Perseverance at Camp Runoia by MJ Parry

Posted on July 20, 2017March 29, 2018 by Pam Cobb

Wow! It’s hard to believe we are already in our last days of First Session in “Harmony Land”. The days are so full that we often hear a girl say when talking about the day, “Did that really just happen this morning?!?” Our daily schedule continues to be filled with girls trying new things, having fun, and achieving their goals, and of course we have the special “end of session” traditional celebrations that have begun.

As many of you know, we do an assembly each morning that includes songs, short inspirational readings, announcements, and the Word of the Day. Yesterday’s word was “plethora’’ meaning “an abundance or over abundance”. I related it to the abundance of ways girls can enjoy camp AND the overabundance of clothing scattered around cabins that would need to be sorted out and packed before the girls leave on Saturday!

Plethora was a fun word to share, but today’s word was much more representative of this camp session: Perseverance. Girls have exhibited “perseverance” or that persistence or dedication to stay the course even if things become challenging. Some people call this “Grit” but whatever the name we have seen it countless times at camp. Today it is showing up in girls who are demonstrating hard won riding skills in the horse show. If you see a close up of these girls’ faces as they lead their horses through jumps or in a trot along the fence rails, you see such determination. Or the girls who chose to train and complete a long distance swim this morning to Oak Island. It takes grit to keep going even when the legs and arms are become so tired. Every hiking and canoeing trip has come back to camp with stories of girls staying the course on a tough trail or with the wind in their faces while paddling. The ropes course and climbing wall are a constant opportunity to “keep going” even when nervous. The waterfront has countless opportunities for girls to practice persistence – it takes that special dedication to learn how to actually swim, or to keep getting back up on the wind surfer after falling off many times, or to master the intricacies of skippering a J-Y sailboat or the stokes to keep a canoe on a steady course. Persistence in art seems to show up in quieter ways, but for the girl who continues working even after her pot collapses on the wheel or she needs to reweave a part of the basket is showing dedication to her goal. Our show “Oliver” could not happen without persistence. The girls practice their lines over and over again until they are just right.

And of course, there is the less obvious but so important, personal persistence in each girl that shows up in the process of building friendships, overcoming homesickness, taking on leadership, building community, and discovering the person they want to be.

Persistence is a life skill that we feel fortunate to help nurture and it is wonderful to see girls embracing the opportunities at camp to practice and celebrate persistence.

Attack of the velociraptors at Camp Runoia

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Alex

Saturday night was an interesting one at camp, as dusk fell and Runoia campers headed back to their cabins after milk and crackers the usual evening sounds were disrupted by an unearthly cacophony. Typically the evening is quite and is only punctuated by the calls of loons on the lake or the high pitched call of the osprey on their way to roost.

We felt like we were in a scene from Jurassic Park and were certain a flock of velociraptors were about to descend on the kickball field. We couldn’t imagine what was making the screeching sounds that were echoing around us. Certainly not just one night creature but a whole collection out there in the dark talking to each other in a language we could not understand.

Heading up to the PS, in the now very dusky light I was amazed to see three owls on the big oak tree. It became apparent that they were the producers of the bizarre noises. Bobbing heads and hopping along the branch they were calling to other owls across the field. While it is not unusual to hear one or two owls in the early morning or evening these sounds were new to me.

After some research and discussion it was determined that the owls were fledgling barred owls out for their flying lessons. They were still at it at 4 am but must have eventually figured it out as by the time the sun came up they were all gone and there hasn’t been a repeat performance since. We have been lucky enough to see a mature owl swooping low over senior end and keep our eyes alert in the dusky light on our way down to bed.

Fledgling barred owls make their home at Camp Runoia

At Runoia I am constantly reminded of the Navajo prayer “Now I walk in beauty, beauty is before me, beauty is behind me, above and below me.” We are so lucky to spend our summer in such a beautiful location, embracing all of the natural world that surrounds us.

Camp Runoia summer 2017 is here!

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Alex

Planes, trains and automobiles – getting to Camp Runoia

It’s almost time for our girls to arrive and we seriously can’t wait to open the gates and start our 111^th season of overnight camping on Great Pond. Our week has been filled with wrapping up staff training, putting the finishing touches to the campus, ordering food and supplies and talking about what makes Runoia special. We have learned songs, practiced schedules and routines and helped each other learn the intricacies of how our community works. A new generation of staff has been amazed at our history, are in awe of the amazing women who came before us and are ready to fill those big shoes.

