Category: Camp Traditions

Belgrade Lakes – the Foodie Town in Central Maine

Posted on by Pam Cobb

With more people living in Central Maine, the demand for quality take-out and restaurants has grown as well. Over the years Central Maine’s population has grown and sophisticated pallets have grown with the influx of people “from away”.

With our new hospital, Maine General, attracting physicians and health care workers from far away, more retirees have been attracted to our recreational area, many skiers drive through to Sugarloaf on Rt. 27 and the fact that people have made the Belgrade Lakes region their second home. During the pandemic, many people have worked from home and stayed in Maine after the summer.

The influence of Portland, Maine restaurants movement to farm to table and sustainable food sources, local breweries and oyster and sea-agriculture, has influenced Central Maine as well. Belgrade restaurants like The Village Inn and Tavern source local food, grass fed beef, meat without hormones and antibiotics and locally brewed beer. Hello Good Pie, bakery, café and meals to go, prepares quality food with locally sourced dairy, meat, vegetables and fruit as part of their everyday fare.

Of course, if you’re searching for that comfort food, there is always the Sunset Grill, Spiro’s Gyros, the local hot dog stand on the way to the transfer station and even the 5-star Belgrade Lakes Golf Course serves everything from a dog to a lobster roll.

In summer the Belgrade Farmer’s Market is a place to see and be seen. Many people arrive by boat to the 7 Lakes Alliance docks where the market opens every Sunday from mid-June until harvest season is over in the fall.

Many of our parents will be driving their daughters to camp this summer. You may be one of them! As you prepare for your trip to Maine, make sure to include a stop in Belgrade Lakes to experience our Foodie
Town.  Finish off your tour of tasting at The Dairy Bar for a Gifford’s cone and call it a good day!

Women History Month!

Posted on by Pam Cobb

March Blog

Women’s History is celebrated in the month of March. The 1925 Camp Runoia Log was dedicated to the founders of camp – Lucy Weiser and Jessie Pond. The quotes next to Miss Pond’s photo in the log reads, “Grace was in her step, in every gesture dignity and love” and next to Miss Weiser, “Society, friendship, and
love Divinely bestowed upon man.”

These two women had the vision to start a camp for girls. In 1907 they opened Camp Runoia for the first summer. They were courageous and resourceful and certainly are smiling upon us as we begin our 115th consecutive summer of Camp Runoia for girls.

We celebrate Lucy and Jessie during women’s history month and all the years they dedicated to bringing girls and women together on the shores of Great Pond for growth, adventure, friendship and more.

Check out more about Runoia history and the women whose legacy families have helped camp to continue operating on our Runoia family tree section.

So many women have accomplished so many things in this world. If you’d like to dive a little further into Women’s history, check out the US library of congresses resources on women’s history in the United States including women related to arts, culture, government and politics, historic places, women and war, women rights and women’s suffrage, women in science, women in business and more.

Here’s a great resource for teachers for lessons, images, data and research from the library of congress.

Find out more about the 14th Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library, nominated by President Barak Obama in February of 2016 and confirmed by the senate 6 months later.

And realize the #runoiagals were pioneers of owning a business that allowed girls to do what so many boys were able to do – get out of the city, connect with others in camp

Love,

 

Aionur

 

 

….love Aionur

Posted on by Alex

In the past couple of weeks, birthday postcards and enrollment welcome notes have been flying out of the Runoia mailbox by the dozen . How fun it is to send them and hopefully they are received joyfully with a glimpse of a warm, camp summer accompanying them. In our virtual world it’s fun to get something tangible in the mail. It’s personal just for you and reminds each of us that we are being thought about even when we are not at camp. For new campers it may be their first connection to a person at camp soon to be followed by pen pal letters and begins their relationship with Runoia that is separate to their parents.

For alums and returning campers it’s part of the magic of Runoia. The notes don’t come from a particular person; they just come from camp. From the place you call your summer home, from the memories and magic that Camp Runoia holds for you.

I often wonder when the signing off of mail from camp as  ‘Aionur’ started. Maybe our Camp Runoia Alumnae Organization has some secret intel about the tradition and who instigated it. I chuckle a little thinking about new families scratching their heads trying to figure out who the note is from. Sometimes they get a clue, other times there’s a confused email saying they aren’t sure who this person is but they appreciated the note and will they meet them at camp?

When sending mail to camp friends, many campers may sign off with ‘Bobo’s’ a reminder of our camp cheer and that you are loved and appreciated by your camp family. Back when camp was a little smaller girls received a departing ‘bobo’ individually as they left camp at the end of the summer.

These traditions though seemingly small keep us connected to each other and to our summer home. We can’t wait to be back with all of our Camp Runoia family and hope to see many return for the reunion this summer, maybe we will get to the bottom of the Aionur history mystery then.

See you on Great Pond.

