Here comes camp hiring season! Staff first impressions in 2023

As we near the end of early enrollment and move into open enrollment, it only naturally follows that camp hiring season is just around the corner, too! In a few short weeks, we’ll be welcoming back returning staff members and meeting new faces from near and far along the way. 

The camp counselor experience is a challenging and rewarding one from start to finish – it seems impossible to me that someone could make it through the summer without feeling challenged and changed for the better by summer’s end. 

At Runoia, we live in a child-centered environment – but also know that happy, health staff make for happy, healthy kids. We encourage growth, community, and self discovery in all members of our community and relish in their successes, their tenacity, and hearing all about their experience from day one to departure day. 

2023 staff on their first afternoon in camp!

Our 2023 staff community was a special one – kind, caring, and connected – and here’s what they had to say about their first impressions of Runoia:

It’s beautiful.

Lovely, true, typical American summer camp which is exactly why I came here.

It’s smaller than I thought it would be, but the lake is much bigger.

Awesome people make Runoia awesome.

Back again, all is well.

It’s a happy environment, very welcoming.

Joyful

I’m going to enjoy the next few months.

A lot of nature, but still so beautiful with the shacks

Everyone is one big friend group and I’ve had a blast being a part of it.

I think it’s a lovely place with a good organization.

Very good first impression, excited to see and learn more.

The hemlocks are so healthy.

Clean, friendly, awesome

A comfortable and magical place

Home faraway from home.

All are very nice and polite

Amazing

It’s beautiful! It’s a lot smaller than other camps I’ve worked at which I enjoy.

A beautiful place I will make friends and memories at.

I’m excited for what’s to come.

Awesome.

Beautiful place with down to earth people.

It’s a good place to spend my summer.

It’s beautiful and big.

The people are nice.

This is my 3rd year so I really love being here, for me, staying here and spending my summer at Camp Runoia means having fun and an amazing summer.

Friendly and helpful staff.

Beautiful, good food, positive people.

It’s really pretty and all the staff are lovely. I love the lake.

Fantastic, I’m excited to be back.

A fun place.

My favorite place on earth.

Small, tight community, friendly people. Beautiful landscape.

Peaceful.

That everyone here is here to support one another and help make the kid’s experience wonderful.

From a counselor’s perspective, versus camper, I would say that it’s a much different, but still very welcoming vibe.

The lake is gorgeous. The environment is so cute.

High-spirited, playful

It’s really beautiful here and all the staff are so lovely.

I’m happy to be here, it’s very pretty and the people are kind.

Positive, welcoming, fun

Making memories with traditions at home and camp

Hopefully during this Holiday season you have found the time to be present in the moment and enjoy special family times and traditions with those that you love the most.

friends

Whether you have favorite recipes that you cook together, a gingerbread project that everyone works on or a special place that you visit it is often the routine of tradition that is of most value to our kids.  The fancy wrapped packages have been unwrapped and the anticipation of the moment has now passed but the activities that you do together will cement the great feeling of the season.

Hopefully you can take time to just hang out, play games, go for a walk and just relax together.  We would love to see your  photos of the family fun you have had over break.

At camp our girls love the times when they get to connect with each other, when they do something that they can only do at camp or that only happens once a session.

Maybe over the school break your daughter  can take the time to write a real mail letter to a camp friend.  Make a connection, start a tradition.

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As the year ends the official countdown to summer 2017 is on. We still have spaces for our 2017 season sign up here!

Finding Perfection

The Perfect Tree – Finding Perfection

There is a lot of anticipation in our house this week.  The upcoming weekend is our annual sortie into the woods to find the perfect tree to decorate for the Holidays.  We don’t have a particular place or tradition for getting the tree sometimes we swing by one of the local Maine tree farms close to our house but we have also been known to go out in the back acreage and find a wild tree.  Once we have decided if we will go and cut one or grab one at the market stand the hunt is on.

balsam8The challenge is always how do we find the ‘perfect’ tree? How big should it be? Round and full? or a little thinner so the ornaments hang down? At the farm there are even choices of what variety of spruce to bring home!  It is hard for it not to become overwhelming especially when everyone has a different opinion about just what constitutes ‘perfect.’

balsam7Depending on how cold it is the search may be long or due to frozen fingers and toes it may be a short trek to the nearest good looking spot.  ‘Perfect’ becomes relative when the promise of hot chocolate is involved.

The funny thing is that no matter which tree we end up getting everyone always declares it ‘perfect’ even when it requires a 6” decapitation to fit in the house or takes up half the room.  It is the time with family and the tradition of actually doing this together every year that truly makes it ‘perfect.’

tree1However you celebrate the Holidays I hope that it will be your own version of perfect.