Head on over to the Chicago Tribune web site and read a fantastic article by Josh Noel entitled: Making a case for camp: This summer institution is old-fashioned — and as relevant as ever.
Describing a camp in Michigan, the article reminds us of why camp is so important to kids. As we’ve mentioned before, the benefits are so crucial given how most children these days find themselves at school and at home.
Anyone who has been to summer camp knows that the relationships are like few others. Friendships form quickly, intensely and with open minds. Even if camp friends don’t keep in touch long-term, what has been shared is long remembered. For many, it provides best moments of your life.
Camp is an open and friendly place. It’s where you can put aside your reputation from school, avoid a lot of the drama, and just relax into who you really are. That’s a big part of why you make your best friends at camp; you’re not trying to impress or be someone else. It’s just you, and you soon see, that’s just fine.
Once you experience it, you understand it, and you too will be coming back to camp for the friendships it provides.
You’ve probably heard that “balance” is one of the most important skills to have for rock climbing. It’s true; a lot of the technique involves balancing on your feet, and usually one foot, as you move up the rock.
But it’s not only that simple. It’s also important to learn how to hold yourself still, to use your muscles to shift your weight from one foot to the other slowly and smoothly. Generally, as you climb, you’ll keep your torso stationary and move a hand or foot up to the next hold. This is sometimes called the rule of “3-point contact” and refers to the practice of only moving one foot or hand at a time while your other limbs stay on the rock.
For example, you might keep both feet on the rock, hold on with one hand, and shift your weight to the left or right to reach a new handhold. Likewise, you might hold on with both hands, keep one foot set, and lift your other foot up to a new hold. The trick is to stay smooth, keep your body still, and shift your center of gravity from left to right and up. It’s this deliberate and precise moving that we meaning by “balancing.”
My daughter’s experience at camp was so positive that she actually expressed appreciation to me and her grandparents for sending her to camp, and that’s a welcome change coming from my teenager.
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
If you’ve been to Rockbrook you know how it’s located in an amazing place— tucked between two prominent rock faces, surrounded by forest on three sides and bordering the valley formed by the French Broad river on the fourth. Add to that the two freshwater creeks, two waterfalls, and the two caves, you begin to understand how unique it really is.
But did you know that Rockbrook was also the site of a Cherokee settlement? That’s right; a Native American town called Kana’sta was located right near camp. This photo is a marker telling a bit about it. The plaque says:
Site of CONESTEE, Legendary Lost Settlement of the Ancient Cherokee Nation. Visited by British Troops in 1725. Disappeared 1777. Erected by Cherokee Historical Ass’n, Transylvania Historical Ass’n, Unaka Chapter, Daughters of American Colonists.
There is also a Cherokee story telling of the Kana’sta settlement leaving its town to go and live with another Cherokee group. Two visitors arrive one day and offer to let the Kana’sta people come and live in their town “where we are always happy.” It is a story of why the Kana’sta “disappeared.”
It’s so interesting to think about the rich history of this part of North Carolina. Long before European settlers arrived, a group of Cherokee recognized its special character and made it their home. Today, hundreds of years later, it is home to all of us at Rockbrook. Pretty cool.
Back in August, Backpacker Magazine published a list of “The best cities to raise an outdoor kid.” And guess what! Our very own Brevard, North Carolina ranked number 20 in the list. These are the best places in America to “beat Nature Deficit Disorder.” That’s not too surprising when you think about all the incredible outdoor opportunities available nearby: all the Pisgah forest trails, great rock, and nearby whitewater rivers. It’s also one explanation for why this area is so fantastic for a summer camp.
Rockbrook is fortunate to be located here in the mountains of western North Carolina, and you can bet we take full advantage of the many wonderful outdoor destinations nearby. Trips to Sliding Rock, sea kayaking on Lake Jocassee, whitewater rafting on the Nantahala, rock climbing on Cedar Rock, swimming at the bottom of High Falls in the Dupont State Forest… And so many more. These are just a few of the truly special experiences made possible by the forests near camp.
If you can’t live hear and raise your kids here, then come to camp here! It’s amazing.
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!
If you’ve ever spent time at Rockbrook, you know that it offers amazing sunsets. The camp is tucked on the eastern slope of a hill so as the sun sets, you just have to look up and you’ll see a real treat. Former counselor Kit, who recently returned for our alumni reunion, just posted on her blog a great collection of photos showing a sunset from that weekend. She also writes a little about her first experience of Rockbrook and why she loved it so much.
Isn’t that the funniest picture you’ve ever seen!? You just never know what kind of silliness will burst out down at the Rockbrook stables. Certainly making the horses “look good” is a part of it!
We love this photo also because it so beautifully represents the feeling of the riding program at Rockbrook. It shows that the girls are not only learning a lot about riding, improving their horsemanship skills and experience, but also having a great time. Being together at the barn is for some girls, their absolute favorite part of camp life. Rockbrook is well known for its riding program because it does an amazing job balancing things like this.
