Camp Blog

Sometimes a theme can make a big difference. Today that theme made many things at camp pink. From what we wore, to the decorations in the dining hall, to what we ate, pink was the dominant color of the day. Everyone was wearing rose-colored glasses, or was it rose colored everything? At times it was a little glamorous and at others a completely carefree lifestyle full of fabulous opportunities. Overall camp felt like a dreamworld. Can you guess the theme? Yes, today was Barbie day! And it was a full-on celebration!

The day started with— surprise! —PINK oatmeal, pink yogurt and raspberries with the usual cereal and granola options. The dining hall was a feast of pink because the counselors and many of the campers were already representing their best Barbie pink outfits and accessories. The HUPS led the dining hall singing Barbie songs. Soon, we all found ourselves adding “Hi, Barbie!” to our greetings and conversations, always with a cheerful upbeat tone.

A highlight of the morning was the surprise muffin flavor. Yep, Barbie Muffins! They were vanilla raspberry muffins with pink sugar on top. They were completely delicious, and of course a big hit with everyone.

The pink continued all day as different Barbies could be spotted enjoying camp activities. We saw a Rockstar Barbie, Spring Bouquet Barbie, Publicity Tour Barbie, a Bridal Barbie, a Western Barbie, and a creative “Weird Barbie.” And of course, there were a few Kens to round out the fabulous crew. It turns out Barbie knows how to rock climb, ride a horse, shoot an arrow, and throw a pot on the potter’s wheel. Who knew? But here at Rockbrook, that’s not too surprising. These Barbies are powerful!

We transformed dinner into an outdoor BARBIE-cue, eating our pasta and hotdog buffet out on the Hill. There were plenty of options to satisfy every Barbie’s taste. A delightful dessert wrapped up the meal: “Barbie dirt.” These were pink pudding cups with Oreo crumbles and a gummy worm in each cup. Eating on the Hill is a cherished Rockbrook tradition. It’s another chance for all of us, all ages, to enjoy simply being together. Tonight in the beautiful golden hour light, amongst all those Barbies, it was whimsical and fun.

After dinner the campers found more Barbie-themed activities. There was a Barbie Fashion Show, a platform for campers to showcase their creative costumes. Another option was to build Barbie Dream Houses for forest fairies. This involved using sticks, moss and (pink!) painted rocks to construct miniature masterpieces. Finally, we held a Barbie Karaoke extravaganza in the dining hall. With a projector to display the lyrics and a sign-up sheet to select songs, the evening became a sing-a-long party. Campers belted out tunes from the Barbie movie alongside hits by Taylor Swift.

It was a great camp day, steeped in pink, and “totally awesome!”

We follow a different schedule on Sundays at camp. To everyone’s delight, it begins with a later wakeup bell, allowing a little extra rest after the busy week. The girls come to breakfast in their pajamas if they want to, and love finding a box of freshly delivered Krispy Kreme donuts on their table as an added treat. The songs are sung a little quieter as everyone slowly opens up to the day. Back in the cabin, everyone then changes into their camp uniforms readying for the flag raising ceremony and Chapel gathering.

Everyone looked sharp dressed in their red and white uniforms lining up in the sunshine. The Hi-Up (10th grade) campers serve as the color guard. They file up to the flagpole on the hill and raise both the American flag and a special Rockbrook flag commemorating the camp’s Centennial in 2021. Then, in silence, everyone walks to a special amphitheater in the woods where we hold our chapel programs.

At Rockbrook, what we call “chapel” is not a religious ceremony. Instead, it is a community gathering where we can slow down and reflect a bit on some of the core positive values we share. Each chapel revolves around a theme, and consists of songs, poems, and usually a story read by Sarah. We want all of the campers and staff, no matter what their family religious background to feel comfortable at our “chapel.” The campers themselves select the readings and songs, and Sarah invites campers to speak about what the theme of the gathering means to them. Past themes have been community, generosity, happiness, respect, and friendship, for example. Lately, “chapel” has been understood as an acronym for “Celebration of Happiness, Adventure, Peace, Earth and Love.”

