Uncategorized Archives - Page 17 of 19

The bus!

Posted on January 22, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

Reflections on the not so magic school bus

My kids stopped riding the school bus this year. We live in a small, rural community only about 4 minutes on the same road from their school. It dawned on me that while riding the bus is the norm and was certainly convenient it did not have any benefits and perhaps was actually having a detrimental impact on all of us. A change in routine with me driving them has significantly reduced stress in our lives and has strengthened not only our relationships as a family but also our connections within our community.

The bonuses are many: I get to build social relations with the other parents picking up ‘walkers’ at school, I see some of the teachers in the halls and can stop to catch up for a minute or two, if it’s good weather we hang out playing outside school with friends, my kids talk to me and each other on the ride there and back so I find out way more than I did when they were on the bus, we also have more time for fun and stress free homework before heading off to activities.

While driving I have paused to noticed the number of parents on our route that sit in their cars for sometimes 20 minutes or more waiting for the bus when they could drive up to school and get their kids. It is interesting that we become so conditioned to do something a particular way that we never look at it from a different perspective or question the ‘why’.

I know there are many reasons why riding the bus is a good thing for kids and I am not arguing the for or against but more the concept that sometimes taking a step back, questioning or doing simple everyday things differently can have unexpected results.

There are many things that we do in life with little thought or intentionality. Mix it up, try doing something differently or at least pausing for a moment of thought about why you are doing it the way that you are!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Posted on January 8, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

Recycling with Betty

This new year, as I am trying to reduce excess material goods in my life, I fondly remember my first couple of summers at Runoia. It was the mid 90’s and the environmental movement hadn’t really hit yet. Well it hadn’t hit the rest of the country but it was alive and well with its roots in the Runoia trash house. Reduce, reuse, recycle was already the mantra and Betty Cobb its biggest proponent.

There was no dumpster at camp back in those days and all the trash had to be hauled to the Belgrade transfer station. As you can imagine at Runoia there were awesome systems in place even for trash management. There was a compacter in the back of the kitchen. I had never seen one before and to be honest the noises it made terrified me a little but it magically turned a large bag of garbage into a small square foot of squashed matter. Paper products were burned after the Saturday night cookouts (not really best practice these days). Cups and plates were always stacked (and still are) to take up less room in the trash. Everything that could be reused or recycled was.

Betty was often found ensuring that the actual trash did not contain any recyclable items. Her goal was not to terrify people into carrying their entire trash pile home with them but to educate us about the need to protect the earth’s resources. She would often say that she was not doing it for herself but for the children as they would be the ones that would inherit the problems.

I am grateful for the lessons I learned even if I was called out in assembly because Betty had found an envelope with my name on it in the trash not the recycle! Sadly Betty’s concerns are now ringing true as we see the impact a lack of attention to resource management is having on our earth’s future. I hope that the Runoia community will long continue to promote environmentally good practices and that it will become a life skill that our girls take home with them.

Make a difference in your home and community, just recycling is no longer enough what else can you do?

“If every household in the U.S. used just one less 70-sheet roll of paper towels, which would save 544,000 trees each year. If every household in the U.S. used three less rolls per year, it would save 120,000 tons of waste and $4.1 million in landfill dumping fees.” (From the Paperless Project).

Resources:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/green-living/recycling-symbols-plastics-460321#slide-1

http://www2.epa.gov/recycle

Read or watch the The Lorax with your kids it’s a great visual reminder!

Camp Dogs

Posted on December 29, 2014October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

Dogs Dogs Dogs

Loving and playing with dogs is part of many camp directors’ lives. Most camps have a dog at camp. Some hospitals and senior homes have dogs or other pets for healing and calming purposes. Our Runoia pack of dogs do provide therapeutic peace and calm to most people (once you get over the initial doggy enthusiasm).

Campers like to walk a camp dog in their free time. Others just love to hug our very huggable eight year old black lab, Cody. You’ll find a camper sitting with Katahdin on Abby’s Cottage porch or running up to pet Jake on his afternoon walk in camp. Many of our Runoia alumnae grew up with Coco at camp in the 1970s. Years ago, one camper, got over her fear of dogs by slowly warming up to our old pooch, Lily. She eventually was walking Lily on a leash and petting Lily and looking for Lily in her free time. To this day she says her exposure to the Runoia dogs was a big part of her healing her phobia. So dog-therapy sure does happen, albeit inadvertently, at summer camp.

Just recently Gines’ family adopted a dog, Krewe. So, he’ll be a part of camp this coming summer.

