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2

So, How Far Do we Push?

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Dear Friends,  I read an article this spring through Apple News entitled “How Far Should We Push Our Kids In the Outdoors?” This thought comes to my mind daily during our summer when I’m working with various ages in our outdoor activities. Most of the time as I size up a group, I’m thinking about […]

3

Welcoming New Directors

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Greetings from Gwynn Valley! We’re excited to announce two new faces joining our Director Team for this summer, Heather Chalmers and Dr. David Adams! Heather started attending Gwynn Valley as a camper back in 2006. She will be stepping into the role of Assistant Director of Main Camp, having served as the Head Counselor of […]

4

Help Your Child Get Ready for Camp

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We are so excited you have chosen to send your child to Gwynn Valley and recognize the significance of the decision you made to enroll your child in camp. Our goal is to partner with families to help your camper have a fun, enriching, and positive camp experience. Besides having fun, camp provides children the […]

5

Returning Staff – Connecting Camp and Careers

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We spend a lot of the off-season reading applications and interviewing prospective candidates. Finding folks who are passionate about nurturing and teaching children in the outdoors is one of the most important things we do. And one of the most exciting parts of this work for our year-round staff is getting to hear from our […]

7

Check out the 2022 Video Highlights and start the Countdown!

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The New Year and January bring about resolutions, self reflection, and a little bit of dismay as we put away the holiday trimmings and decorations. For me, it also brings excitement that camp is around the corner! In a couple of months we will start planting veggies at the Farm, building new kayak stands in […]

8

Giving Tuesday is Today!

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Giving Tuesday is today! Please consider a donation to the Gwynn Valley Campership Foundation.   “Camp creates a feeling I call more. [More is the feeling that I believe everyone longs for, feeds for.] The best way to describe more is the act of being in your ideal environment, receiving all the help, love, and support […]

9

Millwheel News 2022

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With trees looking bare and cold weather greeting us every morning, those of us at Gwynn Valley have so much to be thankful for as we reflect back on our 2022 season. This years Millwheel news articles include: Giving Thanks at Camp – Cultivating Gratitude New and Updated Spaces  – Facilities Report The Adventure of […]

10

Camp – A Place to Learn and Grow

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Camp has always been a place for our campers to grow. Away from the comfortability of home our campers cultivate both resilience and independence. Campers are free at camp to choose what they wish to pursue and our non-competitive program builds a community around them to support them in the endeavor. From trying new things […]

11

Make New Friends and Keep the Old – The 85th +2 Reunion

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As we welcome September, we are so grateful for a positive, fun, and successful camp season and a joyful 85+2 camp reunion. Having waited for two years to celebrate Gwynn Valley’s 85th summer, many generations gathered after we closed camp to see old friends, make new ones, and to share the many stories and memories […]

12

Tajar Ball

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We awoke this morning to the Tajar’s folly with all kinds of pranks in downtown GV.  There were so many things moved and out of place we hardly knew what day it was and where we were.  There were boats in the dining room with staff sleeping in them.  Tubes from the lake were all […]

13

Do Something Difficult Everyday

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What a great start  to our last week of camp for our new campers who arrived yesterday for E session and for our three weekers. Although it was a rainy day, we didn’t have any storms and were able to carry on with activities as we held our first day of Discoveries.  Campers were discovering […]

14

The Simple Joys Abound

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What a great day here with beautiful breezy weather starting our morning.  Today we were starting our week with A Day Discovery Activities.  When you’re having a great time, things tend to speed up and go too fast.  We had a little rain shower just after lunch but no thunder boomers.  Several cabins took the […]

15

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

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It’s hard to believe we are halfway through D session. Time has really flown by here at camp, and we hope it has for you as well. It has been a full day here with the third day of AM discoveries. Campers were doing everything, from riding a horse through the center of camp, biking […]

16

Developing Strong Friendships

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As I write, my window captures our mountain’s silhouette of 5000 and 6000’ peaks, darkened by the vanishing sunlight that has created that orange to blue night sky.  It’s been a great couple of days here for our D Session campers and older programs.  Laughter and joy has abounded as returning campers came back to […]

17

What a Great Time We Have Had

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We just finished our Friendship Campfire for the three week and 10 day session.  What a great time we’ve had tonight and all day long as well.  At campfire we honored the campers who have many years of Gwynn Valley summers.  As a tradition at our final evening program we recognize those who are coming […]

18

Sunday at Camp – What a Special Day

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Every Sunday at camp, when it’s not an opening day, is “Special Day” and today was very  special despite the rain!  The theme today was Disney. Campers moved around camp participating in different activity stations with their cabin groups. We had games consisting of relay races, balancing on a barrel in the lake, paddling on […]

19

Camp Is About Connection

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We welcomed our new campers for C-2 today and got off to a rousing start to begin that session. For those of you that dropped off your children today, I hope that you’re safe and sound and at your destination. You were shown to your cabins today by our SIT’s (staff in training). They are […]

20

An Almost Perfect Day

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It was an almost perfect day here at camp with great weather, a big rain during rest hour and everyone enjoying the best that GV has to offer. The rain extended our rest hour for about 30 minutes and I think everyone enjoyed a little extra down time.  Main Camp enjoyed a big scavenger hunt […]

21

Another Busy and Beautiful Day at GV

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Here we are at the end of another busy and beautiful day. We had some rain early this morning but it stopped right when it was time to come down to breakfast at 8:30.  Several cabins were again camping out tonight, cooking dinner over an open fire and it’s the perfect night for it.  Every […]

22

Simple Joys at GV

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Our first full day at camp was pretty darn good.  We had a wee bit of rain just during lunch and it was over before the end of sign-ups and allowed a rain free rest hour and afternoon.  Having a tin roof on your cabin is different than home where you rarely hear the rain […]

23

A Golden Day of Summer

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Today was truly a golden day of summer! We have enjoyed cooler temperatures, a lovely breeze today and lots of blue sky and gorgeous sunshine. With Riverside still in camp preparing for their next trip, Mountainside doing sign-up activities today, and Young Leaders back from their rafting trip, our entire camp community was on site […]

24

Great Day to be on the Waterfront

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It’s been another great day at camp although hotter than usual.  We thought we might get some rain or a storm but it passed us by. Even though it was hot, we hit the trails at GV going in all directions by foot, hoof and bike.  Campers from all over camp traversed our many trails […]

25

Great Opening Day!

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Opening Day for B Session was the best. Thank you for dropping off many returning campers as well as new campers to Gwynn Valley.  We know everyone will have a great time over the next couple of weeks. After the campers greeted their counselors and cabinmates, got unpacked, and were settled in their cabins, we […]

26

That Silly Tajar

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Today happens to be a very special day at Gwynn Valley. It’s the Tajar’s birthday! No one knows for sure how old the Tajar is, but he has been around Gwynn Valley for a long, long time. For those of you who haven’t heard about him yet… The Tajar is part tiger, part jaguar, and […]

27

Camp – the Perfect Recipe

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We had another great day here in the Valley with beautiful weather, brilliant blue sky, sunshine, and a lovely breeze blowing.  Even when it’s hot outside we seem to have a great deal of shade to cancel out the heat.  I would say about 90% of our trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding are […]

28

Off to a Great Start

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What a wonderful opening to camp we have had with lots of sunshine, cool weather, fun, and friendships being formed. We are off to a great start!  After counselors helped their campers unpack and make their beds yesterday, we all headed to a buffet lunch. We signed up for our morning Discovery activities before cabin […]

29

Growing Food and Leaders at Camp!

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When is the last time you put your hands in the dirt to dig a potato, held a baby piglet, or maybe had a baby goat (kid) walk on your back? At camp, these are some of the activities and learning opportunities our campers are able to experience. Our Farm program was started in 1982 […]

30

Communication – Partnering with Families

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Dear Gwynn Valley friends and families, As we near the summer, we are getting very excited to welcome our campers and staff back to camp for Gwynn Valley’s 87th summer. We have been very busy getting ready, hiring staff, planting at the Farm, cleaning trails, and preparing dynamic, fun programs as well as planning our […]

31

Evening Programs – Old and New

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A day at camp is packed. Packed with activities, with friends, and with memories in the making. I love walking around camp in the summer and seeing all the magical moments happening – whether it’s a camper learning kayaking skills on the lake, a cabin group catching fireflies at sunset, or a counselor rolling down […]

32

Returning Staff Highlight 2022

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As we approach the summer of 2022, we are really excited about the staff who will be joining us!   Working at camp is a fun and rewarding job plus it helps young adults build skills for professional development such as leadership, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork to name a few. Most of our staff are […]

33

Wishing You Joy This Holiday Season

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Yesterday marked this year’s Winter Solstice.  This longest night and shortest day of the year has traditionally been a time to express gratitude and set intentions for the new year ahead.  While we are officially entering Winter, a time for reflection and rest, we also know that each day brings a little more daylight.  As […]

34

Giving Tuesday is Tomorrow!

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Giving Tuesday is tomorrow!  Please consider a donation to the Gwynn Valley Campership Foundation. “I would like to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to attend Gwynn Valley. Four years at your camp has changed my life, beliefs and personality in more ways than I ever thought it would, all for the better. […]

36

Dale Robertson Retires

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After more than four decades, Dale Robertson has decided to hang up his tool belt and retire.  Dale first worked at Gwynn Valley Camp as summer staff for the previous owners, Howie and Betty Boyd.  They hired him full-time as the Site Director after he finished grad school and enticed him to settle in Brevard […]

37

Registration for Summer 2022 has begun!

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We are excited to gear up for another amazing summer here at Gwynn Valley!  We are so grateful that we were able to run a successful summer program in 2021.  Our campers and staff enjoyed our luscious green valley here in the mountains, made new friends, and had an unplugged respite from their lives back […]

38

Tajar Ball E Session

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We awoke this morning to the Tajar’s folly with all kinds of pranks in downtown GV. There were so many things moved and out of place we hardly knew what day it was and where we were. Chairs from the dining room were on the basketball court along with the soccer goal. Tubes and paddles […]

39

Playing and Learning Outdoors

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We had a cool and misty day today with some light showers but we continued to have fun at all of our activities and enjoyed gathering around the fire on the Pavilion after swimming, kayaking, and playing at the lake. Our Mountainside and Riverside groups are into their second night of being out of camp. […]

40

Opening Day of E – Final Week for Older Programs

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Great opening for E Session today; thanks so much for giving us a chance to host all the wonderful children who arrived today.  These campers have been waiting all summer to experience camp.  That is an exciting way to end the summer as many will head back to school in a short time.   After […]

41

Tajar Ball!

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What a day!  Tajar Ball has just ended and the sun has just gone behind our beautiful mountains.  On nights like this, I know why they call it the Blue Ridge.  It’s also been our hottest day of the summer with temps approaching 91.  More of the same is forecast for tomorrow.  I was one […]

42

Building Resilience and Confidence

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We were watching the weather today here at camp and were fortunate to have a clear morning with no rain until rest hour. Morning programs went on as planned including a hike to The Rock which is always a “high” light.  The view was good today as the campers looked out over camp, the valley, […]

43

Playing Outside, Growing Inside

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We’ve had beautiful and warm weather today with lots of blue skies and sunshine. The lakefront, pool, and hiking to Connestee Falls were popular activities. We have several cabins who are camping out tonight who hopefully have enjoyed a good meal over a campfire and s’mores with their cabinmates. Campouts are good bonding times for […]

44

The Simple Joys of Childhood

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What a great day here at camp.  The weather couldn’t have been better with lots of sun and a brief shower right before dinner tonight.  I spent the morning visiting program and checking out all the activities from morning Discovery.  With the good weather also comes the enthusiasm that goes along with that.  Climbing was […]

45

International Day!

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We had a great day at camp today and were fortunate to not get rained on during activity times. It was International Day here at good ole GV and we celebrated and learned about Columbia and Jamaica. The whole day was mixed with good food and fun with football this evening and Jamaican and Columbian […]

46

Camp Is A Magical Place by Grant Bullard

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I hope you’ve all safely arrived either home or to your destination.  Opening day was great with cool nice weather and the campers all seem to be happy as clams.  Thank you all for the adjusted drop off procedures and your patience as we aim for a safe and healthy session.   One grandmother who […]

47

The Land of Fun! By Grant Bullard

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Greetings from the land of FUN! The Tajar visited us last night and there was evidence of his mischief in Downtown GV this morning.  Boats, buckets, bowls, tables, chairs and anything that didn’t grow hair was somehow amiss.  If you don’t know who the Tajar is, just ask your child.  Each session we celebrate his […]

48

Farm Campfire!

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We just finished our farm campfire (evening program) which was great fun with skits, baby animals, a band, stories, and a little dancing. Our farm staff hosted it and our performing arts sign up activity put on a wonderful short play about vegetables and teaching children how delicious brussel sprouts, broccoli, lettuce, and peas are. […]

49

Cloudy Skies and Sunny Faces

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Though the threat of thunderstorms loomed over our valley all day, activities went on all day without a hitch across our programs. This morning saw Main Camp going through their A-Day discoveries after breakfast. The waterfront is a particularly popular spot throughout these hot summer days, and hearing the joyful splashing and playing of children […]

50

Reconnecting with Nature

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Today we began a new round of morning discoveries with our C & C2 campers. Campers were excited as they found out what their schedule will look like for the next six mornings. Morning discoveries are organized into A & B Days and cabin groups rotate through activities of their choice 3 times each with […]

51

Simple Joys of Childhood by Grant Bullard

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We were sad to say good-bye to our C-1 session campers today but are so happy to have our three week campers from C, Mountainside, Riverside, and Young Leaders still at camp!  Riverside went to the Tuckasegee today and is heading to the Nantahala tomorrow to take the plunge (let’s hope not literally).  The Nanty […]

52

Happy 4th of July!

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Happy 4th of July and hope you all have had the enjoyable day we’ve had.  Our day started with a bit of history as Paul Revere charged through camp warning us that the British were coming.  We actually missed our Brits this year due to Covid restrictions and will welcome them back in ‘22 as […]

53

Another Day of Opportunity

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Here at Gwynn Valley we are at the end of another busy and beautiful day. Although they were calling for rain, we had lots of sunshine and only a sprinkle of rain around 6:00 which only lasted a few minutes. Several cabins were camping out again tonight and cooking dinner over an open fire.  Every […]

54

The Fun Doesn’t Stop Even in the Rain!

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Wow and the fun doesn’t stop even in the rain!  Yes, it was a very rainy day today but fortunately, we were still able to climb, bike, and play with our raincoats on and soggy feet. The sun came out at dinner so that we could enjoy After Supper Activities and Evening Program. We have […]

55

Making New Friends

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What a wonderful opening day with only one small shower early this morning and then lots of sunshine and smiles. It’s nice to see so many familiar faces and returning campers from previous years along with our new campers, many of whom have waited two years for this session. As many of you know, we […]

56

Sad To Say Good-Bye

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What a great day here and I can’t believe the week has gone so quickly!  Isn’t that how it works.  When you’re having fun things tend to speed up and go too fast.  The older I get the more time flies.  I always convey to our staff to really enjoy the moment because the nine […]

57

Celebrating Australia and Argentina Day!

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As I woke up early this morning to the sound of rain, I thought about our Mountainsiders all out on adventures and our Riversiders backpacking in Pisgah National Forest. Hopefully their tents and tarps kept them dry as they slept and as they enjoyed breakfast. Fortunately, the rain stopped at 10:00 and the sun peeped […]

58

Another Beautiful Day in the Valley

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The weather has been beautiful this week with crisp, cool mornings, warm afternoons, and lots of blue sky. They are calling for rain this evening and tomorrow but hopefully it will decrease as it moves over the mountains.  We finished our day a little while ago with a peaceful time in the dining room where […]

59

Twilight Play Makes the Day

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Today was another chilly morning at Gwynn Valley as the sun crested over the mountains. Breakfast was a huge hit this AM–the chocolate banana bread was enjoyed by everyone! Today was the second B-day of B session, with campers getting to develop their skills over a period of three days in their alternating discoveries. It […]

60

A Beautiful “B Day”

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Tuesday, June 15th dawned bright and with a refreshing mountain-crisp edge. Breakfast was burritos with egg, fresh seasonal fruit, and cereal (some tables got lucky with the ever-popular Raisin Bran!). Today, camp saw a very full day of fun and activities! This was a “B” day, meaning Main Campers rotated to another two morning discoveries […]

61

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B Session Opening Day! With one session of Main Camp under our belts we had a great opening day for B Session.  Lots of returners as well as many new faces here at Gwynn Valley.  Many of you told us that you were ready to come in 2020 and as we all know that one […]

62

The Week Has Flown By!

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It’s been a full day at camp and unfortunately the last full day of Session A.  We just finished our evening campfire program by neighborhood which is always called Friendship Campfire on the last night of camp.  It’s been a super session and we celebrated by showing many of the pictures that you all have […]

63

It’s been a beautiful day!

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It was another beautiful day at camp with the perfect mix of clouds and sun.  Our day started off with homemade scones, fruit, cereal, eggs, bacon, and yes, chocolate milk by a local dairy, French Broad Creamery.  We had a delicious stir fry tonight for dinner with rice, Asian salad, edamame beans and fruit.  We […]

64

Camp empowers young people

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Camp empowers young people! It was an early morning for Riverside as they grabbed breakfast at 8:00 and headed out on their climbing adventure. This small group of 11 campers and their four staff, plus the two climbing specialists, will spend the next four days camping off site and climbing. Their first stop was to […]

65

Opening Day of Camp 2021

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Dear Parents and Friends, Wow! We have been waiting two long years for today and what a great day it was at GV!  Opening day for the summer was beautiful, not too hot with a cool breeze blowing and blue sky. It was so joyful to have so many children and teenagers enjoying being together, […]

66

Rolling on the Flow Track!

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We are so excited to greet our first campers on June 5 and have been working hard to get ready for a fun, great summer! In 2020 we built a new, large Mountain Biking Center on Brookside that includes a wonderful spacious pool deck. Both activities will have access to new bathrooms, large covered decks  […]

67

Susie Woodall Celebration by Robin Rose

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May the Road Rise to Meet You… On December 20th, Susie Woodall, a friend, confidante and shining light for so many Gwynn Valley campers, parents and staff passed away. For many she was the reassuring voice on the phone, helping parents to feel comfortable sending their children to camp. For international staff she was a […]

70

Welcome New Year Round Staff

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Greetings from Gwynn Valley,  A new year always brings opportunities for growth, change, and hope and we are especially excited about 2021 and this summer! We really missed having our campers at Gwynn Valley last year and can’t wait to welcome you back or for the first time when we open camp on June 5.  […]

72

Giving Tuesday!