Today’s theme was “Nature.” A few campers took turns telling the group what Nature meant to them while they are here at camp. Sarah read the children’s book “Outside In” by Deborah Underwood. One junior performed an original song about the beauty of nature. Some seniors mentioned how nice it was to be away from their technology and enjoy time outdoors. One senior particularly stressed the importance of taking care of the environment. They practiced “noticing” too, where everyone paused and tried to notice something amazing in the natural world around them. This is one of the great things about camp— there’s always something remarkable to notice, if you just pause and pay attention.

We devoted the afternoon to an all-camp activity held down on the Carrier House lawn— a fun Renaissance fair. This was an event with multiple activities all happening at once allowing the campers to flit from one to the other however they were inspired. The festivities included a “Wench’s Tavern” that served warm soft pretzels and kettle corn.

Campers could make elaborate flower crowns. A “Tomfoolery” station invited girls to juggling, ribbon dancing and hula hooping. We played games: a burlap sack race (“The Burlap Bounce”), cornhole (“The King’s Kernels”), and a hidden table shuffle game with goblets (“Bamboozled”). Campers also scoured the area searching for golden doubloons they could cash in for prizes.

Other activities included visiting a mysterious fortune teller named Madam Brunhilde. She would dispense cryptic advice like “There’s a muffin in your future” or “Beware of fuzzy creatures whose name starts with ‘F’,” a weakly veiled reference to Felix our camp dog. We had an inflatable bungee challenge for those feeling energetic and we organized a human Maypole complete with colorful ribbons. With popular music remixed to a medieval twist playing and a mischievous Jester romping about, it was a scene of colorful merriment.

The whole event was surprisingly more fun when we found ourselves in a steady summer rainstorm. Since there was no thunder or lightning, we carried on and embraced the feeling of being wet while playing. Following our chapel theme, we drew ourselves closer to Nature, laughing and dancing among the raindrops. It was actually glorious! The rain amplified the merriment, making the whole event more delightful. And when the rain subsided and the sun emerged, we felt like it was a true celebration.

At camp the people you know the best are the other campers and counselors in your cabin. You see them on a regular basis. You eat your meals together at the same table in the dining hall, and of course you spend rest hour together, and every evening and morning together going to sleep and waking up in the same space. During the day, however, as each person has their own individual activity schedule, everyone scatters in all directions. As you know, the activity signup process, encourages this kind of self-direction and independence. It’s very empowering for young people to decide for themselves what activities they’d like to take and how to spend their free time throughout the day.

At the same time, we don’t want to lose the special friendships that happen in the cabin groups. If everything is completely individualized, if the campers in a cabin don’t share enough experience, the bonds between the campers in a cabin won’t be as strong. We know having regular times of shared activity like playing a game together, doing an art project together, or just hanging out at the lake together is really valuable.

This is why we devote Wednesday afternoons at camp to a special time for cabin bonding. We have Cabin Day! In the morning, campers spend the last day of the activity rotation in their first and second activity periods. After rest hour though, cabins stick together and participate in a special activity that has been secretly planned by their counselors.

In the past, we have seen some crazy fun cabin day ideas and every year the staff think of more brilliant things to do with their campers. This week, we had a few cabins at the lake doing the ever-popular Coca Cola Dives! Counselors will toss in some cans of soda (make sure not to use diet sodas—they float!) and lifeguards are on duty as campers dive down to the bottom of the lake in search of a tasty beverage. The work of finding the soda really makes the experience of drinking it that more rewarding, and dare I say refreshing!

Another hit for this week was a garden party! A few cabins headed down to the Rockbrook garden to enjoy the flowers and chickens, while getting crafty and snacking on popcorn and popsicles—the perfect combo!! I even spotted some fancy costumes for the special occasion.

Anything with water instantly makes Cabin Day more fun!!! We had a cabin hike out to lovely Rockbrook Falls, while another cabin stopped short and took a dip in the Rockbrook Mermaid pools, also known as the Mermaid Cove. Another cabin group was drawn to the picturesque creek outside of Curosty (the fiber arts cabin) and used the running water to create beautiful watercolor paintings.

