News updates about the latest happenings, events and surprises at Rockbrook Sleepaway Summer Camp for Girls. Discussions and thoughts about why camp is so important for girls.
The first day of activities this session is full speed ahead with all of the activities ready for action. As we all enjoyed perfect summer weather (warm during the day and cool at night), campers were making pottery, designing weaving projects, and decorating their first pillow case. A few girls also went rock climbing with Clyde, our adventure director. Girls shot arrows and guns, did flips at gymnastics and cannonballs at the lake. Down at the equestrian center, Cara had girls up and riding.
Halfway through the morning at our “Muffin Break,” everyone ran for a treat freshly baked by Liz. We look forward to seeing what flavor she makes for us everyday. Today, lemon.
After rest hour, Jerry, Jessi, Tara and Michelle took a big group of campers on a hike to Kilroy’s Cabin. This is a special hike to a remote part of the Rockbrook property that first takes you to Castle Rock where you can rest and enjoy the unforgettable view of the French Broad river valley. From there, the hike is a bushwhack through the forest with no trail as a guide. Jerry knows the way, but few others can find the old abandoned cabin. Kilroy’s Cabin is the center of an elaborate, and maybe a little bit spooky, story told at camp. I’ll save the details for later, but it involves a nurse with red hair, love, jealousy and a car crash late one stormy night on a slippery bridge. Ooooooooo. (cue eery music!).
For dinner, a classic camp favorite was served— spaghetti with red sauce. In addition to the salad bar, each table had a bowl of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and basil, and warm bread. It really hit the spot after our action-packed day. But that’s pretty normal for Rockbrook. Camp is action!
L to R: Carter Page Schondelmayer, Melissa Thurmond, Betsy Smith Appleby, Betsy Rothschild, Sarah Reed Carter, Rachel Paine Fuller, Lucile Page Martin, Ansley Ledyard Callaway
Back on the 29th of January, a few RBC girls got together for a mini-reunion at Lucile Martin’s house in Atlanta, GA. Fifteen or so people were able to make it. Not pictured above: Jennie Lewis, Charlotte Page, Jenny Howard, Maggie Allgood, Mandy Horton, Jill Woodruff King, Haley and Bayless Fleming.
It’s always so great to get together and remember all the happy times we’ve shared at Rockbrook. Sometimes you can’t help but laughing at some of those old photos.
Stay tuned! We’ll let you know when the next Rockbrook Mini Reunion is planned.
Sundays are some of the best and most relaxing days at camp. We all loved sleeping in for an extra hour and were greeted in the dining hall by donuts and delicious cereal–it’s the little things that make Sundays special. The rest of the day was a little different from the norm, too. We had some time to clean cabins and get into uniforms before going to chapel. The theme was friendship, and girls spoke about how camp has given them some of their best friends. One middler spoke about how, when she left a necklace she had made at the shaving cream fight, one of her camp friends walked back down with her to help her find it. Being together all the time allows girls to rely on each other in ways that seem small, but actually help them to form incredibly close bonds. Chapel left us all feeling uplifted, reflecting on these close and beautiful relationships as the last week of camp starts.
Then, we had assembly on the hill. This brought our energy way up, as we learned new songs, announced spirit and manners awards, and had mop awards presented by the Door Fairy, Midget Man, and Mermaid from the Mermaid Club. Part of the fun of camp, which was particularly present today, is the lexicon and jokes everyone here shares. The door fairy, for example, is said to live in every door, and she hates when campers slam the screen doors! If campers slam the door, you’ll frequently hear them apologizing to the door fairy, who is very forgiving.
After a delicious lunch of macaroni and cheese and grapes, we had one of the most highly anticipated all-camp events: Miss RBC! This is a spoof on a beauty pageant, in which all cabins choose a “representative” and then they all plan a talent together.