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Please consider a donation to the Gwynn Valley Campership Foundation. “As I write to you…

75

Joyful surprises at Family Camp 2020

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Dear Gwynn Valley Campers, Parents, and Friends,  2020 was the first summer in Gwynn Valley’s 85 years that we did not host a traditional camp program. We really missed our campers and staff and all the JOY that normally fills our valley and makes summer feel like summer! As you know – every challenge brings […]

76

Climb to new heights!

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When you think about getting outside of your comfort zone at camp, climbing is often the first thing people think of. Getting 50 feet off the ground makes most people feel a little nervous, which is honestly probably a good thing when you think about it! Even if you know intellectually that we have safety […]

77

Mountain Biking is good for the body and soul!

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As we settle into new school routines (and navigate all the challenges that come with school in the midst of a pandemic!), we want to share this reminder of camp. If your lives are like ours, we bet most of you are spending hours and hours each week in front of screens for virtual school, […]

78

A Virtual Visit to the Farm at Gwynn Valley

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We hope you are finding ways to enjoy your summer. We really miss all of our campers and we know you miss us too. Here’s a little video about our farm program, highlighting some of our animals. We hope you enjoy this little virtual visit to the farm!

80

Registration is Open for Gwynn Valley Family Camp 2020!

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We are excited to offer a new way to experience the magic and wonder of Gwynn Valley Camp as a family! Although guidelines, restrictions, and recommendations  by the CDC, ACA, NCDHHS, and our county would have limited our ability to operate our traditional summer camp program while fulfilling our mission, we do feel we can […]

81

Family Camp – Basic Information

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Dates and rates Family camp at Gwynn Valley will run for six sessions this summer from June 28-August 6. These camps are being offered as an all-inclusive, 5-day, 4-night experience (running from Sunday through Thursday) for a maximum of thirteen families per week. The cost is $650 per person, with a minimum price per family […]

82

COVID-19 Health and Safety Guidelines

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To promote the health and safety of families and staff, please read this section thoroughly and contact our office with any questions you may have. Your well-being is very important to us. You are required to review our health and safety  recommendations below before arriving at Gwynn Valley Camp. We have taken reasonable additional measures […]

83

Family Camp FAQs

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Will there be child care? Unfortunately, no. In an effort to promote the health and safety of everyone involved, children must be accompanied by at least one adult from their family at all times. Can I bring pets? No. The logistics and dynamics of life at camp make it impractical for Gwynn Valley to host […]

84

Registration Information

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How do I register my family for camp?! APPLY ONLINE: Please complete the online application. Once submitted, you will receive an email to confirm that your application was received.  PHONE CALL WITH CAMP: We will call you within 3 business days to confirm your place in the desired session and discuss payment options. ENROLLMENT CONFIRMATION: Once […]

85

Until We Meet Again in 2021

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Dear Gwynn Valley Families,  We want to thank you for your patience, support, and love over the past several months as we’ve all been trying to imagine how camp might fit in with this pandemic. As we get closer to summer, no words can express the sadness we feel as we announce the closure of […]

86

Tajar Tales with Andy

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We hope that our wonderful camp community is faring well all across the globe.  Today we want to share a little treat that comes to us all the way from New Zealand.  Please enjoy this rendition of the Tajar Tale “A Noise in the Kitchen” read to you all by our very dear friend Andy […]

87

Somewhere South

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At Gwynn Valley we LOVE celebrating local agriculture and honoring food cultures both locally and from our international staff around the world! For this reason, the Bullard family has loved watching Vivian Howard’s new show “Somewhere South” on PBS. Watching this series, we learned so much about other people and their food traditions across the […]

88

Green Sign Design Contest with Green Camps

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Green Camps is hosting a contest where participants can design signs “that will inspire green behavior change”. As you know, sustainable living is very important to us at Gwynn Valley! How do we do this? Many of our campers, families, and staff are aware of our Farm to Table program which supplies 60% of the […]

89

Session Closure Announcement (A+B Sessions)

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Closing our June Sessions As we enter May, no words can express the sadness we feel as we announce the closure of our June sessions (June 6 – 26: Main Camp A+B, Mountainside MS1A+B, Riverside 1, and Young Leaders 1). Knowing how much all of us need camp right now, we explored many options to […]

90

White Rabbit

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White Rabbit to our extended Gwynn Valley family! For those of you who don’t know, it is a tradition at camp to say “white rabbit” to others on the first of the month. This tradition is meant to bring good luck and seeing who can say it first each month is always a great source […]

91

Singing in the Lodge 3

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Thank you for everyone who called and videoed in to our third virtual Singing in the Lodge! It was so exciting seeing campers, staff, and alumni, especially those who wore costumes. Here is a link where you can find our video and sing along at home to some new songs and some classics: https://vimeo.com/414040878. We […]

92

Tajar Tales with Daniel and Lauren

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Today we are sharing two Tajar Tales read to you by our friends Lauren and Daniel who have worked at Gwynn Valley for many years and grew up as campers here before that. You might recognize them as the 2019 Head Counselors of Hillside and Brookside. For those who haven’t met the Tajar, well he’s […]

93

Farm Friday and Baby Calves

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Happy Friday everyone! Our maintenance team has been hard at work mowing grass, taking care of cabin repairs, building benches for our dining room, and much much more around camp. Last week they got another task added onto their long list of things to do to get ready for the summer. Can anyone guess what […]

94

Happy Earth Day

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Happy Earth Day from GV! Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, celebrated April 22, 1970. Spending time immersed in the natural world is part of what makes Gwynn Valley so special; we hope that everyone can find a moment to appreciate the natural world today! Stargazing is a quintessential summer camp […]

95

Gwynn Valley Coloring Pages

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Do any of our camper families out there have a case of the Mondays? I don’t know about ya’ll, but one of the simple joys that never fails to brighten up our day is… coloring! Attached are some photos taken from iconic locations around camp and then rendered into color-ins with a free to use […]

97

Singing in the Lodge 2

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Happy Monday everyone! We hope you all had a relaxing weekend. For those of you who weren’t able to make the virtual Singing in the Lodge 2 last Thursday and those who were able to make it, here is the link where you can listen and sing along at home: https://zoom.us/…/uOVfErfN_H9OUpHM8k7ndrQ4MIDZT6a8gyMXq6Zfy… A huge thank you to […]

98

COVID-19 Camp Update (April 10, 2020)

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Dear Gwynn Valley Families, We are thinking about all our camper families and staff who live in so many different places both near and far and the challenges we are all facing as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you are well, focusing on taking good care of yourselves and your community, and […]

99

Hummingbird Feeders

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It’s been a beautiful day here at Gwynn Valley, and we can’t wait to see some hummingbirds use the feeders Grant has just refilled. Watch our video to learn how to set up your own and follow the link for the recipe for the syrup and some fun hummingbird facts. https://drive.google.com/open…

100

Homeschooling Resources

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How are our families doing with homeschooling efforts? As the resolve to keep up with school curriculum wanes, this is an ideal time to help your children engage in some self-directed learning or passion projects. Allowing your child some time each day to explore activities and hobbies that they are enthusiastic about will help cultivate […]

101

Keep Moving!

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Are you feeling a little stir-crazy? Ideally, you have sidewalks or walking paths near your house where you can be active OUTSIDE (while still practicing social distancing!), but going outside for a walk or a bike ride may not be an option for everyone everyday. If you’re stuck inside and need to burn some energy… […]

102

Tajar Folly/April Fool’s

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Those of us who live at Gwynn Valley all year awoke to quite the silly sight at camp this morning. We found kayaks on pathways, a year-round staff member on the lake, and paddles left at the top of the Green spelling out a close approximation of the word: “Tajar”. Our furry friend the Tajar […]

103

Dealing with Cabin Fever

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Gwynn Valley Families, We hope you’re all weathering the varying degree of lockdowns and school being out. I saw this article this morning in the NYTimes and thought of all of our families. It does have some much-needed humor. https://www.nytimes.com/…/coronavirus-families-cabin-fever.… Also here’s some info on books for children of different ages that you may be […]

104

Mary Gwynn: Female Leader, Visionary, and Pioneer

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In honor of Women’s history month, we want to share an article about our fearless leader, Miss Mary Gwynn, who founded Gwynn Valley as a single woman back in 1935. She was a pioneer on so many fronts. Her values and vision 85 years ago remain the foundation of our camp culture and program today. […]

105

Virtual Singing in the Lodge

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Thanks for joining us for Virtual Singing in the Lodge today! In this time of physical isolation and uncertainty, it was powerful and heartwarming to gather together in (virtual) community. We had current campers and staff as well as alumni from many decades! It was so incredible to see everyone calling in from all over […]

106

Virtual Learning Resource

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This week, Gov. Roy Cooper extended North Carolina school closures to May 15th, and many other states have made similar decisions. During this window of ‘virtual learning’ we want to share resources to help newly promoted teaching assistants (aka parents who are at home with their children!) with some resources to help keep your home-stays […]

107

Lessons Learned from the 2020 American Camp Association National Conference

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At camp we always want to encourage children to try new things.  Whether it’s eating a hand-picked veggie from the Farm, climbing to the top of the tower, or making your first tie-dye; camp is chock full of opportunities to embody a growth mindset.  We also hope that our staff will employ an attitude of […]

108

A Connection to Camp

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Although it is early February, we’ve had some beautiful spring weather here at camp with temperatures in the 60s, blue skies, and daffodil shoots pushing up through the ground with their bulbs waiting to open. All these changes in the natural world are reminders that camp is right around the corner, and we are SOOO […]

109

Millwheel News 2019

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There are so many exciting things happening at Gwynn Valley these days! In this issue of the Gwynn Valley Newsletter, read about our upcoming 85th reunion, staffing updates, new building updates, scholarship fund news, and more! Here’s a snippet of some of the articles in this latest issue: Gwynn Valley turns 85 – and you’re […]

110

A Full Last Day of E!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another day has ended here at GV and we’re about to end our E Session and summer with your arrival tomorrow.  Our campers rose to a cool and overcast day filled with some sun, and a few showers in the afternoon but no thunder.  Activities proceeded as planned.  I was at […]

111

Free to be you and me

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Dear GV families and friends,  The blue skies were totally uninterrupted today at Gwynn Valley, which was a reflection of our day overall – perfect weather, happy campers, and smooth sailing in camp! On day six of E session, campers are well into their discoveries, making progress and developing skills in the areas they’ve selected […]

112

Mountainside has returned!

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Hello, families and friends! Guess what! There’s a guest author for today’s Gwynn Valley news! Allow me to introduce myself. I am…the Mountainside Shelter. The Mountainside Shelter? Hold on a second! you might say. The Mountainside Shelter! Isn’t that a…building? And you would be correct. I am the 50-foot-by-30-foot pavilion up in Mountainside that serves […]

113

What a DAY!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been an incredibly beautiful day in the mountains.  I was not at camp all day but coming back around dinner time tonight it was just perfect weather for being a camper at Gwynn Valley.  I spent the day with one of our Mountainside groups paddling on the Tuckaseegee River.  More […]

114

Celebrating sunshine and friends from afar!

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God aften Gwynn Valley families and friends!  Every Tuesday throughout the summer, campers and staff celebrate a country or group of countries represented by members of our community. The 40 or so international staff members who are hired each year through the J-1 Visa are actually here on a cultural exchange program – not a […]

115

First Full Day of E

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Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, Today was the first full day of E session and what a day it has been! We started the day with a delicious breakfast of bagels, scrambled eggs, cheese, fresh fruit, and cereal. With such a filling breakfast, main camp campers were ready to head back to their cabins to […]

116

Sunshine in the Smiles of Our Campers

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Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, We hope you all have reached your homes or the place you are staying for the night safely. We had a beautiful day, if a bit overcast. This session we have a mix of both returning and new campers. Upon arrival, all campers were greeted and told which cabin they […]

117

A Perfect Final Day of D!

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Dear Families and Friends,  What a wonderful final day of camp! We started the morning with our very last sign-ups of the session for Main Camp. Campers were offered activities like flag football, making campfire apple crumble with camping skills and nature, and trail riding with horses (to name a few). We also had a […]

118

Festive Days and a Little Haze!

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Dear Parents & Friends, My guess is some of you watch our weather here on most days.  We had threatening skies all afternoon but it never dampened our spirits for the Tajar’s birthday.  We started our day with several trips out of camp – climbers and several other groups of Mountainside.  The climbers headed to […]

119

An Amazing Costa Rica, Argentina, and Mexico Day!

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Hola Familias y amigos,  Today was international day at camp and we were fortunate enough to learn about Costa Rica, Argentina, and Mexico! We started the day learning about Costa Rica and sharing a traditional Costa Rican. One of our counselors this year is from Costa Rica, and several of our American staff spent the […]

120

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun at Camp

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Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, It’s hard to believe we are halfway through D session. Time has really flown by here at camp, and we hope it has for you as well. It has been a full day, starting with the first day of AM sign-ups. We do morning sign-ups when discoveries are over, as […]

121

A Truly Magical Special Day

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Dear Parents, Families, and Friends, Today was Special Day at camp, and the last one of the summer. For Special Day Molly, one of our Main Camp Logisticians, planned a day full of magic with the help and support of our leadership team, and cabin counselors. These days revolve around a theme and today’s was […]

122

A Great Day to be a Camper!

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Dear Families and Friends,  Every day is a great day at Gwynn Valley, and today was no exception. We started the morning with a delicious breakfast of grits, sausage crumble, and fruit. It was such a delicious meal that we all applauded the kitchen afterward showing just how much we had all enjoyed it. After […]

123

A perfect day at GV for all!

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Dear Families and Friends,  What a wonderful day at Gwynn Valley! Today was filled with adventure and reunions, as well as incredible weather that made it a truly spectacular day! Main Camp spent the morning in their third day of A Day Discoveries. These campers have now spent three mornings growing their skills, making incredible […]

124

A magical GV day wraps up with Twilight Play

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Dear Parents and Friends, I’m not sure how your day was back home, but here at camp… Today was practically perfect in every way! From weather to food to activities, many of the campers I spoke to said today was THE best day yet of the session!  The weather was gorgeous with a cool morning […]

125

Another Perfect Day at Gwynn Valley

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our morning started out very cool with temps hovering around the mid 50’s. Everyone was advised to use their sleeping bag as a comforter last night. Tonight may prove to be more of the same. No rain today and hardly a cloud in the sky which looks good for the days […]

126

A Magical UK Day!

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Dear Families and Friends,  What a day! Today was International day at camp and we spent it learning about and celebrating the United Kingdom. International days are a chance to learn about the culture, food, and people who join us during the summer!  We started the morning with a magical surprise. Our dining hall was […]

127

The First Full Day of D

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Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, Today was the first full day of D session, and what a full day it was. Campers started off the day with delicious and filling breakfast of homemade whole wheat biscuits, pit ham, sliced cheese, fresh local peaches, and homemade peach jam. This gave everyone energy for their first day […]

128

A Perfect Opening of D Session!

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Dear Families and Friends, Today was our opening day of D and what an incredible day it was! Skies were blue and the cool mountain air was perfect for greeting campers and parents alike. As campers eagerly learned the names of their counselors and fellow cabinmates, there was a joyous feeling all around. Opening days […]

129

Sunny days and sad goodbyes!

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Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, It’s hard to believe that we are already at the closing night of C session! Here at camp the days are long, but the weeks are short. To be honest, the years are short as well. For many of the campers we recognized this evening at Friendship Campfire, I can […]

130

Making Memories!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We just finished our Tajar Ball celebration and the skies cleared just before the Ball.  Usually, we eat on the lawn of the Green in front of the Dining Room, but thundershowers kept us inside and celebratory none the less.  As many of you know Tajar Ball happens two nights before […]

131

Twilight Play, Adventures, and More!

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Dear Families and Friends, We have enjoyed another great day at camp! Campers worked hard on their final morning of A day Discoveries! The third day of discoveries is always exciting as campers have had a chance to master the area they’re in. Be it finishing a challenging project in crafts, overcoming fears on the […]

132

A Farm Filled Day

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Dear Parents, Family, and friends, Each day is important and fun at Gwynn Valley but today really seemed to take the cake, carrot cake to be precise. It started with an amazing breakfast of fresh baked apricot cranberry scones with pork sausage, scrambled eggs, and mixed fruit. Following breakfast, campers moved to their B day […]

133

Moon Landing Special Day!

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Dear Families and Friends, ​ Today was another SPECIAL day here at Gwynn Valley. Each Special Day has a unique theme … today we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing with a day filled with intergalactic fun and creativity! It’s amazing to celebrate such a monumental part of history with so many campers, […]

134

A Great Day at Camp!

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Dear Families and Friends,  ​What a great day we had here at Gwynn Valley! With plenty of activities, some packing for our older programs, and a special guest, it was a fun-filled day! We started the morning with delicious homemade corn muffins, sausage, eggs, and fruit! A delicious and energizing start to a full day […]

135

A Wonderful Day for the Books

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Dear Parents, Families, and Friends, It’s been another fun filled day at camp. Our campers started the day with their first B day discoveries. For our C campers these activities differed from their first four activities in C1. Offering different activities allows our C2 campers to have a full range of choices, and for our […]

136

New Zealand and Spain International Day!

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Dear Families and Friends, Kia Ora and Hola! Today was International Day at Gwynn Valley and we were able to learn about New Zealand and Spain! One of the best parts of Gwynn Valley is the staff and campers who join us from all over the country and the world. This summer we are fortunate […]

137

C-2 Opening as C Dances On!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a great day to open our C-2 Session and thanks for bringing your children to camp this morning.  Everyone is in their cabins after a great first day here in the Valley.  Old Mr. Sol shined throughout the day and into the evening.  No rain again today but we […]

138

C-1 Closing…C Session, MS2, RS2 and YL2 march on!

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Dear Parents & Friends of C-1 Campers, C-1 Closing Thank you for a great ending to our C-1 Session today! We’ve had a wonderful time for the last 10-days getting to know your children. For those of you that have arrived home already, we hope that your child’s experience included all the magic of camp […]

139

The Last Full Day of C1

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Dear Families, Friends, and Loved Ones, It’s a wrap on another day here at Gwynn Valley, and what a full day it’s been. Today is the last full day of C1 so we had a wide variety of things happening around camp. It was a normal morning with sign-ups for both our C and C1 […]

140

A World Cup Special Day

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Dear Families and Friends, What a special day we had at Gwynn Valley! Today was Special Day here at camp, and what an incredible day it was! We started the morning with a little sleep in, giving everyone time to catch up on sleep after a busy week of fun! Since the kitchen had a […]

141

Another Gorgeous Day at Gwynn Valley

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Dear Parents, Families, and Friends, It’s been another gorgeous day for the books! The sun was out all day and while we did have some cloud cover, and a few rumbles of thunder, our day carried on with no interruptions.. There was a delicious breakfast of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and fruit followed by the final […]

142

The Layers of Friendship!

