Now that the summer is behind us, and we are left with wonderful memories and many many new friends and old, we are back in the Ordinary World – I promise to write more on the blog! You will see more stories, more thoughts, more insights…anything and everything…so just like last year, sit back and enjoy!

My goal is to blog once a week, like before!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer! We are already planning for 2011 and we can’t wait!

More later!!!!

So it just occurred to me that I haven’t posted a blog in a while. I hope that no one is upset. As we get closer to the summer, as you can imagine, we get busier and busier. That’s the life of a summer camp right?

Right now, our staff have started to arrive and are arriving every day! We have staff in our ropes and climbing training, our America Red Cross Life Guarding course, setting up our new culinary arts facility, getting the waterfront up and running…just about anything you can think of to get camp ready for Fernwood Cove – Summer 2010!!

All or our staff will be here by June 14th – and we will start our week of training. With that week under our belts we will be ready for our 200 first session campers to arrive…not only ready…but incredibly excited about it! Actually I am already incredibly excited.

So – while I sit here at my desk, looking out over the lake, preparing for another amazing summer, the bad news is, this will be the final post of the summer. Once camp starts, and the staff have arrived, the campers have arrived, we will be in full camp mode and really focusing on having the best summer ever. So with that in mind, my focus will be here, in Harrison, Maine and not on this blog.

See you on the flip side!!! I wish everyone an Extraordinary Summer!!!

-Marran

In a couple of days, I will be heading out of town on a vacation for a couple of weeks. I decided this year to take a couple of weeks off before heading up to camp so that I can relax, chill out, and get well rested for what will be an EXTRAORDINARY SUMMER! I am headed to the Dominican Republic – and I can’t wait!

So – why am I telling you about my vacation plans? Clearly it’s to make you jealous! Just kidding. I was just thinking about the mission of our camp – does anyone know what that is? Here is a snippet: “encouraging participation, exploration and personal growth through simple group living in the outdoors.”

Some people say that company missions are impossible to achieve…they clearly aren’t part of Fernwood Cove are they?

I was thinking that every year even I experience  personal growth at camp through participation in activities and bunk life, exploration of my self and my abilities through activities and meeting new people, living simply at camp (no electricity) and being a part of the out doors (muddle jumping). It doesn’t really matter how old you are or for how long you have been at camp – everyone can be a part of this experience and grow and change in amazing and positive ways.

Ok Marran – where does this fit into your vacation plans – well here we go – I am glad that you asked!

I decided this year that I am able to embrace camp more and really get totally involved in every aspect of it if I take some time for myself before I head up to camp. So this year I am going full force and really taking quality time without my cell phone, email, internet (including this blog) and I am really going to return refreshed on so many levels and SO ready for another amazing summer!!

I know it’s different for many of you who are in school up until the day you go to camp so it’s hard to take some time for yourself before you head up to Maine. But if you do have some time before you arrive – take that time to relax, and really prepare yourself to be fully engrossed in the Extraordinary World. The more you can be a part of it and let it consume you, as we all know – the more you believe, the more growth you will see in yourself at the end of the summer!

It’s not long now – we will all be back in our favorite place soon. I know that I for one will be well rested and ready for all of it once again. So let’s “experience new challenges, enhance self confidence, develop skills, and establish enduring friendships in safe, beautiful surroundings” together this summer!

See – it’s not an impossible mission – in fact – far from it – it’s an amazing thing to be a part of! See you soon!

Oh and don’t be too jealous of my vacation – the real fun will be together in Maine!

At Fernwood Cove we talk a lot about living simply and we do that in many ways. We live simply by not having electricity in the bunks, wearing uniform, being disconnected from cell phones, internet, computers and video games all summer…just to name a few. It’s a nice break from the Ordinary World.

Recently where I live (Boston) we had a huge water main break – if you live in the Boston area you know what I am talking about – and this water main break has forced us for a few days to have to boil our tap water in order to use it.  It seems as though this has caused everyone to go crazy…you can’t go to a single shop to get any water – it’s all sold out and I even heard of stories where people have been fighting over that last gallon of water on the shelf. I guess I am bringing one of the lessons learned from the Extraordinary World of Fernwood Cove and I am just taking it in stride. I am trying to live a bit more simply until we are told we can use the tap water again.

