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Category Archives: Alumni

Alumni Yearbooks Go Digital!

We have some exciting news!! After many months we can finally announce the finishing of a passion project for the entire leadership team. The CRH Yearbooks are going digital!!!

We took the time to copy yearbooks from 1948, the year after the fire at camp, until 1962. Digitizing the yearbooks will allow us to give you an exciting look into the past. I, personally, can’t stop reading Andy’s words and am in awe at the inspiration I’ve found from them. His principles and passion still hold true today and provide me with a guide book on how to continue running camp with his goals in mind. Now, no matter what happens, we will always have some of the oldest yearbooks from the Realm for years to come. You can access the digital yearbooks from our alumni page and see for yourself the magic in the trees from years before.

-Woody

Andy Says: A Message from 1947

Throughout the year I periodically flip through past Robin Hood yearbooks. It’s gives me a chance to look back on our storied past and ahead to the next with joy and respect. As I was going through old yearbooks I came across something that blew me away – a message from Andy Friedman, the founder of Robin Hood. I’ve shared with you his message, from the 1947 yearbook, that still holds true and is more impactful even today.

 

Andy Says excerpt from 1947 Yearbook

 

 

Remembering John Klein – Camper, Director and Friend

It is a sad day here in the Realm. Yesterday morning we learned of the passing of John Klein, a former camper, and director of Camp Robin Hood. Andy Friedman, the founder of CRH, began training John to take over the camp in the 1970s. John and his wife Joan lead camp through some of its most formative years. They added girls camp in 1987, expanding our Robin Hood community for decades to come. They truly brought out all the magic in the trees.

We were lucky enough to have John visit The Realm to celebrate our 90th summer in 2017. It was an honor to have the newest generation of Robin Hood campers hear him speak and meet the man who helped shape our current owners and directors.

After hearing the news of John’s passing many alumni and camp families shared messages and stories of how John impacted their lives and the lives of their children.

5 Reasons Millennials Should Work as a Camp Counselor

At Camp we focus on the benefits for campers but rarely do we mention all the benefits our staff of young adults receive. This week we saw an article on Levo, a career development company, called 13 Reasons Why Every Career-Driven Millennial Should Work At Camp For A Summer.

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We picked our Top 5 reasons from their list:

  1. You get to be a role model.
    For however long you have the opportunity to interact with the campers, you quickly become one of the coolest (and most influential) people in their lives. Camp counselors especially have the opportunity to impact campers because of the amount of time spent with their kids.
  2. You truly make a difference.
    There are so many benefits to working at a camp, including making a difference. Check out this quote from the New York Times blog The Camp Counselor vs. the Intern, here.

    “What I do there matters,” she insisted. In several conversations, she told us about helping a camper cope with her mother’s debilitating depression and comforting others whose parents were fighting or separating, about aiding 11- and 12-year-olds who were coming to terms with their sexuality, battling anorexia, confronting body fear. She talked about the many hours devoted to water-skiing lessons, about instilling the confidence needed by awkward, gawky, painfully self-conscious 8- and 9-year-olds to stay prone in the water, hold on to the rope, then rise up and stay on their feet as the boat pulled away. “What’s more important than that?” she asked. I had no answer, because I couldn’t come up with anything more important.
  3. You hone your leadership skills.
    There are plenty of opportunities to improve your leadership skills by working for a camp because, at one point or another, you will be asked to lead. Whether you are leading other staff members or a handful of campers, you will be looked up to for direction and wisdom.
  4. Peer networking.
    Not all of your co-workers will be elementary education majors. In fact, you will meet a plethora of majors who have done the same thing you have: sought out a beyond-the-typical summer job. An awesome time to expand your peer networking to individuals from all over the country and from all walks of life.
  5. You will learn so much about yourself.
    As awesome as camp life is, it also is challenging. You may not know how to deal with a situation with a camper, your co-counselor for the week might not be the most compatible with your sense of humor, and some days might seem like they drag on forever—is it lights out yet?! However, it is moments like these where your true colors shine. You will learn so much about yourself and, at the end of the summer, will be able to look back and be proud of all that you made it through.

Are you ready to have the best summer ever while helping influence young campers? Learn more about joining our staff of nurturing counselors today!

Alumni News

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John “Flash” Flaschner

This past June over Father’s Day weekend, I had the opportunity to travel with my son, Robert (Flash), to Dyersville, Iowa – the actual setting where the iconic “Field of Dreams” was filmed, for the movie’s 25th anniversary celebration. Robert and I have watched the movie dozens of times over the years; it’s our favorite and one that we have fond memories of watching together. So to actually be standing on the field in Iowa, alongside Kevin Costner and watching Robert play in a softball game on that very field, was extremely surreal.

At the end of this truly memorable weekend together, I dropped Robert off at Robin Hood for his seventh summer and first as a first year aide with the Lancers. Being back at camp made me think about how similar the experience of seeing the movie set come to life is with going back to RH and “re-living” so many extraordinary experiences. My legacy with Robin Hood began in 1927 when my grandfather was with Andy when camp was founded, and the best summers of my life were spent in the White Mountains. I made many lifelong friendships, and am proud to have grown up with Woody, DC and Sol, and we remain friends to this day.

Sitting in the grandstands, the smell of the boat house, seeing the daddy long-legs under the canoes, walking into the office will make you feel as if you’ve never left this special place. While the traditions of camp are exactly the same, you’d be amazed to see how great the Realm looks today. If you haven’t been back to camp since your own days, I urge you to consider making the pilgrimage sometime soon.

For all of us alumni, Robin Hood is our Field of Dreams.

Emily Schorr and Andrew Arnot

Like all Camp Robin Hood alumni, The Realm holds a very special place in our hearts. And, as the alma matter so accurately says, it’s the friends from camp and lifelong bonds that mean the most to us.

When camp brought us together during the summer of 2006, both Andrew and I had close-knit groups of camp friends. Because of our relationship that group has grown not only in size but also in strength, and a significant contributor to this is living in New York where there is a “solid crew” of Hooders. We’ve played on a CRH volleyball team (shard rules apparently don’t exist outside of The Realm), held Sunday staff meetings at a local bar, and organized a charity softball game in Central Park where the proceeds were used to send two kids of a fallen veteran to camp. We’ve even attempted to recreate classic camp meals like uterus chicken and oreo mush. These activities and events have, and continue to bring together generations of CRH alumni in a fun setting where spouses and children can meet and become part of the camp family.

In addition to participating in out of camp activities, being able to come up for Green & White every summer is something Andrew and I are fortunate to be able to do. Spending a few short days each year in The Realm is a privilege we look forward to year after year and seeing the REALM sign on Ossippee Lake Road and turning into camp is an indescribable feeling that we’re sure many of you are familiar with. Not only does Green & White connect us to the current campers and staff, it allows us to relive the memories we’ve shared with friends and also create new ones.

We are so lucky to call Camp Robin Hood our home, and even luckier to share such a great group of friends that feel the same way.