best camp in Maine Archives - Page 9 of 11

My Home Away from Home – Erin Lasher

Posted on February 10, 2016October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

I have spent ten summers of my life at Runoia. I grew up there, and made some of the most amazing memories. Camp is not just a place anymore for me, it is a feeling of home. This past summer as I drove myself to camp for the first time I realized how much I had grown up. For the first time I was driving myself to a place that I called home, instead of having my family drive me, but as I was sitting in the car I realized that I was not going to be away from my family at all. I was returning to the family that I got to choose.

Pam and Alex have been in my life since I was 8 years old. They are my moms and they definitely had a hand in raising me. Camp was not just a place for me to learn activities, and later teach them, but a place for me to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. I loved every activity at camp, and it is amazing to say that I made the basket that now sits on my desk, but the things I hold most dear are those that were outside of activities.

The things that you don’t even realize that you are learning are at times more valuable than the known skills, things like sharing a room, becoming a leader, asking for help, being able to laugh at yourself, and being independent. I still remember my Mom driving my sister and I to camp for the first time all those years ago. I was only nine years old and absolutely terrified. That summer I became known to Alex as the one who cried, and she, along with the rest of camp, made Runoia feel like home by the end. I ended up signing up for camp for the next six years, and then became a CIT and a counselor. I bet neither Pam nor Alex could have expected that the scared little girl they held that day would end up being there for the next decade.

At 20 years old I have spent half of my life at camp. I have laughed, cried, and made the best friendships imaginable. I can proudly say that I have Runoia sisters all over the world. I was even lucky enough to be able to visit them while I was living in Europe last semester. They were a little bit of home for me, and I was so fortunate to be able to visit them in their own countries. At camp I found family, and learned lessons that I am still discovering. Over ten years being a part of the Runoia family is incredible, and I have made friends that I will hopefully keep for the rest of my life. Being able to have the opportunity to be a camper and a counselor was amazing and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for my home away from home.

Count Down to Runoia 2016!

Posted on January 26, 2016October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

The countdown to summer sleepaway camp is well underway as we just passed the 150 “days till camp” marker. While some campers are enjoying the count down, others are feeling a big nervous and maybe even somewhat anxious about overnight camp. This is perfectly normal!

What can you do to encourage your campers to be ready for camp? Here’s some tips from the experts:

Brooke Cheley-Klebe from Cheley Camps suggests “Get your camper involved in picking out gear for camp. If you buy hiking boots, go on a hike with them!”

Camp Owner and TED talk extraordinaire, Steve Baskin suggests reframe what three weeks away is about “wise parents provide their children with a different frame to look at camp. It is not “3 weeks away from mom and dad”, but is instead “a grand adventure full of fun and friends”.

Jen Bush writes for American Camp Association: “Learn details of the facilities. Will your child have to walk to the bathroom at night? Some kids, especially those from urban areas, are unaccustomed to total darkness, so it’s a good idea to practice using a flashlight. Will she be exposed to a lot of bugs and wildlife? Consider taking a family camping trip in advance to familiarize your child with the outdoor environment, nighttime sounds, and roughing it a bit.”

A great idea we heard from a parent is have your teenager take a mini-vacation from their phone or screen. Make it a positive experience where you go do something together or something she enjoys and explain that it’s about being present together. Not tying it “going away to camp” will be in their favor.

Other ideas:
• Look over the packing list together on https://runoia.com/camp-store/, start browsing your closets and stores and gathering items together for camp.
• Practice sorting their dirty laundry from clean clothes, carrying their toiletries to the shower, brushing and braiding their hair, making their bed. Make a list of things they will be expected to do at camp on their own or with the support of a counselor or a friend and start practicing!
• Discuss what they will enjoy doing at camp, look over the camp activities, help explain how they can sign up for activities at the camp and who to turn to if they would like to change their schedule.
• Let them know how Runoia directors and adults are around all the time to help them at camp. Have them write an email to us about any concerns so we can address them. Reducing uncertainty and knowing adults will be there to help them really helps.

Let your camper know it is absolutely normal to be nervous about camp and let her know that everyone is nervous – even the campers returning to Runoia. Remind her we are great at helping campers adjust and get oriented at Camp Runoia and we want her to have the best time of her life!

The perfect Camp Runoia picture

Posted on January 21, 2016October 18, 2016 by Alex

I spend a lot of time looking through Camp Runoia photographs. Not just the thousands on the hard drive from this summer but many from previous years and even ‘real’ photos from our archives that are not digitally available.

We use camp photographs for many different reasons but mostly to share the message of Runoia.

So what makes the perfect photo? Is it a happy smiling face? a shot of two girls arm in arm walking down a path? a beautiful sunset over the lake? or a campfire close up?

