resources of Great Pond and the Belgrade Lakes Watershed. He plans to stay engaged with the Town of Belgrade community activities, and will provide ongoing consultation to Camp Runoia.

We have loved every minute of dedicating our life work to the camp “movement” and will continue to support the camp experience in the years to come. 

With warmth and love in our hearts, 

Pam and Mark



Preparing for Opening

Posted on by Pam Cobb

We are busy all year but the merry month of May is a particularly busy time. With camp booked full very early this year, we have been able to focus on making connections with family and campers, prepare the physical camp and work well as a team.

Our summer leadership group has been meeting mostly since the fall, working on our commitment to support each other and in turn support campers to have the best summer ever. We have gotten to know each other better, working on Brene Brown’s Braving Inventory and Radical Candor. Our team of year round directors have done our own community contract, which is something we will do with our leadership team and our staff group. Counselors also do this with campers. It’s about caring and empathy, including things that are important to everyone in the group with a consensus to follow the contract together. Everyone signs the contract and it is posted in a common area. The community contract can be used when there are issues that surface or when someone needs to talk about a situation that arises.

Meanwhile at camp, we are physically busy. The lawn is growing as everyone in New England knows! And boats are going in the water, we are practicing our driving skills, our camp docks are in, the boat house is opened up and ready for camp. This weekend we have a few families coming to visit to see camp – because of Covid, they haven’t been able to come into camp so this weekend they can visit when camp isn’t completely open.  So, on we go…cabins are being cleaned, equipment and other supplies are being delivered. The last touches to staff training and Covid protocols and we are still chasing down families for Forms! Forms! Forms!  Did we mention we already have 10 horses here? Riding staff have worked hard getting ponies and horses back in shape for the summer season.

So, we send our positive thoughts to everyone as you wrap up the school year to stay safe, try to do outdoor low-Covid-risk things and reach out with any questions about packing, uniform, transportation and more.

All our best,

Aionur

Covid-19 Round 3

Posted on by Pam Cobb

So far the score of the round is Runoia 2 and Covid 0. As we enter our third summer of living with Covid, we hope to make the score Runoia 3 and Covid 0 at the end of this summer, too.  We take the health of our community seriously and the emotional and physical safety of campers and staff are paramount.

Here’s the sneak peak of our Covid testing plan for camp this summer. Things might change but you get the sense of our approach through these details.

Camp Runoia Summer 2022 Covid-19 Testing Plan

Campers must arrive at camp healthy with no cold or flu symptoms, if you are sick with cold/flu symptoms (even if you are Covid negative) you may come to camp when you are fever free for 24 hours and symptoms are gone or mild. Campers with mild symptoms may have to mask at times in camp. 

Campers who have had Covid in the past 90 days: 

  • Campers who had a confirmed case of Covid-19 (a positive test, not a presumed case) within 90 days of the start of their camp session, do not need to test at all prior to or upon arrival in camp. This includes if they have a positive antigen or PCR test 10-12 days prior to arrival and have completed their 10 day quarantine. 

Camper Testing – Pre-Arrival Testing – two tests BEFORE arrival: 

  1. PCR test at home 10-12 days prior to camp- done locally to camper and arranged by family. This allows you to quarantine before you get to camp if you test positive for Covid. Report positive results to camp. 
  2. A rapid antigen test is required the night prior to camp or the morning before departing for camp. This test can by the family with a test they provide for themselves. Report positive results to camp. 

Positive Results:

If the rapid antigen results are positive, the camper should not come to camp on opening day and should contact the camp director. A positive result is a positive result: no PCR confirmation is needed if the rapid test is positive. 

If vaccinated, the camper must isolate outside of camp with their family for 5 days, arrive 5 days late and then mask (indoors and outside) for 5 days upon arrival and sleep and eat separately for those first 5 days at camp; completing their 10 days of isolation. 

If not vaccinated, (asymptomatic or symptomatic), the camper remains with family for 10 days and may arrive 10 days late to camp. 

Post Arrival:

All campers will PCR test in camp (saliva test) 3-4 days after arrival to camp. For Senior campers, we plan to test the evening of day #3, for Junior campers, we plan to test on morning of day #4

For campers who test positive for Covid while at camp: a family member will have to pick up their camper within 24 hours and isolate out of camp for 5 days. They will not be able to remain in camp and will need to be picked up from camp. Exceptions may be made for campers who are vaccinated and are non-symptomatic, decisions will be made on a case by case basis.