We know that for our girls it has been a week of packing and repacking, finding lost song books, cramming an extra stuffie into trunks and generally preparing to be away from home for a couple of weeks. Some families have pre camp rituals, a special dinner out or a vacation with everyone before the separation of camp. For others just wrapping up school, camp is an oasis of calm growing ever closer.

Getting everyone here on time and safely is quite the task. Girls will drive up with their family, fly in from faraway places or enjoy fun with friends on the camp bus. They will be met by new friendly faces wearing Runoia shirts and will quickly settle in to their home away from home in Harmony Land.

We cannot wait until we have everyone safely tucked into their camp beds on the first night. When the names on a cabin list become real children the work of the entire year becomes reality.

We are ready to welcome in the 2017 summer season at Runoia may it be filled with adventure, guided challenges, new friendships, great food, long summer days and most of all harmony.

You can’t change the weather at Camp Runoia

Posted on June 14, 2017June 19, 2017 by Alex

It’s been over 90 degrees in Maine for the past few days and the same people who a couple of months ago were complaining about the cold are now saying it’s ‘too hot’! One thing we can’t control is the weather but we can chose our clothing carefully and plan activities that best suit it. Today was perfect for a dip in the lake and yes we did have a really great ski season this past winter.

Making the best of any give situation and figuring out solutions to the problems it may expose us to is a real life skill. We value challenges at Camp Runoia as they help us to learn and grow. While camp is certainly utopian it isn’t perfect and we wouldn’t want it to be. Being away from home and being allowed to make choices and decisions and having to deal with everyday events is as much a part of the camp experience as s’mores around the campfire.

Campers quickly learn how to navigate the schedule, make the most of the opportunities at any given time and speak up if their needs are not being met. Allowing girls to occasionally be dissatisfied, to not always get their first choice and to only have one serving of desert build coping and resiliencey skills.

Running through puddles barefoot on a rainy day, watching the power of a storm speed across the lake from the safety of the boathouse or getting a quick dip before bed on a steamy night are all experiences that add to the camp magic. Scheduled days are filled with organized activities and also free time for spontaneous fun.

We can manage many things at camp but we can’t manage the weather or slow down time. We make the most out of every minute, maximize our opportunities and enjoy the time with our friends.

For those parents who just cant resist knowing what’s going on at camp with the weather, rest assured, we have plenty of tricks up our sleeve for making everyday a ‘fine Maine day.’

Sleep-away camp provides a myriad of opportunities for growth whatever the weather.

Tag up time at Camp Runoia -independent decision making

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Alex

It is almost time for Camp Runoia on Great Pond in Belgrade Lakes, Maine to open for its 111^th season.

As a camp where girls are encouraged to be themselves and grow as individuals one of the greatest legacies that our Runoia founders left us was that of camper led decision making. From the time Camp Runoia was founded girls and young women have had choices. Morning ‘tag up’ after breakfast has become a staple of how girls make decisions and plan their own days at camp. With around twenty different activity choices for each period there is something that appeals to everyone. Check out the choices!

In a world where many of our campers are in very academic school programs and spend their after school time running from one pre-scheduled activity to another ‘tagging up’ allows for freedom and individuality of choice. As parents of toddlers we are coached on giving choices to develop independent behavior but as children get older their decision making autonomy decreases.

There are no parents involved in how girls make choices at Runoia. The great news is that you don’t have to commit for a semester or a 10 week block and if you like something you can do more of it or if you don’t like it all that much you can choose something different next time. Youth involved decision making is a building block for developing life skills.

When girls make their own activity choices at camp or chose what they would like to do in their free time they can focus on themselves and their own needs and wants at that given moment. While some girls come to camp with a master plan for their choices others enjoy a more flexible schedule and choose based on their goals, their mood that day or even the weather. For some the challenge of choosing may initially be overwhelming, for others the days are too short to fit in everything that they want to try or work on. There is no right or wrong way to ‘tag up’ it’s just your own way!

Every camper has her own individual schedule that changes daily.

However a Camp Runoia girl makes her choices she is supported by caring adults who provide encouragement. Campers are reminded to set and aim for goals, try new things, stick with projects that need finishing, be an independent thinker and of course maximize the opportunities that camp provides.

