Tag: best camp ever

Hitting our stride – camp life week 2

Posted on by Alex

We are halfway through 1st Session. Can you believe it? We hardly can, especially considering all of the awesome action going on around camp! We said goodbye to our Harmony Land mini girls on Monday, and welcomed a new session of our youngest campers yesterday.

The Fourth of July  was a huge success thanks to our fabulous CITs who continued the tradition of planning and running the day. Campers awoke to very spirited, dressed-up counselor riding horses, followed by the always entertaining chorus of banging pots and pans! The dining hall and outdoor tents were decorated beautifully, we sang the National Anthems of all those represented at Runoia this summer, and special activity stations were set up throughout camp including a counselor makeover and treehouse jello drop – can you catch it in your mouth?! The fabulous kitchen crew baked and decorated delicious cakes, and there was plenty of watermelon to go around. Cooler temps and some rain meant that we ended our day with a campfire in the lodge instead of on our beach, but spirits were still high from all of the fun and games and the night was cozy and full of camp songs. We fell asleep to the owls and fireworks.

Everyone jumped right into the third activity block on Monday, our first “normal tag-up block” in two years(!), with many girls getting in time to ride up at the barn with our wonderful equestrian staff while others reached the top of the climbing tower or got bullseyes in archery or riflery. In our arts and crafts department, campers are weaving baskets big and small, working on stained-glass pieces, sewing fabric bags, wood-burning projects, shaping and glazing pottery, creating collage journals, and of course making plenty of friendship bracelets! Down at the waterfront, we’ve had both swimming lessons and free swim periods, first time and seasoned kayakers and canoers going out for a paddle, windsurfers and sailors learning to tack and gybe, and waterskiers zipping across Great Pond with hair blowing in the wind and huge smiles on their faces! We are so glad to be able to send girls out on day trips again! This week, Sixth shack hiked Bald Mountain and Ocho scrambled up Tumbledown. Monday afternoon rec swim was full of girls looking to jump back in the lake for the second or third time that day!

But the fun doesn’t stop after dinner! Last night’s evening program (EP) was Powder Fairies, and as usual it was a big hit! Girls worked together in mixed age groups to complete various tasks in order to solve the final puzzle, and it was a great opportunity to run around and let out some energy before bedtime. On Tuesday night we gathered together to watch our new campers pick out of a hat to learn whether they would become a member of the Blue Team or White Team for the rest of their time here at Runoia. Each girl was welcomed into her new team with cheers and songs. Earlier in the week, EP was “Get to Know Your Counselor”, a create-your-own-country night, Scattergories,  and Fractured Fairytales in which groups created new stories (think Mulan + Jack and the Beanstalk, or Cinderella + Shrek). 

Tomorrow we start our fourth activity block and girls are looking forward to tagging up and choosing activities. We are encouraging them to try new program areas while they are here as well as return to the activities that bring them joy. We are excited and hopeful for this weekend’s forecast of mid- seventies and sun, so that we can all enjoy time outside and make the most of the last 10 days of the Session!

First week of fun – Great Pond camp life

Posted on by Alex

Our first session girls arrived last Sunday on a hot and sunny Fine Maine Day! After unpacking and meeting/getting reacquainted with their cabin mates, everyone got a chance to take their swim tests and enjoy a quick dip in the lake – our fabulous 8,000 acre Great Pond. Supper was a delicious combo of spaghetti and meatballs, salad and vegetables, garlic bread, and brownies, and it was wonderful to hear the laughter of new and old campers alike ringing through the dining hall and outdoor tents. Evening program for our junior end campers included a game called “Mostest” in which each cabin worked together to create cheers and songs and even wrote and performed a commercial for Runoia! Senior end played Family Feud, while our oldest girls in senior village had their own special campfire by the lake. Milk and Crackers were enjoyed by all before returning to cabins to make community contracts and gain a better understanding of what each of us need to be our best selves at camp this summer. Counselors began reading their cabin books aloud as girls settled into beds for the night. We miss our loved ones who are not with us here at camp, but homesickness is easily overpowered by all of the fun and excitement everyone is having doing activities and spending time with friends. 