Krewe is Growing Fast at Runoia this Winter

And Alex’s family fosters dogs whenever they can. Alex is wise not to foster dogs in the summer when she knows she is too busy at camp to give the dog the time the dog deserves. Yesterday Abby came to visit camp while she was dog-sitting in the area. So, we had a pack of dogs running around in the snow having a jolly old time. Camp isn’t just for campers in the winter! Today I read an alumnae connection blog about loving his dog. Read Micheal’s blog here. As you know, dogs are a huge part of family culture not only in the United States but around the globe.

Adopting or rescuing a dog is a great gift to canine world. Maybe you will consider an adoption or foster care for a dog in the new year?We encourage you to take the time to figure out if you can fit a dog into your daily/weekly routine, if you can afford the cost of a dog and get your family on board with sharing the responsibility of caring for a dog.

Here’s to enjoying your dog, someone else’s dog, to camp dogs and to helping the dogs around the world have a great start to the new year!

Elf time!

Posted on December 18, 2014October 18, 2016 by Alex

Elf on the Shelf – not for the under 10 readers!

There have been lots of commentaries in the mass media about the Elf on the Shelf love it or hate it the under 10 crowd all know what it’s about and it is a very present part of many people’s Holiday build up.

Here’s how it works at our house:

The Elves – yup we have 2 my kids are not the best sharers and we had an old one from Grammy so the retro version showed up too! For the record 2 Elves can get into way more trouble than one.

Timing – they show up whenever Santa remembers to send them! They have been found once or twice hiding out in the tote boxes that we store decorations in, imagine that silly elves.

Names – um yeah about that place in the back of the book where you are supposed to write the names that your oh so adorable toddlers made up – epic fail!

Busted – Luckily their much older sister must have gotten in so late that the elves were scared off from their flight to the North Pole and waited until Mum was at the Post Office!

Pintrest and other parent shaming social sharing sites – I avoid them like the plague and look for links like ‘25 easy things to do with your elf’

Lying – Many parents constantly lie to their kids its part of the deal to enhance and preserve the innocence of childhood and create a little grown up magic in a world that is sometimes pretty tough!

Behavior – a lot of the diatribe on the internet revolves around the moral implications of threatening small children that the elves are going to report to Santa about bad behavior and they will ultimately get coal in their stocking. Luckily my kids are always angels and behave perfectly at all times so we never have to use this threat.

Fun – I think it is totally fun and I love my kids waking up and hunting down the elves laughing at their antics and discussing if they really can see hot glue holding their heads on.

If you’re going to do the Easter Bunny, Santa or the Tooth Fairy then a little Elf magic certainly can’t hurt can it?

It would be kind of fun if they showed up at Camp Runoia.

More reading about those loveable elves is available for endless hours on the www
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/12/16/the-elf-on-the-shelf-is-preparing-your-child-to-live-in-a-future-police-state-professor-says/

http://www.elfontheshelf.com/

https://www.facebook.com/elfontheshelf

The Center of Camp

Posted on November 29, 2014October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

In the center of camp is a special place. Its hub endures the hustle and bustle of camp’s daily flow. We greet it with the pattering of feet as we fall out from flag raising and it shudders at the end of the day as milk gets spilled upon its floors and crackers crumble into happy mouths. We sing and fill the rafters with graces, bobos and birthday songs.

Celebrating Birthdays - a Tradition! — Celebrating Birthdays – a Tradition!

Where else besides cabins do we spend two and a half hours almost every day with an assorted group of random people? Where else could you find thousands of red and white flowered and plain squares? Like a silent movie, benches and chairs get moved in and out, up on top of tables and down again. It is only furniture but it’s furniture that fills its innards with substance and fortitude.

Probably the person who spent the most time within its screened walls was Johnny. For 54 summers Marion “Johnny” Johnson sat regally reigning from the corner by the flagpole. To date, some of her special sayings are shared in that very same corner. Betty’s Table became, and still is, an icon of good manners, quietly closing doors, trying new foods and cleaning plates. Counselors who return to camp for a couple years adopt their own table and create their own legacies with the campers who share meals around them.

Betty and Diane raised their newborn children under her eaves. Alex, K and other camp parents (and in 2014 Jai and Gines raise their respective little ones) over the summers have done the same. Campers have laughed, cried, screamed, and shrieked with delight amidst the pine paneling. The hum of the water cooler adorned with the magically changing poster provides a watering hole for many. Each corner has its own echo, each it’s own feeling. Late night sardines has been played in all the nooks and crannies. Dances and casino halls, specialty restaurants and rainy day games have transformed her façade at times. Snacks, studying for JMG, package surprises, the mail bag, counselors’ coffee and board games have all been part of its personality. On its walls, some over 100 years old, banners and posters, signs and memorabilia hang to be seen by all. It is the epicenter of our daily sustenance, the Mother Ship of our excursions, the source of many good times and tastes.

