Author: Pam Cobb

Update from Camp April 29, 2020

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Dear Runoia Families and our “Runoia Family”,

Here is our weekly update bring April to a close with a hint of some great news:

Our Maine Governor, Governor Janet Mills, with the Director of Maine CDC, Dr. Shah, presented a press conference yesterday. These two have given us hope and as clear as possible messages in these unprecedented times. The great news is with strict practices, Maine has been flattening the curve over the past few weeks. Yesterday’s press conference was a detailed plan about the roll out phases of restarting the Maine community with public health and safety being a priority. You can find more details on the Maine plan here.

Governor Mills put resident summer camps in phase 3 of the roll out plan. This means, if everything goes to the standards her team has set, we will be able to open Camp Runoia in July! This would mean we are looking and hoping for the 2nd contingency plan of camp we mentioned in the April 15 update here. In short, we open camp in July for 2 shorter sessions and full season campers may attend camp both sessions.

As you can imagine the over 100 Maine resident summer camps have been waiting for guidelines so we can make decisions about camp that make sense. The plan and partial mandates given yesterday (including a stay at home order extended through May 31 and 14 day quarantine upon entering the state) leaves us with a lot of questions. Fortunately, we have Maine Summer Camps Executive Director, Ron Hall and the Executive Board meeting with the governor’s task force as soon as tomorrow to get more answers to our many questions. We have a camp “Town Hall” on Friday and hope to receive more clarity.

As soon as we have more information and can set dates and parameters for travel and more, we will be in touch.  We realize this is an ever evolving and dynamic situation. We appreciate your hope, support and patience.

Meanwhile, we continue to lay out health and safety plans for our current employees, our equine team, our local Belgrade Lakes tradespeople (from plumbers to wifi specialists) to keep them safe as we ramp up camp in preparation for the 2020 season. We take the health and safety of our campers, our camp families, our employees and local business families very seriously.

From Great Pond, we send you love and a “wadas”. We will continue to update you in a transparent manner as soon as possible.

 

For the Whole Runoia Crew,

Pam

A Mid-Week Update from Runoia April 22

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Hi Runoia Families,

We are thinking of you and sending our love.

No breaking news here. As we mentioned last week, we are waiting for a few more weeks to lay out the final plans for the summer. Meanwhile, this week has been a focus on increasing and building our health team and health plans/systems including mental health and support for our Runoia community at camp this summer. A series of Fine Maine Days has helped our maintenance crew clean up after the winter snow and wind storms, build beds and dressers, and smile as the daffodils reach toward the sun.

Happy Earth Day

Today Natalie’s baking show is Dirt Pudding! So appropriate for Earth Day 🙂 Find it on the Runoia YouTube channel at 4 pm.

Tonight’s Evening Program is Talent Show. The show will be emceed by Zoe! Last minute acts can be submitted to Zoecrawley@gmail.com – she will try to fit you in.

Zoe is inviting you to Camp Runoia’s Virtual Talent Show

Time: Apr 22, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9194214302?pwd=R2EyRXkzaHEzUG5yQmk4T3BEeE4rZz09

Meeting ID: 919 421 4302
Password: Runoia!Fun

Take care and be well,

Pam and the Runoia Team

Camp Runoia’s COVID-19 Mid-Week Update for April 15

Posted on by Pam Cobb

I speak for all of us at Runoia when I say we are thinking of all of you during another week of self-quarantine and social distancing. We know you are continuing to do your best during this challenging time. Our hearts go out to families and others outside of our camp community who have been directly impacted by the pandemic. Additionally, we cheer for our heroes on the front lines; alumnae and current staff who are EMTs, doctors, nurses, PAs, therapists, caretakers, scientists, firefighters, police and paramedics – we cheer you every day with a big “Bo Bo” from Runoia.

As you have been following the news and reading articles about schools, sports and festivals being postponed or canceled, we know you are also thinking through the scenarios of camp this summer. We wanted to share with you what our current thinking is and know that twelve weeks from now is a long time considering what has transpired in the past few weeks.

Every day I talk, work and plan with Alex. We are meeting regularly with people from our camp organizations and with our camp director peers.  We are following the CDC and governors’ announcements. The American Camp Association is convening a panel of experts including the US CDC, American Board of Pediatrics, and the Camp Nursing Association to help us implement best practices for operating camp safely this summer.

Meanwhile, we are building our own best practices, developing new health and hygiene protocols, planning safe programming for camp and working to open on Great Pond this summer for Runoia’s 114th season. Camper and staff safety is our highest priority. Camp Runoia is a community bigger than any one person, a place where being unique while simultaneously belonging, an experience that builds life skills and s a long time partner with families.

