camp runoia Archives - Page 5 of 9

New years resolutions – realistic attainable goals!

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Alex

Did you make resolutions for 2019?

At this time of year conversation often turns to what resolutions people are making for the New Year. A fresh start as the year changes fills us with a new sense of purpose and commitment. Gym membership’s increase as health, fitness and weight loss goals usually top people’s lists. Sadly as we often know too well once February rolls around the best laid plans have often fallen by the wayside as the reality of life sets in and our commitment was really just on paper with little passion for it in our hearts.

Try something new or improve on something that you already find engaging.

While having a bucket list of things you want to accomplish in the next year can be exciting, setting realistic attainable goals may be far more rewarding and lead to more gratification. Check out this article for creating your own SMART goals. Perhaps we don’t need to do something completely new in 2019 because honestly even suggesting that I’m going to go to the gym 3 times a week is just laughable! A re-commitment to an activity that makes us happy or continued participation in a class or group that we enjoy or even just agreeing to meet a friend once a month for coffee may be enough.

There are so many great activities to try at Camp Runoia.

Why start something new when repeating experiences has great value? As we know from repeated overnight camp experiences at Camp Runoia , solidifying skills and building on relationships, embracing the familiar and allowing ourselves to be in a comfortable place allows us all to grow. We work with campers each summer to set new goals and focuses for their camp experiences. Even though the location may be the same each season is always different and has it’s own unique challenges and successes.

Maybe we don’t need a fancy list of resolutions just a focus on what engages us in the present makes us happy and helps us to continue growing as a person. We hope that a Camp Runoia summer is on your daughter’s bucket list and look forward to helping her to achieve her goals.

We are excited for our 2019 Camp Runoia season and wish you all a very Happy New Year.

res·o·lu·tion

noun

a firm decision to do or not to do something.

Love, Happy, Peace

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Pam Cobb

Merry, joy, love, happy, peace. Words oft used around the holidays, be it on holiday cards, signs, or said aloud to others within greetings and expressions. My blind guess would be that December comes in at the top of the list if there were some obscure ranking in which certain months of the year are then most tied to these lovely words. That top-ten list is not one to be found on the Travel Channel or the Weather Channel anytime soon, but you can picture the idea.

However, there is a place I know where these words are truly befitting, and the setting is smack dab in the middle of summer. As Jai Cobb Kells’ husband and Pam Cobb’s son-in-law, I get a front row seat to the magic of Camp Runoia. As a father of three daughters, two of which attend Camp Runoia during the summer months, I get a veritable look behind the curtain.

I’m at Runoia on weekends during the summer, and my duties usually entail hanging out with our youngest daughter Frannie, who is a spirited two-year old.

She has a yearning to explore and a propensity to run off in glee as fast as her little legs will carry her, typically with me chasing behind. We are frequent visitors all over the camp grounds, constantly seeing the beauty of children who are in the present moment, full of life. Is there a better place to be? Frannie and I find ourselves at the waterfront, where campers are laughing, swimming, singing, making bracelets, braiding hair, hugging, and learning water activities. Words like merry and happy are easy descriptions to any observer. We find ourselves in the dining hall, where the waves of joy and energy come over and through the tables again and again like infinite waves on a shoreline. We find ourselves in the communal Lodge reading books, playing piano, and soaking in the rich Runoia history with other campers. We find ourselves adventuring to the archery pavilion, or hanging out in the graceful presence of the horses in the fields, watching girls learn to harmonize their energy. We’re often found trying to hit a badminton birdie around with laughing campers, or climbing the tree house, or trying to find the biggest tree in sight, or holding the bunnies.

Behind it all, the omnipresent feelings of peace and love are often what I notice most. Of course, as a parent, I notice different things now than I did when I was camper age, but these are the big ones nowadays. Peace, love, joy, genuine happiness – this is the good stuff. These are the emotions that bring vibrant color to a child’s life, last indefinitely, and ensure hopeful futures. Like Camp Runoia, these qualities instill a belonging in the universe…so it makes perfect sense that they are found there and exist together. And where / when everything and everybody belongs, no matter what, then everything is to be loved.