Depending on the purpose there are 100’s of shots that could be deemed ‘perfect.’

On any given day for any given reason the perfect photograph speaks to the heart and captures the soul of Runoia.

Some of the time while searching I get distracted and just enjoy looking at the memories that each snap catches. reminders of the people the place and the fun that we get up to at camp.

More often it turns out that the perfect shot isn’t on film but is stored in our hearts and minds. The photograph is just a perfect reminder.

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.” Ansel Adams

Normal Anxiousness about Sleepaway Camp

Posted on January 13, 2016October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

The countdown to summer sleepaway camp is well underway as we approach the 150 days till camp marker. While some campers are enjoying the count down, others are feeling a big nervous and maybe even somewhat anxious. This is perfectly normal!

What can you do to encourage your campers to be ready for camp?

Here’s some tips from the experts:

Brooke Cheley-Klebe from Cheley Camps suggests “Get your camper involved in picking out gear for camp. If you buy hiking boots, go on a hike with them!

Other ideas:

Look over the packing list together on https://runoia.com/camp-store/, start browsing your closets and stores and gathering items together for camp.
Practice sorting their dirty laundry from clean clothes, carrying their toiletries to the shower, brushing and braiding their hair, making their bed. Make a list of things they will be expected to do at camp on their own or with the support of a counselor or a friend and start practicing!
Discuss what they will enjoy doing at camp, look over the camp activities, help explain how they can sign up for activities at the camp and who to turn to if they would like to change their schedule.
Let them know how Runoia directors and adults are around all the time to help them at camp. Have them write an email to us about any concerns so we can address them. Reducing uncertainty and knowing adults will be there to help them really helps.

Camp cooking.

Posted on November 18, 2015October 18, 2016 by Alex

Campers at Runoia have been developing their outdoor cooking skills for many years. Wilderness trips have been an integral part of the program since camp opened 110 years ago. Can you believe that back in the day campers used their bloomers to stash their lunches in when they went off canoeing!

Regardless of how far you are hiking or canoeing you have to eat and the food can make or break the success of a trip. Trying everything from re-hydrating dried mixes to baking a cake in a Dutch oven many girls get their first taste of cooking at camp. Campers are involved in all aspects of trip menu planning and then meal preparation.

From an 8 year old flipping their first pancakes to a 15 year old menu planning and cooking meals for a whole week and with everything in between; Runoai girls get a taste of independence and begin to build their own life skills around the campfire.

Food on the hiking trail has to be light weight, well balanced, nutritious and high in energy. Trail mix, no bake cookies and other high protein snacks can be a great boost when you still have miles to go to your campsite. Cooking over a camp stove requires good organizational skills, often a menu that needs minimal pots and some creativity for making the meal tasty. A canoeing trip may allow for a little more equipment and often includes a reflector oven or Dutch oven so baking around the fire becomes a great option.

There is often nothing more satisfying than sitting around the campfire with a tin plate and a spork eating a meal that you have waited all day for and that you helped to cook.

Always a bonus if it is followed by reflector oven brownies or s’mores.

Celebrating Camp Birthdays at Runoia

Posted on November 12, 2015October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

Having a birthday at camp is special and fun in many ways. It’s a birthday bonanza!

There are the songs. The cards. The decorations. There is the birthday party on birthday night. There are the cakes – your cakes and all the other cakes. There are more songs and costumes and loud, crazy, silliness. Lots of birthdays are celebrated at Runoia each summer and they are something everyone looks forward to each session.

Songs are silly songs like: I thought I heard my grandmother say that so and so’s birthday was today with a fee fo and a fi fo… OR Ice cream soda water ginger ale pop, the cake the cake with the candles on top, get ready get ready your pearly white teeth… ALL Runoia campers and alumna can finish the words to these crazy songs.

So whenever your birthday falls, think of the playful Runoia celebrations, the special moments given to girls whether it’s their birthday or not. The whole camp has a party – that’s pretty sweet!

American Sign Language at Sleepaway Camp

Posted on October 20, 2015October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

Word of the Day – American Sign Language Style!

Our Word of the Day is an event at camp that has become a tradition. This summer the WOD was brought to us by Izzy Snyder. She included ALS signs to every word and taught them to the whole camp. Izzy is studying to be an interpreter for the deaf and we learned signs in both sessions at Runoia.

At the end of this session, Keira, a 10 year old camper, wrote a story including some of the signs (the underlined words) we learned in second session at Camp Runoia:

Welcome to the Obscure Challenge.

