One of my first springs in the US I was hanging out with Marsha Cobb at Treetops at Camp Runoia exploring her garden and reveling in how the recently frozen ground was now putting forth many new blooms. Tucked away under some trees she showed me some wild trillium. Not only was it beautiful but also mysterious. It is an elusive and endangered plant that never really grows in the same spot twice. They are technically perennial herbs growing from rhizomes so tend to travel secretly under the soil. I looked for it again the following year only to be disappointed as I was unable to find it.
A couple of years ago by my house I came across some in the woods and dared to transplant a piece (don’t do this at home it is illegal in some states!). The mystery reappeared in my flower bed much to my delight!
Now if only Lady Slippers were not so illusive! I will be waiting for Pam to let me know they have arrived at Camp Runoia in Maine so that I can make my annual visit to see their spring beauty! http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap/about/cypripedium.ht
The mysteries of a Maine spring lead into the majesty of summer! We are counting the days.
Spring time is a happy time at Camp Runoia. It’s basically a celebration! We are excited about the summer season and everyone arriving and getting busy with camp fun. We are busy as bees buzzing around getting buildings spruced up, lawns and trails cleaned up and ordering equipment and supplies for the fun summer ahead.
New in 2014? Lots of things. Among them honey bees! You may have heard a buzz at Runoia and it’s true. We have two bee colonies located in two hives. Both hives are healthy and producing honey and taking care of their queen and producing more honey bees.
Our honey bees will be pollinators for local farmers (as well as our own farm and gardens) and hopefully they will produce honey we can all taste and share at camp! We are learning as we go and with the help of other bee keepers in Maine, we hope to keep our hives alive and healthy!
Honey bees are hard workers and aren’t the type of bees that want to sting people or animals. They are very busy doing their jobs which include guarding the hive, being field bees and pollinators, nursing the queen and other drone activities. If you are worried about a friend who is allergic, we will let you know where the bees are and how to avoid their area! Meanwhile, if you are a bee enthusiast, feel free to share anything with us at Camp Runoia about bees if you’d like to. We are all learning together!
This summer campers can don the bee costumes and learn more about bees. It will be a fun time on the Runoia farm!
We just got back from a big trip to the UK visiting both England and Scotland. It was fun to see a place that I know well through the eyes of my kids. They were amazed by simple things like brick houses and fields full of sheep! To them we had entered a magical new world where people do things differently, talk a bit funny and one that seemed like it was a million miles from home. For me there was a renewed comfort in the familiar culture and ways of life.
At camp you don’t need to go thousands of miles to find a place that has its own unique culture. The Runoia bubble is a magical place where we all feel removed from the world outside. It is filled with traditions and places that are only known to those that attend, they are a mystery to outsiders but as comfortable as an old sweater to those inside. We create traditions that have value and meaning to us some that have persisted through generations of campers others that are more recent yet just as treasured. The things that make our camp special and unique may be small and simple or complex and steeped in tradition. They might include: watching the sunset over the lake at campfire, getting to write your name in the boathouse when you graduate, wearing blue and white and often just simply being a Runoia girl and having a place to belong to.
We value our Runoia culture and quickly welcome in newcomers so that they too may feel the magic. We pass down the traditions that we hold dear and help future generations revere our own special place in the world.
I had an epic parenting fail last weekend – well it seemed so at first but surprisingly it turned into a great learning experience. My eight year old was performing in the last dance competition of the season; I am a pro dance Mom so was kind of casual about the event. I showed up with a half hour to spare only to find out that they were running early and going on in five minutes. My daughter was pretty ready so we slapped on a bit of makeup fixed her hair and that’s when I realized no tap shoes! Ahhhh!! Luckily I am a resourceful camp director type so quickly found a helpful Mom at another studio whose daughters black jazz shoes were almost the right size. Slipped them on and off she went straight on stage. I didn’t freak out or cause a scene (the Mom who showed up late and missed the piece completely did both!) and the show went on. My daughter wasn’t fazed by it at all – her feet did hurt a bit from trying to make the jazz shoes tap but she had fun with her friend’s and we chalked it up to a life experience – you know we will double check the bag every time from now on!
