First Day Excitement

By Green River Preserve on June 08, 2014

A smiling staff, along with rays of sweet mountain sunshine, welcomed the first GRP campers of 2014 this afternoon. As cars came rolling in at one o’clock, counselors and mentors began welcoming campers and their families, and an anticipatory cloud of excitement overwhelmed us all. The countdown is finally over.

Parents wished their beloveds farewell while counselors helped move them into their homes for the week. Meanwhile, campers who were done checking-in played Name-Frisbee and Evolutionary RPS on the Back Field, allowing new and returning campers to connect. Others stayed in their cabins so they could get to know their counselors and bunkmates.

Since we’d begun to get to know the people we’d be living and playing with this week, it only seemed appropriate to get to know the places we’d be going together, so once everyone was all checked in, we split up by cabin for camp tours. After this, we held girls’ and boys’ Respect Circles in the Gazebo. In our respective Respect Circles, Camp Directors Sandy and Missy introduced themselves and opened campers’ eyes to the respectful atmosphere we uphold here at camp, asking each camper and staffer to commit to maintaining this supportive environment. Here at GRP, we respect the land, one another, and all living things; this way we can “build up”, rather than “tear down”. To me, this value of respect is of the utmost importance in creating a tightknit community, because it allows us to grow as individuals while exploring our interconnectedness to one another and to nature, without fear of judgment.

Once we went around the Respect Circle, each declaring, “I will”, campers changed into their bathing suits for Swim Review; I can literally hear them singing Happy Birthday (while treading water) from the staff lounge right now! After everyone gets dried off and changed, we’ll head to dinner, then to the Back Field for an evening of celebration and storytelling around the campfire (fingers crossed for S’mores). I can truly feel the excitement in the air as we embark on the journey ahead!

Ginny (WW1)

Green River Preserve
Green River Preserve

Green River Preserve is a non-competitive, coed summer camp connecting children with nature. Located on a 3,400 acre private wildlife preserve in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, this extraordinary natural setting inspires campers to have a greater understanding of themselves, their environment, and their fellow man. Designed for bright, curious, and creative children, our program nurtures character development and fosters skills like perseverance, curiosity, communication, optimism, creativity, and GRIT.