Making Friends

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Breakfast Club this week is on the subject of friends: how to make them, how to keep them. We call it Social Growth and it is one of the goals we set from day one. Camp provides an ideal setting to grow socially… each camper meets hundreds of people all day long in a loving environment that is designed to facilitate friendships with unexpected people.

Only at camp will a 10 year old girl approach a 55 year old man and tell him a joke (not weird at all at camp… admittedly kind of odd in the real world!). Only at camp would a “cool” 13 year old girl chat for 20 minutes straight with a “dorky” 10 year old… and both girls love it. Campers and counselors make surprising friendships every day at Greystone because they find it easy to make friends with anyone.

Camp provides a graduate level education in social skills for camper and counselor alike. We learn to effectively communicate and work as a team (try having 10 girls take showers and get ready for bed before lights out blows; a task that requires every person to communicate a plan and work together with precision). We learn to discover interesting facts and surprising connections with every person we meet. We find ourselves drawn into deep conversations concerning real subjects of substance. Our camp friends are certainly the best part about camp and we delight in knowing that these friendships will stand the test of time.

Yesterday we learned to smile as a “opening move” to starting a conversation… it is hard to ignore a person who just flashed a great big smile. Today we learned how unselfishness (the secret of Greystone) makes for good, solid, long lasting friendships.

We hope you will agree that your girls are more comfortable in social settings after spending a few weeks at camp. They will have developed confidence from making a lot of new friends week after week in the many situations or routine camp life (walking along a path, taking a class, eating a meal, attending a crowded event, living in a room with a bunch of other girls, or standing in shop line). This confidence remains long after they leave this place.

Today is the Second day of classes but interestingly, the campers will be taking many classes for the first time. This is because we run an every other day program during June and Main camp, thus giving the girls a total of 14 possible classes in their schedule. While some classes meet for two class periods and some classes meet every day, no matter what the schedule your girls enjoy a huge variety of really interesting classes

Some highlights of the program this year that I have noticed so far:

The Arts Program is SPECTACULAR! Every class in crafts, painting, glass, metal, fabric arts, and ceramics shows increased participating over last year. The new Fine Arts porch and Glass Fusion studio are getting a workout!
Cooking is the place to be! Almost every camper in camp takes cooking, and it is easy to see why. They not only learn how to cook, they learn the science behind the art… it is a stellar program and shows the greatest growth over last year. It quite literally can’t get better!
Farm and Garden grew significantly this year. Continuity of leadership (Allyson runs a great department and makes learning fun) and the new pigs (two “teacup” pigs) probably tell the tale.
Yoga is very popular, as is fitness and Zumba.
Waterpark… obviously a huge hit… the popularity never fades! The girls love the new stand up paddle boards, blob, and trampoline.
Adventure program continues to get rave reviews.
Tennis has surged to the third most popular program in camp (behind waterpark and cooking). David Vining (Department head for over 30 years) deserves the credit… he runs a great program.
Canoeing is making a comeback (energy is super high and girls are switching into canoeing classes in large numbers).

We are very happy with the program and are thrilled that the girls like their classes so well it is hard to convince them to leave for a hiking trip to Bear Mountain. Greystone is a camp that celebrates community. Our best moments seem to happen when we are together doing our regular schedule… it makes for a very sweet experience. To see the campers so deeply engaged in so many activities ALL DAY LONG is a testimony to Ellen Anne (our great Program Director) and the counselors (who are remarkably enthusiastic, attentive, fun, and professional).

The weather today is glorious and a repeat from yesterday: Not a cloud in the sky, low humidity, light breeze (5 mph from the West), and high temperatures of just 80 degrees.

Tonight we will enjoy the Cabin Lip Syncs (Bungalow 2-Cabin 12) and we will delight in seeing our older campers performing acts they have practiced since Opening Day. The Pavilion Stage is a remarkable venue for a young performer… bright lights, special effects, microphones, speakers, and an adoring audience of almost 700 screaming fans. It is a magical moment for the cabin groups and a great time for us all.

We started our morning with a camper favorite breakfast: Pancakes and Sausage. The pancakes are home made (of course) and feature a recipe with two kinds of flour and a hint of maple syrup. They are really, really good! The sausages are much larger than you would expect, about double the size of the sausages I see at the grocery. They are plump and amazingly tasty… the best sausages I know of. Lunch is roast beef sandwiches. YUM. Dinner will be pork chops and cheese cake (I LOVE camp pork chops: cooked on the griddle of course).

Thank you for sharing your girls. They are doing very well adjusting to camp and I hope they will be writing you some really wonderful letters. Please take time to write them too! Hand written letters are the Gold Standard of warm fuzzy feelings at camp, but emails are a close second. Hearing from you is a delight and I hope you will write lots and take the time to compose some great letters. I always included little drawings in my letters, often showing scenes of what I imagined them to be doing at camp. Focus on their wonderful experience as a camper, not on the fun things they might be missing at home! Mail is delivered after lunch each day and the girls love to read letters as they settle into rest hour. Emails need to be sent by noon to make the lunch delivery.

One last thing… today we had our first morning assembly and Simon (our minister this session) was amazing. I encourage you to check out the devotions that we post every day, it is another great connection to your camper!