Tomorrow is our two week anniversary here at The Realm. It has been amazing watching all the kids grow together and form a common bond with each other and CRH.  What started as 16 different groups is now 16 families. Your children have all tried new adventures and accomplished many things, all while reaching heights they never thought possible.  That to me is the best part of the “sauce” here – we like to call it our “secret sauce”….

A few highlights of today and last night –

This morning I announced an optional Junior Camp mountain trip at breakfast.  Twenty-six kids ran up to the head table with giant smiles. All our campers from Yeoman and Quill down have now climbed a mountain and so we were finally able to offer an optional hike. Our Saxons and Scribes have climbed three mountains, totaling 11,000 feet to qualify for the Mt. Katahdin trip next week. To me, that is what camp should be about – taking advantage of our surroundings. Back to the Junior Camp trip – when the vans pulled back in after 6 hours the doors flew open and the kids burst out and ran to join their groups – they needed to get right back to work Robin Hood style!

Last night DC and I took the junior campers to the Sanford Mainers Game at the stadium in which Babe Ruth played his last professional game. The kids met and asked the players questions before the game. Listening to the chatter in the seats was so much fun for me. They were sharing stories of home and talking like brothers and sisters. When we reached the camp sign every van and bus broke out singing the camp alma mater. It was so sweet to hear and watch.

All day the theater was rocking with groups practicing dance rountines for the big show Saturday night. Boys and girls put everything they had into  the routines, working as one unit towards a common goal.  Boys who have never seen a dance are now producing them — I promise that you all can see them on PVD weekend!

Whether climbing a mountain or dancing in front of 450 people, our campers accomplish feats most kids aren’t able to do at home.

This place is magical, as it has been since 1927. I cannot thank you enough for sharing your children with us.

Sweet dreams from The Realm,

Woody

The Saxons kept the flag safe through a perilous night and at the dawn’s early light, it was still flying over Camp Robin Hood. Job well done.

On July 4th eve, our whole camp assembled on the beach. Junior campers showered and cozied up in their pajamas to watch Camp Huckins’ fireworks across the lake. There were plenty of oohs & ahhs as the campers looked off into the heavens over Lake Ossipee.

In the morning, we entered a leisurely buffet breakfast from 8:30-9:00 and oh what a breakfast! Everything was there: eggs bennie, hash browns, scones in three flavors, donuts, fried eggs, French toast, bacon, sausage, fruit cups filled with yogurt & granola, fresh fruit, and the list goes on! It’s by far the best buffet in the Lakes region. Campers could sit anywhere with friends and relatives of all ages. The TPJ’s took over the Saxon table!

While breakfast was going on, a group of Archers and a few Squires left for a softball tournament at Camp Birchmont. They were eager to go and display their Robin Hood pride on this holiday morning.

Meanwhile back at camp, a truck rolled in with all our inflatable things for this afternoon’s fair. Bounce houses, a giant water slide, and a big obstacle course were set up for all to enjoy. The water slide was a hit and even earned the participation of a couple Brass members!

Our Saxons and Scribes set up booths for our carnival and our campers enjoyed everything from face painting to water balloon tossing to pie eating. They managed to include thumb wrestling, fortune telling, and our own Camp Robin Hood voting booth*. Last but not least, everyone — campers and staff — thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream from the ice cream truck that visited our fair.

Everyone had the chance to go for a swim in the lake to cool down from the New Hampshire heat. It was a perfect birthday celebration for America.

Sweet dreams from The Realm,

Chuck

*It was a Chuck Illig sweep.

After 34 years, the power of camp in general, and Robin Hood specifically, never ceases to amaze me. My focus in the first week, naturally, has been on our younger and newer campers on the boys’ side. Even in this short time I have seen incredible growth and progress, both individually and on a group basis. Many boys arrived on June 24th very apprehensive about this new and bewildering experience. Eight days in, they are fully integrated; not only having the time of their lives, but also becoming young men that we can all be proud of.

A couple of specific examples are worth mentioning:

I was privileged enough to spend the evening with the Squires on their camp-out at the outpost. It was all pretty routine stuff – set up the tents, get a fire going, cook delicious fajitas, play spud on the field, and back for a dessert of s’mores. By this time it was getting dark, and the mood mellowed out as a
beautiful starlit sky looked down on us. Then it was time for ‘campfire’. Now, at Robin Hood there is a distinct difference between ‘campfire’ and ‘Campfire’. A campfire is just a pile of burning sticks. ‘Campfire’ is when our campers and their group staff are given the opportunity to speak openly, and from the heart. Our younger campers often struggle with this alien concept –never having been given this unique chance to express their feelings. The rules are simple: one person speaks at a time, nobody judges or ridicules, but may show their empathy with a quiet click of the fingers. One by one these boys started to open up and talk about how special Robin Hood is to them; not just returners, but new campers who had been here a matter of days, spoke with a confidence and sincerity that defied their mere 9 or so years. I left with warm, fuzzy feeling of pride and satisfaction.

Then there was the Junior talent show. We witnessed about 20 acts – ranging from joke tellers, to jugglers, to singers, to dancers, to instrument players… and even a stilt walking unicorn! Would these kids have had the courage to get up in front of 300 people outside of camp? Maybe. Maybe not. But the main thing is they felt so comfortable and relaxed within our unique ethos, that being on stage wasn’t really a big deal, and that it was FUN!! It was a wonderful, and entertaining night.

One of my all-time favorite quotes:

“It isn’t about how well you dance. It isn’t about who you dance with. It’s all about feeling safe to dance.”

Doesn’t this sum up beautifully what we do here?

Good night! And sweet dreams!

Dick

Creative campers returned to the Arts & Crafts Shack anxious to get started on new intricate friendship bracelets, to craft decor for their cabins, paint wood and canvas, bead up a storm, and create gifts and memorabilia to bring home. In the ceramics studio, campers jumped right into sculpting clay creatures, hand-building ceramic mugs, and making clay plaques.

We started Junior and Senior Camp intensives in Jewelry Making where campers are learning new techniques for working with embroidery as well as designing beaded earrings and necklaces. In the Ceramics intensive, senior campers are working on more complex clay projects and improving their skills on the potter’s wheel! Our first batch of ceramics pieces has come out of the kiln and campers are glazing their works.

Squires have been challenging themselves to make bracelets out of paracord. TPJs are making “bead pet” key chains. Tumblers are decoupaging tennis ball tubes to create colorful boxes. Jesters have been designing group pennants to hang in the cabins. Archers are crafting game pieces out of clay. Quills and Boys have been tying knots to string together elaborate friendship bracelets. Senior campers have been painting with watercolors and are involved in painting signs to take on the big basketball game this evening against our rivals West End. They are also working on projects for the 4th of July carnival.

We have a great staff this year including Erin in her 5th year at the Realm, India from Chicago, Isla from England, Maddie from Cleveland, and me. I’m thrilled to return for my fourth year as the Head of Arts & Crafts. I am looking forward to tie-dying projects next week and a new round of intensives including Drawing.

Sweet dreams from The Realm,

Dara