Be the change you want to see in the world

Posted on May 1, 2019 by Alex

Our camp Runoia community attempts to create change through simple acts of kindness and caring, hoping to make the world that we live in a better place. We believe that we can engage campers and staff to be the change that they want to see in our local communities and in the greater world around us.

In our Giving Tuesday blog back in November we shared about a new community service initiative that we were excited to be getting involved with. We are moving forward with this partnership and continuing our monetary giving into the summer season.

‘World of Change’ is a philanthropic organization with a home base right here in Maine. It encourages youth to participate in collections of loose change that can then be used to create ‘change’ in their local communities. We are excited to be one of the startup camps that are joining the drive and will be collecting change this summer. We are hopeful that this will create enthusiasm among our campers for continuing this support in upcoming seasons.

The statistics of how much money is just sitting around in our homes, cars, and workplaces is just staggering.

How much loose change do you have lying around?

Camp Runoia families are always incredibly generous and our ‘cans from campers’ food drives have been very successful. Through support of our local food pantry, we have had the opportunity to be a positive presence in Runoia’s small, home town . We will continue collecting food on opening days this summer and hope that gathering change throughout the school year to bring to camp will catch on too.

We know that a lot of people giving a little can really create positive change for those in need. All of the money that World of Change generates goes directly to the nonprofits working in communities identified as having needs. The six focus areas ensure that all children get strong foundations to grow on.

We hope that our Camp Runoia campers will engage with the World of Change philosophy and strive to make a difference in their home communities. Where will you start? How can you be the change in your community? It doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking spending an hour picking up trash or helping an elderly neighbor with yard work can be a great place to start.

Together we truly can be the change we want to see in the world.

Maine the way life should be

Posted on March 13, 2019March 13, 2019 by Alex

So you just dropped the kids off at overnight camp in Maine now what? Three or four weeks with no children to entertain can be liberating. If you are not jetting off to Europe or racing back to work, you may want to enjoy the local area at least for a few days. With the tag line ‘Vacationland’ Maine is the perfect place to be in the summer so why not extend your camp drop off or pick up trip and have a few days of relaxation and vacation time before heading back south.

With a myriad of things to do or not do Maine provides opportunity for everyone, from the outdoor enthusiast to those that love nothing more than a beautiful view and a good book. With places that are great to take the kids and places to just have some quality adult time, Maine really does have it all. Here is a brief snap shot of some of our favorite places to visit.

In the summers E.B. White spent time writing on the shores of Great Pond – we have the ‘White House’ at Runoia.

Local to Camp Runoia

The beautiful and peaceful Belgrade Lakes region has all of the quintessential charm of lake life. Renting a cottage on one of the large and quiet lakes is a perfectly relaxing choice. The village hosts a number of interesting curio type shops and some great food experiences. Days Stores has everything you never knew you needed including Lakeside Scoops Ice Cream. Our friend Shari is always cooking up a storm at Hello Good Pie – it’s not just pie! and the Village Inn is also an excellent dining option. Ranked best public course in Maine and with a world class view the Belgrade Lakes golf course is worth a round. Spend a few days hanging out in the local area and you’ll be feeling relaxed and rejuvenated in no time.

Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park

A little further afield but worth the drive up 95, the bustling coastal town of Bar Harbor is a great place to stay and check Maine’s National Park off your ‘must see’ list. From car camping to deluxe accommodations, hiking to scenic drives there is something for everyone. Acadia’s Mt Cadillac boasts the earliest sunrise in the US and we are pretty fond of biking on the carriage trails around the park.

Disclaimer you really can’t get a lobster for 99c these days!

Portland – Foodie City

If you don’t have time for a long stay and are heading back south as soon as drop off is done at least take time to stop for a bite to eat in Portland. The little city of the east coast has fast become a food haven with so many choices everyone will be happy. Got a little more time? Shop the Old Port, take a stroll at the most photographed lighthouse – the Portland Head Light, take the ferry out to Peaks Island or visit one of the many attractions in town the Victoria Mansion and Museum of Art are always popular.