To be part of a setting that organically provides that very concept, I am truly grateful…and merry!

Jesse Kells

Runoia elections – using your voice at camp

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Alex

A long standing tradition at Camp Runoia has been having elections to see who will be team captain. The pool is small and anyone who meets the very basic criteria is eligible to run. There are no residency requirements and basically your age and having been in camp a couple of years allows you to be on the ballot. Occasionally girls take themselves off the roster as it is not of interest to them but typically everyone gives it a shot. You get to vote just for the candidate who represents your team in your end of camp and campers are often surprised by the fact that ‘yes’ you can vote for yourself.

Candidates get 1-2 minutes to present their ‘reasons why I should be captain’ speech to their team. It is a big deal to stand up in front of a large group and talk about yourself. It is often the first time that girls have had an opportunity to describe their own skill set and successes. For other campers it is a great opportunity to elect someone that they know to a position of leadership and to figure out that your choice makes a difference. Girls use their individual voices in multiple ways during the process and it is an empowering experience.

Probably the greatest outcome from camp elections is that as soon as the winners are announced everyone cheers, hugs and offers their support. There may be a few tears from a losing candidate but those quickly turn into offers to help with line ups, song teaching or any other aspect of the captain job that requires support. The voting process is respected and the team is quick to rally behind their new leader regardless of whether or not she got their vote.

Sometimes the most unlikely candidate wins, the quieter girl who is reliable, consistent and trusted by her camp mates to treat people fairly, the girls who is not necessarily the best athlete but always shows awesome team spirit or the camper that is most respected because she keeps a positive attitude and is fun. It is an honor and privilege for girls to serve their teams and they take their role seriously and put forth their best efforts. They know they walk in the shoes of campers who have been leaders for many years before them and strive for the victory while still remaining great friends with their opponents.

We are glad that camp can provide girls a small taste of the democratic process and encourage campers to stand up to represent their own beliefs and support those that they have the most faith in.

It is a relief that election season is finally and why don’t they give out prizes for which candidate has the most creative signs? that’s what we would do at camp!

Solfege and other challenges – building life skills

Posted on September 25, 2018 by Alex

I tend to spend my free evenings learning my choir music. For the past few nights I’ve been watching YouTube videos designed for preschoolers! I am trying to learn a new skill that will help me musically and one that is definitely a step out of my comfort zone. Solfege (the ‘do re mi’ scale) has a set of hand signals that go with it, I never knew about them until recently and am now trying to learn them and be able to use them competently. It is hard!

I am not as musically talented as some of my peers, I don’t have any natural ability to sound perfect pitch and while I have sung in a choir for most of my life my sight reading is at best mediocre. I need help on a level that works for me and I’ve finally found it.

The videos are very basic and include auditory and visual learning segments that are great. The style is working for me. Watching is helping immensely (likely the 3 year olds that are also using them are already much more competent!) and supporting the work we do in choir but I have to keep practicing, working at it and challenging myself. There is no instant gratification, it is taking time. I forget what I have learned, can’t transfer the skill to more complex pieces and sometimes just don’t feel motivated to keep sticking with it. I get frustrated that it is so easy for other people to pick up quickly or jealous of those that had the opportunity to learn it more organically.

In all truth I don’t really have to learn it, I am making a conscious choice to challenge myself and learn something new that I know will have some benefit but is not crucial to my performance as a singer. Even though it is hard I am committed to making progress and improving my level of accomplishment, I am self-motivated to get better and to stick with it.

