Tag Archives: Camp Robin Hood

Meet The Brass at Camp Robin Hood – Michelle Brockmann

Since the 1940’s, Camp Robin Hood has been owned and directed by former campers. We are proud to continue that nearly 90-year tradition. With more than 150 combined summers at camp our Leadership Team, affectionately called “The Brass” by campers, staff, and alumni, understands the unique responsibility of preserving the Robin Hood experience.

In this series of blogs, you’ll meet each member of The Brass as they share some of their favorite memories of summers in the Realm. Up first is Michelle Brockmann, Assistant Director at Camp Robin Hood and one of the many camp moms in the Realm who are available to make every camper feel at home each summer.

Name: Michelle Brockmann
Camp Nickname: Camp Mom
Years at Camp Robin Hood: I just completed my 29th summer in 2018
Position at Robin Hood: I am an assistant director at camp – I help in all areas including staff training, staff support, camper well being, logistics of transportation and money, whatever needs attending to really.
What’s Your Favorite Camp Memory: I have so many favorite memories – the day I met Jeremy (my now husband) when I interviewed for the waterski position, our wedding day at camp, so many occasions when I saw my children try new things, make new friends, achieve new goals. So hard to pick!
Favorite place in the Realm: My favorite place in camp is the waterski area – love looking at the lake from the dock.

“We are always here for each other, we are a family, we are home.” –Michelle
Favorite Camp Song, Quote or Food: The welcome song. We sing it to guests who visit during a meal. “Come around any old time and make yourself at home” is the first line. I like the message that sends – we are always here for each other, we are a family, we are home.
What does magic in the trees mean to you: The magic in the trees – to me that signifies the opportunity to create magic in a special place with great people. After many years of coming to camp I have realized that although the physical campus is beautiful, it is the people who make it magical. All of us – campers and staff alike – come with the same common goals of making friends and trying all kinds of new things while feeling safe and supported in our efforts. So we, the inhabitants of the realm in the past and of the present, are really the magic in the trees
Advice to young campers: Don‘t be afraid to be yourself here. It is safe to be yourself here. Home life is different from camp life, home friends are different from camp friends. Try new activities here and discover new talents here.

Finally, I would like to add something that I am very proud of…our girls camp. When I first arrived here it was in its infancy – it had begun three years earlier. There were about 30 girls at that time. I have watched it grow into the fabulous program that it is today. I remember adding age groups and picking the group names over the years as our population grew and eventually our numbers caught up to the boys camp numbers… and surpassed them!

I adore watching these little girls become confident women. They are a constant source of joy in my life. I have seen so many of them transition from camper to counselor to color war captain to getting married and having young campers of their own. I am blessed to have been a witness to their journeys and to call them my friends. I am humbled by the friendships that camp has afforded me and I am eternally grateful to John and Joan Klein for hiring me and making me part of their camp family.

About Camp Robin Hood’s Girls Camp – In 1980, then owner and director John Klein and his wife Joan decided to add what is now the biggest part of our camp family and legacy – Girls Camp, making Camp Robin Hood the brother/sister camp we know today.

You can learn more about The Brass, the leadership team at Camp Robin Hood, here. If you’d like to learn more about summers in The Realm and enrolling your child contact us today!

Meet The Brass at Camp Robin Hood – Lizz Ward

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With more than 150 combined summers at camp our Leadership Team, affectionately called “The Brass” by campers, staff, and alumni, understands the unique responsibility of preserving the Robin Hood experience. In this series of blogs, you’ll meet each member of The Brass as they share some of their favorite memories of summers in the Realm.

Meet Lizz Ward, whose official title is Office Manager at Camp Robin Hood but she does so much more behind the scenes to make sure our summers and reunions at always memorable.

Name: Lizz Ward
Years at Camp Robin Hood: I just completed my 9th summer at camp
Position at Robin Hood: Office Manager is my title but I handle a great deal, from overseeing the infirm to making sure the yearbook is completed. I assist in the general operations of camp, plan 4th of July and the NYC Reunion among many other things. I also assist with camper recruitment and retention.
What’s Your Favorite Camp Memory: I have several. Most revolve around hiking with campers. My favorite though would have to be hiking Mt Washington one summer with the Foresters. I held back with a camper who wasn’t used to hiking and he wanted to quit so many times as he didn’t think that he could make it all the way. We made it to the top together and he was so proud of himself and that accomplishment. It meant a great deal to me that I was able to share that moment with him. That summer he even received most improved in Hiking!
Favorite place in the Realm: The Waterfront at sunset

“The bonds that campers make here can’t be found anywhere else. I am happy that I get to share in that with my children.” – Lizz

Favorite Camp Song, Quote or Food: I have always loved the Goodnight Song. The part that always stands out for me is the line “thy sons well guarded from all sorrows held firm in bonds of bright green hue” this is also painted on the back of the Boys Camp sign and it was one of the first things I remember about Robin Hood. I never fully understood it until my sons became campers and spent their summers here with their camp brothers. Camp is a safe place to be yourself and make lifelong friends. The bonds that campers make here can’t be found anywhere else. I am happy that I get to share in that with my children.
What does magic in the trees mean to you: I love watching a shy, timid camper come out of their shell at camp. We strive to always try new things and encourage our campers to do the same. The first time they jump off the tower at the waterfront, dance on stage in front of the whole camp, pick up a bow and arrow for the first time and hit the target. The smile on their face says it all. That to me is the magic in the trees.
Advice to young campers: Be yourself! Camp is a safe place to be who you are without all the outside influences.