Here your perseverance, laughter and experience will be staunch and most wanted. During this challenge you will trudge through vegetation. If you win you should feel bittersweet because much worse awaits you after winning. IF you lose you do not have to face what will come, so you should feel grateful. In the next part of the challenge, you will face a question that most people are not imaginative enough to figure out. IF you find the answer it means you have a lot of positivity and you will be flabbergasted by the winner. This is a competition (friendly) of the mind. The winner has a strong mind with tons of inner strength.

Keira, thanks for sharing your great story!

Poetry at Camp Runoia

Posted on September 17, 2015October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

Many of you know Runoia celebrates reading. We also celebrate writing! Campers submit writing to the Camp “Log” each summer and poetry is often read at Assembly in the morning. The log is full of memories of the Maine summer and records the history of the summer events at Runoia. Many of our campers return to their sleepaway camp as alumnae to seek out memories of their summers in the camp Log.

Here’s a poem Runoia would like to share with you.

Late Summer – By Jennifer Grotz

Before the moths have even appeared

to orbit around them, the streetlamps come on,

a long row of them glowing uselessly

along the ring of garden that circles the city center,

where your steps count down the dulling of daylight.

At your feet, a bee crawls in small circles like a toy unwinding.

Summer specializes in time, slows it down almost to dream.

And the noisy day goes so quiet you can hear

the bedraggled man who visits each trash receptacle

mutter in disbelief: Everything in the world is being thrown away!

Summer lingers, but it’s about ending. It’s about how things

redden and ripen and burst and come down. It’s when

city workers cut down trees, demolishing

one limb at a time, spilling the crumbs

of twigs and leaves all over the tablecloth of street.

Sunglasses! the man softly exclaims

while beside him blooms a large gray rose of pigeons

huddled around a dropped piece of bread.

And When You Get Back Home Again…

Posted on September 1, 2015October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

“You get a strange feeling when you leave a place, like you’ll not only miss they people you love, but you miss the person you are at this time and place because you’ll never be this way ever again”-Azar Nafasi

Three weeks have come and gone, since we bid farewell to each other and our place. Our place is Camp Runoia. At camp we are the best possible “us” that we can be. We are safe, we are encouraged and we are organically just ourselves. The friendships we formed at camp are unique. They are extraordinary relationships.

I recently traveled to California and was with friends and family who I had not seen in years. We talked a lot about camp. My uncle and cousins said at one point “ We get it. We are camp people.” Until you have been to camp, until camp has defined who you are, you cannot totally comprehend the degree of depth that overnight camp has on an individual.

Jumping off the Dragon Fly to Zip and Soar — The Dragon Fly to Zip and Soar

And now the sun sets earlier, September is upon us. This fall brings anew for us all. New school year, new teachers, some have new homes and communities. But we have our best self, stashed inside. Like a treasure in our pocket, we can bring our inner strength and our inner sunshine to this new season and these new experiences. We will never be the same again, we grow and we change and with that is the hope that we are our best selves because in part of who we became at camp. At our Camp Runoia…our home away from home.

I find that I take myself home, to Camp Runoia, almost daily. I hum along to songs and think about the sound of the lake and the green of the giant ferns.

“…Dip, dip and swing them back…Flashing with silver…follow the wild goose flight…dip, dip and swing…” — Hum along through the changing seasons … and be your best self on whatever adventure this fall brings.

Kyleigh – Camp Runoia Associate Director

Dedication to the Runoia Log 2015

Posted on August 21, 2015October 18, 2016 by Pam Cobb

Passing through the Runoia gates each year, it seems futile to try and predict the course of a summer. Running from activity to activity with a friend you’ve only just met, but with a feeling that you’ve known each other for all eternity. Passing levels, achieving goals, hiking mountains, they’re all a part of camp. Those are the pieces everyone will talk about, the big moments. Other camp experiences are more subtle, yet they are the ones that truly set one summer apart from the rest. It could be something as simple as stopping to pick blueberries on the way to flag raising every morning. It could be a moment between two friends, sitting and watching the waves break calmly on the sand. It could be the night out under the stars, trying to find constellations, and hoping to see a shooting star. It could be that one inside joke between cabin mates that’s funny no matter how many times it’s said, or even just spontaneous and uncontrollable laughter. These little spur of the moment memories are made every day. They can’t be planned or anticipated, but looking back over a summer, that’s what we remember. When school comes back around, and everyone starts to get a little camp-sick, we can sit back and remember the blissful time with friends, where we left all our cares behind and enjoyed the moment we were living in. The little moments, there could be hundreds of them in one day alone, create a feeling. That feeling is the piece of camp that we can’t truly explain, but that we carry with us each day of our lives and makes our time at camp so extraordinary.

That’s why the 2015 log is dedicated to the spontaneous moments that come together to form special memories that will last a lifetime.

Carolyn Solimine