Love Aionur

Camp Runoia – overnight camp is a hot commodity

Posted on by Alex

We may be in the sparkly depths of winter here in Maine but many people’s minds are on the summer and planning for a season of camp. Overnight camp is a hot commodity this year. Many children missed the opportunity last summer and are longing to get back to nature and friends at their summer home away from home. While there is hope that the pandemic situation will be a little more resolved by June we also have the realization that mass vaccination and development of herd immunity is going to take a good while to accomplish.  We need some hope and fun to look forward to. In some States teachers are slated to be vaccinated soon and there is potential that kids may get back in school before the end of the year but other places lag behind and virtual or hybrid school continues with little end in sight. We are holding out for an awesome summer and are ready to jump right in to camp life!

Camp has the unique opportunity to create a healthy, fun, in person environment where we can spend as much time as possible outdoors and can participate in all kinds of activities, in real life with other people. Our success last summer proved that we can navigate covid protocols and that while it may look a little different to how camp operated in 2019 it is still spectacularly Runoia. If you are curious about our adaptations last summer you can check them out here.

I have spoken with families from California to NY whose children have been in virtual school since last March. Little interaction with peers, no sports or after school activities along with  isolation from places and people that they love has been hard for everyone. Regular family vacations and summer plans are also looking unlikely for this year as travel still remains challenging and there is a great deal of uncertainty about how open States will be. This recent New York Times article sums up the challenges  that parents are currently facing.

Camps in Maine are filling up faster than ever, and Runoia is already almost at capacity. Already signed up are our campers that navigated camp successfully in 2020, those that took a leap year and are excited to be returning, new families that are ready for the opportunity and a myriad of girls that want to get out on their own for some summer fun. Full season spaces are at an all time high as other summer opportunities are currently limited and it seems like once you get to camp it’s the best place to stay for the summer. We are not kidding when we email and tell you there are just one or two spaces left in a cabin and if you want them sign up today!

‘Masks up lets go’ and get enrolled for the best summer ever!

To Trip or Not to Trip

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Yes, let’s Trip! A trip at Camp Runoia is about getting outside on a wilderness camping trip (adventure, journey). Last summer, with the new uncertainty of the pandemic, we stuck close to home and did not make plans to go off campus.

This summer, we are keen to run low-risk out of camp trips to beautiful remote places where we will not be interacting with other people. Camp trip programs are a great opportunity for social distancing, being outside and with the help of hand sanitizer, doing it all quite safely.

Ask any alumnae of Runoia what her camp experience entailed and she will pipe up about a trip. We remember the funny things, the hard things, the team work, the adventure and being in some of the most beautiful places in the world. Moments become memories: that sense of achievement of working hard to climb a mountain, to paddle 8 miles, the joy of cooking your own food (and yes, it does taste better when you cook it yourself), taking a sunset swim in a sandy cove, learning how to purify water and the importance of packing your belongings properly.

Many leadership opportunities and life skills arise from taking trips. Is it the most comfortable sleep you’ve ever had- probably not! But we learn in life there are compromises. Deep in the chill of winter we dream to get out on the trail and out on the Maine lakes. Yes, without a doubt, let’s trip!

Building life skills through adversity

Posted on by Alex

Building life skills is what we do at Camp Runoia. Little did we know that 2020 would test the skills that we had and encourage us to go far out of our comfort zone to develop new ones. We learned so much about ourselves, our campers and about the meaning and power of camp through being resilient  and adapting.

Looking back now we are grateful for the opportunity that a covid summer presented us to. We had to be flexible, grow, reconsider how we have always done things and be willing to modify, change and adapt in an instant. It turned out to be an amazing all be it exhausting summer and one that will certainly go down in the history books of Runoia.

     Takeaways from summer 2020:

  • We practiced doing hard things and did them well
  • We stopped sweating the small stuff
  • We learned new skills and revisited old ones that we hadn’t had time for
  • We reassessed what had value to us
  • We were more appreciative of the people and activities that we missed
  • It’s was OK to let some traditions go and know you can come back to them
  • We adapted and were flexible under ever changing circumstances
  • We used a growth mindset to challenge what we had done in the past and make it viable for the current situation
  • If you ask people will show up to help in ways you may not have thought of
  • You have to make the most of the moment in time that you have
  • Time with family is valuable but you need your friends too!
  • It may not be what you imagined but it can still be spectacular
  • Nature just keeps doing it’s thing. Sunset on the lake is beautiful.
  • Community comes in many forms, when we support each other we are all stronger
  • We maximized the opportunities that we did have rather than lamenting the ones that we didn’t
  • We had an amazing  summer on Great Pond that we never could have imagined   

As the year comes to a close we have deep gratitude for all that we have and look forward to 2021 with joy and eager anticipation. Happy New Year to our Runoia family, see you on Great Pond.