You can learn more about The Brass, the leadership team at Camp Robin Hood, here. If you’d like to learn more about summers in The Realm and enrolling your child contact us today!

Farewell DC – Cheers to 15 Years

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Sol, DC, and Woody at Camp Robin Hood

As a member of our extended camp family, Sol and I wanted to let you know that our dear friend and co-director David “DC” Cole is retiring from Camp Robin Hood this Fall. For the past 15 summers, DC and Woody have worked diligently to ensure that Andy Friedman, founder of Camp Robin Hood, and John Klein’s legacies and mission live on.

We are so thankful for the years DC spent with us and wish him, Jamie, and their daughters only the best. They will always have a special place at camp and will always be part of Robin Hood. Both Sol and I are eternally grateful for DC and Jamie’s service and dedication to the Realm.

I’ve worn many hats in my 45+ years connected to Camp Robin Hood: camper, staff member, visiting Green and White judge, parent of two campers, and 15 wonderful years as co-director. I am now humbled and excited for the challenge of taking over as Robin Hood’s full-time, year-round director. I’m dedicated, not only as director but as a parent myself, to ensure that each and every one of your children feels at home in the Realm.

– Richard ‘Woody’ Woodstein

The Beauty of Summer Camp

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The beauty of camp is not just the scenic views on the waterfront or on the fields but the friendships, unique experience, and memories created at camp that live on for years. At Camp Robin Hood we see that beauty of camp daily and call it the magic in the trees.

We recently found an article that one father shared about what it meant to visit his son’s summer camp and remembering the beauty of his camp experience. It is a great reminder about why the time spent at summer camp is so meaningful from your first summer to 20 years later when you are sharing a memory with your child.

In this, my son’s fourth summer, I returned to camp over two decades later … It was an extraordinary seven days. Not easy, but extraordinary. I was forced by my exposure to so many kids, to look for and see my deepest sense of self. The camp asks children to be vulnerable, accepting others for the worth of their soul, not for their superficial cover. And, so while asking such from children, we adults are forced to do the same. I observed and was moved by kids who normally wear every mask they can find to hide from the world, instead, remove the layers and serve up generosity in portions which if put together, might actually save our world.

I was moved by the depth of spirit and maturity displayed by the counselors in camp. They are barely adults themselves and yet, they hold the emotional and spiritual lives of real children, experiencing life on all ends of the human spectrum. When these same counselors return to the college campus in the fall, most of their friends will assume that their summers were carefree because they worked in camp. But the opposite is true. These caring souls work eighteen hours a day and learn how to be mature and steady leaders because of their work. I believe that the best of them will build on their summer experiences to make meaningful and impactful lives for themselves.

Most moving, was the sense of freedom children seemed to feel by being at camp. Not because they rule the roost, but because, in a safe environment, they are forced to independently make choices……about which activities they love, but more, how to connect in relationship. They are given room to fall down and not have a parent catch them. They don’t have parents there to micromanage their friendships. Their actions have consequences and it is not made better because of their parents’ wherewithal.

Freedom with boundaries and values says it best. All week, I observed children as they shed off their layers and found within, their deepest sense of wisdom and self. I heard children as they laid on the ground and watched the stars, talk with relief about being away from the drama of their home relationships, the constant talk of violence on television and the academic pressure to be perfect.

It is obvious that breaks from our routine are important, but this was more than mere vacation. These days away from home, school these children in character-building, value-evolution and independence-making. It is not magic; it is good old-fashioned, spiritual, wise, evolving, joyous freedom. The campers grew. I grew. And all of us could use the time away from the same, somewhere, not for fantasy, but for independence from all which sometimes keeps us shackled. We all deserve it.

Excerpt from The Spiritual Beauty of Summer Camp by Matt Gewirtz

Ice Hockey Intensive Program Now at Camp Robin Hood

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At Camp Robin Hood, we pride ourselves on our ability to provide positive experiences for campers of diverse athletic interests, needs, and abilities. One highlight of the Camp Robin Hood Experience is the opportunity for personalized, higher-level lessons. We developed our Intensive Programs and private instructions to meet those needs of our campers.

At Camp Robin Hood we believe that children do not need to stay home or attend specialty camps to prepare for fall sports or to improve in their chosen endeavors. Over the past several summers, a few parents have asked us to help prepare their children for fall sports and/or extracurricular activities. From that came our Intensive program and then the addition of private lessons. This summer, we introduced our new Ice Hockey Program and are the only co-ed camp in the area that provides ice hockey instruction with Division 1 coaches at a local ice rink.

Robin Hood’s Ice Hockey Program is designed for experienced hockey players of all ages. Each hockey period consists of a combination of skills, drills, and game play. We also offer ice speed and agility training. Campers have the opportunity to get on the ice at least once per week. It is our goal that each camper will have an experience that not only will be fun, but also help them develop into the player they hope to be. We also have private and team opportunities available.

We are a traditional, general camp with a focus on independence, confidence and relationship building but children can receive private instruction in athletics like Field Hockey, Basketball, Soccer, Dance, Gymnastics, Volleyball and Tennis.

Is your child interested in our new Ice Hockey summer program or one of our other intensive programs? We’d be happy to provide you with more information and details on summer 2017, click here for more information or email woody@camprobinhood.com.

“We are always here for each other, we are a family, we are home.” –Michelle

“The bonds that campers make here can’t be found anywhere else. I am happy that I get to share in that with my children.” – Lizz