The only thing I have time to share with you about today is that I am speechless after just one full day. Of course, I have been fearful for days about the weather report of potential rain all day long. You would think I was new at the director stuff – rule # 2 is never look at or stress about the forecast. We woke up this morning to sunny skies and temperatures that didn’t stop rising all day.

This off-season I made a decision to have less campers yet more counselors this summer. The lifting of Covid restrictions allowed us to attract a great International specialty staff. We enrolled fewer middle age campers than we did last summer. We also only took a certain number of new campers in every group, which allowed us to have almost 1.5 to 1 staff to camper ratio. We did all of this while beefing up our hard-court sports and lifeguard totals. You can feel the difference instantly here today. The energy brought by all these extra faces is immeasurable. As we said at our administration meeting today – it feels like day eight here, not day one. The place is running like clock work – for now. Rule #1 from the camp director handbook is to never say out loud or even think about how great things are going.

I have never really followed rules or norms, especially up here at CRH. This staff is different in every way. They are all so enthusiastic and have embraced our mission here at camp. The extra sets of hands and eyes have allowed us to give all the campers the attention and love needed to succeed here. I am so proud of our former campers who have led this staff as always with endless enthusiasm and love for all things Camp Robin Hood.

Sweet dreams from the Realm ….

Once again for the 96th consecutive summer here at CRH, children from around the world have assembled in Freedom NH to enjoy all that we have to offer. They ran out of their vehicles with enthusiasm and gratitude to return to our shared summer home. I loved watching the new campers look around and see the returning campers and staff embrace. Everyone settled in with their groups as we met for our first meal together tonight at dinner. The place was rocking with laughter and happiness. Each group enjoyed the traditional opening night meal of spaghetti and meatballs.
After introducing the administration, I asked everyone to enjoy every second of this summer. They promised to be friendly to each other.  I asked them to always say please and thank you. I asked them to celebrate everyone’s right to be themselves. I reminded them that coming to camp is a privilege and not an entitlement. We will try our best to spend this summer respecting each other while growing together to be a safe and happy community.
I am so honored to be leading this camp and cannot thank you all enough for your trust.