In the past few days, I have taken shorter showers, used fewer dishes for cooking, and even use only a minimal amount of bottled water while brushing my teeth…oh and I have a mountain of clothes that need to be washed…but I am going to wait – I can hold out. I guess I have learned that while it’s not like my life has changed that much – I am not letting this get to me the way it seems to be getting to many others. I am just cutting back a bit, simplifying my use of water and riding it out.

This is all thanks to camp teaching me to live a more simple life. What would we do without these lessons?

I have to admit – I wasn’t sure what to write about this week and it was Alicia who gave me this idea and I think it’s terrific. So let’s talk about this – or at least start thinking about it.

How can we take what we have learned in the Extraordinary World of Fernwood Cove and bring it to the Ordinary World and our every day lives? In other words – what can we do, in our daily lives, to make the world a little bit better?

Well, let’s break it down first – what do we learn in the Extraordinary World? Let me give you a few examples – we learn to be inclusive of others, we learn to share, we learn to help others, we learn to take healthy and safe risks, we learn to be responsible for the environment, and we learn to be responsible for our own actions. Can you think of anything else? I bet you can!

Next – how can we apply this in our daily lives? Maybe in our daily lives we can cross the bounds of cliques at school and make sure that everyone is included so that no one feels left our or bullied. I know this sounds hard – but imagine if we all did this? Maybe in our daily lives we could help others when they need it, instead of walking by or pretending we didn’t hear them.

A couple of years ago – I pulled over my car as I was driving down a busy street because I saw a man on the side of the street had just been in an accident and I went over to see if I could help. There wasn’t much I could do – he was ok, but I called an ambulance anyway. No one else even stopped to see if everything was ok.  (By the way – true story.)

What if in our daily lives we picked up trash when we saw it instead of walking by – hey – we do this at camp! Why not do it at home or at school? How about when we make a mistake instead of trying to cover it up – we just owned up to it and said that we were sorry? What if we tried something that we were scared to do – like try out for a play or a sports team even if we weren’t very good at those activities – but we did it because we didn’t care what other people thought – we wanted to give it a try.

Those are just a small number of things that we can do to bring the Extraordinary World into the Ordinary World and our daily lives. There are SO many other things that we can do – can you think of some? I bet you can!

Imagine – for a moment – what if we all did things like this? Can you imagine what the world would be like? It’s a nice picture, isn’t it? It has to start with us!

I challenge all of you to try and bring a bit of the Extraordinary World into the Ordinary World!! You don’t have to do everything at once – start with one thing – either something that I listed or something that you have thought of yourself.

Do you accept my challenge?

We often get the question from parents – “can my daughter arrive to camp late?” or “can my daughter be taken out of camp early?”

Jim calls this the Everest Experience…

It is very disruptive to a bunk group (and the camp) to have campers coming and going.  When we set up Fernwood Cove as a strict half season camp our vision, which holds true today, is to have everyone start together and everyone leave together.  This provides a true experience and the ability to form a bond with your bunk mates that I call the Everest experience.

Everest scenario:  You are with a team climbing Everest and half way up another member is flown in – this person will never be fully integrated because they missed the beginning.  Even if the group is very accepting of this person – there will always be the underlying feeling of, “you missed the beginning” by the group and the new person.

On the summit side:  You are about to summit Everest and the group has made it through thick and thin; your goal is in site and expectations are high.  Suddenly and without warning one of the members of your group bails because they have a reservation in the morning at Woods Hole for 6:00am ferry to The Vineyard (we ALL know how hard it is to get reservations on the ferry).  The group continues on but it’s a bitter sweet ending because you happen to be very close to the person that left.    Also the person that left, suddenly feels distanced from the group and subsequent conversations with team feel they really missed out.  The summiting group is forever tight with a small flaw in their experience – they all didn’t make it.

Camp relationships/experiences can easily be equated to an Everest climb.  The outcome of both:  The bonds that are formed through this type of experience – are for life.

A teachable moment is not something that you can plan for; rather, it is a fleeting opportunity that must be sensed and seized by you. Often it will require a brief digression that temporarily sidetracks what you are doing – so that you can explain a concept that has inadvertently captured the child’s interest.

Life is all about teachable moments and we try to capture as many of them as we can and I challenge all of you…parents, teachers, camp counselors, everyone to find those teachable moments in life for the sake of our children!