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Dear Parents and Friends,  It’s hard to top July 4th at camp but darn if we didn’t do it today.  It was a bit cooler this morning and everyone was enjoying the nice weather and sunny skies.  Big thunderheads moved in later in the afternoon, but we have our reliable Thorguard to tell us when […]

143

A Fantastic Fourth of July!

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Dear Friends and Families,  Happy 4th of July! What an incredible day we had celebrating Independence Day with the whole of camp. We were woken this morning not by the bell, but by several of our counselors on horseback, shouting traditional Cherokee greetings! As all of the cabins excitedly went down to meet for breakfast, […]

144

Twilight Play, Adventures, and an Inspection!

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Dear Families and Friends, ​Another great day has passed at Gwynn Valley and what a full and exciting day it was! We started our morning enjoying the cool mountain air. It’s always a pleasure waking up to fog over the lake and then watching it dissipate as the sun rises higher in the sky throughout the […]

145

A Great Day at GV!

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Dear Families and Friends,  Every day at Gwynn Valley feels like the best day, and today was certainly no exception! On Main Camp, we spent the morning enjoying our B Day Discoveries! This was a chance for our campers to dive into two of their chosen activities and they will get two more days to […]

146

A Fun Filled First Full Day of C and C1

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Dear Parents, Family, and Friends,  What an amazing first day of our C and C1 session. We had a great opening day with campers choosing what Discoveries they wanted to do, and today they found out. Discoveries are various activities around camp where campers will alternate between their four chosen program areas. Unlike the afternoon […]

147

A Great Opening Day! C Session 2019

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Dear Families and Friends,  What a wonderful day we had at camp! Today was our opening of C and C1, MS2, RS2, and YL2 sessions! With an influx of campers and parents, camp felt full and everyone’s excitement was palpable. There were cheers and hugs as campers eagerly learned what cabin they will be in […]

148

B Session Closing Day 2019

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Dear Families & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our B Session today! We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and will carry lots of good memories from this incredible two week session.  For those of you that have arrived home we hope that your child’s experience has captured all the magic […]

149

The Perfect End to an Amazing Session

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Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, The final night of B session is here at Gwynn Valley. It has been an amazing time with such awesome and awe inspiring campers. Those of us on the leadership team, counselors, and program leaders have seen growth in our campers. From trying new foods, challenging their fears and pushing […]

150

A Great Day Shared on Two Wheels!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Tajar Ball has just finished on this beautiful Wednesday night and a few of the older campers are lingering in the Gatehouse field watching the last light disappear behind the mountains.  Our view day in and day out is unmatched and we’re so lucky to be at this gem we call […]

151

A Fantastic International Day!

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Dear Families and Friends,  What a wonderful day we had at camp! Every Tuesday we have an International Day to celebrate staff members who live all over the world. Today we celebrated our staff from South Africa as well as Turkey. We started the day off with a delicious Turkish breakfast and got to hear […]

152

Adventures at GV, away from camp, and on the stage!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Somehow I find myself settling into the peace and quiet of another cool mountain evening here at Gwynn Valley. What a full day we’ve had!   Our first news item of note today was saying goodbye to our Mountainside campers and staff after breakfast. Five adventure groups headed out in separate directions […]

153

We’re all superheroes here at GV!

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Dear Families and Friends, Today was an incredibly special day at Gwynn Valley… it was our very first Special Day of the summer! Specials Days happen on Sundays during the two and three week sessions. During these unique programming days, cabin groups spend the day together exploring new activities and games that are only offered […]

154

Another Beautiful Day at Gwynn Valley

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Dear Parents and family, It was another beautiful day at Gwynn Valley. Everyday is filled with the joy of trying new things and growing in so many ways. Piled on top of this is good weather, blue skies and sun drenching our property just enough for a cool dip in the lake or our Carson […]

155

A Fantastic Summer Solstice!

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Dear Families and Friends, Another wonderful day has passed here at Camp Gwynn Valley! Today is the Summer Solstice and we celebrated our extra long day of sun with play, exploration, and fun! We started the day with a delicious breakfast that included homemade scones, scrambled eggs, and fruit! There’s nothing quite like waking up […]

156

Gorgeous day at GV for an ACA Accreditation Visit!

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Today was another perfect Gwynn Valley day! It was one of those mid-session days when everything feels ‘in the groove.’ Children and staff are feeling comfortable with the rhythm of camp; skill progression is evident everywhere as campers are halfway through their morning discoveries; and friendships in cabins and table families are really starting to […]

157

The FUN Never Stops and There’s More!

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How do you spell fun at camp?  All capitals, right! FUN! I see it everywhere I look and it’s like waves at the shore – some big and some small but always in motion and never ceasing.  We do have a lot of fun at camp and it’s a great environment to enjoy being with […]

158

What a Way to Celebrate Australia

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Dear Parents and Families, What an amazing day! We had our first International Day here at camp and it was such a blast. What is International Day you may ask? These happen every Tuesday in our B, C, C1, C2, and D sessions. On each of these days we celebrate and learn about one to […]

159

Enjoying the Natural Wonders of Camp! B Session 2019

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Dear Families and Friends, What a wonderful day here at Camp Gwynn Valley! Our first full day of B session was an absolute blast, filled with a morning of discoveries and afternoon sign-ups. In our Main Camp discoveries, campers  were able to make hair pins in the Blacksmithing, go creek hiking around camp, and pick […]

160

B Session Opening Day 2019 – A Fun Filled Day!

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Dear Families and Friends, Today was a wonderful day at camp! With the opening of B, the sending off of Riverside on their second adventure, and the final day of MS1A, there was so much to do! We saw many familiar faces as well as some new ones as we greeted our Main Campers this […]

161

Adventures Home and Some Just Starting!

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Dear Campers and Friends,  For those of you that have campers here from Mountainside, Riverside, Young Leaders and the stayovers for Main Camp, it’s been another beautiful day.  All of Mountainside ended their adventures today and all are back in camp safe and sound after three days of being in the field learning, challenging themselves […]

162

Friendship Campfire and Closing of A

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Dear Parents and Friends, After another action-packed day at Gwynn Valley, camp is quiet again. We started the day with one last morning of sign up activities. Campers were able to choose from over 20 activities including making hemlock tea with Camping Skills & Nature, rock climbing at the tower, candle making at crafts, trail […]

163

Reunions, adventures, and a ball! A session 2019

Dear Families and Friends, Today was another wonderful day at camp filled with reunions, excitement, and even a ball! We began our day waking up to the folly that the Tajar had been up to in anticipation of his birthday. The Tajar is a dear friend of ours at camp and we celebrate his birthday […]

164

Reunions, adventures, and a ball! A Session 2019

Dear Families and Friends, Today was another wonderful day at camp filled with reunions, excitement, and even a ball! We began our day waking up to the folly that the Tajar had been up to in anticipation of his birthday. The Tajar is a dear friend of ours at camp and we celebrate his birthday […]

165

Sunshine and Smiles – A Session 2019

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Dear Families and Friends, After several rain showers the last few days, a warm sunny day was greatly appreciated by all. We continued with our third day of Main Camp discoveries where campers were able to build on the skills they were introduced to two days ago in activities such as weaving, climbing, and horseback […]

166

Another Great Day

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Dear Family and Friends, Another great day has passed at Gwynn Valley. Each day brings more fun and excitement with more experiences to have. Today has been no different and we have been busy in many activities, making more new friends, and have had less rain with the sun coming out late this afternoon – […]

167

The Simple Joys of Camp

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Dear Families and Friends, As our first full day of A session comes to an end, I’m reflecting on the day we’ve enjoyed as a camp community. We often say at camp that the days feel long but the weeks feel short and this day is no exception. It’s amazing how many incredible activities and […]

168

Opening Day Session A – 2019

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Dear Parents and Friends, We hope you are safe and dry back in your home or maybe on the way to your next destination.  Thank you all for a smooth opening for Session A and the beginning to another great summer at GV. This is our 85th year of operation and certainly a milestone for […]

169

Employment at Gwynn Valley: For More Than Education Majors

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Beyond the Summer: Gwynn Valley Staff Updates is a series of blog posts to help share the stories of our amazing staff when they’re not here at Gwynn Valley. This blog celebrates the professional and personal successes of our staff and tells the stories of the journeys along the way. In some cases, their time […]

170

A Stepping Stone to Amazing Things

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Beyond the Summer: Gwynn Valley Staff Updates is a series of blog posts to help share the stories of our amazing staff when they’re not here at Gwynn Valley. This blog celebrates the professional and personal successes of our staff and tells the stories of the journeys along the way. In some cases, their time […]

171

Teach earth skills this summer!

Gwynn Valley Camp is seeking Earth Skills/Nature Connection Instructors Overview Gwynn Valley Camp, a co-ed residential summer camp located in Brevard, North Carolina, is seeking Earth Skills/Nature Connection Instructors to help develop and teach nature-based programs for campers in our “Mountainside” summer camp program, which is comprised of 50 boys and girls between the ages […]

172

International Travels

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Beyond the Summer: Gwynn Valley Staff Updates is a series of blog posts to help share the stories of our amazing staff when they’re not here at Gwynn Valley. This blog celebrates the professional and personal successes of our staff and tells the stories of the journeys along the way. In some cases, their time […]

173

Growing Up at Gwynn Valley

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Beyond the Summer: Gwynn Valley Staff Updates is a series of blog posts to help share the stories of our amazing staff when they’re not here at Gwynn Valley. This blog celebrates the professional and personal successes of our staff and tells the stories of the journeys along the way. In some cases, their time […]

174

The Newest Member of the Year Round Team

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Greetings to our extended GV family and friends, 2019 has arrived and we are so excited to have summer just around the corner. Maggie has been hiring amazing staff to work as counselors, program leaders, adventure counselors, leadership, and support staff! Shelley has been enrolling campers and sending out information and emails to our camper […]

175

Wishing Everyone Holiday Cheer

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The Holiday Season always provides a time to look back on the previous year. Memories recalled and gathering together with friends and loved ones helps us to reflect on all that is good and joyful in our lives and to recall even the challenges. It’s a time to give thanks and recognize all the blessings […]

176

From the Ground to Our Table – DELICIOUS

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Every summer at Gwynn Valley we serve hundreds of campers and staff with food from our self-sustaining farm, and this past year was no different. We grow tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, corn, carrots, green beans, and potatoes, to name a few. Some of the newer vegetables we have grown are kale, and wax beans. We also […]

177

E Session Closing Day and the End to a Great Summer of 2018!

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Dear Parents & Friends of E Campers, Thank you for a great ending to our E Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with our 8-day session.  Wherever you roam we hope that GV is sending some sunshine home with you.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you […]

179

Tajar Ball and More at GV!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We awoke this morning to the Tajar’s folly with all kinds of pranks in downtown GV.  There were so many things moved and out of place we hardly knew what day it was and where we were.  Tables from the dining room were on the basketball court.  Tubes from the lake […]

180

Welcome home Mountainside + Riverside!

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Dear Families and Friends, Here we are at the end of another wonderful day at Gwynn Valley! One of the biggest landmarks for today is the return of six different adventure groups who have been away from camp since Monday morning. From Mountainside, the Backpackers, Climbers, Paddlers, Bikers, and Earth Skills Crew all returned home […]

181

A Day on the River Makes for a Perfect Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a great day on the river with Mountainside.  I left camp this morning at about 8:15 and arrived at the Tuckassegee around 10:00 to meet them.  They were camped at Mills River Campground which is a National Forest campground between here and Asheville.  The Tuck River put-in as we call […]

182

Beautiful Morning As We Start Our Second Day of Discovery!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We had another beautiful morning here again today and by midday, the sun was rather toasty.  Today we celebrated our last international day of the summer focused on France, Russia and Israel.  Our Mountainside and Riverside groups are into their second night of being out of camp.  We heard from several […]

183

First Day of Discovery and Cruising at 6000′ !

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a day here at GV.  The weather started out beautifully this morning as we held our first day of Discovery.  Campers were discovering so many new things and enjoying time well spent with our staff while learning and stretching themselves.  Miss Mary Gwynn, who founded the camp in 1935, said: […]

184

E Session Opening!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Welcome to E Session and hope your travels home or wherever your destination was safe and sound.  We felt it was a smooth and easy opening and we’re just happy the weather cooperated.  After your departure, everyone had a buffet lunch in the Dining Room.  Lunch ended as cabins finished up […]

185

D Session Closing – Take Some GV Sunshine Home!

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Dear Parents & Friends of D Campers, Thank you for a great ending to our D Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with our 2-week campers despite all the rain.  Wherever you roam we hope that GV is sending some sunshine home with you.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that […]

186

A Little Rain Can’t Dampen Our Spirits!

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Dear Parent and Friends, I just returned from campfire with a slight drizzle overhead.  We’ve had rain throughout the day but spirits and enthusiasm were anything but damp.  Our last full day of D was truly a great one.  Signups this morning were fun from all indications.  Camp has to be flexible with weather and […]

187

Chasing Raindrops!

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Dear Parents & Friends, My guess is most of you have been watching our weather the past couple of days.  Well, we’ve faired very well and didn’t let a little rain stop us from carrying on here at GV.  It rained, drizzled and spat off and on all day long.  Programs went on as planned […]

188

Bikes, Boating, & Climbing Beta!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We had a great day on the Tuck today with Riverside.  Leaving camp this morning it had started to rain a bit but there was patchy sun throughout the day except for lunch.  Our day on the Tuck was the same and it only started to rain once we got off […]

189

Breezes, Clear Skies and Full Lives!

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a great day here with beautiful and breezy weather today.   When you’re having a great time, things tend to speed up and go too fast.  We held sign-ups this morning and after lunch so campers took this opportunity to do things they loved to do and even try a few new […]

190

Special Day at Pirate Cove! ARRRRGGGGG!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a brilliant day here at camp.  The weather was perfect but not all appeared as it should.  Several days ago we were visited by a crusty band of Pirates.  We managed to chase them from our land and they returned this morning in greater numbers demanding we find all the […]

191

Soaking up sunshine, playing hard, and eating well!

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Dear Gwynn Valley Friends and Families, I’m not sure what the weather was like where you’re reading, but today at camp it was gorgeous. The blue skies and sunshine were just right for all the fun things we love to do outside! The waterfront was very popular at sign ups this afternoon with a tubing […]

192

Sunshine Brings Out the Best and We Play All Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We have had a beautiful and action-packed day here in the Valley! The weather was sunny and warm all through the day with just a few clouds and a super sunset tonight.  I just got back from the Lodge where Mountainside took advantage of a night of Mountain Dancing.  Kevin, Debbie […]

193

Twilight Play Is the End to a Perfect Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a great day here at camp.  The weather couldn’t have been better with lots of sun casting itself in the low 80’s and a nice cool evening.  Tonight was Twilight Play which is an extended after supper games and program time.  There were all kinds of activities open from,  dessert […]

194

Better Weather Ahead But Still The Fun Quotient Exists!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our day was cool this morning with a rain shower just before rest hour today.  The evening turned out nice and we participated in an all-camp game for after supper activities.  Despite our weather, the fun quotient continues.   Our game tonight was called the Color Game where each team (cabin) had […]

195

Australia Day at Camp!

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Dear Parents & Friends, G’day Mates and today was Australia here at good ole GV.  The whole day was mixed with good food, visits by the Man From Snowy River, The Wiggles and a wonderful evening campfire that included many campers dancing, singing and being in skits.  Our international staff did a great job giving […]

196

A Day of Discovery and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a great first day of program here at camp and we’ve had good weather the day through.  It’s been cool in the morning with some clouds and the sun poked its head out later in the afternoon.  Discoveries started this morning and there were lots to choose from.  Check […]

197

Opening Day of Session D!

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Dear Parents & Friends, I hope you’ve all safely arrived either home or to your destination.  Opening day was great with cool nice weather and campers all seem to be happy as clams.  After parents departed everyone partook of a buffet lunch and then went to Discovery sign-ups just after to choose their morning skill-based […]

198

Session C and C-2 Closing!

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Dear Parents & Friends of C and C-2 Campers, Thank you for a great ending to our C and C-2 Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with our 3 week and 10-day campers.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate you taking […]

199

Tajar Ball and Adventurers Return!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Tajar Ball just ended and the sun is down on a wonderful GV day.  In a matter of minutes over half of the camp will be drifting off to dreamland and reliving moments and minutes from our day, week and session.  Camp is a lot like a good dream in that […]

200

International Day Celebration for Spain, Columbia, Mexico and the Netherlands!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We celebrated International Day here at camp.  Four countries were represented: Mexico, Spain, Columbia, and the Netherlands.  Food today has been out of this world with foods from all four countries.  Breakfast started us off with huevos chorizo, (scrambled eggs), Tamales wrapped in corn husks, Plantanos Fritos (Fried Plantains), and hot […]

201

Twilight Play is a Blast!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It is a beautiful sunset here tonight and as you can guess that made for a great day.  We were supposed to get thunderstorms most of the day today but it sprinkled one time and was sunny and partly cloudy all afternoon.  This afternoon several cabins went “off program” on creek […]

202

World Cup and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Vive la France and congratulations to the French nation for winning the World Cup today.  If you are a soccer fan, and we have many of them here, you surely were aware that the finals of World Cup were happening.  I don’t ever recall so many parents asking if we would […]

203

The perfect day at Gwynn Valley!

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Dear Gwynn Valley Parents and Friends, Today was another perfect camp day! Campers continued to build skills and learn more deeply about their Discovery activities this morning on our 2nd A-day. As I walked around camp, I saw progress on many crafts in process like pottery vessels and needlepoint projects. Kevin has been working on […]

204

Horton hatches an egg (among other joys!)

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Dear Camper Families and Friends, Today was one of those perfect camp days where the sun was shining all day long and every where you looked campers were having fun and learning alongside their friends! Mountainside and Riverside are both in camp for a few days, so our dining hall feels full and our community […]

205

First Day of Discovery!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Welcome to another day of GV news and what’s happening at camp.  Certainly way too much to write about.  Our day started off pretty normal like most camp days; beautiful weather, cool temps, and everyone ready to start their Discovery activities this morning.  I elected to spend some time with our […]

206

Opening Day of C-2 and Off to a Great Start!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We welcomed our new campers for C-2 today and got off to a rousing start to begin that session. For those of you that dropped off your children today, I hope that you’re safe and sound and at your destination.  Those campers who are here for three weeks had signups this […]

207

C Session, World Cup, and Ice Cream ( All Good Things )!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our wonderful C-1 campers have departed and we are down to those terrific C Session children.  It’s a special day for them because our numbers are reduced and there are fewer folks here.  Afternoon programs went very well with everyone involved with sign-ups and choosing their favorites for the afternoon.  The […]

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C-1 Closing and C Marches On!