While all of our Cabin Day activities bring creativity and fun, what really matters is that we are spending time together. As Directors travel to different camper parties in the fall, many of our Rockbrook alums still remember the names of every single camper, and counselor, they had in their cabins while at camp. Each cabin makes up a unique and sweet group of people and days like Cabin Day really allows for deep cabin bonding that campers will never forget.

Is it possible to have too much fun? Well, for adults who have daily responsibilities and various “urgencies,” I can imagine that having nonstop fun would be a distraction, depending on what you mean by “fun.” If it’s thrills and excitement, or novel entertainment, or just pleasure without purpose, then yes, too much fun for most adults wouldn’t be recommended. But if fun means having moments of playfulness, the freedom to create, or that relaxed feeling of being absorbed in something recreational, then this sort of fun is, when you can find it, certainly a good thing.

For kids at camp, however, I think it’s a little different. Camp means taking a break from things, a break from the pressures of school, from the wildly rushed pace many kids endure, and yes from the orchestration parents ordinarily provide (almost constantly!). Camp means being given the freedom to try new things, to make countless decisions for yourself, and to slow down or speed up as needed. At camp, the many forms of fun are available everyday, and girls can enjoy as much of it as they like. And at camp, there’s something special here that makes almost everything more fun— it’s the people, the other kids and counselors who have the same mindset. “Let’s go! It’ll be fun!” Even if it’s doing cabin chores, singing a song, or jumping in the lake, it’s more fun together. Too much fun at camp? I don’t think it’s possible.

Two recent examples of this come to mind, and both happened on the same day. The first is the whitewater rafting trips we took with our Senior campers. With all 6 buses making the trip over to the Nantahala River, we took two trips, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, enjoying the bumping and splashing of the rapids. Altogether, about 80 campers and counselors made their way down the 9-mile stretch of river on these trips.

Running the river is certainly thrilling, but when it’s in a raft of silly Rockbrook girls, it’s even better. Having a bunch of friends in the raft with you makes the songs louder, the poses for the camera goofier, and the shrieks laughter more hilarious when someone falls out of, or bounces back into the raft. These trips are big fun, and today the perfectly warm, sunny weather was a welcome boost.

The other example is the all-camp shaving cream fight and slip-n-slide (one naturally leads to the other!) we held after dinner. Here too, bringing all of these excited girls together made the whole event more fun for everyone. If you haven’t seen one these it goes like this. Show up wearing your swimsuit ready to get a little messy. Armed with a can of regular plain shaving cream, you then race around the field trying to spray the white slippery foam on your friends, which means anyone nearby. In all directions foam was flying! There’s something inherently hilarious about surprising someone with a handful of shaving cream splattered on their head or neck or just about anywhere. Squirt, splat, howl with laughter, and repeat.

It doesn’t take long before most everyone is covered with shaving cream, and in some cases completely covered. That too is simply funny to see. But the fun doesn’t stop there. There are hairstyles to form (mohawks seem popular), high fives and other tricks to perform. Girls drew letters in the foam, posed for photos and kept laughing the whole time. Meanwhile, our now slippery campers took turns sliding down a wet sheet of plastic, zooming on their bellies, here too, grinning all the way. Sounds like fun, right? It is! It’s the kind of excellent fun that’s hard to find anywhere else.

The first day of a session when the campers begin their activities is a marvelous example of camp life. Each camper has selected a different thing to do for each of the four scheduled activity periods: two in the morning and two in the afternoon. (By the way, that’s something to ask your camper in a letter or email— “What activities did you sign up for?”) If they are taking Horseback riding, the Riding Director has assigned them to a particular period, but all the others they fill based on their own preferences. You’ve probably seen the huge range of activities and maybe heard your camper talk about particular things they want to try. Our hope is that the girls try new things while they are at Rockbrook. And camp encourages that. When friends are signing up for climbing the Alpine tower, for example, you might join them even though you don’t think of yourself as being very adventurous. Or maybe taking Painting sounds a little scary since you may think “I’m no good at art,” but at camp we start with a spirit of exploration, of trying things just for the fun of it. And when you’ve got encouragement all around and kind friends sometimes literally “in the same boat,” a young person will grow from just taking that first step of trying a new experience. Being afraid of “I might not be good at tennis,” for example, can be a real limitation, but at camp we take care to create the conditions (caring and kindness all the way down) where girls have nothing to fear like that. No judgment, no competition, just joyful engagement.