The 2006 Log is dedicated to the Dining Hall, to all its bumps and leaks and all its glory.

Why CIT?

Posted on November 5, 2014October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

Counselor-in-Training at a Maine Camp – Why it Matters

Written for Maine Camp Experience

Maine Camp Experience camps have provided amazing growth experiences for youth for over 100 years through summer camp. For older teens, the fun doesn’t have to end after their camper years. Most camps offer a training program where leadership skills are emphasized and specific, marketable training is provided.

“Counselor in Training” or CIT/CT or LT (leadership training) are programs where teens ages 15-17, depending on the camp, learn from A – Z about being a camp counselor. Some camps offer Lifeguard Training, Junior Maine Guide program or sport-specific certifications like Archery Instructor Training or Certified Horsemanship Association levels. These marketable skills are great resume builders and. moreover, they are great confidence builders.

Self esteem increases through building skills in public speaking, working with a group of children, practicing teaching and getting feedback, planning and organizing special events, evening programs, organizing community service opportunities and making the difference in a child’s life. Over and over again for a summer of life learning.

Check with your Maine Camp Experience camp to find out how their CIT program works. Is it open to the public or did you have to be a camper there before? Is there full tuition or a reduced cost for the program? Do CITs live as a group with a counselor or do they live in the bunks and meet with their director on a regular basis? What skills and certifications should you expect to get from the CIT program? Is it a full summer or can you attend part of the summer as a CIT? Is there an application process or can anyone attend?

What you will get if you become a CIT is life changing. You gain a sense of yourself and what you want to do with your life, you grow into being a leader and experience responsibility in a new way. Immersed in the camp experience you learn time-management skills, planning and organizational skills. Being around positive adults you develop your own sense of responsibility, and learn from them. You feel a sense of accomplishment like never before – your confidence increases and your life skills develop. You have a better chance of being hired at a camp after successfully completing the program, too.

The biggest value you get is what you learn about yourself as a team player in a group. The self reflection is priceless. As one CIT said when I interviewed her “everyone should do it!”

Thanks to Camp Caribou, Camp Runoia and Camp Wyonegonic for contributing to this blog.

Halloween and Costumes

Posted on October 28, 2014October 18, 2016 by Alex

The name Halloween is said to derive from the Old English ‘hallowed’ meaning holy or sanctified and is now usually contracted to the more familiar word Hallowe’en. It is also known as All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints’ Eve and is celebrated on October 31^st the day before November 1st All Saints’ Day in the western Church.

Possibly evolving from the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, modern Halloween has become less about literal ghosts and ghouls and more about costumes and candy. The Celts used the day to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, and also believed that this transition between the seasons was a bridge to the world of the dead. Over the millennia the holiday transitioned from a somber pagan ritual to a day of merriment, costumes, parades and sweet treats for children and adults. (History.com)

The modern celebration of Halloween which has often been replicated at summer event days or EP’s at camp is a complicated mix of traditions and influences. Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, playing pranks andtelling scary stories.

Dressing up in a fun costume is the Camp Runoia favorite Halloween pastime! Hopefully our camp Facebook page spotlight on creative costuming has given you some camp themed easy ideas! It’s amazing what you can do with a few props and a bunch of dress up clothes!

Put your arts and crafts skills to good use and enjoy trick or treating!

Camp Runoia’s season of change

Posted on October 22, 2014October 18, 2016 by Alex

October is an interesting month in the camp Runoia office. It is finally a time to breathe and reflect while enjoying the beauty of the seasons changing around us. Camp in the fall is so quiet with the merriment of summer long gone, the days getting shorter and a chill in the air. Flip flops are no longer the footwear of choice and layers are the way to dress as you never quite know how the day will turn out.

Our days are filled with pondering, questions and often discussion. There are many aspects of the camp business to reflect upon as we contemplate the past season and plan for the next. What site and facility jobs must be accomplished before the snow flies? how many spaces will be open for new girls? which staff are invited back? what were the summer highlights? where do we need to improve? how will winter tasks be distributed?

There is time to spend looking through the thousands of photos from the summer, to miss the happy smiling faces and reminisce about people and events. There is more time to chat on the phone with returning and prospective parents and to connect together as a team to share our hopes for the next season.

