We’re giving our walled soccer field a touch up for this summer. We’re replacing the boards that surrounded the field with durable plastic walls. When campers play soccer on this field, they can bounce the ball off the walls and keep on playing–there’s no out of bounds!
This year our youngest campers will become chefs as they explore the tastes, textures and techniques of cooking. Each Clubhouse group will visit our cooking specialist, Ronnie, once or twice a week. Our pre-school and kindergarten campers will also learn about nutrition and healthy eating.
Until last summer, Ronnie was the Clubhouse Division head and has a wealth of experience working with young children. She’s excited to kick off this amazing new program, which helps young children develop their manual dexterity, math and reading readiness and culture awareness!
Bon Appetit!
What’s new at Riverbend?
Two new high ropes course elements: Burma Planks and the Horizontal Ladder. Both are suspended high above the forest floor. Campers are harnessed in; they ascend into the tree tops and try to cross these challenging bridges! Who wants to go first?
The Horizontal Ladder:
Burma Planks:
What are the sure signs of spring? Robins looking for worms in the grass, crocuses starting to bloom, and the annual Tri-State Camping Conference! While we enjoy the first two harbingers of warm weather, Tri-State is what really gets our juices flowing! Every year the American Camping Association has a massive conference chock full of lectures, seminars, workshops, and opportunities for learning. Staff from hundreds of camps across the country participate
A bunch of our directors and administrators will be going, to learn new techniques for working with campers, new ways of communicating with parents, more efficient ways to run our office, fresh ideas about teaching and motivating counselors. We always come back with great ideas that help us make Camp Riverbend better.
We come back (dare we say) with a spring in our step!
Yesterday we mailed out our annual holiday card and a group photo to each camper from last summer. As the cold wind whips the dry leaves around on the ground, its funny to see these photos of campers in their shorts, t-shirts and bathing suits. We’re about as far away from the summer as possible these days. Things are quiet here at camp; we are making repairs, storing supplies away from the cold, and catching up on our reading. But the lull is deceptive…
After New Year’s, many parents suddenly stare at their calendar and think “Oh my goodness, its 2012! What will my kids do this summer?” So we are getting ready now for the January rush of phone calls and emails. We’re having 3 indoor Open Houses for any prospective campers and their families. We also have a special type of open house just for younger children, ages 3-6, called the “Saturday Club.” Check out our website for more information about both these programs. We hope to see you sometime this winter!
The weather held off last Saturday, October 1, for our 3rd annual Family Camp Day. Each summer, parents always ask when THEY can come and play at Riverbend! Family Camp Day is that day. Moms and Dads climbed up the high ropes tower and zipped down, paddled canoes, and explored the intricacies of lanyard. Their kids were happy to show them what to do! It was a fun day. Visit http://www.campriverbend.com/camp/whats-new to see some photos of the day. It was also great to see so many of our camp families again!
Its hard to believe that our closing day of camp was less than one month ago! Today it really seems like fall with cold, rainy skies.
Its funny to walk around the camp grounds when it is so quiet! We are re-seeding the grass where many little feet played. The laundry baskets that held camper lunches are put away and the bulletin boards have been stored for the winter.
Coming up on Saturday October 1 is one of the best days of the year–Family Camp Day! A few years ago when our high ropes tower was first built, parents kept asking when they could come and play at Riverbend, and so a tradition was born. Campers get to watch their parents climb the high ropes tower, shoot arrows and stitch lanyard (of course children can participate too!) When the kids challenge their parents on the gaga court, who do you think will win? Check out our website for more information about Family Camp Day; RSVP is required.