At Camp Runoia girls are challenged every day with new skills. Some are self elected and others are dictated as part of our daily routine of camp life. There are those that are certainly more essential than others and potential some that will never be mastered. We present skills to girls in different ways that will hopefully help all learners grasp the concepts. Sometimes exploration happens independently and often an ‘aha’ moment comes during a teachable moment. Skill building is never wasted even if success takes hours, days and even years to achieve. The life skills that we learn at camp are transferable to other areas of life. Hard work, determination, practice, patience, tolerance of self and others, acceptance, perseverance not receiving instant gratification and so many more. Camp provides a supportive environment for girls to feel confident to try new things and build new skills.

I am off to use my life skills to keep working on mastering my solfege!

Mixing it Up at Runoia

Posted on August 7, 2018August 7, 2018 by Pam Cobb

Each week campers and counselors spend on average 25 hours of their week in “regular program”. The schedule is 5 classes a day and rotate in blocks of 2 day schedules and 3 day schedules. The rest of our day is filled with cabin clean up, recreational swims in Great Pond (a lake 8000 acres in size!) a unique Evening Program, meals, snacks and Rest Hour. Let’s not forget about our wilderness trip program where each shack group is out for 2 -3 days in the beautiful state of Maine.

Two and one half weeks into the session, we mixed it up with a Fun Day Sunday. In 2018 it started with a pirate attack at Assembly:

Followed by loads of fun at different stations from photo booth to Captain’s Coming, tattoo station and Find Your Pirate Name (for instance Iron Claw Captain) lots of competition between the Black Team and the White Team.

Snacks of pirate cookies and popcorn and Pirate Booty were in store for campers and counselors alike.

The evening finale of watching an outoor movie on Mahadin with glow stick necklaces was a hit and a great way to chill out after a long day.

Mixing up our program at camp keeps camp fun and energizing and throws an element of surprise. With Harry Potter Day last year, Summer Olympics, County Fair, and Take me out to the Ball Game in previous years, we can only wonder, what surprise will be discovered in 2019?

With Love from Belgrade Lakes,

Aionur

Maine magic – the wonder of spring

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Alex

Summer arrives quickly in Maine!

I have lived in Maine for around 20 years and still the spring transition from frozen tundra to vegetative jungle surprises me every year. Spring is just incredible here! In just a matter of a few weeks the dramatic change in weather and landscape literally unfolds before your eyes.

The ‘Lupine Lady’ has been busy around the state of Maine

The ice melts off the lake and docks and boats are hauled out of storage and are back in use before the water gets much above 40 degrees. Intrepid swimmers even brave the chilly water making the most of the days when it gets above 70 degrees.

The garden around the farmhouse at camp has started to spring up with lupines, irises and peonies. It is always a time to wonder how long they have been established there and remember the days that Betty Cobb would tend to the weeds before camp opened.

The rhododendron outside my office window is blooming a glorious pink and regularly attracts bees and hummingbirds. Anytime you step outside after 5am the air is filled with the noisy sounds of birds and the number of squirrels and chipmunks appears to have quadrupled overnight. After so many months of dark, quiet and cold it is a time of great excitement and activity.

It will only be a couple of very short weeks until it is officially summer and Camp Runoia’s 112^th season will be beginning on Great Pond. Like the Maine spring things happen very quickly at the start of the season. The camp docks and boats are in, the horses have already arrived, staff are trickling in and there is a flurry of activity both in person and in our inboxes.

We cannot wait for camp to be in full swing, for our campers to be here and to be enjoying the hazy, lazy days of summer. The sounds of loons on the lake will soon be lulling us to sleep ad our days will be spent submerged in all that nature has to offer us.

Camp Runoia continues our professional development

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Alex

This week: Diversity and a continued commitment to youth development

Another week and yet another opportunity for professional development right here in Maine with a another amazing, national level speaker . This weeks workshop was presented by Maine Summer Camps, the consortium of Maine camps that comes together to ‘support and promote meaningful developmental, educational, environmental, and recreational experiences for children.’ Camp Runoia is a long time and active member of this group and is always keen to participate in any opportunities that promote further growth and learning.