Life lessons show up when you least expect them and provide opportunities to model for our children how to resolve challenges, be gracious and not waste time worrying about things you cannot change. One of the truly great things about camp is that girls get to have real life experiences every minute of the day. Life is generally not always perfect and sometimes you have to just make do with what you have and still make it a great outcome. At camp surrounded by supportive adults and their peer’s girl’s problem solve, create their own solutions and make fun out of pretty much everything! Camp is such a great place to take risks without worrying about failing, to make best friends with people you only met an hour ago and to realize that the show goes on ready or not! It isn’t always perfect but it sure is an awesome lesson in life!
Introducing the Runoia Administrative Team to our Staff
At Runoia we work as a team. We connect daily about campers and families and staff. We like lots of reminders as we have a lot of people to keep track of in our jobs. We like to receive your questions. Contact any of the Director/Admin team and let us know what’s on your mind. If the person you emailed doesn’t know the answer, they will help you find the solution!
You’ll find a lot of other helpful leaders in your activity area when you get to camp. Meanwhile, feel free to email any of us with your questions and/or any concerns or if you’d like to share ideas with us or just say “hi”!
Alex Jackson
Primary responsibility during the summer:
Director of All Programs and Schedules (including your schedule!) Transportation to and from Camp and Staff and Camper Programs
Email: alex@runoia.com Fun Fact: I really like frogs and collected them growing up and now I own a Costa Rican black and green tree frog!
Abby Burbank
Primary responsibility during the summer: Abby joins us this summer as a Summer Resident Director.
She joins our team to help run camp this summer and will focus on Junior End staff guidance and supporting our health care team and program director. Her years of camp experience and serendipity-like timing to join us this summer makes for a great opportunity for Runoia and its families.
Primary responsibility during the summer: Jai lives at camp in the summer and has the pleasure of being the Senior End Coach and Support for Cabin Counselors and this summer she will add: Director to the Runoia Kitchen
Email: jai@runoia.com Fun Fact(s): I have been known to eat an entire watermelon in one sitting!
Gines Satchi
Primary responsibility during the summer: Gines is the summer Director of Program – supporting key leaders to run safe and engaging activities. He is the Director of the Runoia Waterfront ensuring safety and fun on and in the water this summer. Email: gines@runoia.com Fun Fact: I have jumped out of a plane 76 times!
Pam Cobb
Primary responsibility during the summer: Supporting and guiding this amazing team of Runoia Directors. Business management of camp and strategic planning for camp. Come have a K-cup coffee or tea in my office this summer! Email: pam@runoia.com Fun Fact: I am the fourth generation in my family to own and operate a camp in Maine.
Spring in Maine is much revered, how we long for the warmer days where the snow melts and you actually have grass again. It is always somewhat of a surprise as the world has been predominantly white since November so the bright spring green hurts your eyes at first and the colors of the first flowers are vibrant against the brown. It takes a while for the trees to wake up and there are not usually leaves until the middle of May so it really is a practice in patience.
You never quite know when to pack away the boots, snow pants and mittens as an early April snow storm can catch you off guard and send you scurrying back for an extra sweater or a wooly hat. Then just when you are out enjoying the warmth, sunshine and fresh air they descend. You are suddenly surrounded by swarms of tiny, annoying, biting, buzzing insects the Maine black fly! They seem to be a species all of their own only found in the Maine woods with perhaps the Scottish midge as their only living relative! You tolerate them in your desperation to be in the great outdoors, sweeping the driveway, tidying the yard and riding bikes hold too much appeal to be overly bothered by a fly.
Appropriate attire is essential!
Luckily they are gone before June when our staff and campers arrive to camp to be replaced by the less annoying mosquito’s.