Here are some examples of these teachable moments at camp…

One summer at camp it was really hot…I mean really hot…no one in the soccer class wanted to play soccer – it was just too hot. Instead of just taking the campers down to the lake for a swim, this particular counselor seized this moment – took the kids down to the lake – swam out to the diving dock with a soccer ball and had the kids learn how to do headers by jumping off the dock into the lake. This taught them soccer and kept them cool…this is a teachable moment.

One day a few summers ago our CITs were sitting waiting to go out for a night off or a trip…I don’t actually remember where they were going and they were being held up by one counselor who was just running a little late trying to make sure that they had everything that they needed. The counselor who was with the CITs decided to make this 5 minutes of waiting a teachable moment by having the girls go outside to the van and learn how to check the tire pressure and the oil level…a life skill – a teachable moment.

Life is full of teachable moments – and it’s our job as role models to children to capture these moments.

What teachable moments can we find at home??? Let me give some examples…

Sometimes children come home from having a bad day at school – maybe there is someone in their class that they don’t like – we could call the teacher and complain about this other student…or we could talk to this child and explain to them that we are going to go through life running into people that we may not like and we may have to live with them, work with them, be in a class with them for 9 months or a bunk for one month…but we can’t focus on that one kid. We have to learn to live and work with these people and make sure to focus on all the others that we do like…this is a teachable moment!!

Another example…recently there has been a lot of talk on the news about bullying. It seems to happen at a younger and younger age. And with the internet and cell phones it seems to be getting worse. What if you find out your child, a child in your class or one of your campers is that bully…what about instead of yelling at the child which they probably wouldn’t hear anyway – what if we instead talked to this child about positive leadership – and having them be the one to stick up for the other child instead of the one putting down the other child. If they are truly the leader that they seem to be – it’s time to start leading in a positive direction! What if it was your child, a child in your classroom or your camper that was being bullied…what about instead of trying to solve the problem for this child, we give the child some tools that he or she can use to help him or herself.  What if we could talk to this child about ignoring the children saying mean things to them and just walk away from the situation or pair up that child with another in the group – someone who can help them and hang out with them so they don’t feel like they are alone.

Now I know that these things don’t apply to every situation and I am not saying that we shouldn’t stand up for our children or campers…I am just saying – let’s find that teachable moment – and let’s help these kids to help themselves! It’s our job to teach these kids – let’s make every moment teachable!!!

You can check it out: http://www.acacamps.org/becauseofcamp/

Apparently they will be putting up billboards and advertising in airports and all over the place coast to coast!

It’s funny to think they are working so hard to get a message across that we are lucky enough to already know! On the Facebook page it asks you to write your top 10 things you loved and/or learned at camp!

Here’s my top 10: (in no particular order)

10. Because of camp – I have the greatest job in the world and love every minute of every day.

9. Because of camp – I will be attending the wedding of my best friend from camp – we have been friends since we were 9 (that’s a long time ago).

8. Because of camp – I learned that I can be myself and be as crazy and silly as I want – and people love me for it.

7. Because of camp – I learned how to live and work with others – and appreciate everyone around me.

6. Because of camp – I learned how to shoot a rifle and then went on to teach that activity at camp!!! How many others can say that?

5. Because of camp – I learned that even though I can’t carry a tune in a bucket -  singing camp songs around the campfire with my friends is one of the greatest experiences ever.

4. Because of camp – I learned that there is nothing better than the chance to share this experience with everyone else – my job allows me to do just that.

3. Because of camp – I have had the opportunity to work and live with some of the most amazing people I have ever met.

2. Because of camp – My non camp friends all think I am crazy – and probably talk about camp too much – but they know, all of my good stories start with, “One time, at camp…”

1. Because of camp – I have become the person who I am today!!! Thanks mom and dad for putting me on the path of camp!!!

What’s your “Because of Camp?”

The great thing about Fernwood Cove is that we all believe in it. We believe in what we are doing, and we believe in each other, as directors, and we believe that what we are doing will really have an impact on our campers. We also believe that if our campers can take even a small piece of what we give to them, home with them at the end of the summer, maybe, just maybe, they can make the world a better place.