The different age groups sign up for activities together, assuring that the Juniors are together when they take archery for example, likewise for the Middlers and Seniors. This allows the instructors to tailor their teaching to the level of experience of each group. We split and alternate which activities are available for each group. That means not all of the activities are available to every age group during each signup, but that’s why we split the week and sign up for a new set of activities every three days. We want to give each age group a fresh set of options during each rotation. It’s a little complicated, and they may not get their first choice each rotation, but over the course of the session, everyone will have a chance to try most all of the activities. This is also a great way to encourage each camper to spread out their schedule. They’re bound to experience a little adventure, some sports, and some crafts each day.

This way of selecting activities ensures that the campers can be with different people throughout the day. Since each individual camper selects her schedule, rather than as a cabin group (as is the case at some camps), everyone enjoys meeting new people when they’re stretching in a yoga session, learning to weave, or playing at the lake. It’s during the blocks of free time when this happens even between age groups. During the “First Free Swim” before lunch, the “Second Free Swim” before dinner, and the “Twilight” period after dinner the girls have more independence to decide what they would like to do, spending time with so many different friends.

Walk around camp and that’s what you’ll see— groups of campers deeply engaged in outdoor activities. You’ll see girls making things, being creative with their hands as they cut wood, work a needle and thread, or tie a white t-shirt ready for dyeing. Groups are zipping through the trees on our zipline course, while others are hiking up the steep trail to the top of Castle Rock. Others are playing gagaball, heading to the lake with their towels strung over shoulders, or perhaps loading up a van to find a waterfall in the nearby Pisgah Forest. In all of these examples and more, there’s an added thrill of togetherness making things more fun. That’s camp life— days filled with many many friends, many many activities, charged with laughter and excitement.

The best way to get a sense of all this action is to follow along in the daily photo gallery. If you haven’t seen it, login to your Campminder account. The “Login” link is at the top of every page on the Rockbrook website. Use the same email address you used to complete the pre-camp forms, and you’ll see an icon for “Photos.” We upload batches of photos, usually twice a day and sometimes more often. It’s great fun to login each day and scan through the newest galleries. So take a look and enjoy!

Welcome to camp! Welcome to the first day of the 2024 summer season at Rockbrook! For months now, all of us at Rockbrook have been working and planning for this day, just as all of the campers arriving today have been anticipating their time at camp. Our maintenance and housekeeping crews have been busily preparing the cabins and activity areas. The Rockbrook kitchen has been supplied and its equipment cleaned and inspected, with Rick and his team already producing meals. And our staff have just completed their week-long training, a progression of sessions covering health and safety, child development, activity instruction, insights into cabin life, and the particularities of the Rockbrook culture. It’s been a fun and informative week, helping all of us be ready for camp. And we are!

I think we can say the same thing about all the campers arriving today; they were ready too! They were bouncing up and down in the car during the checkin process. They were waving out the window, smiling the most eager and excited smiles you can imagine. It was wonderful to see that energy arriving all morning. When this pent-up excitement met the cheering counselors at the top of the hill, it was almost explosive. Cheers and hugs, more massive smiles and enthusiastic greetings, made the unloading even more festive. Cabin groups formed, and finally everyone was able to get started with what we’ve all been looking forward to.

After arriving and meeting everyone, there’s immediately lots to do. Our luggage crews hurried to deliver all of the trunks and duffles to the right cabins while the campers went off to begin setting up there bunks. This is a fun activity for the girls as they work together to decide who is sleeping on which bunk. The counselors help everyone make beds and arrange trunks in the cabins, each camper creating a cozy and comfortable nook. Around 12:30 there’s an all camp assembly, so leading up to that the cabin groups play silly name games, take tours around camp, and, if there’s time, stop by the camp store to pick up their pre-ordered camp gear. It won’t be long until you’ll begin seeing those new pink sweatshirts and sweatpants around camp!