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Dear Parents & Friends of C-1 Campers, Thank you for a great ending to our C-1 Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time for the 10-day session.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate you taking the time to help us keep Gwynn […]

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Last Full Day of C-1 was Spectacular!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It was a glorious day here at GV and as I write the silhouette of the mountains is making it hard to keep my eyes on the screen to write this post.  Several cabins are out enjoying this same view and some enjoying their last night in Session C-1.  We just […]

210

“Spacial” Day Was a Beautiful Day Here at GV!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a day we’ve had…. hot and beautiful weather with a breeze all day long and big puffy clouds filling our exceptional view of the mountains.  Much different than yesterday which was very cool (73 degrees high) and spitting rain most of the day.  Everything blew right away today and it […]

211

Wind chimes, rainbows, unicorns and lots of fun!

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Dear Parents & Friends, I heard a brand new sound a camp today and it was beautiful! I wish I had a recording to share with you. At the end of morning discoveries, ringing out over the sounds of chatter and footsteps and laughter and the turning Mill Wheel, the musical clinking of delicate metal […]

212

July 4th and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Hope you’ve had a wonderful 4th of July!  We certainly have and it’s been a day for the ages.  All systems were going today and our regular schedule was just jettisoned into the next galaxy of GV.  While there were the usual activities all day, we were treated to great moments in […]

213

World Peace in Our Hands Here at Camp!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another great day at Gwynn Valley and a bit hot but a good day to stay wet.  No rain was in our plans and that was a bonus.  Two Mountainside cabins went to the Farm after dinner tonight and three MS cabins were there last night.  Several cabins are camping out […]

214

No Rain Today and We’re Off and Rolling!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our first full day of C, C-1 Session was excellent.  We had cool temps today and not a sign of rain.  Tonight is cool and there’s a slight breeze blowing through the valley and hills surrounding the camp.  We’ve had so much rain until today you can hear our creeks and […]

215

C Session – Opening Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Thanks for a wonderful opening day and hope that drop-off went well for you and family.  It’s nice to see so many familiar faces and returning campers from previous years.  It’s been a pretty smooth day as we dodged a few rain showers here and there.  As many of you know […]

216

B Session Closing – Thanks for a Great Session!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our B Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time for the two week session.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate you taking the time to help us keep Gwynn Valley an […]

217

Final Full Day of B Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We just finished Friendship campfire and everyone is headed back to their cabin.  Our day started with rain but by lunch, it was the perfect day for being outdoors and active with camp.  Due to the rain, we had to cancel several trips including kayaking, climbing, and biking.  Each group made […]

218

Tajar Ball – Mountainside / Riverside Return!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another cool morning gave way to afternoon showers but a wonderful day again at camp.  It was our last full day of programming and it started out with a bang.  The Tajar was full of folly last night and left much evidence of his mischief as we arrived at breakfast.  There […]

219

Celebrating Poland and Ireland!

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Greetings from Gwynn Valley! Every Tuesday we celebrate a different country or group of countries, and this week is no exception! International days involve sharing culture, food, language, and traditions from our international friends. Last week was UK today, which included staff representatives from England, Scotland, and Wales. Today we celebrated the Republic of Ireland […]

220

Thunder, Hot Metal and Dragons -somewhere there’s a connection!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been an exciting day here at camp.  It was a cool morning working its way into a hot steamy afternoon and a big thunderstorm just before dinner tonight.  It was a good night to attend the theatre and that’s exactly what we did.  The day was perfect for almost any […]

221

Camps Values and How It Changed the Monkey Kingdom!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Happy Sunday to all and here at camp it was “Special Day”, which always bring us together for a camp-wide game.  Well almost everyone as Riverside took off today for their backpacking segment.  They are on the Art Loeb Trail which starts just around the peak of Cold Mountain and yes […]

222

Adventures Ahead for Mountainside and Riverside!

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Greetings from Gwynn Valley, We’ve had another gorgeous day at Gwynn Valley, which wrapped up with one the most beautiful sunsets yet of the summer! As I watched the sky turn pink this evening, I’m reminded of all the simple joys that make up a day at camp. From laughter around the dinner table to […]

223

Building Bridges in Many Ways!

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Dear Parents & Friends, A spectacular day here at GV with typical early summer weather, low 80’s and a constant breeze blowing all day long.  We had a short shower just during dinner, but Mr. sun came out and it’s back to beautiful.  Tomorrow is the last day of Discovery activity and all next week […]

224

Summer Solstice!

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Dear Parents & Friends, When was the last time you milked a cow or goat or fed a baby calf?  For many of us, maybe never or perhaps just a few times.  For these campers here at camp it happens every day.  Like clockwork, these animals need nurturing and care and they get the best.  […]

226

Celebrations and Dignitaries Make a GV Appearance

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Dear Parents and Friends, Lots of sun and some rain were a part of our day here at GV.  A thunderstorm rolled in just near the end of rest hour this afternoon and we had to hunker down in our cabins for a while before afternoon activities started.  Our Thorguard Lightening System gave us fair […]

227

First Full Day of B Session and Off to a Great Start!

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Dear Parents and Friends, I can just barely see the outline of the mountains as camp settles into our quiet time of the evening.  Our staff are putting campers to bed and singing, playing music, or reading stories as they drift off on our first full day of B Session.  We just finished a mountain […]

228

“B” Session Opening and More!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Opening Day for B Session was awesome.  We had cool weather in morning fading in the perfect afternoon to hold swim assessments and get into activities right off the bat.  Everyone attended lunch and then it was off to the Lodge to choose activities for Discoveries this week.   This is important […]

229

Farewell to Session A and Video Recap!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our A Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and will carry lots of good memories from those children that were here for 7 days.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate […]

230

A Great Session to Start Off the Summer!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It is just after our Friendship Campfire which is always on the last night of the session.  Several cabins are out on the Gatehouse Green watching the sun go down and catching fireflies as they capture the remaining time here with us in the Valley.  It’s been a beautiful last day […]

231

A Sunny Tajar Ball Day!

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Parents and Friends, We have some catching up to do and it’s been a wonderful day, starting with a little Tajar Folly or Foolery.  Our ever-present Tajar left his mark by leaving our Downtown GV a little bit in disarray this morning.  There were boats on the Green, paddles spelling out his name, inner tubes […]

232

Partnering With Others!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another super day at GV brought more sunshine than we anticipated.  It was supposed to rain today but held off till just before the campfire.  It only lasted for about 30 minutes which was nice for our cabins camping out tonight.  They were scattered about over our property in dry and […]

233

Playing Outside and Growing Inside!

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Today was a great start to our regular days here in session A.  We started our Morning Discovery Activities and I was able to make it around to a good many of our first day activities.  On the athletic field campers and staff were playing the most popular game in the world – soccer or […]

234

Opening Day A Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Welcome to Session A and another great year of Gwynn Valley.  We had a wonderful opening day here and we’re off to a terrific start.  After a buffet lunch at noon today, we all headed to the Lodge for a bit of singing with Debbie on the 88’s and then made […]

235

Mountainside is Bigger and Better than Ever: We’re adding a NEW ADVENTURE!

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Hello, Gwynn Valley Community! This is Kevin MacDonald, new assistant director at GV. I’m looking forward to meeting you all when camp begins in just a few short months! Today, I’m excited to bring you some updates about GV’s “Mountainside” program. As many of you know, Mountainside is for campers finishing sixth, seventh, and eighth […]

236

New Years in Manchester and Edinburgh

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Over New Years, my brother, Jacob, and I took a trip to Manchester, England and Edinburgh, Scotland to meet up with some of our fellow GV staff. We had met up with many of the English/Scottish staff from that summer, along with a few other Americans who made the trip. In Manchester, our party was […]

237

Former staff, Jordan Siragusa, honored on Ellen

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Jordan Siragusa, a former head counselor here at camp, was recently on Ellen!  She’s a huge fan of Ellen Degeneres and was honored for her amazing work as a first grade teacher at a title I school.  Ninety percent of the student population at Montclaire Elementary School, in Charlotte, NC  are high poverty students.  Jordan […]

238

2017 Session Highlight Video’s Are Here!

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Dear Campers, Parents and Friends, We hope you are well and having a good start to the New Year!  Camp is right around the corner but we’ve experienced everything but summer type weather here in Brevard. Since late fall, we have received about 16 inches of snow from two different weather fronts and it was […]

240

What’s Important About a Camp Experience!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As I write, leaves are falling and the beauty of camp captivates my attention pulling me outside to the clean crisp air and all things natural.  The fall season brings back reality after weeks of wishing that camp went on through the warm months of Sept. and early Oct.  We had […]

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News

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Staff

   

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Food

258

Parents

Please print this PACKING LIST for your reference.   Trunk, Duffle, or Suitcase? Campers unpack most of their belongings onto shelves we call “cubbies”. What their belongings are packed in doesn’t matter unless they are flying to camp or the luggage is being shipped. If you need to purchase baggage for your child, we recommend […]

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Home

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Eclipse at Gwynn Valley Was Spectacular!

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Parents and friends, The recent solar eclipse at GV was spectacular.  We hosted several groups of friends and family who scattered themselves all over the property where there was an open view.  We had a few clouds, but were able to see about 95% of the evolution to totality and back which was amazing.  See […]

281

E Session Campers Were the Icing on the Cake!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our E Session yesterday. We’ve had a wonderful time hosting your children and it was a great group to help us end our summer season.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate […]

282

Last Full Day Was Spectacular!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We just finished our Friendship Campfire for Session E.  What a great session it’s been and a wonderful way to end our summer.  We were treated to nearly perfect weather all day today and we finished strong.  Our morning Discovery’s were running full steam ahead and I stopped for some time […]

283

Celebrating the Tajar’s Birthday and A Great Day At Camp!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We awoke this morning to the Tajar’s folly with all kinds of pranks in downtown GV.  There were so many things moved and out of place we hardly knew what day it was and where we were.  Tables from the dining room were on the basketball court.  Tubes from the lake […]

284

Camp Community reunited to celebrate New Zealand & South Africa!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today was a very special day at Gwynn Valley. We celebrated the countries of New Zealand and South Africa all day long by eating their national dishes, enjoying skits before meals, singing national anthems, and of course having our whole evening program devoted to children’s stories, dances, and songs from these countries. Our […]

285

Rolling On the River!

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Dear Parents & Friends, I’m back at camp after a great day on the river with Mountainside.  I left camp this morning about 8:30 and met them in a little town called Dillsboro where the Tuck Gorge starts.  It’s about a 4 ½ mile trip with consistent whitewater the whole way.  The group is camped […]

286

Weaving Your Way Through Camp – So Many Opportunities!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Even though it started a little rainy this morning during breakfast, our day was cool and cloudy with the sun peaking through every now and then.  We had some showers about 4:30 but nothing that ran us indoors.  Brookside just finished their evening of Mountain Dancing and about 6 cabins are […]

287

We Only Get Wet Skin Deep!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It takes more than a little rain to dampen our spirits here at camp.  All activities were running strong today as we arrived for breakfast with some sprinkles from the sky.  It rained off and on all day but never too hard and was just the perfect temperature to swim or […]

288

Opening Day of E Session!

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Dear Parents & Friends, A cool morning turned into a warm day as we opened E Session.  Many thanks for dropping off your children as we finish off our summer with many who are experiencing camp for the first as well as returners to GV.  We are so pleased to have your child, whether new […]

290

Last Awesome Day Of A Great Session!

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Dear Parent and Friends, As I write, it’s almost dark and just a wisp of red is in the western sky.  Campers from several cabins got to the Gatehouse Green to see the last remnants of ole Mr. Sol.  On the other end of camp a three quarter moon has risen over the Lodge and […]

291

The Tajar Makes Folly On His Birthday!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today we awoke to the mischief of the Tajar.  He moved tables around, boats upside on the Green, teacups hanging from trees and somehow managed to get the SIT’s to sleep walk to the Green and sleep in the kayaks.  When we came down for breakfast they were snuggled in their […]

292

International Day and River Meanderings!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another splendid day at GV and time is flying.  It’s hard to believe that we are winding down D session. Today was another beautiful day here at camp with sunny skies and all activities in high gear.  I spent the entire day going out with Riverside to the Tuck.  They paddled […]

293

Where the Wild Things Are at GV!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As I write, Mountainside is walking back from the Hunt Farm where they found out which adventure they were going on starting on Monday of next week.  Our Hunt Farm view looks right into heart of our Blue Ridge Mountains and was the perfect setting to set their minds toward the […]

294

A Special Day In So Many Ways!

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Dear Parents & Friends, An absolutely beautiful day again here at camp as we held our Special Day for Session D.  The weather has been just as yesterday – breezy and clear.  As I write Riverside is gathering on the Gatehouse Green to see the silhouette of our mountains as the sun has already dropped.  […]

295

A High Pressure Overhead Brings the Best of the Best!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We’ve had an unbelievable weather day here today.  I woke up early this morning to come shoot some footage of our view because it was so clear.  All day long it’s been crystal blue sky and a breeze blowing throughout.  We’re under a big high pressure that’s going to be around […]

296

Golden Days of Summer

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today was a perfect summer day! Although the weather was cloudy for some of the day, we managed to avoid major rain outside of meal times and rest hour, allowing all activities to continue as normal. As we near the end of our first week of D session, it really feels like […]

297

Twilight Play – A Camper Favorite!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our day started much like the past few days with a cool morning followed by a warm but beautiful day with a breeze blowing all day long.  Thank goodness for the breeze.  It wasn’t as hot as it has been, but it was warm.  We held Twilight Play this evening, where […]

298

A Cooler Day and Wonderful Evening!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our day was sunny, bright and warm and with our shade, water activities and fun quotient it was a terrific day here at GV.   Tonight was Tajar Tales for Hillside  and s’mores night for those Brooksider’s.  We also had a giant picnic on the Green that everyone attended.  Our kitchen staff […]

299

It Was UK Day At GV!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Today is UK (United Kingdom) Day here at good ole GV.  The whole day was mixed with good food, visits by reigning monarchy and a wonderful evening campfire that included many campers dancing, singing and being in skits.  Our international staff did a great job giving us a first-hand look at […]

300

Growing With Each New Experience!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a beautiful day here, a little warm but no rain or thunder storms which is rare so far this summer.  Campers dove right into their Discovery activities this morning with gusto.  It was a fine morning to visit with programs, so I started close to Downtown GV at the […]

301

Opening Day D Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Thank you for bringing such a great group of campers today.  We’ve had a great day apart from a short thunderstorm during our lunch hour (perfect timing).  The added bonus from the rain that came through, was a cooling down from the previous hot days this week.  After lunch campers began […]

302

C, C-2 Closing and Video!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our C, C-2 Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time hosting your children.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate you taking the time to help us keep Gwynn Valley an outstanding […]

303

A Wonderful Way to Spend Our Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We just finished our Friendship Campfire for Session C, C-2.  At campfire we honored the campers who have many years of Gwynn Valley summers.  As a tradition at our final campfire we honor those who are coming for their 4th and 5th year with a blanket for the 4th year and […]

304

Happy Birthday Tajar!

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Dear Parents and Friend, Greetings from the land of FUN! The Tajar visited us last night and there was evidence of his mischief in Downtown GV this morning.  Boats, buckets, bowls, lawn mowers, tables, chairs and anything that didn’t grow hair was somehow amiss.  If you don’t know who the Tajar is, just ask your […]

305

Viva El Mexico!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We are celebrating Mexico Day here at camp today.  Our morning started off on the Green learning about Mexico’s independence and it only got better as we took history and turned it into food.  Our breakfast and lunch so far today has been wonderful and this is authentic Mexican food.  We […]

307

A Special Day inspired by Dr. Seuss!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Every Sunday at camp, when it’s not an opening day, is “Special Day” and today was truly  special!  The theme today was Dr. Seuss. Campers moved around camp participating in different activity stations with their cabin groups. Each station was inspired by a different book and brought to life by our counselors. […]

308

The Gold Rush Comes to Gwynn Valley and Saves Us!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Here we are at the end of another great  and action packed day at Gwynn Valley! Main Camp is getting into a rhythm again as C2 campers settle into the flow of camp. We are well into Discovery’s, which means that campers are gaining skills in each morning activity.  As I […]

310

Farm Campfire and a Beautiful Day!

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Dear Parents and Families, It was a hot and sunny day here today and we began with clear blue skies without our usual morning fog that sets into the French Broad Valley on normal days.  No rain came until dinner time and lasted through the meal and was gone by the time after supper activities […]

311

Opening Day of C-2, Riverside Returns and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We welcomed our new campers for C-2 today and got off to a rousing start to begin that session. For those of you that dropped off your children today, I hope that you’re safe and sound and at your destination. You were shown to your cabins today by our SIT’s and […]

312

C Session, Mountainside and Riverside Marches On!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As our C-1 session campers left today we still have our C session campers rolling right along and having signups all day today.  Mountainside started their training days today to get ready for adventures next week.  They chose their adventures a couple of nights ago and each group is using this […]

313

C-1er’s We Will Miss You and What a Last Great Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It was a brilliant day at camp as we wound down in our C-1 Session.  Trips out of camp today were great and the campers took advantage of our warm and clear weather to bike, climb, and paddle.  I went out with the Kayakers to the French Broad this morning.  We […]

314

It Was Indeed a “Special Day”!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a day we’ve had…. hot and beautiful weather with a breeze all day long and big puffy clouds filling our exceptional view of the mountains.  Every Sunday at camp, when it’s not an opening day, is “Special Day” and it was truly  special.  The theme today was Disney and it’s […]

315

Hummingbirds, Cake & Appalachian Entertainment!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Every day at Gwynn Valley is truly an adventure. When you wake up in the morning, you have an idea about where the day will take you, but you never really know what will unfold as the hours roll on. Today, was one of those days full of magical surprises. At the […]

316

Imagination at Camp – Powerful!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It was an almost perfect day here at camp with great weather, a short shower during lunch and everyone enjoying the best that GV has to offer.  Some Brookside cabins went up to Mountainside tonight to see what that program is all about.  Mountainside is for those finishing 6th, 7th and […]

317

No Rain Today and Who Could Ask For More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Here we are at the end of another busy and beautiful day. It was first day in a while that we haven’t had rain.  It did rain a bit on our paddlers in Dupont on Lake Julia but none here at camp.  Several cabins were again camping out tonight, cooking dinner […]

318

A Great American Day and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Wow and the fun never stops here.  Yesterday was an unbelievable day as we celebrated the 4th here at camp.  It was such a full day we had little time to catch you on all the details of our “Great American Day”.  We started off with a wake up by Paul […]

319

Happy 4th of July!