We expect to make and communicate decisions about this summer’s camp schedule by the middle of May. Since information and guidance is changing daily, we feel it is still too soon to make the best decisions about this summer. However, here are the three scenarios we can envision at this time:

Our first and best case scenario is that we may be able to open as scheduled with new best practices.

A second scenario is we may open a little later and still run modified length sessions; following best practices and health and hygiene protocols.

Finally, if we are forced to not open camp, Camp Runoia will be there in its biggest Blues and Whites for everyone in 2021. We will provide 2020 graduating seniors the chance to come together to have their special time. In the unimaginable event that camp does not open this summer, our aim is to partner with you regarding the financial implications of this pandemic.

We are proceeding with the intent of camp opening in late June. These scenarios may raise other questions for you and we are here for you. Feel free to reach out to pam@runoia.com or alex@runoia.com or call camp #207-495-2228

The online and virtual connections with all of you through Facebook Live campfires, Zoom Mostest Evening Programs, Youtube activities, and more has been energizing for us.

Thanks for your support and outreach.

Thinking of everyone and cheering you on!

Pam
For the Runoia Team

Make it a Magic Monday

Posted on by Pam Cobb
Monday Morning Greetings from Runoia

Hello folks and families!  We hope you had a good weekend and had the chance to get outside. Today, we are going for “magic” Monday. We will continue to update you about camp mid-week on Wednesdays. These updates are also posted on our camp blog here.

Today there is no “breaking news” to report.  We continue to be hopeful about the summer season. We are working with the Maine CDC, American Camp Association, Maine Summer Camps and other professional organizations to make plans for a safe summer.

With the early “ice-out” on Great Pond posted on April 7th, we are looking forward to another summer of comfy lake temperatures to play and learn in and on our favorite lake.

Weekly Events – connect with camp NOW:

Campfire: Last night’s campfire (live stream on Runoia’s FB) theme was Laughter. Next week the theme will be Heroes. Tune in at 7 pm on the Runoia FaceBook page.
Afterschool Camp Activities: learn how to make whoopie pies, pipe cleaner rings with Abbie, macramé bracelets with Alex and K and an assortment of other crafts and science projects! Find us on the Runoia YouTube Channel.
Evening Program – this week on Wednesday night @ 7 pm, Barb will emcee the now famous “MOSTEST” EP. Categories will be coming to your inbox for your family to prepare. Costumes encourages. Join the MOSTEST Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 919 421 4302
contact pam@runoia.com for the password
We love seeing your forms coming in for the summer. The more you do now, the less the final push will be as we move toward summer. The link to get on your Camp-in-Touch dashboard is here.

Spread kindness,

Pam and Alex
For the Runoia Team

Update from Camp Runoia

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Greetings and an Update from Camp!

It’s been a long and busy week for all since we last checked in.  We wait with patience as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to change our lives and routines.  Our hearts go out to those directly affected and also to our brave health care workers and first responders, including many of our alumnae and parents, who are on the front line. We are thinking of all of you and hope our activities help bring joy and laughter to your lives.

Stay tuned here over the next few weeks for news from camp. As of now, we are staying the course for summer 2020.
_________________________

New this week is: All Family EP This THURSDAY NIGHT

MOSTEST Emceed by Barb!
Time: Thursday Apr 9, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9194214302?pwd=R2EyRXkzaHEzUG5yQmk4T3BEeE4rZz09

Meeting ID: 919 421 4302
Password: contact pam@runoia.com for the password or search your inbox for “Update from Camp Runoia” sent 4.8.2020

  • The object of the game is for each team to prepare the following categories:

best team name
best team cheer
best team uniform
oldest team (add up all the ages of team members)
longest hair
years at Runoia
weirdest talent
best celebrity impression
most letters in full name
best gentle-est lullaby sung by a team
best dance moves
wackiest pet
coolest socks being worn by a team member
most flexible team member

  • Judges will award points and the team with the most points wins!
    _________________________

Campfire on FB Live every Sunday night at 7 pm
Our April 12th Campfire theme is LAUGHTER. Send your song requests to Alex alex@runoia.com

As a thanks to Barb for her awesome song “Lava” at last week’s campfire on Earth, attached is a coloring sheet from Mulan!
_________________________

Runoia’s After School Activities can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY3ncji0tZIAnWRW11ldYsw

You may have tuned in to try everything from friendship bracelets to Congo bars recently. Here’s a reminder of this week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 4 pm EST – Duct Tape wallets, Whoopie Pies and CJ’s egg osmosis)

and next week’s list to help you get your supplies ready:

April 13th, Monday – Flower Rings with Abbie – supplies – 4 pipe cleaners
April 15th, Wednesday – Macramé Bracelets with Alex & K – supplies – tape, scissors, 2 different color nylon craft string (not embroidery floss but nylon string which is thicker)
April 17th, Friday – Toilet Paper Tube Projects with Callie – supplies – toilet paper roll tubes, tape, colored paper, markers

Shout out to Jen for organizing the activities and “bobos” to all the Runoia staff who are leading activities.
_________________________

Please know we are loving you from camp. We appreciate those of you who have completed your forms on your Camp-in-Touch dashboard. Thank You!