In our over scheduled, busy lives, ‘tag up’ provides structured freedom of decision making in a safe place.

Memorial Day Cookouts and Camp

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Pam Cobb

What would camp be without a “cookout” – the quintessential American experience?

Each week at Camp Runoia, it’s cookout for Saturday supper! Dogs, burgs, veggie burgers, sometimes a surprise salmon or kebob accompanied by the requisite salad bar with fruit salad, potato salad and pasta salad and usually chips and pickles. Topped off with ketchup, mustard and nowadays, hot sauce makes for a fun outdoor meal.

One of our favorite parts about cookout is that it’s an outdoor picnic style meal which means after you get your plate of food, you circle up with cabin mates and other friends on the kickball field lawn and enjoy your meal. Perhaps you get up to catch a Frisbee or to braid someone’s hair, some girls like to bring their book and just chill as the sun dips down behind the tennis courts and the Den in the western sky. Often a pick up game of basketball or tag, cartwheels and playing with the youngest of the staff children is part of the scene.

Cookouts have been a Runoia weekend tradition since the 1960s when the Cobbs took the reins and Betty Cobb organized the camp menus. We love tradition and we love to carry it forward. Cookouts are a mainstay at Runoia and they are here to stay!

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, thanks to all the United States troops who have served and protected our country – we will remember you in celebration of Memorial Day and fire up our grills! To all Runoia readers: whether you are grilling burgers or portabella caps – enjoy your cookout!

Preparations and anticipation at Camp Runoia

Posted on May 17, 2017 by Alex

The weeks leading up to the summer camp season are always a little frantic. May is a month full of preparation and anticipation. A whole years’ worth of work is rapidly coming to fruition. The result will be the June arrival of staff and campers to the shores of Great Pond for their amazing summer camp season. What was once just a concept is rapidly becoming a reality. Preparations for the 2017 summer sleep away camp season are definitely in full swing here at Camp Runoia.

There is the sudden leap into spring here in Maine which generates plenty of outdoor work. There are sticks that need picking up, grass that needs mowing, flowers that need planting, docks to put in, a beach that requires raking and a myriad of other tasks that need doing right now! Cleaning up the winter detritus and getting our campus looking beautiful is a high priority. The longer days allow for more outdoor work and are a great distraction from the office!

I think Camp Runoia probably has it’s own UPS warehouse!

The UPS truck is a regular visitor to the Camp Runoia office with daily drops of packages filled with the needed supplies to make the camp program run smoothly. Soon the food service trucks will be rolling in as we get our kitchen opened up and fully stocked and let’s not forget the oil truck and maybe even the septic guy getting their jobs done before camp opens.

At this time of year the names on the shack and staff lists take on more personality as we learn more about our girls and counselors and their hopes and dreams for their summer. Parents are sharing medical information, travel plans, concerns and excitement for the sleep-away experience. Staff are making travel plans, getting certifications completed and wrapping up their home lives to free up their summer so that they can be completely present at camp. Penpal letters will be going out soon so that new campers will feel a stronger connection to their new summer family.

The phone never seems to stop ringing, it’s either the leadership team calling to run something by each other, a parent calling to check on the status of their forms or share a concern or maybe a local young person calling about a kitchen job. We love talking to people and sharing our excitement for the opening of camp. New parents read here – the ACA has lot of great articles to help you mentally and physically prepare for your daughters first sleep away camp experience.

We love that our days are filled to the brim and each brings us one step closer to the moment we are looking forward to the most. When we pass through the Runoia gate and get to be ‘home’ for the summer in the place that we all adore surrounded by a community that supports and sustains each and every member.

Bring it on summer of 2017 we will be ready!

Passing through the Runoia gate into the summer of a lifetime!

Letter Writing at camp Runoia

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Alex

The lost art of letter writing is found at Camp Runoia

For many people a letter or card written by hand and sent through the post is a rare treat to receive. There is incredible value in the sending and receiving of letters to and from Camp. Although modern alternatives may have crept into our regular everyday lives and mail has now often been replaced by type or text, at camp the options are much more limited and therefore pen and paper is the go to form of communication.

Some letters from camp are short and oh so sweet!

A hand written letter, postcard or note-card shows a commitment and acknowledges that a person has taken the time and resources to show how much you are valued. A paper note can be stored under a pillow, treasured and reread over and over. They don’t require an instant or speedy response or even any response at all, they can be savored and relished. Camp Runoia parents often tell us years later that they still have those letters from camp as treasured memories of their daughters developing independence.