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Dear Parents  and Friends! We hope you’ve had a wonderful 4th of July and just finished our annual Fireworks Show and it’s been a full day.  Camp has celebrated in so many ways during this time of our nations history.  We will catch you up on our day tomorrow.  Hope all is well in your […]

320

Intermittent Sun and a Little Rain Never Spoils the Fun!

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Parents and Friends, Our first full day at camp was pretty darn good.  We had a wee bit of rain just during lunch and it was over before the end of sign-ups and allowed a rain free rest hour and afternoon.  Having a tin roof on your cabin is different than home where you rarely […]

321

Session C, C-1 Opening!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As folks arrived this morning it was clear that most of our families and campers are returners to Gwynn Valley.  In making the rounds today, I was just up on Mountainside where they were playing a game called “Breaking Up Housekeeping”, (strange name but fun game).  The question was, “how many […]

322

B Session Closing – Playing Outside and Growing Inside!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our B Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time for the two week session.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate you taking the time to help us keep Gwynn Valley an […]

323

Trips Out and Ending on a High Note!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We just finished Friendship campfire and during dinner it rained for the first time all week.  The rain felt good and we needed it to restore the moisture to our mountain coves.  It was such a good day and campers broke into song in the dining room tonight during dinner as […]

324

Tajar’s Birthday and Time to Fun It Up!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another cool morning gave way to a wonderful day again at camp.  It was our last full day of programming and it started out with a bang.  The Tajar was full of folly last night and left much evidence of his mischief as we arrived to breakfast.  There were kayaks in […]

325

So Much To Do, So Many Adventures and So Much Fun!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It was another very wonderful day here at camp with another cool evening.  From sweatshirt to sweatshirt the morning and evening dictated warmer clothing.  Campers will use their sleeping bags as comforters again tonight and it will be hard to pry them from their warm beds in the morning.  Sleep will […]

326

One Day in a Most Excellent Week!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Campfire is over and it’s been a truly cool mountain day.  Our morning temps before breakfast were in the low 50’s and at my house it was 52.  Most everyone came to breakfast in sweatshirts and it was sweatshirts on till about 10:30.  We’re looking at another cool night.  Good for […]

327

Special Day is Truly Special!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It was Special Day at GV and it was just that.  We got a little extra sleep in this morning so breakfast was pushed back to 9:00 which meant everyone got an extra 30 minutes before breakfast.   Every little bit helps because camp is so busy.  Breakfast was hot off the […]

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Saturday at GV and More to Come!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We just wound down from Mountain Dancing in the Lodge and had 6 cabins join us for the hoe down.  Dances included Hokey Pokey, Going to Kentucky, The Bluebird Dance, and of course the Russian Folk dance called Shasha. Everyone had a great time and Debbie was magnificent on the 88’s.  […]

329

Gold Rush at Gwynn Valley!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today was truly a golden day of summer! After the recent rain, we enjoyed every moment of gorgeous sunshine that we were lucky to receive at Gwynn Valley today. Aside from a few sprinkles this evening, we have had sunshine all day long. With Riverside still in camp preparing for their next trip […]

330

That Australian Current Swept Through Camp – Dude!

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Dear Parents and Friends, I’m sure that many of you have been following the weather and the tropical depression southeast of us as it makes its way toward the mountains.  Believe it or not, we haven’t had that much rain.  We’re scheduled to get some thunder storms later this evening and by now most of […]

331

Happy Summer Solstice (Even though we didn’t see the sun)!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been another great day at camp and happy summer Solstice.  It is the longest day of the year and we just finished our Solstice campfire where campers traveled to 4 different stations to learn and participate in this fun and ancient evening.   Backing up to the morning we had some […]

332

Nary a Raindrop Today!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It was a great day a camp today with nary a raindrop in sight.  The temperatures stayed very cool today and even at the farm it was quite a nice day.  With little shade there it can get hot.  I was down there this afternoon as children were pulling carrots out […]

333

A Few Showers and a Great Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends,   It was a cool start to our day today and one that makes us all appreciate living life outdoors.  There’s no air conditioning at camp and the only electronics are in the office and the staff living room.  It makes life much simpler.  I left our Lodge tonight after an […]

334

Session B Opening Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Opening Day for B Session was the best.  Thank you dropping off many returning campers as well as new campers to Gwynn Valley.  We know everyone will have a great time over the next couple of weeks.   After a good lunch we presented activity skits for our morning “Discovery” programs to […]

335

A Session Closing! Have a Great Rest of the Summer!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our A Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and will carry lots of good memories from those children that were here for the one week session.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you […]

336

Last Full Day of A and a Great Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a full day at camp and unfortunately the last full day Session A.  We just finished our evening campfire program which is always called Friendship Campfire on the last night of camp.  It’s been a super session and we celebrated by showing many of the pictures that you all […]

337

The Tajar’s Birthday!

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Today happens to be a very special day at Gwynn Valley. It’s the Tajar’s birthday! No one knows for sure how old the Tajar is, but he has been around Gwynn Valley for a long, long time. For those of you who haven’t heard about him yet… The Tajar is part tiger, part jaguar, and […]

338

A Little Sun, A Little Rain!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We had a beautiful morning here at camp and the afternoon was filled with some showers.  Rain is fine at camp but we did have a little thunder going on.  With that rain came some bigger thunder and I’m sure your children will tell you about our Thorguard system here.  It’s […]

339

Sun, Shade & Water = Fun!

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Another great day here at camp started a little cloudy but the sun broke through early afternoon.  Even when it’s hot outside we seem to have a great deal of shade to cancel out the heat.  I would say about 90% of our trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding are shaded.  It’s a great […]

340

Day Two – Discovery and More!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another great day with beautiful sunny skies today at GV!  We started our Discovery activities and there was so much to offer including: Mountain Biking, Climbing, Whitewater Kayaks, Camping Skills, Fire Building, Outdoor Cooking, Shelters, Weaving, Candle Making, Gourds, Kumihimo, Pottery, Farm, Mill, Appalachian Tall Tales, Appalachian Music and Dance, Horses, […]

341

Opening Day “A Session”!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We hope that you’ve either had a safe journey home or at another destination of your choice and relaxing on this Sat. night.  What a great opening day we’ve had.  We just finished our campfire for the evening with some Tajar Tales and just getting to know one another a little […]

342

Campers: Looking Forward to Your Arrival!

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Our first day of camp is just a few days away and boy are we getting excited to welcome you to Gwynn Valley for another terrific summer (our 82nd year).  If you are a new camper family we are excited to have you join our camp family.  If you are a returning camper family welcome […]

343

Remembering Betty Gwynn Boyd

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Betty Gwynn Boyd, 85, of Winter Park, FL, formerly of Black Mountain and Brevard, NC, died peacefully in her sleep Saturday morning, May 27, 2017.  Born on March 21, 1932, she grew up in Davidson, NC until she moved to Pennsylvania where she graduated from Ambler High School in 1950.  She received her BA in […]

344

How to Deal with Pre-Camp Jitters: Anxiety & Excitement as Two Sides of the Same Coin

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Feeling anxious?  Instead of trying to calm down, try renaming the feeling as excitement.  These two emotions actually feel the same physiologically, your heart beats fast and cortisol surges.  The difference lies in how we conceptualize that feeling.  Both feelings indicate that uncertainty lies ahead: excitement indicates it’s something to look forward to, while anxiety indicates it’s something to be feared.  When we do anything for […]

345

CAMP IS POWERFUL! VIDEO UPDATE ON BUILDING PROGRESS!

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Dear Campers, Parents and Friends, For centuries, nature has been a source of healing and inspiration. Now, studies show exposure to nature has endless physical, cognitive, social, creative and emotional benefits for children. I am not at all surprised by this finding. This is why a good camp experience adds so much to the overall […]

346

Summer Camp and Children’s Mental Health

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Dear Parents and Friends, On Friday I will be attending a workshop on Mental Health for Camp Leaders. The North Carolina Youth Camp Association is sponsoring this event by bringing in two speakers that will discuss these issues with camp owners and directors.  This is a topic that has received a fair amount of attention […]

347

Change and Transition Starting the Year Off!

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Dear Campers, Parents and Friends, Happy New Year to all of our Gwynn Valley families and friends! It seems that the New Year always brings change and sometimes transition. Andy Savage, who has been the Assistant Director of Staff and Program at Gwynn Valley for the past ten years, has turned in his resignation because Andy, Beth […]

348

Happy Holidays from Gwynn Valley!

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Dear Campers, Parents and Friends, As we all know, blessings come in so many different ways.  As families and friends gather for this time of year it is especially important to recognize and give thanks for all that is good and all that brings peace and joy.  Sometimes even our challenges open doors that otherwise […]

349

Give Thanks and Get Outdoors!

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Dear Campers, Parents, and Friends, One of my favorite times of the year is approaching this week- Thanksgiving and then the Holiday’s for many different faiths just after that.  We here at Gwynn Valley have so much to be thankful for as we roll into this busy season.  Enrollment has been very strong this year […]

350

The Spirit of Camp and Election Day!

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  Dear Parents, Campers and Friends, We are winding down from probably the most beautiful time of the year (my opinion only) here at camp.  Most of the leaves have fallen and the weather has been brilliant over the past several weeks.  We actually need some rain, but that I’m sure will come.  We’ve had […]

351

Exciting Times Here in the Valley!

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Dear Gwynn Valley Friends, These are exciting times here in the Valley.  Registration has opened for our 2017 season for campers and staff.  After some time off, we’re all back in the office and ready for some great changes coming to camp starting this fall.  As we all know, camp has a long history and […]

352

E Closing and End of Our Summer! :(

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our E Session today.  We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and hope they will have great memories of their experiences with us.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate you […]

353

Tajar Ball at the End of Fun Filled Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We awoke this morning to the Tajar’s folly with all kinds of pranks all over camp.  There were so many things moved and out of place we hardly knew what day it was and where we were.  Tables from the dining room were on the basketball court.  Tubes from the lake […]

354

Plenty of Sunshine & Adventure Return!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a gorgeous day here at Gwynn Valley! We started with some rain, but the clouds parted late this morning and the sun has been shining ever since. It has been a bit wet this week, so a sunny day like today was well appreciated around camp. Several cabin groups took advantage of the clear […]

355

Good Food, Great Paddlers and Managing Challenge!

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Dear Parents & Friends, I’m back at camp after a great day on the river with Mountainside.  I left camp this morning about 8:30 and arrived at their campsite about 9:00 near Dupont State Forest.  It’s a great place to camp because it’s public but only one group is there at a time.  The gate […]

356

A Simpler Life at Camp!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We must be living right here at GV.  We have had another good weather day today after early morning showers pelted us before breakfast.  The day was a mixture of sun and a few sprinkles here and there but the sun did shine a good bit of the time.  We’ve had […]

357

Good Weather and Climbing High!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Believe it or not we dodged the weather forecast again today.  It was a beautiful day here with just a light sprinkle early this morning before breakfast.  The sun went in and out in late morning and it stayed that way all day.  It started raining about 5 minutes after I […]

358

Opening Day of E Session!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Welcome to Session E and welcome back to those who have children attending our 3 week Mountainside and Riverside sessions.  We’ve had a great first day and I hope drop off was very smooth for you. Main Camp Session E and A is when we have most of our new campers, […]

359

D Session Closing – See You Next Year!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our D Session yesterday.  We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and hope they will have great memories of their experiences with us.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate you […]

360

Last Full Day of D and What a Great Day It Was!

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Dear Parent and Friends, I just returned from campfire with a slight drizzle overhead.  We had rain several times today but spirits and enthusiasm was anything but damp.  Our last full day of D was truly a great one.  Signups this morning were great from all indications.  I spent the morning and partial afternoon with […]

361

Tajar Ball is Always a Highlight!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today we awoke to a foggy and cool morning.  It was nice until ole Mr. Sol came up over the fog and burned it off to reveal the heat.  It was also the Tajar’s birthday.  There is always Tajar folly on his birthday and today there was no exception.  His folly […]

362

The Dragon That Ate Gwynn Valley!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another splendid day at GV and time is flying.  It’s hard to believe that we are winding down D session. Today was another beautiful day here at camp with sunny skies and all activities in high gear.  We had a little thunder and a sprinkle of rain but nothing to send […]

363

You’ve Got a Friend At Camp!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a gorgeous day here today.  The temps were about 10 degrees cooler than they have been most of the summer.  Cool breezes blew all day and we had relief from the humidity that’s been occupying our skin over the past few days.  This of course made for great activity […]

364

Special Day and New Video!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We just finished our Sunday Service here at camp after another perfect GV day.  On Sunday’s we have Staff Rec which is when our staff gets together to socialize and share some food.  We hold it in two sessions so there is always 1 staff member left in the camper cabins.  […]

365

Everyday at Gwynn Valley feels like the Weekend

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Dear Camper Families and Friends, It was another beautiful, sunny day here at Gwynn Valley! The weather has been really warm, which makes for great swimming. We caught the edge of a thunderstorm this afternoon just after rest hour, but after about 5 minutes of rain, the sun returned to it’s throne in the sky […]

366

Just the Right Amount of Rain!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We have had a beautiful and action packed day here in the Valley! The weather was sunny and warm until late afternoon when it rained for about 30 minutes and it was cool light drizzle that fell like tiny air conditioners.  Throughout this we had no thunder and lightening.  I was […]

367

Camp Is All About the Simple Joys!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our day started much like the past few days with a cool morning followed by a warm but beautiful day with a breeze blowing  all day long.  Thank goodness for the breeze.  It wasn’t quite as hot as it has been, but it was warm.  The next two days look good […]

368

Twilight Play and Alternative Fishing!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our day was sunny, bright and warm but with our shade, water activities and fun quotient it was a terrific day here at GV.   Tonight was Twilight Play where there was no campfire or other evening program so we played hard after dinner until about 8:30.  We also held a giant […]

369

International Day and the Sunny Side of Camp!

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Dear Parents & Friends, “Another day of opportunity at camp” theme fits right into our European Day here at GV.  It was International Day here at camp celebrating Denmark, Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine.  The whole day was mixed with good food, visits by reigning monarchy on horseback and a wonderful evening campfire that included […]

370

Great Day of Program and Going Down That Road to Self Reliance at Camp!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a beautiful and hot day here at camp and we jumped right into Discovery programs this morning.  I visited a lot of program this morning just around the center of camp, which included: biking, climbing, soccer, pottery, the Mill, weaving, batik, camping skills and nature, horseback, and archery.  I […]

371

Opening Day of D, MS3 and RS3!

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Dear Parents and Friends, From my view, opening day for Session D was smooth.  There are always a few kinks here and there but overall we hope you had a pleasant experience.  Our morning was cool and calm and the heat took over about 11AM as planned.  All campers accessed the pool today to cool […]

372

C, C-2 Closing and Thank You!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our C, C-2 Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and hope they will have great memories of their experiences with us.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We appreciate […]

373

Spirits Soared On Our Last Full Day of C, C-2!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We just finished our Friendship Campfire for Session C, C-2.  What a great time we’ve had tonight and all day long as well.  At campfire we honored the campers who have many years of Gwynn Valley summers.  As a tradition at our final campfire we honor those who are coming for […]

374

Tajar Ball and All His Mischief!

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Dear Parents and Friend, Greetings from the land of FUN! The Tajar leaves lots of mischief around the center of camp the night before his day while we’re all asleep.  If you don’t know who the Tajar is, just ask your child.  Each session we celebrate his birthday and everyone comes to the party in […]

375

“I Still Call Australia Home”

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another beautiful day at camp dodging the weather around us and we were lucky to just have thunder but no serious threats.  Our Thor Guard went off after sign-ups but cleared soon after during rest hour.  The afternoon was clear and sunny.  Today was Australia day and we started out witnessing […]

376

A Well Rounded Day of Imagination!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Here we are at the end of another fabulous day at Gwynn Valley! The day started off overcast and foggy which is often the case in our French Broad Valley.  Breakfast was homemade biscuits and sausage, fruit, cereal and orange juice the weather must have known we had just eaten well […]

377

Special Day Olympics and Positive Moments!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a day at camp.  It was of course “special day” here where we don’t run normal programming and all the activity leaders have the day off.  We just finished our Vespers campfire and the theme was Gratitude for God’s Gifts.  That’s a broad topic and as you might expect there […]

378

Setting Sun and Rising Moon Over Oz!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Here we are at the end of another beautiful and action packed day at Gwynn Valley! Main Camp is getting into a rhythm again as C2 campers settle into the flow of camp. We are into our second A day of discoveries, which means that campers went to their A day […]

379

Discoveries and Adventure Training Begins!

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Dear Parents and Families, Today we began a new round of morning discoveries with our C & C2 campers. Campers were excited as they found out what their schedule will look like for the next six mornings. Morning discoveries are organized into A & B days and campers rotate through activities of their choice 3 times each with the […]

380

C-2 Opening on a Perfect Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We welcomed our new campers for C-2 today and got off to a rousing start to begin that session. For those of you that dropped off your children today, I hope that you’re safe and sound and at your destination. You were shown to your cabins today by our SIT’s. They […]

381

Session C-1 Closes and C Keeps on Rolling!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As our C-1 session campers left today we still have our C session campers rolling right along and having signups all day today.  Mountainside started their training days today to get ready for adventures next week.  They chose their adventures a couple of nights ago and each group is using this […]

382

Last Full Day of C-1 and What a Day We Had!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We’re winding down for our C-1 Session and many of you are picking up your children tomorrow.  It’s been a hot dry session until just around dinner time tonight when we got some “good rain” to cool us off and water our garden at the farm.  Our head counselors, Jordan and […]

383

“Special Day!”

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a day at camp!  It was the perfect day to get wet and our “special day” theme was Under the Sea.  “Special day” here is where we don’t run normal programming and all the activity leaders have the day off.  We just finished our Vespers campfire and the theme was […]

384

Your Child on Nature!

