Earlier this year, one of my friends asked me “what’s the best place you’ve ever been? And I answered “camp”! Although this is only my second year here, I cannot begin to describe how much camp has impacted my life. I truly feel as if I have been here forever. Camp is all about making life long friends, as well as memories and I am so thankful that I have been able to have that experience.
The hardest part about camp for me is saying goodbye to all of the people I’ve become so close with because I’m not certain when the next time is that I will see them. You meet people, make memories and then you say goodbye. However, I’ve learned that that is what makes this camp experience so special. Being here has also taught me to live in the moment and to take every opportunity that I am given, and I am so thankful for this life long lesson. To all of my friends here at camp, you know who you are, past present and future, I want to thank each of you for letting me into your life. I love you all.
To the Camp Runoia Directors, thank you so much for keeping the Camp Runoia traditions strong and for sharing them with me.
Birthday Crayons
Written by Rose B. for the Camp Runoia Log, August, 2014
The end of camp feels like an amazing high quality chocolate bar that you never want to end and savor it to the last nibble. And ultimately, can’t wait until you allow yourself to taste it again!
Runoia Giggling
The summer season in Maine ends with cool nights, bright days and feel of autumn high in the air. The bittersweet vine begins to form its bright berries that make us smile in the darkening days of fall. The golden rod flower stands erect and bright in the mellowing sun. Afternoons end all too quickly and dusk settles in as we yearn for the long summer days.
Ending anything great is hard to part with – like the end of a good novel or a challenging game or a zip on the Runoia Dragonfly.
The good news about the end of camp is you have your memories, your friendships, your totems of the summer experienced. Be they symbols as in an award for accomplishments, an emblem like your art projects, a feeling you hold near and dear, or the growth others notice in you, these parts of summer stay with you like the bittersweet vine continues to grow. The good news about the end of camp is that Runoia will be there for you in 2015 and beyond.
Although camp ending is bittersweet, Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem In Memoriam:27, 1850 sums it up so well:
I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
And as we sing at Runoia “And when I get back home again, I’m gonna study hard and then, back to canoes and paddles”
One of the grand moments of going off to camp is feeling independent and having the opportunity to reinvent yourself. At Camp Runoia you have the chance to be a different person than you are in school or in your neighborhood or with your parents.
Fitness is an Integral Part of Camp
I do not imagine any young girls are scheming about this prior to camp. “When I show up at camp, I am going to be a courageous girl who helps others and is always kind and respectful to adults.” Or “I cannot wait to get to camp where I can be the first one up in the morning to help others with their morning chores.” In fact, it’s not something we even bring up with campers. It just happens and most campers reflect on it at some point during the summer.
A transformation occurs when girls come to camp that is purely organic. The tendency is that within a short period of time, girls drop their “baggage” from the school year and leave it somewhere between the parking lot and beginning of the two mile road to camp. Layers of pressure unload or the steam slowly seeps out from the pressure cooker of life.
Within the first few days campers unpack more of their emotional “stuff and become a little more carefree. They try something new without fear of humiliation. They stand up for others without being excluded from groups. As the summer session carries on, more and more of this happens around them and they find that being their true selves is easy and burden-less. Hallelujah!
Camp Runoia, where diversity is celebrated, people are included and valued for who they are and how they grow and what they contribute to the camp community. This leaves a lot of possibility for girls to try being someone else when they get to camp.
Unlike famous 19th century female writers with pseudonyms “nom de plumes”, many who wrote with male names in a male-dominated profession, some campers truly try out a slightly different persona. They try behaving differently and receive speedy feedback in the form of gratitude, attention, cheers, acknowledgment and adding value. This phenomenon may come in the form of a personal victory of getting up in front of a crowd when they
Runoia Riders at All Levels can Excel
have previously had stage fright or they find themself climbing to a high height when they have been scared of heights in the past. It starts with talking in front of a small group when it’s their turn and builds to performing in the talent show. Or climbing a little bit higher on the climbing tower and then trying the Runoia “Dragonfly” zipline at the end of the session.
Small steps to success lead to large distances covered in life.
The daylight stretches into the evening hours now which means summer is just around the bend. We are seeing a lot of parents working hard on their forms for camp. Thank you!
Did you know on your Runoia Camp in Touch (CIT) dashboard you can find all your forms? In addition to the forms we need from you, your dashboard gives you some critical info for planning and packing for overnight sleepaway camp in Maine at Camp Runoia. Between the forms page on your dash board and the www.runoia.com page on FAMILIES, you will find:
There is an explanation of “What to expect on opening day” at Camp Runoia.
You’ll find the official Camp Runoia Packing List.
Check out the options for sending emails to your camper and where you can look at photos posted every 3-4 days during the camp season.
A link to the official outfitter of Camp Runoia – Lands’ End.
Looking for vintage Runoia gear? It’s classic and revered. Go to Amerasport.com and search for Runoia to order your throwback Runoia gear.
The Parent/Family Handbook – this is a handy document to peruse and bookmark for future reference.
The Camp Runoia app is also available on our FAMILIES page. The app allows you to keep in touch with picture posting in the summer, connect with your CIT dashboard and see scenes from around camp.
There’s much much more on your dashboard so be sure to check it out. Just picture us in the Runoia office eagerly awaiting your forms!
A package arrived in the mail this week from a camper. The box was addressed:
Camp Runoia – the most wonderful gift of all
Inside was a beautiful tree ornament of a glass kayak. The family wrote a note describing how every year they pick out an ornament that represents something important in their lives. This year, the kayak symbolized camp and how important camp was to their daughter. They thought it appropriate to mail one to camp to show their gratitude and appreciation.
At Runoia, we are thankful for the thoughtfulness of this family and also feel the gift of camp is an amazing, life changing, skill building, educational and fun experience you can provide for your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. To all our families and all who believe in camp – thank you!
