Ineffable Power

At times I feel like I’m preaching to the choir when I write these blog posts about Rockbrook. I believe many of the people reading already know that there’s something special about camp, that the girls love it and look forward to it all year long. They already know about the priceless benefits of camp for the children lucky enough to experience it. For something that’s been around this long— more than 100 years! —there must be a power at work. But for the benefit of our new friends, let me preach a minute.

Today, as we opened our second session, this ineffable power appeared again. We could see it on the faces of arriving campers when they popped their heads through the open sunroof of their car. It was bubbling up when campers squirmed in the backseat, antsy to get out of the car and get started. It almost threw off sparks when two camp friends screamed and ran toward each other to hug after being apart since last summer. More subtly, new campers could sense this special power when they met their smiling counselor and immediately felt included in the cabin group. It took very little time for everyone to zip off with a group of friends, eager to catch up and begin exploring the camp.

This power springs from one thing really; it comes from the people at camp. It’s not the fun activities, the adventure trips, the amazing food, or the beautiful camp setting that creates all these feelings. No, camp boils down to the people, to the friendships and positive relationships that are fostered here, and to the Rockbrook philosophy guiding them. Many of the older campers realize this. We could change almost everything else about camp, and as long as our friends were with us, it would still be magical. They will tell you; what they most look forward to about camp is being with their friends.

The first all-camp event provided even more proof of this. We gathered under the big walnut tree on the hill for a quick assembly. As we met some of the key people at camp, learned and sang a few camp songs, and were welcomed to Rockbrook by Sarah, the group seemed surprisingly comfortable and excited at the same time. They were quick to clap and cheer, to jump up and sing louder when their line song began. This session seems to already have that special enthusiasm for camp. And wow! It’s only getting started and is bound to get stronger.

The rest of the day was filled with a yummy homemade mac-n-cheese lunch, swimming demonstrations, name games, camp tours, activity skits, cabin meetings, and selecting activity schedules. It was a good full day. Tomorrow, we’ll launch into all the activities, get out of camp for some adventure trips, clap and sing over delicious scratch-made meals, and continue building the friendships that define this unique community.

It really is true: “There’s a power to camp.” We’re all very excited to dig in and show you what that means!