I love this recipe for a simple make your own bug repellent I’m going to see if it works on those pesky Maine black flies!
One of the grand moments of going off to camp is feeling independent and having the opportunity to reinvent yourself. At Camp Runoia you have the chance to be a different person than you are in school or in your neighborhood or with your parents.
Fitness is an Integral Part of Camp
I do not imagine any young girls are scheming about this prior to camp. “When I show up at camp, I am going to be a courageous girl who helps others and is always kind and respectful to adults.” Or “I cannot wait to get to camp where I can be the first one up in the morning to help others with their morning chores.” In fact, it’s not something we even bring up with campers. It just happens and most campers reflect on it at some point during the summer.
A transformation occurs when girls come to camp that is purely organic. The tendency is that within a short period of time, girls drop their “baggage” from the school year and leave it somewhere between the parking lot and beginning of the two mile road to camp. Layers of pressure unload or the steam slowly seeps out from the pressure cooker of life.
Within the first few days campers unpack more of their emotional “stuff and become a little more carefree. They try something new without fear of humiliation. They stand up for others without being excluded from groups. As the summer session carries on, more and more of this happens around them and they find that being their true selves is easy and burden-less. Hallelujah!
Camp Runoia, where diversity is celebrated, people are included and valued for who they are and how they grow and what they contribute to the camp community. This leaves a lot of possibility for girls to try being someone else when they get to camp.
Unlike famous 19th century female writers with pseudonyms “nom de plumes”, many who wrote with male names in a male-dominated profession, some campers truly try out a slightly different persona. They try behaving differently and receive speedy feedback in the form of gratitude, attention, cheers, acknowledgment and adding value. This phenomenon may come in the form of a personal victory of getting up in front of a crowd when they
Runoia Riders at All Levels can Excel
have previously had stage fright or they find themself climbing to a high height when they have been scared of heights in the past. It starts with talking in front of a small group when it’s their turn and builds to performing in the talent show. Or climbing a little bit higher on the climbing tower and then trying the Runoia “Dragonfly” zipline at the end of the session.
Small steps to success lead to large distances covered in life.
The daylight stretches into the evening hours now which means summer is just around the bend. We are seeing a lot of parents working hard on their forms for camp. Thank you!
Did you know on your Runoia Camp in Touch (CIT) dashboard you can find all your forms? In addition to the forms we need from you, your dashboard gives you some critical info for planning and packing for overnight sleepaway camp in Maine at Camp Runoia. Between the forms page on your dash board and the www.runoia.com page on FAMILIES, you will find:
There is an explanation of “What to expect on opening day” at Camp Runoia.
You’ll find the official Camp Runoia Packing List.
Check out the options for sending emails to your camper and where you can look at photos posted every 3-4 days during the camp season.
A link to the official outfitter of Camp Runoia – Lands’ End.
Looking for vintage Runoia gear? It’s classic and revered. Go to Amerasport.com and search for Runoia to order your throwback Runoia gear.
The Parent/Family Handbook – this is a handy document to peruse and bookmark for future reference.
The Camp Runoia app is also available on our FAMILIES page. The app allows you to keep in touch with picture posting in the summer, connect with your CIT dashboard and see scenes from around camp.
There’s much much more on your dashboard so be sure to check it out. Just picture us in the Runoia office eagerly awaiting your forms!
The end of February comes quickly with the short calendar month and the longer days in Maine’s winter season. Every day the sun shines longer and brighter and we dream of the days when we hear the screen doors slam, girls voices in laughter, song and friendship.
So much happens at camp.
Wilderness Trips Build Lifelong Skills
There’s growth and learning, building of lifelong skills in activities and receiving support to navigate independently within the community of camp. Other aspects:
Becoming your personal best
Finding friends and building relationships throughout the summers of youth and beyond.
Working through the agony of defeat and experiencing the glory of trying something for the first time.