We are busy working on everything from current programming, maintenance, summer program, plans for new health check in and health readiness systems at camp, finalizing staff hiring and preparing for an awesome and safe summer on Great Pond.

To our families who celebrate the upcoming holidays, we wish you a Happy Passover and Easter. To all we send peace and calm.

With love,

Pam and Alex
For the Runoia Team

Camp More Than Ever

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Dear Runoia Families,

We all know things are changing day to day, moment by moment. Camp and the camp community continue to be an anchor for many of our campers, alumnae and staff.  We care about you and your families. We are connecting with campers and staff online and it feels good to all of us.

What we are doing now:

Our Team: We continue to plan, hire, maintain camp, order supplies and prepare to open safely. Over a dozen Runoia staff are remotely planning online programming for the upcoming weeks.

Afterschool Activities: We are offering online camp activities on our YouTube channel. New releases every Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 4 pm EST. This week: Faux Stained Glass, Making Congo Bars and Basic Horse Grooming. Next week new projects and experiences from Barb, Callie and Alex. Jen is working on a scavenger hunt and/or crossword puzzle from the camp “logs”. Stay tuned!

Campfire: We are broadcasting on Facebook Live Sunday night at 7 pm. Join in!

April/May:

We think that by the early to middle part of May, we will know a lot more about what the summer holds for us and the timing of the start of camp. We realize we may have to be flexible with camp start and end dates, lengths of sessions, new health check in protocols, etc. We will continue to send you messages as we make decisions. We will work with families on transportation needs and challenges as needed. Meanwhile, it feels like April will be a long month – we will be in touch often.

Final Thoughts:

Camp is a place where campers are able to be themselves and connect with others.  The importance of camp has never been more real. It is a safe place for campers to unplug and come together to learn life skills and feel part of something bigger than themselves. Summer camps may, in fact, be one of the safest places for any child to be this summer, since they are generally protected, remote and closed environments with resident health professionals.

We believe in our mission statement now more than ever:

“Building lifelong skills and empowering campers and staff to live

in harmony with themselves, each other, and with nature.”

Be safe and stay healthy, wash your hands and best wishes for your shelter in place experience for the next days.

Until we meet (online) again,

Pam and Alex

 

Update from Camp Runoia

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Greetings from Great Pond
Our thoughts are with all of you during these unprecedented times; especially those with family members and loved ones who are affected by COVID-19 and the resulting global economic situation.

We see our own family members managing well after one week with no school. We hear about other people in high spirits and many people are working hard to be kind, be patient and help each other out. We know there will be challenges as more time is spent at home and we hope our camp families will look forward to camp as a welcome change.

Camp 2020
We plan to open camp in 3 months for the 2020 season. Camp is about connections and friendships, community, thinking of others, building lifeskills and it is fun. Camp is a place where children can unplug and take a break from the uncertainty that surrounds us now. Fresh air and activities in small groups at camp is looking like a good antidote for 2+ more months of home school and working from home.

Although we all feel the uncertainty and realize that things are changing day to day, we hope for stabilization over the next few months. We will keep you updated as often as possible as we approach camp opening.

We are working daily to refine how we operate camp in a new normal with best practices of making sure people arrive to camp healthy and keeping people healthy while at camp. We have already secured a number of new sanitization devices and health supplies through our vendors for the summer. We have a seasoned health team prepared to dive in to help everyone arrive safely and stay healthy at camp. We have experience from H1N1 (summer 2007) of running camp while also safely monitoring and quarantining girls and staff as needed. We hope to be virus free and we also want to be realistic and prepared. We have experience and we feel confident we can handle this.

We are planning as we normally do this time of year: finalizing hiring, developing staff training, planning our programs, answering questions, and continuing all the precamp work we have been doing since last August.

Summer Plans
We are managing travel challenges for Runoia staff overseas, as visa processing is on hold. To address this challenge, we have alumnae offering to teach at camp this summer to fill in any gaps in activity coverage. We know we will be staffed well to run fantastic program, as usual, at Runoia.

