We’re eagerly awaiting your arrival tomorrow evening! The Chuck Illig Playhouse will be alive with song and dance, as our campers have been rehearsing all week. We look forward to seeing you after 6:45.
Sweet dreams from The Realm.
Category Archives: Summer 2016
See You Tomorrow Evening!
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Robin Hood Gives Back
Today was the second day of Robin Hood Gives Back here at the Realm. Last night was so amazing and impactful for all of us. In our 13 years at the helm of Robin Hood, I have never been so proud of our kids. I say “our” kids with respect–after almost four weeks, we do seem like a family, and DC and I feel like we have 428 more kids to be proud of and brag about. Sixty percent of our staff has grown up before our eyes here at CRH. We have watched them work their way through the Realm as junior and senior campers. They now lead us every day and are truly the reason this place works so well.
Back to last night -– the dining hall was silent as Sgt. Dan spoke for over 25 minutes. Our kids listened and hung on his every word. They broke into a long applause and cried when he finished. I asked every camper this morning to give back: since it’s Wednesday, the day we usually write letters home to you guys, I asked the kids to each write a letter to one of our troops now serving overseas. As I told them last night – every time we see a soldier in uniform we should shake their hands and thank them for their service. I asked them to put that in writing in a personal letter. Dan promised to deliver the letters to the right hands and off we went.
I’ve included some samples of the letters. They are nicely written with respect and love.
We can’t wait to see you Friday. Our campers are so excited to show off their new home and friends. I promise you that “our” kids have grown up in many ways in the last four weeks. I can’t wait to hear the reports from you guys, and again thanks for sharing your kids with us.
Woody
Activities and Sunshine
Today was a great day in The Realm. We had our Yeomen travel to West End to compete in soccer, softball, basketball, and newcomb. Our 13 and under girls soccer team journeyed to Evergreen for a tournament and made it to the semifinal round. They played well and had a great day!
Meanwhile back at camp, we had a mostly sunny day with the exception of an in and out summer shower. Our campers enjoyed boat rides to the marina, archery, tennis, drama, and biking with our own DC. It was a bustling and pleasant day in The Realm.
Everyone’s looking forward to one last week of regular activities before the excitement of excursions and Green and White kicks in!
Sweet dreams from The Realm,
Chuck
Katahdin
A selection of the Saxons and Scribes took off on a trip to Mount Katahdin, the terminus of the Appalachian trail. On a fresh Maine morning the campers and staff arose at 5 am for an early breakfast in order to hit the mountain at full force. With an approximate ascent of 4 hours up the Abol trail, everybody made it to the top in an impressive time allowing us time to relax and eat the lunches the Scribes kindly prepared the night before on top of America’s 22nd largest mountain. The decent was slightly faster-around 3.5 hours-with everyone getting back in good shape in order to enjoy a nice soak and slide in the river near our campsite. The evening was nicely finished off around a campfire, with everybody grilling their own steaks, before finally returning to our cozy tents for a well earned sleep.
Sweet dreams from The Realm,
Dan
A Camp Reflection
I am 27 years old and spent the day as a kid. I woke up, laced up my sneakers, ate in a dining hall with indulgent foods my diet doesn’t typically allow, played basketball, gaga, tennis, and swam in the lake. I spent rest hour lying on the quad with friends, having long conversations with friends whom have known me almost my entire life. We met when I was nine and spent more than a decade coming back to Camp Robin Hood for two months. In the face of break ups, make ups, engagements, marriages, love, loss, and similar changes and events most individuals in their 20s endure, it’s camp that’s remained a constant in not just mine, but my core group of friends’ lives.
I haven’t spent my summers in Freedom, New Hampshire since 2008. I reside in New York City, have a consuming job that I enjoy, and spend my summer weekends wrought with plans. Yet for one weekend, my fellow Scribes of 2005 and I leave everything behind and devote a weekend to each other and the place that brought us together. Campers we watched after have mostly moved on or are leading groups themselves; the people who I mainly associated with the location for my tenure there are all consumed with their own plans and careers; yet it’s the pine needles, the waterfront, fresh air, and — what campers and alumni call the magic in the trees — that draw me, and the women who I’ve known since girlhood, back every single year.
As Tumblers, Squires, Lancers, Bards, and more have approached my four friends and I throughout the weekend, I hope that when they’re office drones too, they’ll have two days of escape from “real life” to revisit Robin Hood, where they’ll be able to leave iPhones, social media, and troubles behind, to remember what’s really important.