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  Dear Parents & Friends, Sorry for not posting a blog yesterday.  I was on a day off and frankly you can pretty much guess what transpires each day when you view the pictures.  There was a short storm last night just after dinner and much of our internet went down for a good and […]

385

Open House, Good Food and Twilight Play!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Here at Gwynn Valley we are at the end of another busy and beautiful day. It was another hot day today but a breeze seem to cool us throughout the afternoon heat.  We got a little drizzle during the dinner hour tonight which helped to cool things off.  Several cabins were […]

386

Many Teachable Moments!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another great day at Gwynn Valley and we’re just experiencing a little front that may drop some rain on us after bedtime tonight.  Two Mountainside cabins went to the Farm after dinner tonight and two MS cabins were there last night.  Six cabins are camping out tonight so we had quite […]

387

The Song of Camp!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another warm and beautiful day here at GV.  The mornings are wonderful and by 10 it really starts to heat up.  Mountainside started their mini adventures today and everyone was divided into 4 groups to try out each adventure component; biking, climbing, paddling and pioneering.  They will be participating in “minis” […]

388

Only the Beginning!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Happy 4th of July and hope you all are enjoying your time off today.  Our day started with a bit of history as Paul Revere charged through camp warning us that the British were coming.  Actually they’ve been here all summer and this time they are our allies.  We have about […]

389

Opening Day C/C-1 !!

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Dear Parents & Friends, A cool morning turned into a warm day as we opened C/C-1 Session.  Many thanks for dropping off your children as we head right into the middle of our summer with a lot of returning campers as well as those who will experience Gwynn Valley for the first time.  Tonight at […]

390

Closing Day B Session!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our B Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and will carry lots of good memories from those children that were here for the two week session.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you […]

391

Piglets, Pizza and Pillowcases!

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a great day here and I can’t believe it’s gone so fast this week.  Isn’t that how it works.  When you’re having fun things tend to speed up and go too fast.  We held sign-ups this morning and every single activity you could think of was up and running.  We […]

392

Happy Birthday Tajar!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another great day at camp with sunny hot weather!  Today we awoke to some major mischief from the Tajar who moved tables outside and put Debbie on the roof along with kayaks and paddles.  He was excited in anticipation of Tajar Ball.  We had a long distance thunder boomer just during […]

393

Rocks, Roots and Kiwi’s!

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Dear Parents & Friends, I spent a good portion of my day with the Mountain Bikers in Dupont riding just over 9 miles of single track.  It was an all male group that left under drizzly and humid skies this morning.   Arriving at Dupont we started at Reasonover Creek out of Fawn Lake parking area.  […]

394

Finally….. a Little Rain, Longest Day and Bellyaks!

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Dear Parents & Friends, I write as campfire is concluding right outside my window.  Six cabins are on a campout tonight so we have a pretty small camp gathered around the fire in the field.  We’re actually celebrating a late Summer Solstice which is the longest day of the year.  That was of course around […]

395

Special Day for B Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It was Special Day at GV and it was just that.  We got a little extra sleep in this morning so breakfast was pushed back to 9:00 which meant everyone got an extra 30 minutes to sleep in.  Every little bit helps because camp is so busy.  We also had a […]

396

New Tables, Great Views and Tree Climbing!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As I begin tonight’s writing I’m hearing out my window the first cicada of the summer.  Soon more and more will be chiming in and yet another great sound to add to our outdoor world collection.  Several cabins are camping out tonight.  Brooksider’s were invited up to Mountainside for an evening […]

397

Servant Leadership

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Dear Families & Friends, It has been another sunny, gorgeous day here at Gwynn Valley! Campers were busy outside today making the most of every ray of sunshine. This morning marked the 3rd session of A day discoveries, which means that campers have now visited those areas for 3 mornings this week. Returning to an activity […]

398

Blacksmithing, Mill Cookery and Good Counseling!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another hot and sunny day here at camp and everyone is taking advantage of the shade and water.  We’re slathering on the sunscreen and drinking lots of water to keep everyone cool.  While we feel it’s hot for this time of the year it was only 86 in Brevard.  Camp temps […]

399

Ice Cream Makes Any Day a Great Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been another great day at camp.   With the good weather we hit the trails at GV going in all directions by foot, hoof and bike.  Campers from all over camp traversed our many trails as well as walked the creeks and hiked to Connestee Falls to cool off and […]

400

Challenge by Choice and More!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We just finished our first International Day of the summer and celebrated England.  Of course this morning we had a royal visit from the Queen to announce this was a special day at GV.  Her highness was elegantly clothed and instead of her usual hat she wore her crown.  All three […]

401

Cool Weather and Cool Counselors!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Day two of Session dawned bright, cool and beautiful and our temps were chilly this morning about 8:00.  52 degrees registered on the thermometer here in our office.  Campers and staff wore their sweatshirts to breakfast and by 10:00 and the start of activities, everyone was peeling layers and enjoying the […]

402

B Session Opening Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Opening Day for B Session was the best.  Great cool weather in the morning was the perfect way to open our next session for the summer.  After a good lunch we presented activity skits for our morning “Discovery” programs to help campers decide what they wanted to take over the days […]

403

Closing Day A Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s hard to believe that our first session of the 2016 summer has already ended! The families of our A session campers started to arrive after breakfast. Happy reunions were seen all over camp this morning as children ran into the arms of their parents and showed them their favorite activities […]

404

Lions, Mice, Pillowcases and Pizza With Brownies!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a full day at camp and unfortunately the last full day of Session A.  We just finished our evening campfire program which is always called Friendship Campfire on the last night of camp.  It’s been a super session and we celebrated by showing many of the pictures that you […]

405

Happy Birthday Tajar!

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Dear Camper Families & Friends, Today happens to be a very special day at Gwynn Valley. It’s the Tajar’s birthday! No one knows for sure how old the Tajar is, but he has been around Gwynn Valley for a long, long time. The Tajar is part tiger, part jaguar, and part badger. The Tajar is […]

406

Rain Is Good!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We finally got some relief with rain just before dinner tonight.  It really rained for almost two hours and is letting up as I write.  It’s been the hottest driest spring that I’ve seen in many years.  Usually this time of year is much cooler.  Asheville which is nearby, has set […]

407

Brilliant Days, Camping Out and Mountain Dancing !

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It was a brilliant morning and the sun was slow warming us up this morning.  Children at my table were talking about how cool it was in the cabins and it seemed some pulled their sleeping bags over them to burrow in.  Our mornings sometime have everyone in sweaters but usually by 10 or 11 […]

408

Day Two of the Journey of Imagination and Creativity in A Session!

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Today was a great start to our regular days here in session A.  We started our Morning Discovery Activities and burst right into the afternoon as well.  I visited with Sports this morning as they played the most popular game in the world – soccer or football or futbol depending on where you come from.  […]

409

Opening Day Summer 2016 A – Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a day at GV!  Opening day for the summer was hot but wonderful.  I just returned from Mountainside’s campfire and Anne just returned from Main Camp’s campfire.  Maggie, our assistant director had dinner with Riverside as we tried to cover all the bases of our program.  Our Young Leaders program […]

410

Lets Not Stereotype Girls… We All Get Scared!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Recently I was sent a New York Times article by one of our camp parents entitled “Why Do We Teach Girls That It’s Cute To Be Scared”.  Caroline Paul, who wrote the piece, was one of the first women to join the San Francisco Fire Department.  I can relate to this […]

411

Happy Presidents’ Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Happy Presidents’ Day and hope all is well where you are.  In my last news update on our website, I mentioned that our leadership staff, Andy, Maggie, Barbara, Anne and I were headed to the American Camping Association’s National Conference, held in Atlanta last week.  We had a wonderful time soaking […]

412

Making Camp Better!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Tomorrow Feb. 9th, several of us on our leadership team head out to the American Camp Association’s National Conference in Atlanta, GA.  It is 4 days of sessions, speakers, other camp directors and middle management staff all together for the purpose of creating the best possible camping experience for children.  We […]

413

Nature and Camp – The Right Medicine!

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I was probably in high school or college when I realized that I had ADD. Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s we were kids that had somewhat mild behavior issues (which explains the “Unsatisfactory” and “Needs Improvement” on my report card in my elementary grade years). I don’t think I was hyperactive but had […]

414

GV Campers at Cyclo-cross Nationals!

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We sometimes say that “camp is a human powered event”.  I see that every day in the summer, as our campers move, jog, bike, climb, use their hands, hike, run, swim, paddle and of course use their brain to combine with all of these movements.  Camp is also a place that is an open door […]

415

Happy New Year!

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Campers, Parents and Friends, Here’s hoping you and your family have a wonderful beginning to the New Year, 2016.  This will be Gwynn Valley’s 81st year of operation.  Enjoy the short video that Jacob Bullard (my youngest son) put together.  Looking forward to another great summer at Gwynn Valley!  

416

Unscheduled Free Time – A Great Gift to Give a Child!

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As the holidays roll into town in the next few days, I’ve seen the need for the scheduled to be unscheduled in my own family.  My two college age children are home catching up with friends, going to movies, sleeping late and taking advantage of their short lived unscheduled lives.  My guess is that you […]

417

Inclusive Sports at GV – I Like It!

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I just read a short blog about Inclusive Sports on the American Camp Association’s website and thought of our own values here at camp as it relates to inclusive or non competitive activities.  I like that term “inclusive” and we use that term a lot here at Gwynn Valley.  As we all know almost every […]

418

Grant Sails Into Wilmington!

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Dear GV Families and Friends, I was in Wilmington, NC last night for a show hosted by the Jean and Connor Keller and their three daughters, Callie, Jeannie and Diana. The girls invited friends and classmates, and we had a great turn out. Everyone enjoyed talking about camp and viewing our new video and video highlights […]

419

New “You Rock Supercamper Video” and More!

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Dear Parents, Campers and Friends, Greetings from camp and hope all is well out there in homeland.  Downtown GV has been bustling in the past few weeks and even without campers here, lots of work is going on.  Andy, Maggie, Anne and Grant have all been out on the promo trail and will continue to […]

420

New Gwynn Valley Video!

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Dear Camper Families & Friends, Greetings from Gwynn Valley! Fall is nipping at our heels, and the cool evenings are causing the leaves around camp to turn yellow and red. Soon the mountains around us will be blazing with color. Though this time of year is beautiful and peaceful, we miss having a full camp. Many camper and […]

421

E Session Ending and A New Year Begins!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to E Session and our summer.  We had a wonderful time with your children and thanks for sharing them with us.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We are collaborating with Clemson University to […]

422

Great Day, Super Campers, and What a Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We just finished our Friendship Campfire for Session E.  What a great time we’ve had and tonight was no exception.  We honored the many campers who attended camp for years.  As a tradition at our final campfire we honor those who are coming for their 4th and 5th year with a […]

423

Great Day for the Tajar and Campers Alike!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We awoke this morning to the Tajar’s folly with all kinds of pranks all over camp.  There were so many things moved and out of place we hardly knew what day it was and where we were.  Tables from the dining room were on Green.  Folks had different name tags on […]

424

Rain Timed Perfectly and What a Day of Fun!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We finally got some rain today and it came at the right times.  Just a little bit of program was interrupted today by a short storm that rolled through camp this morning and some rain this afternoon after lunch and during rest hour.  Sign-ups had pretty much completed when it started […]

425

Feliz dia de Mexico, Nicaragua y Honduras!

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Dear Parents and Families, Today was another sunny, beautiful, and action packed day! The day started early for our cabin groups returning from last night’s camp outs. All 10 cabin groups returned before the wake up bell to put away their dirty dishes and replace the smell of campfire-smoke-scented hair with sweet shampoo smells. Breakfast was abuzz […]

426

Adventures Ahead and Main Camp Buzzes!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Session E is off to a great start with another great day here at GV.  Today was a special day for Mountainside and Riverside as they left on their adventures.  All groups were out of camp by about 10 this morning, all heading off into different and diverse directions.  The MS […]

427

First Day of Discovery!

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Dear Parents & Friends, A great day at GV started early and cool this morning.  Many campers and staff wore their sweatshirts to breakfast this morning and well into mid morning as the sun reached its long rays into camp by 11 to heat up our mountain hideaway.  I was doing some video of campers […]

428

E Session Opening Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, I hope most of you are safe and sound at home or perhaps at your alternate destination.  Thanks so much for such a smooth opening day and it was a great day to start our E session camp.  By noon most everyone was here and our lunch buffet kicked off the […]

429

Closing Day D Session!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our D Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and thanks for sharing them with us.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that we are hoping you will participate in.   We are collaborating with Clemson University to conduct […]

430

Last Full Day of D Session :( but there’s always next summer :)

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a great day here and I can’t believe these two weeks have gone so fast.   Isn’t that how it works.  When you’re having fun, things tend to speed up and go too fast.  We held sign-ups this morning and campers took this opportunity to do things they loved to do […]

431

The Tajar’s Birthday!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Tajar Ball has come to an end here at GV and it was total fun had by all involved.  Of course this day starts as we celebrate the Tajar’s birthday and of course he has to make his presence known by creating organized chaos on the Green and in the Dining […]

432

Kiwi Day Today!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Welcome to New Zealand Day.  We were met at breakfast by Gandalf the Wizard and precious rings were given out to campers upon entering the land of the Lord of the Rings through the Hobbit Hole.  We heard he Kiwi national anthem and then proceeded in to eat a typical NZ […]

433

Counselor Spotlight!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a great day at camp and that’s not unusual.  You know staff really make camp what it is and we’ve got a great staff this year.  You’d probably rather know what’s going on at camp with your children but I thought it noteworthy to talk a little bit about […]

434

Special Day at a Special Place!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a fun and beautiful day here at camp.  As you may or may not know Sunday’s are what we call “Special Day” here.  It’s a day when all of our activity leaders have a day off and it’s a break from the normal routine of camp Monday – Sat. […]

435

Capturing the Essence of Gwynn Valley

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Dear Families & Friends, Good evening from Gwynn Valley! Main Camp just finished playing a game that has everyone pursuing colors of the rainbow and the pot of gold at the end.  Six colors have to be gathered from the counselors wearing those colors. When a camper tags a designated ‘color of the rainbow’ that counselor has […]

436

Another Day of Opportunity

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Dear Gwynn Valley Familes and Friends, We are happy to report that our dining hall was full again this morning! All 11 cook out and camp out groups from last night made it back to downtown GV in time for breakfast this morning. Breakfast was abuzz with tales of fire building, s’more making, star gazing, and […]

437

Twilight Play, after playing all day!

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Dear Camper Families and Friends, We had a beautiful and hot summer day here at Gwynn Valley! In the morning temperatures stayed temperate as campers enjoyed their second A day of Morning Discoveries. In the afternoon, it was perfect weather for swimming and the waterfront was a popular spot for afternoon sign ups. Campers were out having […]

438

International Day for Poland, Slovakia and Hungary!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s International Day at camp today and we’re celebrating Poland, Slovakia  and Hungary.  Every Tuesday we celebrate a country or several countries as part of our international focus at GV.  One really learns a good bit about the many countries represented here at camp.  We have lots of accents and to […]

439

Foundation Day for Teaching Discovery!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It was a beautiful day to start our Discovery activities.  The water activities felt great because it was hot and sunny.  I spent the morning visiting a few activities and watching staff begin their day and begin their program with instructions and getting the campers familiar with the foundations of program.  […]

440

Great Opening Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Your arrivals and drop-offs went very smooth this morning.  Our D session started beautifully and then a shower rolled in later in the afternoon.  After lunch went right into signups and then off to activities.  There’s not too much down time on opening day and there are reasons for that.  Thank […]

441

Thank You All for a Great Session!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our C, C-2 Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and will carry lots of good memories from those children that were here for the 10 day / 3 week session.  Soon you will receive a link to an evaluation that […]

442

Last Full Day of C, & C-2 and We don’t want it to end!

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  Dear Parents & Friends, We just finished our Friendship Campfire for Session C, C-2.  What a great time we’ve had and tonight was no exception.  We honored the many campers who have many years of Gwynn Valley summers.  As a tradition at our final campfire we honor those who are coming for their 4th […]

443

Tajar Ball!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s the Tajar’s birthday here at camp.  Everyone knew it this morning when they came down to the Green before breakfast.  There were kayaks on the roof, inner tubes on the Green, tables upside down in the dining room, teacups hanging in the trees and all kinds of Tajar mischief.  Campers […]

444

UK Day !

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Dear Parents & Friends, Today was UK Day here at camp and as you may know, every Tuesday we celebrate our diversity through our international day.  We started the day with William Wallace and his boys of Pimavera  and Echo charging across the Green with faces painted declaring their independence from England.  Michael, our Head […]

445

The Rainbow Challenge and Priceless Words!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Main Camp just finished playing a game that has everyone pursuing colors of the rainbow and the pot of gold at the end.  Six colors have to be gathered from counselors wearing one of the colors who paint a dab of paint on each cabin member’s arm and this should be […]

446

Special Day C, C-2 – Supersize GV!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a day at camp.  It was of course “special day” here where we don’t run normal programming and all the activity leaders have the day off.  We just finished our Vespers campfire and the theme was God’s Creation.  That’s a broad topic and as you might expect there were a […]

447

Adventure Leads to Personal Growth

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Dear Gwynn Valley Families and Friends, Here we are at the end of another beautiful and action packed day at Gwynn Valley! Main Camp is getting into a rhythm again as C2 campers settle into the flow of camp. We are into our second A day of discoveries, which means that campers went to their A […]

448

Camp Creates the Best Version of Yourself!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been another great GV day here. Where else can you see so many cool activities taking place.  Sports was playing basketball today and will be moving on to football for tomorrow and Monday and then finish up with fat bat baseball.  And of course there’s the English “football” we call […]

449

Many Benefits to Camp!

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Dear Parents and Families, Today we began a new round of morning discoveries with our C & C2 campers. Campers were excited as they found out what their schedule will look like for the next six mornings. Morning discoveries are organized into A & B days and campers rotate through activities of their choice 3 times each with the […]

450

Opening Day C-2 Was Perfecto!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We welcomed our new campers for C-2 today and got off to a rousing start to begin that session. For those of you that dropped off your children today, I hope that you’re safe and sound and at your destination. You were shown to your cabins today by our SIT’s. They […]

451

Life Is Good At GV!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As our C-1 session campers left today we still have Mountainside participating in their training day and getting ready for adventures next week.  They chose their adventures a couple of nights ago and each group is using this time to prepare and work on skills.  The MS group will all head […]

452

Last Full Day of C-1 and More to Come!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Sorry for not putting up a blog last night but it was a full day and we hold our weekly “staff rec” on Sunday nights.  This is when all staff are in camp and counselors take about an hour and we meet for food and social time.  One half of the […]

453

Happy 4th of July!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Happy 4th of July to one and all and we just wound down for the day at the Lake with our traditional Fireworks and it was a great American Day here at Gwynn Valley.  Our day began with the French sailing into New York Harbor loaded down with their gift to […]

454

Dancing the Night Away! Go Hillsider’s!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Sometimes that weather man and weather channel just miss the boat and thank goodness.  It rained before dawn this morning and our forecast called for rain most of the day.  Well.. it did not happen and we had fits and sprinkles on two occasions and that was about it.  I stopped […]

455

Cool Summer Day in the Mountains

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Dear Gwynn Valley Camper Families and Friends, Here at Gwynn Valley we are at the end of another busy and beautiful day. Yesterday evening’s light drizzle continued into the morning and early afternoon. We had light rain on and off until mid-afternoon, but the rain did not stop any activities! All program areas were in full swing […]

456

Today is Wednesday and What a Day We’ve Had!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another great day at Gwynn Valley and we’re just experiencing a little rain during after supper activities.  I’m on duty today so I didn’t get to as many programs as I wanted.  On duty means that you carry a radio all day long and into the night.  You attend all activity […]

457

Happy Canada and South Africa Day!