The first full day of camp was another hot one! We started with an orientation in which we found out (or were reminded) where everything was around camp, practiced vehicle safety evacuation drills, learned how to put on our PFDs for when we go out on the blue waves in boats, and played many get-to-know-you games. Activities started after lunch and rest hour, and we had almost all campers swimming in the lake for recreational swims! Horses walked and trotted around the ring up at the barn while a fleet of kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards, aka “Floatilla”, headed out into the cove. Our Harmonyland girls took a little hike to our Fairy Ring campsite and built fairy houses out of leaves, sticks, pine needles, and birch bark. After supper, our junior end girls enjoyed a beach night on the waterfront, and our senior end girls got to play a variety of land sports and even got in an evening swim to cool down before bed. Campers fell asleep looking forward to the first activity block starting the next morning.

The first activity block flew by with shacks going together to give each area a try, from flotilla’s on the lake, climbing in the trees and learning the art of shooting sports everyone found something they loved and an activity to work at throughout their session here. The heat meant lots of lake time and evening programs were modified to include much appreciated swims. The sounds of splashing and laughing in the cooler evening air could probably be heard by our Camp Runoia alumnae neighbors over in Echo Cove.

 

A bit of rain and cooler weather provided opportunity to focus on our arts skills, work on fitness and get some impressive dance routines going! Nothing stops us and we kept activities running and the fun going. The gaga pits are full at free time with some intense games going on and everyone being included. 

We are so grateful to have camp full again. To see our girls that we missed last summer, to welcome new friends into the Runoia family and to be able to spend amazing time together on Great Pond. In person, unplugged life in the woods is pretty fantastic! We have been able to watch a nest of baby barred owls learn to fly and hunt in the evenings over the kickball field. How lucky we are to live’in harmony with nature’ and get to have these experiences on our beautiful lake in Maine.

We are ready for another week of fun and frivolity, growth and learning and deepening the friendships that we have started to make.  Making life long memories and developing life long skills every minute of the day!

 

Opening camp

Posted on by Alex

AKA Picking things up and putting them down

The opening of camp is a lot of moving things around. Having a seasonal business means that items must be stored so as not to freeze or be buried in the snow during the long Maine winter. We have a short window of time to open up camp and get everything ready to start the season.

We often joke that our days are literally spent picking things up and putting them down in a new location.

Here is what the past week has included:

  • Pick up hay bales stack them in the barn
  • Pick up horses from their winter homes put them in the pasture
  • Pick up sticks and winter debris off the beach and put it into the woods
  • Pick up boats and move them out of the boathouse and onto the beach
  • Pick up the boats again and move them to their moorings
  • Pick up branches, leaves and acorns off the paths and fields and put them into the woods
  • Pick up shutters, take them off the screen windows put them under the buildings
  • Pick up items stored in the farmhouse and move them to activity areas
  • Pick up beds and mattresses and move them to the right cabin
  • Pick up the DOT from the Den, blow it up move it to the waterfront
  • Pick up the DOT again and float it out to it’s mooring
  • Pick up tables, benches and chairs and set up the dining hall
  • Pick up the archery targets out of the Den put them on the range
  • Pick up packages at the Post Office and put all of the supplies in the right place
  • Pick up counselors and staff from the bus station and airport bring them to camp
  • Pick up tables, benches and chairs and set up the dining hall
  • Pick up flowers from the garden center, put them in the window boxes
  • Pick up random essential items in Augusta

 

Pick up ice cream at Days Store!!

The next week will be packed with our staff arriving and staff training beginning. We will be immersing ourselves in education, team building and more preparations so that we are 100% ready for our campers when they get here.  Already there is noise and laughter coming from the shacks and in the dining hall. The slam of a screen door is such a great wound to hear after all the months of quiet emptiness. We are enjoying these moments of being at camp while also counting down the days until we are all together again on Great Pond.

From Equestrian Coach to Covid Cop and Everything in Between

Posted on by Pam Cobb

I’ve been involved with the Interscholastic Equestrian Association(IEA) since 2013, starting as a team coach. Over the years, I’ve fulfilled a variety of roles at the organization’s horse shows from manager to secretary to announcer to steward. During our 2021 postseason, I was called on to fulfill a new role, COVID Compliance Supervisor AKA Covid Cop.