Camp Runoia Staff Testing Protocols for Pre-Camp and Staff Training One Month – 10 days before campers arrive.

  • Staff will self-administer rapid antigen test the night prior to camp or the morning before arrival to camp.
  • Staff will take a rapid antigen test in camp on day 3
  • Staff will take a rapid antigen test in camp on day 5

Staff must remain in their cohorts until 3rd test (day 5) is negative.

Reminder about Covid Positive Cases within 90 days of camp: Any campers or staff that had a confirmed case of Covid 19 (a positive test, not a presumed case) within 90 days of the start of their camp session, does not need to test at all upon arrival or in camp. This includes if they have a positive antigen or PCR test 10-12 days prior to arrival and have completed their quarantine. 

Testing Overview:

Camper Info: Staff Info: Exempt from testing
PCR 10-12 days prior to camp Antigen test day prior or morning of camp Positive case within 90 days prior to the start of camp including antigen or PCR positive within 2 weeks start of camp 
Antigen day prior or morning of camp Antigen test day 3
PCR day 3/4 of camp Antigen test day 5

 



 

 

Diversifying our Camp Library

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Thanks to the Runoia Diversity Advisory Committee we are adding more books to our camp free-library that diversify our library by adding different authors and protagonist and subject matter.  Thandie Scott, Runoia alum from New York/Columbia University came up with a great list of books.

And Erin Lasher choose a selection of about 24 books we bought this year.

Books are coming into the office! and we are marking them and adding them to our lending library in the camp lodge.

All are Welcome is a favorite for Harmony Land Camp. The Watson’s go to Birmingham is great for our rising 5th grade group and Little Leaders, Bold Women in Black History is a great way to introduce amazing women to any age in a concise one-page presentation.

Campers and staff can borrow books from the library and leave them in the reshelving basket when done.

So, bring your favorite books (paper backs and hard backs as no e-readers at camp) and share what you’re reading with others. We read aloud every night in every cabin which is part of a wonderful Runoia tradition.

Do you have a favorite children’s series or book? Please post your ideas on our Facebook page and we might find them and read them this summer. Perhaps you have ideas for children’s books for certain age groups – please share your expertise! Are you interested in donating new books? Peruse our wish list of books and find one that is not highlighted and send our way – we would love that!

Connections Build Community

Posted on by Pam Cobb

As we gear up for our 116th consecutive camp season connections in our community are paramount – more than ever.

I recently reviewed our staff/counselor list of names and my excitement for camp grew. In just over one month, young leaders from all over the United States and from around the world will gather with us to connect, learn from each other, define core values, practice teaching skills, and most of all build a healthy community welcoming children to join in and stretch and grow through the camp experience.

One name on the list jumped out at me. Liz and I met because she thanked me for supporting her college. As a student working with Sterling College advancement, she reached out with a personalized thank you note to me. She told me about a field study trip she was taking with her class to the SW of the United States. She is from Brooklyn, NY and was excited and a little nervous for her adventure – completely normal. I looked her up and reached out to her. Someone with her courage and determination was someone I was interested in finding out more about!  Fast forward through the connection, she applied to camp and Alex Jackson, our co-director interviewed and hired her as a counselor who will help lead trips, work on our ropes course and connect with youth in an outdoor, unplugged setting.

Camp is all about connections. Our alumnae come back to camp to work and send their children to camp. Our staff reach out to friends to have them work at camp. Our families, alumnae and staff meet people who seem like a great fit and invite them to come to camp to work. Our assistant directors, Jen and Colleen, reconnect with camp friends and reach out to college friends and people in specific jobs, be it nursing or crafts, riding or rowing, and help them find their way to our community. Together we join at camp to build our summer community of leaders. We are all very excited and maybe a little nervous – completely normal.

Jen recently added a fun pre-camp idea for our counselors. Alex has our returning campers write a new camper before camp starts. Sometimes they become pen pals and it’s a lovely, old-fashioned way to make a connection before you come to camp.  Jen extended this same idea to counselors. This year, she has connected returning counselors with new counselors by letter writing.  At Camp Runoia, we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Whether we are campers or counselors, it’s the connections that make the difference.

Sometimes it all starts with a simple and personalized thank you letter or a new pen pal connection.

Believe in the Camp Experience

Posted on by Pam Cobb

You send them to camp because you believe in us

and you believe in them.  The days can crawl by

because you miss them so much.

And you know they are experiencing independence

and doing an amazing job being away from you.