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Dear Camper Families and Friends, Following our tradition of International Tuesdays, today we celebrated our campers and staff from Canada and South Africa through song, activities, food, and a whole campfire devoted to those countries. Once again, our kitchen team knocked it out of the park with an incredible trio of meals. For breakfast we had Canadian […]

458

Cool Start to a Great Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, After a cool morning we began our activities and children started their Discovery activities in the AM.  Each camper has 4 activities they take in the morning.  In the afternoons you have a free choice of 2 one hour activities or 1 two hour activity and that changes each day.  Progressive […]

459

C/C-1 Opening Day Couldn’t Be Better!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We felt it was a smooth drop off today for the opening of our C/C-1, Mountainside and Riverside sessions.  Riverside was out on the Gatehouse lawn doing some games and group dynamics with their cluster of 12.  I was headed to another part of camp earlier today and heard them coming […]

460

A Full and Fun Filled Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a great day here and I can’t believe it’s gone so fast this week.  Isn’t that how it works.  When you’re having fun, things tend to speed up and go too fast.  We held sign-ups this morning and every single activity you could think of was up and running.  Capture […]

461

Tajar Ball !

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another great day at camp with sunny hot weather!  We had a short thunderstorm just after 4:00 and it was a clear again by the time Tajar Ball started at 7:30.  We had dinner outdoors and it was a fun filled evening.  More on that later.  I’m so glad we’re in […]

463

Happy Monday and More to Come!

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Dear Parents & Friends, I’m constantly amazed by the children we have here at camp.  I think they are more articulate and seem to know so much more than I did at say 8, 9, or 10.  Children have more access to outside stimuli and every kind of screen has the potential for so many […]

464

Special Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a day!  It is our “Special Day” at camp and a special day for all you fathers out there.  So.. happy Father’s Day!  Special Day at camp is a time when the whole camp participates in a camp wide activity that can last all day long.  This morning after a […]

465

Adventure Awaits!

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Dear Camper Families and Friends, The weather was absolutely perfect today. Everyone was grateful for the sunshine and slightly cooler temperatures that we experienced. It was still hot enough to swim, but not as warm as it has been for the last few days. Today marks a definitive half way point in B session; just before lunch we finished up  […]

466

Rainbows and Ice Cream!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As I write, all of Main Camp is playing a game that has everyone pursuing colors of the rainbow and the pot of gold at the end.  Six colors have to be gathered from counselors wearing one of the colors who paint a dab of paint on each cabin member’s arm […]

467

Good Food, Good Fun!

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Dear Camper Families & Friends, Time flies when you’re having fun here at Gwynn Valley.  It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of another action packed day!  Our day beamed sunny and bright and the afternoon brought some much needed rain to cool things off.  We are well into our Discovery activities […]

468

Helicopters, Dancing, Tajars and Campfires!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We just finished two different campfires in two different parts of camp, so talk about multi-tasking.  I was in the Lodge with Brookside campers, Debbie and assorted counselors and called our mountain dancing evening.  We started with a warm up of Hokey Pokey, Sasha (a Russian Folk Dance), Going to Kentucky, […]

469

Australia Day! Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Today was Australia Day at camp and I felt like we were there because of the heat.  Actually it is winter there now. The temps were hovering around 90 degrees in parts of camp today.  The good news is that most everyone stayed either cool in the shade or in the […]

470

Camp Bring Out the Best Version Of You!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As I write, children are pretty much like a pile of puppies in their cabin.  You’ve seen that scenario where they play all day and then suddenly they all collapse in a heap.  In this case they all have beds to collapse in and many are sound asleep by now.  You […]

471

Opening Day of B Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Opening Day for B Session was the best.  Great weather in the morning for greeting you all and getting your campers settled.  After a good lunch we presented activity skits for Discovery to help campers decide what they wanted to take over the days ahead for their morning activities.  This is […]

472

Closing Day of A Session… MS1A & RS1 still going strong!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s hard to believe that our first session of the 2015 summer has already ended! The families of our A session campers started to arrive after breakfast. Happy reunions were seen all over camp this morning as children ran into the arms of their parents and showed them their favorite spots […]

473

Last Full Day of A:(

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Dear Parents and Friends, Perfect day at camp and just as we ended Friendship campfire a sprinkle of rain cooled things down a bit.  I can’t believe time has flown so quickly with our first session.  It was such a nice way to begin our summer with so many wonderful children.  80 years of camping […]

474

The Tajar’s Birthday!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today is a very special day at Gwynn Valley. We had three birthdays at camp today: 1 camper from Brookside who turned 11, 1 counselor from Hillside who turned 24, and 1 Tajar who turned…well we’re not exactly sure how old the Tajar is. With 5 birthdays a summer it’s easy to […]

475

Unstructured Free Play !

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Dear Parents & Friends, We deserved a beautiful day today and got it.  Perfect day for all activities at camp!  We’re in the process of shooting a new camp promo video and our film crew of two were here all day today.  It was fun walking around with them to various activities and watching them […]

476

Good Food and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another great day here at GV!  We had some rain this afternoon and spent some time indoors playing games and watching the buckets of rain fall.  Indoor Thunderball works just as well as outdoor Thunderball.  It was a very cool morning but by 10:30 the temps began to rise and so […]

477

Camp is a Magical Place

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Parents and Friends, Our first full day at camp was pretty darn good.  We had a wee bit of rain just during lunch and it was over before the end of sign-ups and allowed a rain free rest hour and afternoon.  Having a tin roof on your cabin is different than home where you rarely […]

478

Opening Day Session A – 2015

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What a great opening day here at Gwynn Valley.  Parents and campers arrived to a cool morning after early morning departures.  It was a perfect weather day here at camp and it’s been our first day without rain in several weeks.  Everyone settled into their cabins and then off to lunch for a wonderful buffet […]

479

Star Staff and How They Supervise!

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Alright, this is going a bit far.  I just read an article about a dad that keeps an eye on his daughter with a drone as she walks to school.  Are you kidding me!  George Jetson even dropped his kids, Elroy and Judy, off at school.  He did have a robot for a maid, which […]

480

Through the Eyes of a Camper

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My own personal view of camp is important, but in the big scheme of things, camp is all about the children.  I tell this to our staff every year and emphasize the reason we are all here – the campers. What they experience, feel and go home with is what really matters in our work. […]

481

Camp Is Just Around the Corner and the Outcomes Are Many!

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Say “foget about it”, in your best Tony Soprano accent and put all that snow, sleet and cold temps behind you and bring in the new life and warm winds of Spring!  Our daffodils have come and are waning and some trees are just starting to bud out.  Our annual visitors, two mated Canadian geese, […]

482

Good Camp Counseling is Good Parenting!

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Most of you may be wondering what to expect of your camper’s counselors.  It’s an important question as we care for your most prized possession.  We are only as good as our staff.  I can be the best director in campville, have the finest facility and program, but if I don’t hire the best staff […]

483

It’s Camp, It’s Real, It’s Fun and It’s Growth!

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As I prepare for a promotion trip in the later part of this month, technology comes to mind. Years ago on one of my trips to do a home show in Washington, DC, I was stubbornly still using Google Maps that I had printed out and I took several copies of the areas I was […]

484

Happy Holidays and New “You Rock” Video!

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Happy Holidays Everyone, We hope your holiday preparations are going well and you and your family are looking forward to this wonderful part of the year. One of my goals for the end of the year is to really slow down and get the most of these days ahead. We do the same thing at […]

485

Re-Wilding Your Child!

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  We just completed a great summer here at Gwynn Valley. This was all made possible by the great staff that guided your children and the fact that you as parents sent us wonderful groups of children this summer. We hope you are hearing stories from camp that will create great memories for summers to […]

486

Thank You E Session for a Great Ending to our Summer!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our summer and a fantastic Session E. We’ve had a wonderful summer and a great time with your children. We will carry lots of good memories from those that were here for the 8 days that you’ve shared them with us. Looking ahead, you […]

487

Making Camp DNA!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a full day at camp and unfortunately the last full day. We just finished our evening campfire program which is always called Friendship Campfire on the last night of camp. It’s been a great session and a great summer. What a way to end our summer at GV with […]

488

Soggy With a Sunny Side Up!

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Dear Parents & Friends, If you’ve been watching our weather you know that it has been a rainy day, but no worries mate, as they say down under , camp goes on despite the weather. It was soggy everywhere today. I left early this morning to go with Mountainside paddlers and it began raining before […]

489

Full Days and More to Come!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another great day at GV! I must be the luckiest man in the world. We are having so much fun this session and I get to witness most of it. I was just at the Lodge shooting some video of Mountain Dancing. About half of Main Camp was there and the […]

490

Twilight Play: playing until the stars come out!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today was a smooth and sunny day here at Gwynn Valley! It is now day 4 of the session and everyone seems to be in the groove of camp life. Everyone knows the lyrics to songs that we sing before meals or in the lodges so the volume is turning up and […]

491

Campouts and Adventure Programs Start Their Adventures!

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Dear Parents & Friends, As we complete our second day of activities the weather has shined and so have our campers. We’ve got everyone participating in new Discovery activities this morning for the first time and I spent the morning walking around shooting some video and taking pics on my travels. Mountain biking was learning […]

492

Sun Showers Bring Beautiful Flowers!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Here we are at the end of the first full day of E Session, and what an exciting day it has been! As one of our shorter sessions, E session is full of first time campers and today was full of firsts! At 8:30 this morning, we enjoyed our first breakfast together in […]

493

Camp Does a World Of Good!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thanks for such a great opening day today and hope everyone is safe and sound back home or to their next destination. It was an active and full day here and we jumped right into program just after lunch today. We sang in the Lodge with Debbie at the piano and […]

494

Last Full Day of D Session :(

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Dear Parent and Friends, Today was cool day at camp and then around 5:00 we got a little shower. It’s been the only rain we’ve really had this week after having rain last week. The cool weather is nice for all but water sports. We built a fire in the Lodge this morning for those […]

495

Tajar’s Birthday and Tajar Ball!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today we awoke to a crystal clear and cool morning. It was around 54 degrees this morning and everyone came to breakfast in their sweatshirts. It was also the Tajar’s birthday. There is always Tajar folly on his birthday and today there was no exception. His folly includes putting things where […]

496

International Day and More!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another splendid day at GV and time is flying. It’s hard to believe that we are winding down D session. Today was another beautiful day here at camp with sunny skies and all activities in high gear. This second week we have signups both in the morning and in the afternoon. […]

497

Sign-ups All Day Long !

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a gorgeous day here today. As I write the temperature has fallen to 65 degrees and tonight it’s supposed to get down to 57. Cool breezes blew all day and we had relief from the humidity that’s been occupying our skin over the past few days. This of course […]

498

Special Day and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We’re just about to go into Vespers and I thought I’d start my daily rumination a bit early. On Sunday’s we have Staff Rec which is when our staff gets together to socialize and share some food. We hold it in two sessions so there is always someone left in the […]

499

Blue Skies and Sunshine With Some Shade on the Side!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another beautiful day at GV brought out the best in camp and everyone has really enjoyed the true summer weather we’ve been having. It’s been great to have pure sunshine. There was hardly a cloud visible today. Any outdoor activity thrived today and some actually sought shade at certain points. One […]

500

Sunny Skies & GV Hunger Games

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Dear Parents and Friends, We have had a beautiful and action packed day here in the Valley! The weather was sunny and warm even as the wake-up bell rang at 8AM, and it stayed that way until we all watched the sun set on the gatehouse green at the end of our Web/OLS campfire….but more […]

501

Soggy Turns Beautiful!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our day started much like the past few days with all things drippy wet soggy and then would clear up a bit. Today was no different. However, about mid-morning when we’d previously gotten rain, the sun came out and it was beautiful the rest of the day. The next two days […]

502

Sun and a Little Rain! No Worries Mate!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Our day was sunny and bright with a big shower while we ate lunch today. There was a sprinkle of rain just after dinner which ran us inside for one of our campfires but other than that, a super day at GV. I just finished calling our Mountain Dancing with Brookside […]

503

The Sunny Side of Camp! Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi !

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another day of opportunity at camp theme fits right into Aussie Day here at GV. It was Australia day here and we just finished campfire. It was a blast complete with entertainment by the Wiggle’s and of course a visit by Steve Irwin. It was a great skit and had everyone […]

504

A Few Showers Didn’t Chase the Fun Away!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Even though it was a little overcast today we started our first day of Discovery. Despite a few showers, mostly while we ate lunch, the rain didn’t deter our movement and action in getting everyone into day one. I spent the morning going to many activities and watching staff begin their […]

505

Opening Day – D Session & MS-3 & RS-3!!

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Dear Parents and Friends, A great start for opening day D session brought cool temps and cloudy skies when you checked in this morning. After lunch we had sunshine and great weather to begin our afternoon. It was perfect for the first day as we launch into our next two weeks of camp.  Thank you for […]

506

C, C-2 Closing! See You Next Year!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our C, C-2 Session today. We’ve had a wonderful time with your children and will carry lots of good memories from those that were here for the 10 day and the 3 week session. Soon you will receive an evaluation via email, sent to […]

507

Winding Down C, C-2 and Great Memories!

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  Dear Parents & Friends, We just finished our Friendship Campfire for Session C, C-2. What a great time we’ve had and tonight was no exception. We honored the many campers who have many years of Gwynn Valley summers. As a tradition at our final campfire we honor those who are coming for their 4th […]

508

Tajar Ball and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another great day at camp started off cooler and the weather was terrific. We had a high of 79 today here in Brevard, but usually it’s a bit cooler at camp. That high would have been at the farm which usually registers the high temps at camp. We’ve had a great […]

509

UK Day at GV!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Sorry to miss our daily communication last night but some days are just too full. Lots to write about tonight as we get into our last week of C, C-2. Never a dull moment at GV.   Today was UK Day here at camp and as you may know, every Tuesday we […]

510

Special Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, As we all know, every day is special at Gwynn Valley.  Sunday’s are special because we get up a little later, we don’t have regular program, we participate in a theme day and of course we end our day with Sunday service or Vespers as some call it.  Today’s theme was […]

511

What a talented bunch of campers!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Here we are at the end of another fabulous day at Gwynn Valley! The day started off overcast in cool, creating the perfect setting for a breakfast of oatmeal (complete with brown sugar, cinnamon and golden raisins), hard boiled farm eggs, fruit, and cereal. After breakfast, the sun started to peak […]

512

Building Camp DNA!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been another great GV day here. Where else can you see so many activities going on in such a place. Our sports program started with World Cup playoffs this morning and there was a tie but no PK shootout. (Didn’t want to put the goal keepers through that kind of […]

513

Homegrown Tomatoes & Carrot Cake

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Dear Parents and Families, Today we began a new round of morning discoveries with our C & C2 campers. Campers were so excited after breakfast as they found out what their schedule will look like for the next six mornings. Morning discoveries are organized into A & B days and campers rotate through activities of their choice 3 times […]

514

C-2 Opening Day – Roll On C!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We welcomed our new campers for C-2 today and got off to a rousing start to begin that session. For those of you that dropped off your children today, I hope that you’re safe and sound and at your destination. You were shown to your cabins today by our SIT’s. They […]

515

C-1 Says Goodbye and C Rolls On!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a great session we just completed today for those of you that picked up your children for C-1. Thank you for sharing your children with us this past 10 days.  We’ve had a wonderful session and it was evident as we held our closing for Session C-1 Friendship Campfire last […]

516

Last Day of C1: Chose your own adventure

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Dear Parents and Friends, I like to think that every day at camp holds the promise and opportunity for adventure, but today was truly full to the brim with great adventures. When talking about adventure, I think people often jump to the idea of outdoor adventure, exploration, physical challenges, etc. Up on Mountainside we actually call […]

517

Special Day- Disney Rules!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Special Day at GV starts with a bit of a sleep in. We have breakfast 30 minutes later and it was needed with the 4th this past Friday. Everyone had stayed up late on Friday night to see fireworks. Our Special Day is one where we don’t run program that day […]

518

Playing Outside-Growing Inside

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another weather from heaven day today at GV. It was a chilly 54 degrees in Brevard this morning and usually it’s a bit cooler here at camp. We mostly all wore sweatshirts to breakfast this morning and I didn’t come out of mine until about 11:00. Mountainside was working on a […]

519

Happy 4th and Fireworks Finish Our Wonderful Day!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It was just one of those perfect days – weather wise and camp wise. The weather today was brilliant. A big high is parked over the mountains . Our high today was only 79 and probably even cooler in Main Camp with all our shade. We just finished fireworks for the […]

520

Twilight Play!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Despite a shower today during lunch and rest hour our day was perfect. Tonight’s temps have lowered considerably and we have smooth sailing tomorrow for the 4th. While our Mountains are covered in sunshine our NC coast will be feeling the effects of Arthur. We hope all remain safe and sound […]

521

Settling into C session: friendship & free play!