This is obviously just a few of the spectacular Maine opportunities. Hopefully on the way too and from Camp Runoia you will have time to enjoy our great state. Still need inspiration? We have a Pinterest board for that!

We can’t wait to see you this summer.

Girls only!

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Alex

Single gender or co-ed? how do you choose the right option?

Many prospective families are curious as to what makes an all-girls, overnight experience special or at least different to a co-ed camp. Single gender camps have long been a tradition in youth camping. The majority of the earliest programs were established just for boys or for girls only. We imagine that back in 1907 when Ms. Weiser and Ms. Pond were establishing Camp Runoia for Girls it was likely highly frowned upon for boys and girls to be camping out in the Maine woods together! We relish our long and strong tradition of girls attending sleep away camp in Maine and primarily being led by women.

So why do girls enjoy a single gender experience? Many Runoia campers welcome a change in dynamic from their co-ed schools. Often girls will say that they can be themselves at camp. They enjoy not feeling any pressure to look or dress a certain way. At camp the playing field is even and all opportunities are available to everyone. There are no gender specific activities and the prevailing sense is that girls can do anything. With the majority of the staff also being female there are many different types of role models and the opportunity to learn from slightly older young women who are in college.

Once you pass the Camp Runoia gate you’ve made a little date with fate.

There is a perfect camp fit for every child and a myriad of options to choose from. Focusing on your child’s strengths and personality traits rather than the perception of what a ‘perfect’ camp may be will help to narrow down those choices. Your old summer camp that you attended 30 years ago may be perfect for the next generation or they may be better suited to a different opportunity. Knowing where your child will thrive best and then asking questions to see if the camps you are choosing will be a good match is crucial to everyone’s happiness.

We are always happy to chat about what makes Runoia a special place for girls to grow and you can check out our philosophy on our website.

Finding the right camp

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Alex

As we rapidly roll towards the summer season, this time of year is typically the busiest for new camper enrollment. As families begin their search in earnest for the perfect camp for their child we thought that some tips and helpful questions may be of use. There are such a wide variety of program options and so many great choices it can certainly be overwhelming to even get started. So how on earth do you find the right camp?

A general internet search for summer camps turns up what seems like a million options for summer programs and even when focusing on resources that are specific to camp selection the choices can be extensive. The American Camp Association website is filled with over 3000 accredited camps and summer programs and can be a great place to start. If you are already sure that Maine is the place that you want your child to be Maine Summer Camps also has a ‘find a camp’ tool which is also very helpful.

So how do you get started?

Set some parameters before you go near your computer and maybe even before you get the kids involved – you don’t want them picking space camp on the moon when you were thinking arts camp in the woods!

Here are some potential questions to think through.

What genre of camp are you looking for?
Do you have family traditions with a particular program or location?
Are you restricted to specific dates or have a set session length in mind?
Is your child ready for an overnight experience or are you looking for a more local day camp?
What is your budget?
How far from home are you willing to travel?
Are you looking for specific program content or a more general program?
Do you want to do your own research or get help form a professional camp referral agency?
What are your child ‘s thoughts about camp?

Once you’ve got a basic outline for your needs and wants you can dig in. Camp websites are typically filled with all of the initial information that you may need and directors are waiting for your calls to expand on what makes their camp unique. Expect good customer service and attentive sales pitches, camps should want to find out about your child to see if it is a good fit for everyone not just push their program. A great director will be able to head you in a different direction if their camp doesn’t meet your needs. You should also expect to get referrals to other families and ideally a camp tour or home visit depending on the season.

Finding the right camp should be fun not stressful, give us a call if you need help 207 495 2228 there is a perfect fit for every child out there. Want to learn more about Camp Runoia our website is a great place to start.

‘Once you pass the Runoia gate you’ve made a little date with fate..”

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.