Charlotte Page is a longtime Associate Director at Rockbrook. She began her career at Rockbrook in 1980 when she was a junior camper and has served in many roles since then, including a Cabin Counselor and Program Director. She is a graduate of Converse College with a degree in Education of the Hearing Impaired. When Charlotte isn’t at Rockbrook, you can find her coaching S.M.A.R.T Girls Run, teaching therapeutic riding lessons at Free Rein Riding Center, or volunteering with the North Carolina Boys & Girls Club.
One of our favorite and long standing Rockbrook traditions is the special treat known as “The Biltmore Train.” It is an all you can eat ice cream extravaganza that has been happening at Rockbrook for many years. It is a Rockbrook “Surprise” and is announced with a special “choo choo” train song and skit. When the tradition started the actual Bitmore Dairy Truck would drive up to camp and serve the ice cream (as seen in the photo above). The Biltmore Dairy is no longer in business but we sure still enjoy it’s namesake activity. “Biltmore, Biltmore” can often be heard being chanted around camp as the campers hope for the surprise ice cream day to arrive.
We recently uncovered another piece of Nancy Carrier’s history while searching through some old documents. One of these documents was the Bryn Mawr College Calendar and Register of Former Students. Guess who was listed? Nancy Barnum Clarke! Nancy was listed as a Graduate Student in Psychology, Geology and Biology in 1909-1910. It also indicates that she received her Bachelors of Science in 1909 from The College for Women in Columbia, SC.
Bryn Mawr was the first college in the United States to offer Graduate Studies for women. We can imagine Nancy leaving Brevard and venturing to Pennsylvania for further schooling. She was quite an amazing woman and very ahead of her time!
See the image below for Nancy’s record. She is listed third from the top.
Bryn Mawr Register of Former Students and Alumnae.
Nancy Carrier and Peggy on The Rockbrook House lawn
As part of our continuing efforts to document the history of Rockbrook and its founders, we have been doing some genealogical research on camp founder Nancy Carrier and her famous Great- Grandfather P.T. Barnum. We have explored some fascinating genealogy books and websites and have also visited the Transylvania County Courthouse and Library. We will soon be blogging a more detailed story of their lives, but we need your help in unraveling some of the story.
Those of you who were campers and counselors during Mrs. Carrier’s time at camp can add a lot of detail to the story. We are particularly interested in any information that you remember about her children, Henry and Helen. We would also love to hear any recollections you have on her daughter in law Helen, who directed the camp. Your stories, photos and memories will assist us in painting a more accurate picture of Mrs. Carrier and Rockbrook. Please let us know if you have anything to add!
We were so excited to see former Rockbrook counselor and Junior Line Head extraordinaire Christy Middleton Buchanan when she stopped by the RBC office last week. She came by to introduce us to her sweet baby girl Mirabelle! Mirabelle was born July 1, 2010. She is absolutely adorable and already has been introduced to all of the Rockbrook songs! We wonder what her favorite song is?
Christy says that she is already counting down the days until Mirabelle can be a Rockbrook camper! Summer 2018 will be here before you know it! We will be waiting Mirabelle!
While going through our archives recently we came across this fascinating article about Nancy Carrier, published in The Transylvania Times in 1989. It was printed in honor of what would have been her 100th birthday. It is a wonderful addition to our archives, and is a testament to the legacy of Nancy Carrier. Besides being the founder of Rockbrook Camp, she also was one of the founders of Brevard Music Camp, now Brevard Music Center. She also was a chairman of the first hospital auxiliary in Brevard and helped found Lyday Memorial Hospital, the first public Hospital in Transylvania County.
We also loved learning more about the early days of Rockbrook. Did you know that through Mrs. Carrier, the local Red Cross met at Rockbrook and made bandages for the war effort. Or that sewing circles were held at Rockbrook to make useful items for soldiers during World War II?
Nancy Carrier passed away in 1977 and is buried right down the street from Rockbrook in St.Paul’s-in-the-Valley Cemetery. We hope to locate more information on Mrs. Carrier and will share it with you as we uncover more about our remarkable founder.
During our camp reunion in 2009 one of the most popular events was the hike to Kilroy’s Cabin which is up past Castle Rock. Jerry took a large group of hikers on one of his wild adventures to find Kilroy’s. The group returned with wild stories, dirty clothes and big smiles on their faces!
The legend of Kilroy is famous in Rockbrook history and everyone has their own version of the story. What is your favorite Kilroy story? Just watch out if you have red hair and green eyes… You may not want to go up there!
We are all looking forward to our next reunion which will happen during the end of August 2011! We will gather again to celebrate 90 years of summer fun, friendships, and wonderful adventures (and a crazy hike to Kilroy’s of course). We hope you will be able to join us! Stay tuned for more information…
While doing some research for the Rockbrook archives we came across this fascinating article printed in The New York Times in 1888. It is another written source that connects Rockbrook, Goodwill Cabin, Goodwill Plantation, Nancy Carrier and P.T. Barnum. What an interesting history!
The New York Times, October 24, 1888
Barnum’s Gift To A Granddaughter.
From the Columbia (S.C.) Register. October 18
It is evident that the renowned P.T. Barnum has a good opinion of South Carolina real estate, for he has recently given to his granddaughter, the wife of Henry P. Clarke, $100,000 for the purpose of buying and equipping the noted “Goodwill” plantation, which was formerly owned by the late Judge Edward Elliot Huger. The transfer of the property took place yesterday. Mr. Clarke owns another plantation near Eastover, where they have resided for several years. “Goodwill” is one of the finest estates in the South, containing upward of 7000 acres, including a magnificent water power. Several hundred acres of the richest river bottoms are protected from overflow by a levee extending for five miles along the banks of the Wateree River. The other improvements on the property are upon the same scale.
Right around the time that Nancy Barnum Clarke and Henry Clarke received their gift from P.T. Barnum they also purchased 300 acres in Brevard that would later become Rockbrook Camp. Their daughter Nancy Clarke Carrier grew up spending time between Brevard and Goodwill Plantation. She founded Rockbrook in 1921. Goodwill and Curosty are two cabins central to the heart of camp and are still in use today. What an amazing gift from P.T. Barnum!
What a gorgeous time of year it is in Brevard ! The beautiful fall colors have arrived at Rockbrook and boy are they amazing. Even though it is quiet without the sounds of summer, it is a wonderful time to see the splendor of the changing leaves. The smells of woodsmoke and the crunching of the leaves are magical!
Take a short walk around the heart of camp and you’ll see bright popping color in every direction. The Junior Lodge is speckled with yellow leaves. The giant maple tree in front of Curosty proudly displays a show of red and orange. The walnut tree in the center of the hill is littering the ground with black walnuts.
Every trail in the camp is a multi-colored cascade of delight.
Here’s to the changing of the seasons! Happy Fall everyone.
We were saddened to learn this week of the passing of long time Rockbrook friend Sybil Dodson. Sybil, fondly known to us at Rockbrook as Mrs. Potter, passed away Friday, October 8 in Asheville, NC.
Sybil and her husband John were the founders of the pottery program at Rockbrook. In addition to creating and running Rockbrook’s pottery program, Sybil also managed the camp store as well as her family’s shop Mud Dabbers Pottery. Sybil was like a mother to many of the campers that she interacted with and lots of girls spent time at the camp store just so they could visit with Mrs. Potter. Her kindness and bright smile were a gift to all of us at Rockbrook. Her contributions to RBC will be long remembered.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 15 in the Memorial Chapel of the Brooks-Howell Home, Asheville NC. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Brooks-Howell Home, 266 Merrimon Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801. Condolences may be sent through the Morris Funeral Home.