Guiding our Runoia campers are dedicated youth professionals; coaching, supporting, and making campers laugh when they thought they were going to cry. Basically camp counselors become the adults campers treasure and look up to for years to come. Counselors focus on campers building skills, increasing self-esteem, learning to advocate and being the “stand up girl”. They also create a lot of laugh-out-loud moments in the process.
Skill Building at Camp Runoia…… Happens All Day Long
Our parents are thankful Runoia is so much more than s’mores and fun. Sure we have that going on, but, the depth of camp: learning about yourself and what you contribute to the whole, intentional youth development and life skill building is farther afield for your every day camp program.
One parent sent me an email and this link this week:
A letter to a daughter which applies to all young girls and woman – so perfectly written and seems to fit with the Camp Runoia way so wanted to pass it on:
When I read Dr. Flanagan’s letter to his daughter I had to share as he so eloquently expressed the message my husband and I hope our 14-year-old daughter and 16 and 18-year-old sons live by. I only hope my husband and I are teaching these lessons daily by our example. I am a bit disheartened at the direction corporate culture has taken, not only increasing these societal expectations on young girls but also more recently targeting young boys as well. The eternal optimist in me knows we have wonderful examples all around our children – teachers, neighbors, camp counselors, scientists… to name a few. We simply need to help our children and ourselves understand these are the people we need to emulate rather then the false role models created by corporate marketers.
This week Camp Runoia recognizes National Eating Disorder week. We encourage parents to take stock in the Runoia parent’s declaration (above). Also:
Explore resources with your children that include media literacy*, including awareness of advertising and marketing manipulation of girls (and boys).
Help your children to understand how they are marketed toward to “fit in”, “feel good about themselves” and the falseness this perpetuates at the risk of their own youth and their self esteem.
Leadership Skills Happen at Every Age Group at Runoia
Hats off to camps around the nation that delve a little deeper into the camp experience; to the camps practicing 21st century skill building, youth development and creating communities to belong to without fear of prejudice, exclusive cliques, look-ism or humiliation.
Thanks to our Camp Runoia parent who brought Dr. Flanagan’s letter to our attention enabling us to share with our camp community, peers and professionals in camp.
And, finally, how many days before we are back in our camp “bubble” where our girls can take pressure off themselves, rub a little dirt in their palms and grow into the young people they will become? Not too many – its nearly noon and the sun is still high in the late February sky!
*www.hghw.org is a girl-serving organization teaching media literacy and much more – check it out!
The short days and cold temperatures of a Maine winter leave lots of time for indoor activities that we don’t usually pursue during the busier seasons. More time for catching up with books we have wanted to read, playing games and often at our house there is also a jigsaw puzzle on the go.
It takes up space on a not often used desk or counter top and may sit there for weeks as we try to fit it together. Everyone in the family takes turns with it, sometimes pouring over it for hours at other times just putting in one or two pieces that caught our eye. We may all work on it together or take solitary time to figure a part out. These days we are up to 500 – 1000 pieces of fairly complex pictures, not too challenging for the little ones and engaging enough for the grown-ups. The puzzle may get left for days at a time with no solution seeming possible or too many pieces of the same color being too confusing and yet with time and perhaps a different set of eyes someone finds a piece that starts a fresh interest and more of the solution appears.
We know and trust that there is a solution and despite the fact that it sometimes seems impossible every piece has a place and will fit in perfectly. We never quit or put it away until it is complete because we believe that we can do it someday. It doesn’t matter who does the most work or who can fathom a particularly intricate part and we rarely remember who had the pleasure of fitting the last piece.
The end product is really irrelevant, it is the journey that we take to get there, the quiet work we do together or alone, the challenges and frustrations that we must overcome to find what we need and the ultimate satisfaction in a job well done.
As the days get longer the puzzles are forgotten and gather dust in the back of the closet yet the lessons they taught us and the time we enjoyed together resolving them become a cherished part of our memories.