We are staying informed and flexible through the pandemic to make sure we are making decisions in the best interest of Runoia families and balancing that with our continued operations. We recognize that we may need to be flexible about the date camp opens. For now, we are sticking with June 25 and July 18 (plus HLC camp dates, June 25, July 5, July 18). We will do our best to accommodate families’ travel changes and atypical travel plans, such as pickup days and timing changes.

We will continue to follow the best practices and expert guidance for this summer. We will do everything possible to help families figure out how to get their healthy children to camp. We will work with you to manage the uncertainty and support you every way we can.

Happening Now
Many of our Runoia staff who are teachers are sharing their ideas with us and we hope to have an online “connected camp” in the next few weeks to help campers with the long hours spent at home. We will keep you updated about our after school online connected camp and activities through CampMinder letters to your inbox as well as Facebook and Instagram. Tonight we will stream a Facebook Live Sing-a-long with “K” on guitar and Alex accompanying at 7 pm EST!  We will have a sing-a-long campfire – look for a Zoom invitation later this week. 

With a “Bo Bo and Wadas”,

Pam and Alex
For the Runoia Team

Out on the blue waves where summer breezes blow
Our boats go sailing into sunset’s glow
We leave the shoreline, to realms of dreams we go
Out to the center of the lake where breezes blow

P.S. Recorded camp songs can be found on our website

Happiness and Smiles

Posted on by Pam Cobb

From my friend Joy, posted on Runoia’s blog with Joy’s permission:

COVID-19 and Happiness- A Strategy For Everyone

Mother Teresa said “peace begins with a smile.” Researchers report the facial muscles used in creating the simple act of smiling triggers special brain neurotransmitters that release endorphins and immune boosting T-cells. In fact, the simple act of smiling lowers our stress hormone called cortisol, and produces hormones that stabilize our blood pressure, improve our respiration, reduce our pain level, relaxes our muscles, speeds up our healing, lowers our chance of depression, and creates a change to stabilize our entire mood.
Did you know that it takes 62 muscles to frown and only 26 muscles to smile… so then why don’t smile more often?
Resilient people know the importance of taking positive actions to enhance their mental status. Would you like to practice a simple goal and watch its powerful effects during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Goal: Commit to 5 smiles a day.

Keep a record of incidents during the day that make you smile. Interestingly, you will notice that the sheer fact of changing your focus and “looking” for things that make you smile, will actually stimulate you to witness increasing items that make you smile. Give it a try !

Copywrite: Joy Miller, PhD, LCPC, MAC

An Update from Runoia

Posted on by Pam Cobb

We are thinking of anyone who is ill and in self-quarantine or hospitalized. We are sending positive thoughts to loved ones, family and friends.

We are well aware that everyone’s every day lives have been turned upside down. Camp Runoia has preserved through other outbreaks (H1N1, SARS, polio) as well as WW1 and WWII and more recent wars. We will forge forward!

We are also monitoring the CDC, following guidelines, and in touch with other resources that have been extremely helpful including our parents who are doctors, our local health team, our insurance company, and food and supply purveyors; we are ready for camp 2020.

The Maine CDC has this info to help understand transmission of COVID-19 and also help lessen the spread of the virus.

Our basic preparedness: requesting no one arrive at camp if they have a fever, pre-camp reach out to families about any illness at home or exposure, our check in systems at camp with new protocols including temperature checks, being outside a lot of the day and frequent hand washing. We are feeling prepared and will continue to respond to new information and recommendations.

Be safe. Stay active. Get sleep. De-stress. Cover your cough. Help others. Practice Social Distancing. Wash your hands!

Message from Camp Runoia

Posted on by Pam Cobb

We research. We monitor. We plan.

Wilderness camping never looked so good!
 
It is just a few months until camp opens and the COVID-19 virus causes many to wonder what might be different about camp this summer. For more immediate plans, families are deciding now about March and April breaks and whether they will need to reschedule a vacation or make other plans. Yesterday, many college students were asked not to return from spring break until scientists have a better understanding about containment and prevention.
 
We are confident we will be in a more stable situation in a couple of months. We are closely monitoring the CDC guidelines and already have new protocols for arrival.  We have systems for sanitizing, we have supplies and we are prepared for temperature checks.
 
Once camp gets started we are in a great position to keep everyone healthy. We have skills for practicing good hygiene and teaching life skills from hand washing to cough covering to sanitizing.  We have confidence in our systems, our partnering with parents and our remote location. We are also realistic and so we watch and learn and implement change as necessary.
 
To all our families and friends, we wish you the best for staying healthy and caring for your loved ones, maintaining productivity and continuing education as we stand strong and wash our hands.