As part of the IEA’s plan to safely return to showing, extensive guidelines regarding COVID protocols were created. As the 20-21 season went on, it became apparent that managing the implementation and enforcement of these rules fell outside of what the show manager & steward could manage, given their other duties, and the role of COVID compliance supervisor was created.

According to the press release from the IEA COVID task-force the COVID compliance supervisor should feel comfortable moving around the horse show reminding/enforcing attendees (coaches, riders, parents) to properly wear their mask, social distance, and leave immediately following their rider’s last class. Having spent my 2020 summer at Camp Runoia, I had already created great habits regarding masking, hand washing, and social distancing. I took those habits forward into my job at a local high school as we resumed hybrid in person learning beginning in October. Stepping into the role of COVID compliance supervisor was in my wheelhouse.

Having safely traveled a lot during the pandemic, I have learned that masks, physical distancing, and following CDC guidelines work! However, getting others to buy in can be challenging. Most recently at a zone finals show, I had many people come up and thank me for taking on the role. They understood that there’s still resistance to following the rules. One thing I learned early on in the pandemic was to not argue with people who weren’t following the rules, but to remind them that they signed up to participate and by doing so agreed to follow the rules. Keeping personal beliefs and politics out of the conversation, and focusing on the agreed upon rules of participation. In fact, if we all follow the rules, we can focus on having fun and enjoying the sport.

The COVID task-force worked hard to create guidelines so we could return to the sport, and consequently, we all have to follow those guidelines, or the opportunities can be taken away. I look at heading into summer the same way. I’m doing all I can to contribute to keeping our camp community safe. I got vaccinated as soon as I was able and I still wear my mask anytime I’m indoors outside of my own home or when in crowded outdoor situations. At camp, we have ACA and CDC guidelines that we have to follow.  Rules the range from how far apart heads must be while sleeping to safety equipment in activities to how our meals are prepared. I look forward to being back at Runoia in a few short weeks, surrounded by campers and staff who all believe in keeping each other safe and having fun!

By Jen Dresdow –Camp Runoia Assistant Director and Equestrian Director (preferably not a Covid Cop!)

First Impression

Posted on by Pam Cobb

My First Impression in early May is the scents that are only at Camp Runoia. The leaves and grass and earth and air and lake water scents all combine into one scent. If we bottled it up, it would be called Eau de Runoia, or perhaps Eau de Harmony in the spirit of the meaning of Runoia.  I was instantly reminded of E.B. White’s book, “Once More to the Lake”.

Traditions abound at camp and one of the Camp Runoia traditions is recording your First Impression of arriving at camp for the “Log”. The Log is a record of all the things that happened in a summer.

You can only have a first impression, once (we like to do it once a season). Not unlike making your own first impression on other people (warm, stern, welcoming, exclusive, funny, serious, happy, sad), the land and lake puts on its very best display of nature and scents and views which evoke feeling. Especially when you return again and again.

The phrase First Impression seems obvious but here’s further explanation to get you pumped to record your immediate reaction to arriving at camp. A definition of first: Coming before all others in time or order; earliest, Combined with a definition of impression: An idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence.

Of course, when we arrive in early spring, the parking lot is empty. Jen is not standing at the gate welcoming us, Alex is not in the parking lot directing us and beaming upon your arrival and Mark is not perched on the waterfront eager to greet your family and share the beauty of the “crown jewel” of Camp Runoia, Great Pond. Your counselors are not here yet to give you that big “hello” and “let’s go” kind of attitude. Finally, the sounds of shrill, excited voices from girls floating all over camp are not here, yet.  Only the spring birds, rustle of soft winds in the trees and waves lapping along the shoreline are here this time of year.

What will your First Impression of camp be when you arrive at camp? You may have to wait and see and feel and then write it down before it disappears.

Love,

Aionur

Counting down the days and checking the lists

Posted on by Alex

There are only 60 days until the first session of camp opens. It will be Camp Runoia’s 115th season on Great Pond and we are preparing for it to be the best yet. After a year of challenges, isolation and unpredictable schedules we are eagerly anticipating the routine and familiarity of camp life. The days until camp are getting shorter and the to do list are getting longer!

