After 34 years, the power of camp in general, and Robin Hood specifically, never ceases to amaze me.\u00a0My focus in the first week, naturally, has been on our younger and newer campers on the boys\u2019 side.\u00a0Even in this short time I have seen incredible growth and progress, both individually and on a group\u00a0basis.\u00a0Many boys arrived on June 24th very apprehensive about this new and bewildering experience. Eight days in,\u00a0they are fully integrated; not only having the time of their lives, but also becoming young men that\u00a0we can all be proud of.<\/p>\n
A couple of specific examples are worth mentioning:<\/p>\n
I was privileged enough to spend the evening with the Squires on their camp-out at the outpost. It was\u00a0all pretty routine stuff \u2013 set up the tents, get a fire going, cook delicious fajitas, play spud on the field,\u00a0and back for a dessert of s\u2019mores. By this time it was getting dark, and the mood mellowed out as a
\nbeautiful starlit sky looked down on us. Then it was time for \u2018campfire\u2019. Now, at Robin Hood there is a\u00a0distinct difference between ‘campfire\u2019 and \u2018Campfire\u2019. A campfire is just a pile of burning sticks.\u00a0\u2018Campfire\u2019 is when our campers and their group staff are given the opportunity to speak openly, and\u00a0from the heart. Our younger campers often struggle with this alien concept \u2013never having been given\u00a0this unique chance to express their feelings. The rules are simple: one person speaks at a time, nobody\u00a0judges or ridicules, but may show their empathy with a quiet click of the fingers. One by one these boys\u00a0started to open up and talk about how special Robin Hood is to them; not just returners, but new\u00a0campers who had been here a matter of days, spoke with a confidence and sincerity that defied their\u00a0mere 9 or so years. I left with warm, fuzzy feeling of pride and satisfaction.<\/p>\n
Then there was the Junior talent show. We witnessed about 20 acts \u2013 ranging from joke tellers, to\u00a0jugglers, to singers, to dancers, to instrument players\u2026 and even a stilt walking unicorn! Would these\u00a0kids have had the courage to get up in front of 300 people outside of camp? Maybe. Maybe not. But the\u00a0main thing is they felt so comfortable and relaxed within our unique ethos, that being on stage wasn\u2019t\u00a0really a big deal, and that it was FUN!! It was a wonderful, and entertaining night.<\/p>\n
One of my all-time favorite quotes:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t about how well you dance. It isn\u2019t about who you dance with. It\u2019s all about feeling safe to\u00a0dance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doesn\u2019t this sum up beautifully what we do here?<\/p>\n
Good night! And sweet dreams!<\/p>\n
Dick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After 34 years, the power of camp in general, and Robin Hood specifically, never ceases to amaze me.\u00a0My focus in the first week, naturally, has been on our younger and newer campers on the boys\u2019 side.\u00a0Even in this short time I have seen incredible growth and progress, both individually and on a group\u00a0basis.\u00a0Many boys arrived on June 24th very apprehensive…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summer-2016"],"yoast_head":"\n