5 year Camp Runoia blankets

Posted on by Alex

 

Nights in Maine are very chilly, already there is a decent amount of snow on the ground and the dark settles in early. Evenings are perfect for a board game or cuddling up on the couch with a good book. Having the right blanket to snuggle up with is a crucial accessory. There are so many around to choose from,  a multitude of soft and fluffy ones, the scratchy woolen one to be avoided and the most popular recent addition a cozy sherpa fleece.

My favorite is my Runoia 5 year blanket, it’s a decent fleece, medium weight and a little old these days but it carries with it the warmth of summer. Amazing that a blanket can hold the memories of years on Great Pond.  The lifetime friendships, the hundreds of girls,  the joys and laughter all wrapped up in Runoia blue. 

Getting your 5 year blanket is a big deal for campers and staff, it represents your commitment to the place you have called your summer home, it’s an achievement, a milestone and a celebration. They are much anticipated and presented at cotillion on the last night of the season. You also get to be in the log photos for 5 years or more. You can’t purchase them and you only get one so need to take care of it reverently.

New 5 years in 2020
5 years or more in 2020

More than that achievement though it is the reminder of your summers you when you are not at camp. The blanket stays with you when you are at home in the winter or have long moved on from the shores of Great Pond. It elicits your Runoia a fond reminder of those long summer days. Maybe it gets pushed to the back of a closet for a while, or ends up in your dorm room at college. Perhaps it’s turns up in a carefully shipped package from your childhood home to you when you start your own life in a new place. Could be the dog steals it to curl up on or a younger sibling uses it for fort building. As time goes on it may get a little wash worn or frayed around the edges but it still has a warmth that only Runoia can provide. Alumnae still talk about their blankets and bring them back when they return as staff or attend a reunion.

We hope that there will be many more Runoia blankets to hand out. Celebrating 5 years at Runoia is so much more than receiving your camp blanket. We want all of our summer family to feel the warmth and love of camp the whole year through.

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.

We Rejoice in Phase Two!

Posted on by Pam Cobb

In the midst of a global pandemic, our responsibility to the health of our campers and staff, the greater Belgrade Lakes community and campers and staff families, home towns and cities is paramount.

With the results of negative testing at camp, we have rolled out phase !! of our summer. Campers’ household groups expand to at least twice the size, more time is spent with more people without face coverings, and camp is rolling along with activities, surprises memorable moments, face to face connections problem solving, beautiful sunsets and fun. Our careful plan to methodically increase concentric circles for contact tracing is in play.

Due to our cautious roll out of phases, we feel confident by next week we will be able to move into phase III for our final week of camp. Campers’ households will expand to include entire neighborhoods and as in Runoia culture, girls of different ages will be interacting and playing together. Campers will be able to “tag up” for activities and daily camp life will be much more like normal.

We will consider CRH a success when every camper and every staff member returns home safely with memories of playing tennis, swimming in Great Pond, water skiing, horseback riding, connecting with new friends and meeting up with old camp pals become subjects of school essays and college applications.

Meanwhile, our gratitude to the families who believed in us and the hard work of staff at Runoia who are making this possible is enormous. In the camp time warp, every day feels like a week and every week a month. hundreds of things happen in one day and life feels full. We linger on the moments created and take stock in the memories to hold.

Sincerely, Aionur

 

Camp Fairs – marketing the best sleep away camp!

Posted on by Alex

This week I have been on the road a bunch marketing camp both to prospective campers and potential staff. It is always interesting to consider what to say about Camp Runoia when you literally have a few seconds to make an impression and are hosted in a room full of other incredible programs. Why choose Runoia as a asleep away camp option when you can go Llama hiking in the mountains or get advanced school credit for an academic immersion program?

Camp fairs are a way for families and prospective staff to get an immersion into all of the opportunities that are available. The variety and diversity of camp programs just here in Maine is immense and there certainly is something for everyone. Camp fairs are typically in a gym or student center and have attendance of 50-100 programs. While it is fun to see camp colleagues we all know that we are all trying to make the connection with attendees to share our information and get some traction.

Most all of the programs in attendance at camp fairs have eye catching displays, fun giveaways and are staffed by great personable camp folk. It’s hard to stand out from the crowd and also to connect with the people that really are the best match for your program. The 7 year old boy wandering by trying to score a free pen is certainly not a Runoia camper but maybe he has a sister! In these days of social media and everyone googling and searching online it is fun to connect in real time with real people.

So what does make Runoia different? We are a small camp with an intimate family feel and as one of the oldest girls camps in the country we truly live the history and tradition of youth camping. Runoia creates a space for girls to be their best selves in a safe supportive community and allows campers to explore their interests and talents in a low stress environment. Runoia girls find their summer home away from home and make life long friends while building life skills.

We are still happy to send out material by mail if you would like a camp brochure! It is always a treat to stop by the tiny Belgrade Lakes Post Office to send out camp mail even in the winter.