What does it mean to believe in Fernwood Cove? Every decision that we make is always made with our values in mind – does it fit in with our value of simple living? Does it fit in with our value of respect for the outdoors? And so on. I know that every decision we make falls in line with all of our values and our mission and we make every decision with the best interests of the community as a whole in mind.

But it’s not just that. We are constantly reviewing what we do, asking our staff, campers and parents what we could do to make things better and how we can constantly improve. We want everyone to be a part of making Fernwood Cove a better place each year because then everyone else will believe in it as well.  It’s the constant updates to facilities, equipment, review of rules, procedures, new activities, new programs, etc etc the list goes on. All of this careful attention to detail is how we show that we believe.

But of course it’s not just about the physical camp…nope – it’s about our campers, staff and families. We believe in our campers and staff and we encourage everyone to believe as well. We expect the best in ourselves and we expect the best in everyone else – not because we have high standards but because we want to be able to bring out the best in everyone and have them see the best possible people that they can be.

With the amount that we believe and care about our camp and everyone in our community – this gives us more power and strength to continue believing and caring. Our staff and campers make lifelong friendships – because of the power of Fernwood Cove. No one else on earth gets to see our staff and campers the way they see each other – at camp!

So am I a sales person? Am I trying to convince people – do I have gimmicks? Do I have a sales pitch? Do I talk about deals go to bed at night hoping to make a sale? Nope – none of us do.

You aren’t a salesperson if it doesn’t feel like a sale – we believe and that’s what makes Fernwood Cove – Extraordinary!!

I have seen alpine, curling, biathalon, short track speed skating, long track speed skating, all sorts of speed skating, luge, snowboard cross, half pipe, pairs figure skating, men’s figure skating, alpine jumping – long jump and short jump, cross country…and the list goes on and we aren’t even half done yet…I assume I will spend many  more hours glued to this once every four years event.

Anyway, so as I was sitting there last night watching Lindsey Vonn take the gold and the Shawn White catch more air than any human should, I starting thinking to myself, why am I so compelled to watch this – why I am so addicted to it?

And then it hit me – the Olympics…it’s just like camp!Let me explain!

Sitting there, watching the Olympics makes me feel like I am a part of it – like from my couch, I am part of Team USA…it’s really cool feeling like I am a part of something bigger than myself – that is exactly how I feel about camp. All of us at camp are a part of something bigger than ourselves – it’s pretty great feeling knowing that fact!

Ok but beyond that, what are the comparisons…well let’s start with the opening ceremonies…that’s like the first day of camp, ok we don’t introduce countries but we introduce bunks…and we even have a torch presenting moment where we present the torch to our seniors!

What else…well the campers – they are like the athletes, they have many goals they want to achieve by the end but without their coaches, or in our case – the staff…they wouldn’t be able to get where they are or achieve these goals.  Our campers rely on our staff just as much as the athletes rely on their coaches. Ok so I have campers and staff…so where do I fit in? Good question – and don’t worry, I have an answer. I think that I am one of the producers of the TV portion of the Olympics – so you won’t see me on TV and my name won’t be up in lights, but I am the reason that everything is running so smoothly and why we are able to get all the bits that make up the Olympics on TV and for the viewer to see exactly what he or she wants to see. I would put Alicia in that category as well. So Jim…Beigette…who are they? Clearly they are the master of ceremonies…or in this case, they are the Olympic Committee…the IOC – they are the brains behind everything and the reason that we are all there!

Have I taken this too far yet? There’s more. Watching all the different events and having so many things going on at once – that’s like us at camp. We have tons of activities going on at the same time and there is always a story to be told someplace…it’s a controlled chaos in a way. But we love it.

I seriously could go on…but I think you are starting to see the comparisons and probably coming up with some of your own.

What I am now realizing is that in the Olympics – we can find comparisons of what we do at camp…the feeling of being a part of something that is bigger than all of us, the great sense of accomplishment when our campers achieve their goals, and as the athletes are all good friends…so are we …that sense of community, that sense of family – we feel it at camp just as it can be felt at the Olympics. But more than anything, I think I am glued to the TV becuause I long to be back at camp – I am tired of the cold and the snow of winter and just wishing the summer to come sooner. I want to have that feeling that we get when we are at camp, sooner…I am ready!

In the Olympics they said,  “Let the Games Begin!” Well I say,  “Let the Summer Begin”

Bring on the Games of Harrison 2010!!!

-Marran