Unlike many industries the Maine summer camp community is invested in working together to provide the best camping opportunities for all children. We are a diverse group for sure so it was particularly fitting that our workshop speaker was Niambi Jaha- Echols.

An expert in ‘cross cultural agility’ Niambi’s focus was about inclusion, diversity and our unique position as an industry to create diversely rich communities that value everyone equally. We were lucky enough to work with Niambi last year at our Runoia staff training and this was a great reminder of our commitment to all girls and to creating a truly diverse community where everyone is valued.

It is always interesting to network with other camp professionals, to discuss common factors and also learn from our differences. There are so many different ways to provide the camping experience and there truly are camps that best suit the needs of every child. By opening our doors as widely as we can and staying true to our goals and missions we can build relationships and connections among groups of people who may never come into contact.

Highly recommended is the ‘Seeing White‘ podcast series that challenges our perceptions and calls us to true action.

At Camp Runoia we try our best to challenge ourselves to grow and develop, to meet the needs of the changing world that we work and live in and to provide as many girls as possible with an exceptional overnight camp experience. We are always open to hearing comments and opinions of others, to rethinking the way we approach things and to recommitting to our goals and mission.

With Gratitude for our Girls and Families

Posted on November 15, 2017March 29, 2018 by camprunoia

Greetings from Camp Runoia!

The month of November is often associated with gratitude. Like so many, we find ourselves thinking about people, places and things we are grateful for, and we are grateful for you ~ our parents, families and girls that make Runoia the special place it is for all of us. A “summer camp” is really just some land and buildings until you add the special ingredient… people. We know there are so many ways a girl can spend her summer, and we feel fortunate that you value the camp experience enough to choose Runoia for your daughter. We also appreciate that it can be a bit “nervous-making” to entrust your child to others. We are honored that you have chosen us and trust us to care for your daughter while she is with us in the summer.

We take this trust very seriously and strive to hire the type of counselors that will serve as positive adult role models as they teach, mentor, care for, and have fun with your daughter. We will do our best to create an environment where girls can discover themselves, make positive choices, develop life skills, create deep friendships, have joyous fun, and create memories that will last throughout their lives. We are very lucky to do this special work of camp.

We are so excited that so many girls have already re-enrolled for 2018. Perhaps you know a girl that would be a perfect addition to our community? We do still have a few spots available in all of our sessions, so please share your stories of the Runoia experience with your friends. Camp is a wonderful gift to share.

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and many thanks again for being a part of our Runoia family!

Best wishes,

Camp Runoia session session is rolling!

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Alex

Second session came in with a barrage of giggles, a few dreary rain clouds and an enthusiasm for camp life that we love to see at this point in the summer. Our campers were so ready to get here that the opening day line by the gate was long even before lunch was finished. We love the energy that these girls bring and have quickly helped everyone get settled and engaged with the Runoia routines.

Our new girls already seem like they have been here forever and old and new friendships are strong. The full season girls have bridged the break nicely and had a fun trip out bowling and to the movies to celebrate their first session accomplishments and to skip orientation!

Full season campers had a blast at bowling!

Horses are being ridden, the ski boat is running nonstop, the first overnight wilderness trips head out today, craft and shop projects have been started and everyone is so busy all day long they fall into bed at night for a great sleep. The first couple of days of tag up were a little overwhelming for some girls while others knew exactly what they wanted to choose first. With over 15 choices of classes decision making skills are exercised at every opportunity.

For those of you following our nature updates there has not been a moose sighting in the area for a couple of days now and it seems that the fledgling barred owls finally got their flying feathers. The great blue heron is typically on the beach at dusk when it is quiet around camp. The loons continue their nightly greetings to us as we slip into dreams of the fun we can have tomorrow. We are truly living in harmony with nature at every opportunity.

We are so glad to be here in Harmony Land and know that the next few weeks will fly by; we will ‘maximize our opportunities’ and take advantage of these ‘fine Maine days.’

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.