Content is often deeper and more profound in a letter than it is in a hurriedly typed email or an even shorter text message. There is not room for emoticons in a pen and paper note, real feelings are expressed carefully using vocabulary that often never appears in type,

A note can communicate messages that may be difficult to address in person or may be impossible if the distance covered is great. The recipient sits with the content without an immediate verbal response needed.

At Camp Runoia we value the time old tradition of hand writing notes. People in our community receive ‘real’ mail long before our campers even arrive to the shores of Great Pond. We send welcome notes, Birthday postcards and of course penpal letters for new campers all before June. Parents, family members and friends continue to send postal mail during the summer season and while a one way email service is now available some girls still get stacks of ‘real mail’ every day. Our campers reciprocate those letters filled with love and news from home. Rest hour is often spent filling up stationary and notecards with tales of camp adventures, new friends, how the food is and what EP’s have been a blast.

The Belgrade Lakes Post Office manages the Camp Runoia mail

The Belgrade Lakes Post Office is near and dear to our hearts and trips to visit can sometimes even be won as EP prizes. The 04918 zip code is imprinted on our hearts. We are encouraging Runoia Girls to build real life communication skills.

Cultural exchange – camp provides a global perspective

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Alex

Castles and conversation

We spent April vacation across the Pond with my family in the UK. It is always a great opportunity for my kids to spend time in the places where I grew up and to experience living in a completely different culture. Though it is only for short while we embrace the immersion learning that it provides. While we may speak the same language all be it with different accents and sometimes even vocabulary there is something distinctly British about being in the UK. I have spent nearly as many years living in Maine as I spent growing up in England so a reminiscent return home always reminds me of the cultural differences that a common language cannot erase. Our trip was filled with a wide variety of experiences from brick house and castles to heritage tours with plenty of green fields and countryside in between.

The British Isles compacts a whole load of varied cultural experiences into one very small place. On the flight from Dublin I was challenged to understand my Irish seat mates, my cousins are Scottish and we also traveled to Wales which while only a short car ride seemed like a whole new world. Colloquialisms and variant vocabulary use kept my kids entertained and grilling their similarly aged cousins about ‘what do you call that?’

At Camp Runoia we relish the opportunity to spend a few weeks living together and sharing our days with friends from around the country and the world. Cultural diversity provides us all with an opportunity to connect with people from places which may be very different to our own home. At Camp Runoia we typically hire a number of counselors from European countries who are part of the J1 visa ‘cultural exchange program’ the goal being for them to experience a traditional American summer camp while sharing their language, culture and traditions.

Sharing national anthems on the 4th of July at Camp Runoia.

Our campers come from a variety of countries outside of the US including traditionally Mexico, Spain and France and in more recent years even as far away as China and Vietnam. Bringing the world to camp helps broaden our vision, embrace new friends and then often gives us the opportunity and courage to expand our own horizons. We will be camp friends for always no matter the geographic location or language barriers.

Maine hunts for spring

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Alex

Patience is apparently a virtue of which Mainers require an excessive amount. Spring while allegedly here on the calendar has yet to truly arrive in person.

I write on a day when once again snowflakes are falling from the sky and the ground is still covered in a good amount of the white stuff. The lakes are still frozen and while there are signs that spring is on the way it still seems like weeks until the grass will be green and the leaves are on the tress.

March came in and went out like a lion this year and it will be April snow showers that hopefully bring May or perhaps they will be June flowers.

While it would be easy to complain the general feeling is one of anticipation and even excitement. There are pussy willows to be spotted along the sides of the roads. Those days when the temperature’s get over 40 seem balmy and call for picnics on the porch and even shorts! The days are longer and there are many more birds singing in the trees and geese flying back overhead this time on their way north. Many a bet is being placed on when the ice will be out on local lakes and generally people are upbeat and hopeful for the new season ahead.

Every day at our house there is talk of camp. How many weeks to go? Will the lake warm up quickly? When can we open up our camp house? Who needs new uniform ordering? Is school almost over?

We cannot wait to see all of our Camp Runoia family and reconnect and embrace the new people that will be joining us. One of the great things about spring in Maine is how quickly it turns into summer; we just have to make it through mud season first!

See you in June!