As the last leaves get raked off of the archery field we are glad for this time of change and hopeful that when the leaves appear again we will be ready to greet the spring and be well prepared for our new 2015 season of camp!

Life Lessons at Camp Runoia

Posted on October 9, 2014October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

LIFE LESSONS

Life Skills: Learning on Camping Trips at Runoia

Earlier this year, one of my friends asked me “what’s the best place you’ve ever been? And I answered “camp”! Although this is only my second year here, I cannot begin to describe how much camp has impacted my life. I truly feel as if I have been here forever. Camp is all about making life long friends, as well as memories and I am so thankful that I have been able to have that experience.

The hardest part about camp for me is saying goodbye to all of the people I’ve become so close with because I’m not certain when the next time is that I will see them. You meet people, make memories and then you say goodbye. However, I’ve learned that that is what makes this camp experience so special. Being here has also taught me to live in the moment and to take every opportunity that I am given, and I am so thankful for this life long lesson. To all of my friends here at camp, you know who you are, past present and future, I want to thank each of you for letting me into your life. I love you all.

To the Camp Runoia Directors, thank you so much for keeping the Camp Runoia traditions strong and for sharing them with me.

Written by Rose B. for the Camp Runoia Log, August, 2014

Hardy Girls Webinars – Education and Training for a Great Start This Autumn

Posted on September 22, 2014October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

The Hardy Girls Healthy Women Training Institute welcomes you back after a marvelous summer! Check out our first webinar series of the year:

The Hardiness Webinar Series!

October 7th, 2014 – 1pm-2pm
Introduction to Hardy Girls Healthy Women

(FREE!)

New to Hardy Girls Healthy Women? Join HGHW President Kelli McCannell as she discusses everything you need to know about HGHW! McCannell will give an overview of the history, its incredible researched-based programming, and everything HGHW has to offer girls and the adults that work with them!

October 24th, 2014 – 3:30pm-4pm
Allies In Action: Girls Advisory Board (GAB) Panel

(FREE!)

What is GAB and what do they do? Join Girls Advisory Board members as they discuss their experiences on the Girls Advisory Board. GAB will talk about the importance of youth engaging in feminist activism and how adults can better support and empower girls.

November 5th, 2014 – 2pm-4pm
From Adversaries To Allies: Building Girls’ Coalition Groups
($100 – Includes curriculum – GREAT FOR EDUCATORS!)

Are you ready to take a new approach in your work with girls? Want to find a way to address girl fighting, teach media literacy skills, and empower girls to change their world for the better? Hardy Girls Healthy Women and its acclaimed girls’ group curriculum From Adversaries to Allies: A Curriculum for Change has been turning adversaries into allies in middle schools for years. Our research-based guide and its supplement Becoming a Muse brings girls together in the face of a culture that tells them girl-fighting and bullying is the norm. This pairs nicely with our “How To Get Buy–In” webinar on Nov. 25th!

November 12th, 2014 – 2pm-3pm
Summer Sisters: Empowering Girls at Summer Camp

($30)

For many girls, summer camp truly is a magical time where they can “just be me.” But why is that? Who are these girls the rest of the year? And how can we help them hold onto the magic of camp all year long? Hardy Girls Healthy Women created an exclusive activity guide Summer Sisters: A Guide to Coalition Building at Camp & Beyond just for camp professionals and other staff to help find the answers to these important questions. All participants in this webinar will receive a free activity from the curricula and information on how to train staff and roll out these activities at your camp or summer program.

November 19th, 2014 – 2pm-3pm

Adventures Girls: If She Can See It, She Can Be It

($40 – Includes Adventure Girl Program Guide)

Do you want to inspire girls in your community and help them defy gender stereotypes? Build an Adventure Girls program at your school or organization! Adventure Girls is an interactive program for girls in grades 2nd—6th grade that provides girls with the opportunity to meet women who are defying gender stereotypes and challenging notions of what a girl or woman “should” do or want to be. It models the idea “if she sees it, she can be it.” Dana Bushee and Jessica Leighton will cover the origins of the program, the impact on girls, and what we’ve learned from our 10 years of experience.

November 25th, 2014 -1pm-2pm

How to Get Buy-In: Making The Case for Girl Groups
($30- Goes great with Girls’ Coalition Group Webinar on 11/5!)

This webinar will share strategies on how to get institutional buy-in for Girls Coalition Groups from experiences in schools, training muses, and working as a muse. Christine Bright and Lida Holst will discuss avenues on how to effectively build girl groups, how to sustain the work with administrators and parents, and how to partner with girls to create activism. Register today!

For further descriptions of each webinar (and for registration) go to: hghw.org/webinars