The Return of the River Trip
If you were an alumna from the 1990s or earlier, you are bound to remember the Canoeing program in its glory. With beloved Greystone counselors like Harriett Harris and Sweetie Stewart running the program, the Canoeing department had energy, excitement, and loads of campers who flocked to the shores of Lake Edith to jump in a canoe. Popular groups like K-Nu had girls working hard to join its ranks, and the synchronized canoeing performance was always a highlighted feature at Main Camp. With this popular program, the most beloved aspects of the program each summer were the numerous canoeing river trips.
Mary Allen Returns as Head of Canoeing
This past summer, we were lucky to welcome Mary Allen Edgerton back to Greystone as the head of our Canoeing program. Having been a camper in the 1980s, Mary Allen found her place as a camper in a canoe. As she explains it, she really grew into who she is today from the many river trips she took as a camper. With her return this summer, Mary Allen was determined to get campers back on a river for the first time in 20 years.
Canoeing in a lake and on a river are two very different things. While our campers learn the proper strokes on the placid lake water, preparing campers for rapid-level conditions is a challenge that Mary Allen and her fellow canoeing staffers jumped at the opportunity to accomplish. They soon found a group of Main campers who loved their Canoeing class and wanted to be the first group to return to the river.
The Lower Green Trip
The group traveled to the Lower Green River for their paddling adventure, hopping on a bus like their alum counterparts did many years ago. Mary Allen began the bus ride by teaching the girls the catchy Lower Green song, a ditty that has been sung by Greystone paddlers heading to the river for generations. Upon arrival at the Green, the staff and campers unloaded at the top of the river and were ready to tackle the adventure as a group.
The Importance of River Paddling
So, before we jump into how the trip went, you may be wondering: why take the girls to the river in the first place? As Mary Allen fondly recounts from her time as a camper, river paddling gives campers the opportunity to grow in numerous ways. Sitting in a boat at the top of a rapid for the first time can be a scary experience; however, there’s nowhere to go but forward, and campers learn to push through their fears, trying something new, often for the first times. Girls gain confidence; your boat may get stuck, but paddlers learn that is always a way forward and always a way through the challenge.
Much like our alumnae paddlers who traveled this same river together many years ago, campers learned communication skills, strategy, planning, flexibility, stress management, independence, and how to use their paddling in an effective way. The girls quickly realized that if the boat flips, you just get back in it and keep going. Ending up wet in the water is not the end of the world! These girls can take these life skills home with them, using them when they face challenges at school or in the future. Mary Allen credits the resilience she has today to her time paddling rivers at Camp Greystone!
The Success of the Trip
So how did our campers fair on the river? The girls faced challenges (much to be expected) on their paddle down the Lower Green. Boats flipped, girls got wet, canoes became stuck, and a snake may have even fallen into an unsuspecting staff boat. But through it all, the girls persevered. The campers worked hard, endured trials, and returned to tell the tales. It was a great first trip back down the Lower Green!
As we look to the future, we hope to get campers back on the Lower Green again this year. With Mary Allen returning as the Canoeing Department Head this upcoming summer, we know she will continue cultivating an energy that is contagious among the canoers at camp. We cannot wait to see where our paddlers will head next!
