Summer 2019 Day 2 at Camp Robin Hood

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What a day here at the REALM……. The sun was shining down on us all day which allowed every group to get into the water and enjoy everything that Lake Ossipee has to offer. I wish you could walk around camp and see what I see. It is incredible to watch and feel the energy that flows at camp from 8:00 am till 9:00 pm every day. We are all now members of the CRH family. After 2 full days, our 17 groups are now all individual families. Seeing the new campers who just 2 days ago came out of vans/ cars/ buses slightly overwhelmed now run around smiling from ear to ear warms my heart.

We ended tonight with our traditional staff show. I challenged your kids to watch us make fools of ourselves on stage. I reminded them camp is about stepping out of your comfort zone. I told them how lucky they are to experience things here at camp that they could never do at home.

My personal highlight was bringing our 17 group leaders – your children’s fill-in parents here for the summer on stage for an encore bow. They are all ex-campers who have spent up to 16 summers here at camp. I pointed to the SCOUT’s and TPJ’s seated in the first row and promised to be on this same stage with them in 12 years when they are running the Realm. It is our secret sauce in so many ways. These ex-campers love and have so much passion for all things CRH. I am so lucky to have them here making sure the traditions and values that make Robin Hood so special are passed down from generation to generation.

I am the 5th director to run CRH in the last 92 years. It is a pretty good bet that the next one might have been sitting in our audience tonight …….

Sweet dreams from the Realm

Woody

Opening Day of Summer 2019 at Robin Hood

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Greetings from the Realm on the first full day of activities of summer 2019 at Camp Robin Hood! My name is Sam Jonas and I am excited to be hired as the new Head of Boys Camp. After a five-year hiatus, I am back for my 15th summer after having spent 7 years on staff and being selected as a Green and White Color War Captain in 2014. I teach fourth grade in Chicago, which allowed me to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to become more involved in this incredible camp. If you have any questions or concerns about anything during the summer please feel free to contact me at Sam@camprobinhood.com.

So, after a long 10 months, Summer 2019 is finally underway! We were blessed with clear blue skies and beautiful weather for our first full day of activities. The energy, excitement, and anticipation for a memorable summer was in the air as campers danced with their friends at meals and continued to strengthen old friendships and to create bonds with our new faces at the Realm! At the waterfront, most of the campers completed their 4-lap swim test today and two groups had the chance to be the first paddle boarders of the summer. Junior camp enjoyed a scavenger hunt that gave the campers the opportunity to run around camp with their friends while using clues to find important places on camp. It was a cooperative and fun activity especially for our newest faces to get acquainted with our camp! We look forward to another unforgettable summer!

Also, as is tradition, boys and girls camp had separate campfires to mark the start of our summer. At the campfires, our youngest and oldest aged groups introduced each other in front of their respective camps. Then, our oldest groups in boys and girls camp (Saxons and Scribes) led and taught cheers that will be used throughout the summer in the dining hall as a showing of camp spirit!

Sweet Dreams from The Realm

A Winter Message from Woody

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Hello from cold and snowy Chicago –

After a very busy January, which took me around the world visiting with new camp families, I was finally able to visit the Realm. They are hard at work on getting ready for summer and it was really nice to see our hard working team in person. The new garage looks amazing and our to-do list to prepare for Opening Day is complete! I am so excited at how close summer is getting and seeing everyone again. Right now, the Realm is filled with snow and ice – Chuck was clearly more sure footed then me.

Thanks to our amazing staff and to all of your recommendations and referrals we are ahead of last year’s enrollment. Without you sharing your amazing stories of camp and your campers experiences we wouldn’t be able to continue to share our summer home with new families each year. I cannot thank you enough for all the referrals and kind words you share. We are about to close 4 groups for this summer! Each group has a specific number of kids allowed in, this way we can provide the perfect CRH experience for each camper.

As I write this email, for the first time in CRH history all 8 of our girl group leaders from summer 2019 come from the same group as campers. To think that all these summers later – 8 bunkmates are about to help run girls camp together, sharing their experiences and friendship with younger campers. Each time I say that it proves everything that is right about our camp! My goal is for this to happen again very soon and as often as possible. Our incoming first-year aide groups will continue that tradition and provide the energy and passion for another great summer! They will be backed up by our great administration with 3 new additions of the next generation of CRH leaders. These 3 new admin staffers, who are all school teachers, are some of my favorite former campers and will provide a bridge between the Brass and our current campers and staff.

There are so many exciting things happening for this summer! We are planning some major changes to our Saxon/Scribe excursion. Plus I have been meeting with fellow camp owners for months now getting new ideas and insights from their experiences. I hope to implement some of these ideas, tweaked to fit with the CRH mission, and they will help us run an even better camp for years to come.

That’s all for now – thanks again for all your support and sharing your kids with me. Don’t forget the 100-days to Opening Day is coming up soon!

Woody

Alumni Yearbooks Go Digital!

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We have some exciting news!! After many months we can finally announce the finishing of a passion project for the entire leadership team. The CRH Yearbooks are going digital!!!

We took the time to copy yearbooks from 1948, the year after the fire at camp, until 1962. Digitizing the yearbooks will allow us to give you an exciting look into the past. I, personally, can’t stop reading Andy’s words and am in awe at the inspiration I’ve found from them. His principles and passion still hold true today and provide me with a guide book on how to continue running camp with his goals in mind. Now, no matter what happens, we will always have some of the oldest yearbooks from the Realm for years to come. You can access the digital yearbooks from our alumni page and see for yourself the magic in the trees from years before.

-Woody

Best of 2019 – Camp Robin Hood One of the Best US Summer Camps

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What an honor! We were listed as One of The Best Summer Camps in the USA for 2019 by Newsweek!

In addition to the Best Summer Camps list, Newsweek highlights the importance of camps being accredited by the American Camp Association. “ACA accreditation shows a camp’s commitment to the safest and highest standards in organized camp,” explains Tom Rosenberg, president/CEO of the American Camp Association.

Camp provides children with a community of caring adults, who nurture experiential education that results in self-respect and appreciation for human value.

Below is an excerpt of the Camp Robin Hood NH highlight:

It is our responsibility to provide your child with a structured, supportive environment, in which they will develop lasting friendships, gain personal insight into the importance of mutual respect, grow as they seek out new experiences, and gain self-confidence through success. Camp Robin Hood combines the exceptional facilities of an east coast camp with a friendly Midwestern culture.

Read more about CRH on Newsweek here.