For some of us 60 days seems like an eternity. There is school to finish up and end of the year events to attend. As we get ready to open camp we know that 60 days will fly by as there is much to be done to get the campus and program ready to roll for the summer. 

This week the focus in the office has been on putting the finishing touches to our 9 days of staff training. The time before the campers arrive is packed with getting our seasonal staff up to speed on all things Runoia and also making sure that everything is perfectly ready to start the summer. There are certification trainings, bonding exercises, cleaning and opening of cabins and activity areas along with a whole lot of fun while building our team and getting to know each other. This year we are really working harder to include more education and awareness about diversity, equity and inclusion and have been tweaking our sessions to reflect our commitment to doing a better job. Staff will come together from many different places looking forward to the opportunity to work with Runoia campers and enjoy all that the Maine outdoors has to offer.

We have also been recruiting the last few staff to join the team, filling the final camper spaces and getting the spring new camper penpal mailing ready to go. The work in the camp office is always diverse. It’s been frequently interspersed with webinars and workshops updating us on covid protocols and best practices for the summer. The bonus of us all working remotely is that it is easy to share information and we can hop onto presentations anywhere in the country. The days are already getting exciting as we get to read letters to the directors and start to ‘meet’ the 2021 Runoia girls.

Our inboxes are filling up with questions from new families mostly about packing as campers excitedly start preparing what they will need. There are uniforms being ordered and crazy creek chairs purchased. In many homes camp is now a daily topic of conversation. 

On the campus grounds side of the work, the daffodils are blooming and it’s finally time to get into camp and start the clean up. The winter usually brings downed branches and a lot of acorns so the crew will be in to do a good pick up. It won’t be long before the grass gets its first cut, the water gets turned on and the docks all go in. It will start looking more like the camp our girls are used to once the shutters come down and the cabins are opened up. A few spiders will need to be rehomed into the woods and we will be ready to get year 115 rolling.

We want the next 60 days to be filled with excitement, with preparation and planning. For them to give us enough time to get everything done but also to fly by so that all of our summer family will be ‘home’ soon.

Writing in Pencil – a medium for change and flexibility

Posted on by Alex

It’s a bit of a joke around the camp office that I always write in pencil. While I certainly do a lot of typing there are still a multitude of camp jobs that require hand writing and notes so a pencil is always nearby. It’s my go to writing implement and while supplemented by some colored pens there is always typically a sharpened pencil to hand.

 

It’s always exciting at the start of the season when I find a new box of Dixon Ticonderoga’s, ready sharpened with new erasers set to go on my desk in the Lodge. The Camp Runoia fairies know how to keep me happy. The perfect pencil helps me plan and re-plan schedules with great satisfaction. It has to be the right HB# and sharp is preferred. TheWorking away in the Lodge program office erasers often get worn down quickly so are supplemented by a larger one.

Someone once asked me if I write in pencil due to not being able to commit. Moreover it is an ability to be able to be flexible and be able to make change. The schedules at camp are complex with many moving parts and often things need to get switched around quickly. The act or writing and erasing cements the information better in my mind. I can often then recall it without needing to go back and look at it.

This year we are having to use all of our creative resources to adapt and be flexible as we plan our camp summer. Even though we ran a successful camp last summer, the changes in how we understand and navigate the Covid virus means a slightly different approach this year. A month or so ago vaccinations were only trickling out, now most adults have the opportunity to get them and hopefully older children will be next. We have to keep updating and re-working our policies and plans to accommodate new information and shifting protocols. Having the ability to change and erase what we had in place allows us to be the most current and not be frustrated with information coming in that is outside of our control. It’s a great life skills to be able to erase what you have written and adapt it to what you now need.

I’m going to stick with writing in pencil. I love being able to erase and rewrite, to navigate change without feeling stuck and to create new words as needed over the old ones.

Using my pencil to check of the days until it is camp time. We cannot wait to see all of our girls and staff on Great Pond.

Getting ready for tag up the daily schedule is always fun!

The power of the pen – handwritten notes are special

Posted on by Alex

I know I have blogged about handwritten letters before.  Again it feels worthy of a mention. It is of great relevance as we are coming up on the camp season and are reminded that contact with the outside world through mail is so valuable. When technology is not accessible a pen and paper is a great connector.