The assembly felt great, sitting on the grass under our prize walnut tree, and looking off toward the distant mountains. Perfect blue sky weather, with a nice low-humidity breeze, made it even better. Sarah introduced the other directors, Felix the camp dog, and our “camp moms” (Alumnae who come back to camp to help as needed). The Hi-Ups (10th grade campers) introduced themselves and taught a camp song to everyone. Each line (age group) took turns singing their line song, standing up and clapping along. Sarah took a few minutes to remind everyone of the camp boundaries and then demonstrated our lightning alert system so everyone knows to go inside when it detects lightning nearby.

After a very satisfying lunch of Rick’s homemade mac-n-cheese —The girls love its warm cheesy heft and crusty breadcrumb topping…. even the breadcrumbs are homemade! —the campers came down to the lake to demonstrate their swimming ability to the team of lifeguards. This was another celebration. Each camper that stepped out on the dock to jump in the lake heard cheers of encouragement from the directors, other campers and staff nearby. We like to say the Rockbrook lake is “refreshing,” especially on a nice summer day like today. The swimmers swim out and back, and then tread water for a minute. If they can do that confidently, they receive a blue wrist band qualifying them to swim in any section of the lake. Those with less confidence in their swimming have more restrictions (e.g., staying in the shallow part of the lake), but everyone can come and cool off in the lake while they’re at camp.

The girls learned about the activity options by watching the counselors put on a variety show of short skits and songs. We all gathered in the gym and learned about the many arts and crafts options, sports to play, and adventure options available. This is a great way to meet the counselors and learn about what the girls can sign up for. After dinner, they did just that; they signed up for their first set of 4 activities.

It’s been a powerful day where all of our anticipation turned into real enthusiasm. We’ve got a full camp of wonderful staff and great eager campers. Let’s get started!

For many of us this was an especially emotional evening because we held our last Spirit Fire of the summer. The Spirit Fire is another of the long traditions at Rockbrook, something that’s been a closing ceremony for every session since the camp’s founding more than 100 years ago. It’s a campfire ceremony held on the large rock (“Vesper Rock”) overlooking the camp lake. Surrounded by huge white oak and hemlock trees, the entire camp gathers there dressed in our red and white uniforms. In the same fire ring as generations of Rockbrook girls have done in the past, we build a great campfire. We begin near dusk, so as the surrounding woods turn from green to blue to grey and finally to black, the orange glow of the campfire looks gorgeous. With crickets and frogs chirping, and the sound of the waterfall into the lake faintly splashing in the background, we create an almost dreamy setting.

The Spirit Fire program provides an opportunity to recall and reflect upon the rich experiences we shared during the session. We sing favorite traditional camp songs and listen as fellow campers and counselors share their thoughts about their time at camp. For example, we sing “How Did we Come to Meet Pal” and “The Streams and the Mountains,” just two favorites. The speakers are selected from all age groups (Juniors, Middlers, Seniors, and Hi-Ups) and from both first-year and returning counselors.

The speeches tonight confirmed what we’ve all been experiencing this session— a profound closeness, a special feeling of connection and comfort shared with the others at camp. One word that kept coming up was “home.” Campers described feeling “at home” here at Rockbrook. One simply said, “When I’m at camp, I’m home.” And a counselor put it perfectly, “Rockbrook is my home, not because of the place, but because of the people.” All of these speakers realized that as camp enlivens the best part of ourselves, as we live those core relationship values of kindness and caring, we make the best friends of our lives. Through the day, we find our true selves relaxing into the generous arms of a supportive community.

That’s why the Spirit Fire is bittersweet. It’s a wonderful reminder of why these girls love camp, of why, for many, it’s their favorite time of the year. Nowhere else do they feel this good and have these kinds of close relationships. But the Spirit Fire also marks the end of the session and the time when we must soon say goodbye. Camp friends are the best friends, but they are also usually seen only once a year. Closing camp for this reason is always sad.

It’s been especially gratifying this session to see your girls enjoy the special experiences of camp, to learn and grow individually, and to forge so many close camp friendships. We are so grateful to everyone— campers, staff, and parents alike —for helping make this session so successful. Thank you! We know Rockbrook means as much to all of you as it does to us. We are already looking forward to being together again next summer.