You still miss them. So, what is happening while you are apart?

 

  • Other genuine adults are teaching, caring, laughing and guiding your children.
  • Your children are making independent decisions.
  • The camp community is supporting them with their commitment.
  • They are meeting other children from all over the United States and other countries.
  • Leadership skills are developed every day – whether it is making an announcement for the whole camp or leading the meal as table captain.
  • Resiliency is happening.
  • Self-confidence is increasing.
  • New skills are being honed.
  • Your children learn how to advocate for others and for themselves.

 

The list goes on and on.

And, let’s remember, it’s not always easy. Sometimes there are moments of discomfort. Like when you miss home and it hurts. Or when you try something new you aren’t good at… yet. How about the time you worked on your art project and it didn’t come out the way you wanted it to? Sometimes there are times that aren’t easy. At Camp Runoia, there are people to help pull you out of your unease, to help you see it from a

different perspective, to laugh it off with you.

 

This is camp. This is real. This is building lifelong skills.

And the moment you see them after camp, you can’t believe how they have grown. All of this happened because you believe in them.

 

The Silver LIning of Covid

Posted on by Pam Cobb

I never thought I’d be writing “silver lining” and Covid in the same title. Nearly two years since we learned the name of the virus, we are leaning into our third summer of operating with Covid (endemic rather than pandemic, we hope). Where is the silver lining, you ask?

Okay, here it is. As a seasonal business that really functions and works all year long (10 for 2!), we are MORE connected because of the tools Covid forced us to find using technology. Scoff at the word Zoom or Meet and simultaneously say, “Necessity is the mother of invention”.

My week is like a connect the dots painting (remember those?!) with Zooms and Meets. And, I love it.

Weekly I get the chance to connect with the most amazing people:

  • Monday morning brings our team kick off meeting with our year-round admin team
  • Monday Mark meets with Tim – together they are working on site and facilities
  • Tuesday I Zoom individually with two of our administrative leaders and separately our social media consultant
  • Wednesday we meet with an outside consultant and most industry-wide educational events seem to be scheduled on very large Zooms
  • Thursday I catch up on all the new plans we’ve schemed up and meet with parents
  • Friday we meet with, Nina, our Director of Residential Life

Monthly and Random

  • We meet with 14 Runoia seasonal leaders,
  • I Zoom with the Diversity Advisory Committee
  • The Camp Runoia Alumnae Organization meets every few months
  • The Belgrade business group, the Maine Camp Experience Group and the Maine Summer Camp group all throw in their board meetings, membership meetings and more.
  • Conferences from San Diego to Denver to New England have allowed us to Zoom in and meet
  • And how about those “stay connected to family and friends” Zooms
  • Oh and the weekly 8 am dance party?
  • And reading Harry Potter with a granddaughter (book four since the pandemic started)

And most importantly of all, I have the amazing opportunity to Zoom with families across the globe about camp and meet their daughters and connect about the Runoia experience.

So, yes, Covid has crushed us all in many ways. And interestingly enough, because there usually is a silver lining to every dark cloud, Covid has connected us more through Zoom, Google Meet and technology and an urgency to make connections. See you on a Zoom soon and counting the days to see you in person at Camp!

Love,

Aionur

 

The Essay that Got Me Into College!

Posted on by Pam Cobb


My College Essay – Guest Blog from Dallas White (camper from 2013-2019)

In a quiet place tucked in the wilderness of Belgrade Lakes, Maine lies a sleepaway camp, where every summer 150 girls attend and get to do things they never dreamed about. I was fortunate enough to be one of those girls for 8 summers. As a city girl, I particularly valued this getaway for its peace and serenity. Waking up to the sound of loons instead of an ambulance’s siren was a dream from which I never wanted to wake up. Meeting girls from all over the world, exposed me to many different cultures and experiences

As I was immersed into the camp’s warm community, I began to internalize the camp’s values and how
I now honor them in my own life. The first one being tradition. I never had any big family traditions growing up, so during the summer at camp I looked forward to the traditions of having campfires and singing the songs that correspond, every weekend. I looked forward to having braiding circles every night before going to sleep. Most of all, I looked forward to our annual competitive team games. Sailing regattas, swim races, soccer and softball games, oh my! It was truly always an exciting thing to see. Camp also boosted my confidence by giving me many opportunities to explore and get in touch with my leadership skills from a young age into my high school career.