There is some great commentary and many books written about the art and often ‘lost art’ of letter writing. It’s worth acknowledging that in our high tech times, jumping on face time or a zoom is easier than finding pen and paper and the ever illusive correct postage stamp.

I was inspired this week by a photograph on facebook from my camp friend in Australia. Her daughter had asked for letters so I had pooped a note in the mail and after a long and arduous journey she finally had it in her hands. The pure joy on her face was amazing and she apparently slept with it under her pillow. She has never met me and as her mum explained our connection, they looked on the map at how far the letter had traveled. A lot of lessons were learned just through a piece of mail that took a few minutes to write and the cost of a stamp. I am excitedly awaiting my letter back from her. 

The majority of people that I send postal mail to are my camp friends. While we do keep in touch via electronic means we mostly write to each other. It’s so fun to get an unexpected note in the mail and then know it’s your turn to write back at some point. It’s very casual and doesn’t feel like an obligation, we share daily life news and stay up to date with each other when we feel compelled to.

Mail at camp has extra value,  when you are away from home a fun card, or a letter is a treat at rest hour. It is great to see girls get writing too! As it is there only means of communicating there are stacks of letters waiting to go out in the camp mail bag every morning. I hope parents cherish those notes from camp even the ones that just say ‘camp is fun’ in big letters across the whole card. 

I love sorting the mail at camp, the fun stickers on the envelopes, the scrawly handwriting from younger siblings and the formal notes from older relatives. I laugh at the bills that I know will likely go unopened until August. It always reminds me of our larger camp community, the campers that have graduated that still write to camp friends, the parents who were alums and carry on the traditions of Runoia in their family and all of those people at home wondering how much fun we are having on Great Pond. It’s a whole pile of love coming in letter form.

We truly can’t wait for the summer season, so stock up on your stationary because we love getting mail!

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!

Zoomies – virtual reality

Posted on by Alex

Zooming around the Camp Runoia office this week I managed to miss 2 scheduled virtual meetings. They were on my calendar and I also received those handy reminders directly into my inbox yet somehow I still failed to get onto the calls. How is that possible when I am sitting at my desk working and know that I have them scheduled? Its zoom fatigue and overload for sure. There is now so much available virtually. I would honestly never have attended this many meetings and training sessions in a regular pre-covid week. Not having travel time makes it seem like there is so much more time logistically available to attend sessions. Virtual over booking is definitely becoming a real problem.

 

It’s hard to resist when opportunities are so accessible.  It’s super easy to sign up for another webinar or training clinic and often far less expensive than when they were previously offered in person.  I have chorus on zoom, camp directors meetings, school conferences and a myriad of other get together’s and meetings that may or may not have once been in person. There are definitely extra connections now that likely would have been a quick email or phone call prior to the zoom room and which now get a scheduled meeting time and link.

 

The technology is amazing for sure, even with low tech home equipment we can get transported around the world and into meetings all over the place.  It’s great to be able to be in a ‘room’ with my family in the UK as an in person visit still seems a long way off. Interviewing Camp Runoia staff all over the country is easy and efficient and gives me a lot more information than a phone call might do. Camp information is being shared so easily across the country, I loved joining the West Coast camps conference which was much more affordable than it would have been to attend in person.

My favorite training location!

 

In the past year we have all had to quickly learn a new way to represent ourselves professionally and socially. There are multiple training sessions about getting the most out of your zoom calls. I’m not sure I even ever want to ‘zoom like a pro’. You can also check out appropriate zoom etiquette.  Even with all of the available coaching and our endless hours of experience it is still pretty entertaining that poor internet connections, the infamous mute button and everyone’s pets and small children provide meeting hilarity on a regular basis.

 

While I am grateful for the technology and happy that we have a solution to the current problems of not being able to be in person I truly cannot wait to be back in real life with actual people and not squares on a screen. I want to see people’s body language, share a laugh that isn’t stuck in cyberspace and be able to interact easily. I am ready for even socially distanced, masked up,  outdoor staff training on Great Pond. I will be sure not to miss any of those in person meetings!

Take me back to the good old simple days.