This year, girls had to think quickly to come up with their talents. Many groups performed skits or sang songs. Many of them were jokes that cabins had amongst each other and line (one camp enchored a skit they did for their line about “bun fun,” or a song about how much they love different kinds of buns (hot dog, cinnamon, etc.). Others employed camp-wide jokes (about how Bill Nye the Science Guy is our camp director, Jeff’s, celebrity doppelganger, for example) that were fun to share with everyone. It was a high-energy, high-humor event that kept everyone laughing for a couple of hours. Then, the representatives took turns answering fun questions like, “If you could have one extra hour of camp every day, how would you spend it?” (Eating muffins–a great answer!). It was a day that kept everyone laughing and relaxing after a couple of great and busy weeks at camp!
The winning cabin was Senior 7, and the following was their incredible rap that earned them the title of Miss RBC.
It was in the Blue Ridge Mountains, circa 1921
Nancy Carrier and family said this place looks like fun
She built Goodwill and Curosty, Hobby Nook and More,
Soon RBC was open–There was even a camp store!
All the girls start to arrive
Rockbrook Camp’s Starting to thrive,
RBC will stay alive
Campers continue to strive
All we need are our friendship bracelets
We’re in love with those
And we’ve got lots of camp spirit
Everybody knows (ayy! ayy!)
Lots of camp spirit
Everybody knows
Junior, Middler, Senior lines
We stand straight like dominoes
Wake up early every morning
Gotta do our chores–you know!
Camp Carolina, they can’t mess with us
If they wanted to, these is whities,
These is red ties,
These is Chaco shoes
On the hill with our crazy creeks
This is how we do (ayy! ayy!)
You know this is
How we do
Here’s a nice photo of the “Old Guard” taken at Rockbrook’s recent Alumnae Reunion back in August. From left to right, there’s: Lucy Gibson, Brenda Byrne, Elsa Claverie, Madge Kempton, Mary Ellis Carrere Hasseltine, Jo Littleton, Phyllis Shaw and Elizabeth Acree. Years and years of camp experience right there!
Several attendees at our Alumnae Reunion this summer requested to go on a hike with the legendary counselor, Phyllis S. She worked at camp from ’59 to ’67.
Campers (that could keep up with her) still remember her spunkiness, funny stories – including one about the “rattlecat” – and her zest for the woods.
She’s an example of how much of an impact counselors can have on their campers. Counselors get to be that person who show campers new worlds and horizons – and if you’re lucky, the campers just might remember your name!
Today, Phyllis is a retired English professor. She loves William Wordsworth’s work, her cat and exploring every peak to be had.
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p.s. The title of this blog comes from the song sung when it’s a counselor’s birthday:
“Old counselors never die, never die, Old counselors never die, they just look that way!”
The 4th of July began with everyone waking up to the sound of horses running down the cabin lines, and the equestrian staff yelling “The British are coming; wake up; wake up!!” Dressed in festive red, white and blue, the riders and their horses made quite a scene. The entire camp stumbled out of their cabins and made their way to hill for a quick flag raising ceremony, ending with everyone reciting the pledge of allegiance.
The rest of the day we enjoyed our regular camp activities… crafts, outdoor adventure, sports, horseback riding. Then for dinner, Rick prepared an excellent cookout of burgers, corn, chips and watermelon. We all sat and ate on the hill, and since we had some music playing, sang and danced too. It was a nice way to spend the evening.
Capping off the day, everyone gathered again on the hill for a great fireworks display. For about 20 minutes bangs and colorful flashes in the sky entertained us before turning in for the night. Overall, it was a great day of all-camp activities and holiday celebration fun.
We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. All of us at camp had a nice vacation and are now getting back in the swing of things. As a matter of fact, Margaret Lyle leaves today for our first slide show of the new year. It will be held in Macon, GA at Paint’n and Kil’n Time on Ingleside Avenue. Should be a great time for all our Macon RBC girls. Hopefully some future campers will be able to attend as well.
Part of our New Years plan at camp was to start this blog for all you guys- so here it is! The very first post! We will update it frequently so you can see what is going on in Brevard, learn more about camp, the staff, and even the history of Rockbrook. This way if you have news we can put it on the blog right away. We will continue to do our newsletter, but this will allow us to keep in touch more often. Hooray! So let us hear from you and we will put you on the blog!
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