Being a leader has always been natural to me as I am a very outgoing, outspoken person. At camp, there was never a time I did not want to volunteer to participate in something or be elected to be captain. As team captain, I would organize plays for sports and come up with new events for both teams. I also led my team to three victorious summers in a row, might I add. Though those were low-stakes things, they inspired me to get more active during the year with other leadership positions in my national organization and school. Pre-Covid, I held positions such as Nominating Chair and Recording secretary for my organization Jack and Jill Of America Inc., Very different from each other, as I can say there was no cheering or chanting but required the integrity and proactive skills I once learned at camp. Moving up the ladder, I held the position of Vice President and, in the same year, as President of my school’s Black Student Union, which, although virtual, was nothing short but exciting.

As with being Student Body President for my school and Chapter President for my organization, I have
all these tools in one box that I can take with me wherever I go, with the first stop being: college. I’m ecstatic just thinking about the bigger opportunities to be in leadership roles that I’ll get to experience
these next four years and beyond. The skills that I’ll continue to learn and challenges I’ll experience at university make it all worthwhile. And to think, this all started with a quiet place tucked away in the wilderness of Belgrade Lakes, Maine.

Editors note: Dallas, as you go forth into the world, we hope you’ll return with your many leadership skills to the shores of Great Pond to impress upon others all that you love about camp!

Love, Aionur

 

Is It Runoia? The Olympics? A Top Sporting Goods Company?

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Words like driven, persistent, visionary, powerful – we design for you, fight for you, connect with you, reflect on you and step up our game for you. “We are the change in sports to get more women to the top of their game. “

They sound like a commercial for Camp Runoia! But it is not actually Runoia.  If you’re familiar with this powerful campaign from Dick’s Sporting Goods, it is a media campaign designed by the strong women team created by Lauren Hobart. “Inside Moves” supports girls and women as leaders and competitors. Check out the campaign for some inspiration!

As we kick off the Winter Olympics in Beijing, seven new sports have been created for winter sports – most of them mixed gender. And yet one sport has been added just for women: the Monobob. Why? Men’s already has two and four-person bobsled and women’s’ just has two person – the addition of the Monobob levels the playing field. The idea? One person runs the icy track and tries to get the top speed without crashing. Pretty gutsy.

This reminds us of our own Runoia heroes who had the guts to start a girls’ camp on a lake in Maine, to run a girls camp for near 50 years.

Might we borrow the campaign and shout “Runoia is the change in camps to get more campers to the top of their game. “? We think so!

Love, Aionur

Hear the Buzz! Feel the Stampede!

Posted on by Pam Cobb

We are a buzzing and a stamping here at Camp Runoia. Camp just celebrated its 115th anniversary; a tribute to its enduring values, amazing staff, campers, families and alumnae. Adapting to the world we live in and forging the tools to help our campers grow; this is what has made Camp Runoia a camp leader developing skills in young people to become positive citizens of the world. With 116 spirited years on our banners, we have decided to loop-the-loop on our camp team names and colors and transition to more inclusive names and colors.

For nearly 100 summers, Runoia has been flying the team colors of Blue and White but, let it be known that before 1923, each summer brought with it new team names:  The Hooks and Eyes, The Crickets and Grasshoppers.

Moving forward AND keeping with our traditions of inclusivity and open-minded thinking, the Bees and the Elephants will prevail as new team names with the colors of Indigo and Gray. Yes, we will rewrite old camp songs and we also get to create new ones! The time is now for a change from Go Whites! Go Blues! to the new team names and colors. Existing Blues will be Bees and campers on the White Team will be Elephants.

We, the Year Round administrative team at Runoia, are very excited about this change. With the support of a focus group of trustees from Camp Runoia Alumnae Organization and the support of the Diversity Advisory Committee of the CRAO, we move into 2022 with our new teams.

This change of team names ushers in a new era that we are proud of and believe in – even though it is a change, it feels positive and growth-minded. We have been committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work for summer staff, as well as year round staff with DEI trainings, educational opportunities, conference  sessions and workshops. We have dropped some camp songs, changed some lyrics and written policies and updated our website to be more inclusive. So, new in 2022: Hear the buzz! Feel the stampede!

Bo-bo-ski-waten-dotten to another 115 years of the best summer camp experience… for ALL campers! Go Elephants! Go Bees!

Love, Aionur

With a lot of help from our wonderful President Elect of the CRAO and Canadian Delegate to New England, Great Pond Resident, Runoia Alumnae and all around amazing woman, Marie-Claude Francoeur