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Dear parents & friends, It was another warm day here at Gwynn Valley. The sun and warm weather made water activities very popular. Today waterfront put on free swim at the lake and pool, zip line, traverse line, sit on top kayaks, white water kayaks, swimming through “seaweed” at the pool, water sliding, creek hiking, and […]

522

Sunny and Hot; We’ll Take It!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It was a beautiful day here at camp today. Nice and sunny and hot. Good day for any kind of water activities. Frankly it was a good day for all kinds of activities. Safety was a hot topic this morning in Outdoor Living Skills, as Leah got the campers to prioritize […]

523

Dicsovering the Day through Discovery!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We started off with a wee shower this morning as they say in the ole country. Soon the clouds parted and though slippery in places all activities went right into motion. Sometimes when it’s spitting rain the fish bite and this morning they were taking any bait at the Mill. We […]

524

Opening Day C/C-1

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s a cool night here after a beautiful day and a few showers that rolled in just before dinner tonight. It looked like rain most of afternoon but held off so we could get down to business on this first day of C/C-1.  Many thanks for dropping off your children as […]

525

Last Full Day of B Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a great day here and I can’t believe it’s gone so fast this week. Isn’t that how it works. When you’re having fun things tend to speed up and go too fast. We held sign-ups this morning and every single activity you could think of was up and running. Something […]

526

Tajar Ball!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s Great Outdoors Week this week and what a great way to celebrate the outdoor realm by being at Gwynn Valley. I was up at the climbing wall today and saw some firsts. Climbing in cowboy boots is possible. After all, Paul Petzoldt, the founder of NOLS, climbed the Grand Teton […]

527

Big Days Behind and Ahead!

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Dear Parents & Friends, First of all let me apologize for the lack of pictures on the internet over the past many days. We’ve had a glitch in our system and didn’t know it until yesterday and we’re working hard toward getting everything up asap. Our internet was also down and out most of the […]

528

New and Exciting Experiences Every Day!

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  Dear Parents & Friends, Tonight is a beautiful night at camp, a bit cooler and that means good sleeping weather up here. It’s been just brilliant today even though it was a little hot this afternoon. Many cabins are camping out tonight and between the night sky and cool temps it should be great […]

529

This and Much, Much More!

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  Dear Parents and Friends, A day without rain is a day without sunshine or in other words it rains most every day here at camp.   That’s OK because it comes at the appropriate time in the past few days. It’s not even close to what we were experiencing last summer when we recorded almost […]

530

It was the sunniest of days and the rainiest of days…

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Dear Camper Families & Friends, Time sure does fly here at Gwynn Valley… It’s heard to believe that we are at the end of another action packed day! Our sunny morning began with some breakfast burritos: spinach tortillas, scrambled eggs, black beans, potatoes, and fruit plus a cereal bar for those who prefer a simple breakfast. […]

531

A Day of Firsts!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been another great day at camp.  The day was only interrupted by a short thunder shower during lunch and then it was off to rest hour and a fun day of activities. A new group for Mountainside came in this morning and they quickly had their swim assessments and then […]

532

International Day – Celebrate New Zealand!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It was an international day here at Gwynn Valley and we celebrated the country of New Zealand. We have quite a few staff from the land of Kiwis so we learned a great deal as the day went on. We heard stories from the Mouri peoples and learned songs and saw […]

533

First Full Day of B!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a most pleasant day here at camp. The weather was near perfect with a shower just at the end of rest hour. We had to postpone our start of the afternoon activities but otherwise a great day. Everyone had a productive first full day of B Session and campers […]

534

Opening Day B Session

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Dear Parents and Friends, Opening Day for B Session was the best. Beautiful weather, great kids and smooth arrivals. Hope you all had a safe trip home. As I write I’m sure most everyone is snuggled down in their camp beds after a very full day filled the anticipation of returning to camp or coming […]

535

Session A Ends!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a nice way to start our 79th summer of camping here at Gwynn Valley. Thank you for sharing your children with us this past 7 days.  We’ve had a wonderful session and it was evident as we held our closing for Session A this morning.  It’s been a beautiful day […]

536

Last Full Day of A :(

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a full day at camp and unfortunately the last full day. We just finished our evening campfire program which is always called Friendship Campfire on the last night of camp. It’s been a great session and we celebrated by showing many of the pictures that you all have been […]

537

Tajar Ball!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It was a sunny day here at camp that was bright and beautiful. We got a little rain this evening just after dinner but it didn’t deter activities and Tajar Ball (more on that later). By 10:30 the temps began to rise and so did the activity level. We started the […]

538

Camps Noises- All Good!

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Dear Parents and Friends, A little rain shower this evening cooled things down just as campfire was ending. We have a few campout groups out tonight but they will be fine in our camp shelters. Close to half the camp was out last night and the other half is out tonight. As I write clouds […]

539

Campouts, Sun, and More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another sunny day here made it another great GV day. We started off with a bang up breakfast of French toast and bacon plus fruit, OJ, Moo Juice and lots of table conversation. It was a very cool this morning but by 10:30 the temps began to rise and so did […]

540

First full day at Gwynn Valley is full of SUN!

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a full day we have had here at Gwynn Valley! The day seemed to last forever and pass before our eyes in a second all at the same time. We packed the last 14 hours full of laughter, new experiences, and joyful moments that will become memories in the minds […]

542

See You Soon!

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Camp is right around the corner and what a summer we have in store. As I write many of our staff are here and training in various disciplines. Our adventure staff training started Sunday and life guard training and wilderness first aid has completed their coursework. More first aid and CPR sessions begin tomorrow.  Paddlers, […]

543

5 “Dangerous” Things Parents Should Do to Their Children – Dr. Jim Taylor

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Interesting article from Dr. Taylor and most of these things we’ve incorporated into our program here at camp.  I thoroughly enjoyed Gever Tully’s TED video of “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do” and agree with his thesis that parents these days are far too protective of their children.  Paradoxically, in parents’ well-intentioned […]

544

Camp Shows in Your Area Are Coming Soon!

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PARENTS AND CAMPERS!!! Check our website travel page for upcoming shows all across the Gwynn Valley map. We’ve put together some great video highlights from every session of our 2013 summer that we will show at each of our camp parties. (See sample below). Join us and bring a friend who might be interested in […]

545

Kids Mountain Bike Race at Gwynn Valley 9/7/13

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GWYNN VALLEY MOUNTAIN BIKING CAMPERS AND PARENTS – JOIN US SEPT. 7TH! Don’t miss the 2013 CYMBL Race here at Gwynn Valley on Sept. 7th. Last year we had over 70 kids riding in various age categories coming from 4 different states.  We’re second on the cross country series this year among 5 different races […]

546

End of a Great Session and Season!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a wonderful summer and thank you E session campers for an excellent end to our summer of 2013.  Only 297 days till camp 2014!!! Camp comes to such an abrupt end and it’s hard after so many great weeks of the simple joys of childhood.  We are already […]

547

Last Full Day of E:(

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  Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a wonderful last full day of Session E.  A shower came midway through the morning but didn’t stop our last day of Discovery.   All activities ran as planned and there were some really great closures to that part of our program.  Our broom makers finished up their final […]

548

Tajar Ball and What a Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, What a day, what a day, what a day.  We just finished our Tajar Ball evening ceremonies by watching a magic show by the Great Arebesky (RB to staff and campers).  We watched him juggle, ring a magic bell, guess numbers made up by campers, and the finale was escaping from […]

549

Paddling and A Great Day At Camp!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another great day of camp and I must say that I wasn’t privy to it today because I was out with the Mountainside paddlers.  We had a great day on the Tuckaseegee River around Dillsboro, NC.  The Tuck is a long river that starts not too far from camp and winds […]

550

Summer is in full bloom at GV!

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Today was another later summer success! It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. Best of all, the hydrangeas lining the path by the lake and the Green have finally reached full bloom status! These iconic GV flowers are always an end-of-summer treat; they make downtown GV an even more cheerful place! Lots of other flowers […]

551

Wet & Wild!

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Dear Parents & Friends, We’re just finishing up our campfire tonight, which has been our international campfire.  We have a good many countries represented here at Gwynn Valley and tonight we celebrated most of them in small ways.  It’s a fun evening of facts and interesting tidbits of our international community.  During our longer sessions […]

552

Adventure for all!

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Good evening from Gwynn Valley! It seems we had found ourselves at the end of another wonderful, magical day here at camp full of discovery, adventure, and joy. So many things happen here in the course of a day that it is hard to write short blog posts like this one. I don’t think I’ll […]

553

Herding Children and Herding Sheep!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been an amazing day here.  I started my day getting over to work early and spent time in the office so I could get out into program today.  I can say it was well worth it.  I first checked in on the Main Camp Bikers who were fitting bikes and […]

554

Opening Day E Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Opening Day for E Session is almost coming to an end and thank you for bringing such a great group of campers.  We hope you are safely at your home or destination by the time you read this.  Most campers are on their way to bed at this hour and we’re […]

555

Last Full Day of D :(

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Dear Parent and Friends, Today was another beautiful day at camp and then around 5:00 we got a nice shower.  I can almost count the number of days we’ve not had rain on two hands this summer.  As I stated in a recent blog, we haven’t been able to creek hike or tube until just […]

556

Tajar Folly, Boys and Time!

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Parents and Friends, Tajar Folly greeted us this morning as we all came down to breakfast.  The Tajar had been up to no good and taken everything from teacups to boats and put them in the oddest places.  I suppose he had too much fun at his birthday celebration last night.  I didn’t have time […]

557

A Busy Day Means Happy Campers!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a busy day here and a very fun one.  We celebrated the Tajar’s birthday a bit earlier because we’ve been trying to keep tabs on the weather this summer and it seemed that most of our Tajar celebrations have been rained on.  We decided this morning to reschedule and […]

558

So Much to Do and So Many Chances!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another rain free day at GV produced a bevy of fun today.  As Discovery ended on Sat., we now have double sign-ups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  So, each day campers can sign up for 4 activities of their choice and hopefully in activities they wanted to […]

559

Special Day at GV!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Another splendid day at GV and time is flying.  It’s hard to believe that everyone arrived just last Sunday.  It was Special Day here at camp as is every Sunday while a session is going on.  Today’s theme was Medieval Times and the Dining Room was under siege this morning by […]

560

Last Day of Discovery – A Lot of Activity!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It is amazing how you can plan, but it seems there’s always something that changes your plans.  The weather has been that factor all summer as we’ve experienced lots of rain.  Today’s prediction was rain by 2:00 this afternoon.  It rained a good bit throughout the night while we were sleeping […]

561

One of Those Perfect Days!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Another great day at GV and it actually doesn’t take much to pull that off.  You start with great campers and thank you very much for providing those.  Then you place them with great staff  – a key ingredient.  You throw in a little sunshine, excellent food and the right amount […]

562

Campouts Galore & Twilight Play

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Dear Gwynn Valley Families & Friends, Today started with a misty mountain morning here at Gwynn Valley! The fog sat beautifully on top of the lake and the mountains surrounding our valley, making for a scenic morning as campers left their cabins and lined up for breakfast. Most of the mist burned off as we […]

563

Hot Wonderful Day With a Few Scattered Birthdays!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Wow!  It’s been such an exciting day around camp.  Sometimes at the table you’ll ask campers what they did that day and they’ll have trouble remembering because there’s so much going on.  If they can’t remember, I’ll just ask, “well did you have a good day”, and the answer is yes!  […]

564

UK Day at GV!!!!!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s UK day here at camp.  Every Tuesday we celebrate a country or several countries as part of our international focus at GV.  We started off the morning before breakfast by meeting the royal family who all showed up and stood before us we came into the dining room.  The Queen […]

565

Mostly Sun with a Shower or Two!

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Dear Parents & Friends, A beautiful day here at camp set the tone for our first day of programming.  We had a shower or two this afternoon but they seemed to come when it didn’t matter.  I spent the morning going to many activities and watching staff begin their day and begin their program with […]

566

Opening Day D Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, A great start for opening day brought sunshine and warm temps this morning.  Perfect weather for the first day as we launch into our next three weeks of camp.  Thank you for bringing such a great batch of campers.  We hope you are safe and sound wherever your destination.  We just finished […]

567

Last Full Day of C, C-2! :(

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  Dear Parents & Friends, We just finished our Friendship Campfire for Session C, C-2.  What a great time we’ve had and tonight was no exception.  We honored the many campers who have many years of Gwynn Valley summers.  As a tradition at our final campfire we honor those who are coming for their 4th […]

568

Tajar Ball Day!

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Dear Parents and Friend, Sorry to have missed you last night but our internet was giving us fits.  We were able to load pictures but after that it fritzed.  This morning we awoke to Tajar Folly.  The Tajar leaves lots of mischief around the center of camp the night before his day while we’re all […]

569

Great Day at Camp!

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Dear Parents and Friends,  Our internet is acting up tonight and it’s on and off.  I’m putting this up to let you know that we’ll get more pictures up tomorrow and fill you in on today’s camp happenings.  Stay tuned!

570

Here Comes the Sun!

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Dear Parents and Friends, We couldn’t have asked for a better day today at camp.  I expected good weather today and we got it.  It was a bit cloudy this morning but as the day went on the sun shone brightly on GV.  It was a good day to visit program and I started at […]

571

Special Day! Wet in the Wonderland!

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Dear Parents & Friends, If you missed the blog last night, Anne and I had an evening off and of course camp goes on.  We’re hopefully at the end of a rainy spell here and for the first time in several days we had some sunshine late this afternoon just before dinner.  Special Day is […]

572

A Great Day for Any Activity!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Everyone was back in camp today and we’re getting ready for the last week of C and C-2.  Discovery activities are going well and we had a pleasant day weather wise until dinner.  It didn’t seem like a Friday but no day really seems like itself at camp.  Everyday feels like […]

573

C-2 First Day of Discovery and Rain Free

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a day without rain here, if you can believe it.  I haven’t been counting the days but it didn’t rain today.  Even though programs have gone on, people were relieved not to have to wear their raincoat and be damp today.  We were damp for all the right reasons […]

574

C Goes on and C-2 Opens

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Dear Parents & Friends, We welcomed our new campers for C-2 today and got off to a rousing start to begin that session.  For those of you that dropped off your children today, I hope that you’re safe and sound at your home or destination. Those campers who are here for three weeks had signups […]

575

Closing Day C-1 and C Goes On!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a great session we just completed today for those of you that picked up your children for C-1.  Thank you for sharing your children with us this past 10 days.  We’ve had a wonderful session and it was evident as we held our closing for Session C-1 Campfire last night.  […]

576

Last Full Day of C-1 Brings Lots of Sunshine!

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Dear Parents & Friends, Our last full day for C-1 Session was a good one.  The big news today at lunch was that our first corn came in and everyone helped shuck close to 500 ears just after lunch.  It took all of about 8 minutes (many hands make light work).  Many children have been […]

577

Special Day and More!

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Dear Parents and Friends, I’ll be brief tonight because it’s been a full day and we have staff rec soon.  We just completed our fireworks display that have been postponed since the 4th.  Everyone had a great time and Team Maintenance did a great job as usual.  Everyone was on one side of the Lake […]

578

Bridges, Piglets, Pudding and More!

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Dear Parents and Friends, If you missed the Blog last night or this morning, it was because I was on a day off.  So.. we have some catching up to do.  The weather, which has been the big story at camp, had mellowed in the past couple of days.  Very little rain yesterday until dinner […]

579

Sunny Day and Twilight Play

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Dear Parents and Friends, Here we are at the end of another wonderful day at Gwynn Valley! After all the rain we experienced over the last couple of days, we are very pleased to have been graced with a cloudy (but dry!) morning and a few beautiful hours of sunshine this afternoon. We did not […]

580

No Rain Could Soak Our Country’s Party and Pride!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Happy 4th of July!!  I’m sure that many of you are watching the weather over Gwynn Valley the past couple of day and yes, most pictures taken outdoors have our campers and staff in their raincoats.  We’ve had what I consider unprecedented rain the past 24 plus hours.  The moisture that […]

582

A Surprising Weather Day!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It was a surprising weather day here at camp and one that we enjoyed rain free.  Our forecast was rain all day and it didn’t live up to the prediction.  We had 10 cabins camping out tonight so we were keeping our fingers crossed that they could get a fire going […]

583

Sunny Day – Evening Showers!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today we began our activities and children started their Discovery activities in the AM.  Each campers has 4 activities they take in the morning.  In the afternoons you have a free choice of 2 one hour activities or 1 two hour activity and that changes each day.  Progressive skills in the […]

584

Opening Day C, C-1! Welcome All!

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Dear Parents & Friends, It’s a cool night here after a beautiful day and some clouds rolling in just before dinner.   We didn’t get a drop of rain but the temperature has gone down at least 10 degrees.  Many thanks for dropping off your children as we head right into the middle of our summer […]

585

Closing Day B Session!

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Dear Parents & Friends, By now many of you winging your way toward home and perhaps already there.  What a nice group of children from session B.  Thank you for sharing your children with us this past 13 days.  Even 13 days goes much too quickly.  It was a beautiful morning here and a perfect […]

586

Last Full Day of B and A Great One It Was!

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Dear Parents and Friends, As you all know we’re winding down from Session B.  It was a sunny day all day with our only rain coming about 6-7 this morning.  Mountainside and Riverside got to sleep in this morning.  Speaking of adventures, we had a lot of Main camp campers going out of camp today […]

587

Tajar Ball and MS and RS Return!

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Dear Parents and Friends, The Tajar was in all his glory today as we awoke to major Tajar Folly.  Cars were in wild places, cups were hanging from crazy objects, boats and inner tubes were scattered on the Green.  He must have been up all night dancing in the moonlight and making mischief.  Today’s activities […]

588

International Day-South Africa and Brazil

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Dear Parents & Friends, Today was our second International Day here at camp this summer.  We celebrated the countries of Brazil and South Africa.  We had a Brazilian lunch today and a South African dinner, both of which were delicious.  We have staff from both countries and as always tonight’s campfire was centered around those […]

589

Mountainside is Off and Main Camp Flourishes at the Garden!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Dear Parents and Friends, A day without rain has been really nice.  We got just a sprinkle this morning but all was good the rest of the day.  It’s good to dry out and it was nice and warm here today.  We had sign-ups this morning and also after lunch.  The […]

590

Great Day – Weather and Program!

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Dear Parents & Friends, If you didn’t catch my blog last night it was because Mr. and Mrs. Camp Director had a night off.  Tonight is a bit cooler and that means good sleeping weather up here.  You can’t beat the weather we’re having these last few days.  It’s been just brilliant recenlty with warm […]

591

Buckle that Helmet!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Maybe not a topic that you want to read about but, I was thinking as I was walking around camp today that a good many of our activities require helmets.  I feel this is a good thing and allows us to perform these activities in a safe way and is an […]

592

Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie, Oi, Oi, Oi !!!

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Good Day Mate!  Today was Australian Day at camp and we had a great day learning about the folks that live down under.  Of course no Australian breakfast is complete without a little Vegemite on toast (it puts a rose on your cheeks).  For those that wanted the full experience there was also spaghetti –oo’s […]

593

Lots of Sun and a Little Rain!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a most pleasant day here at camp.  We dodged some scattered showers and the sun was in and out all day long.  Everyone had a productive day and the waterfront was a very busy place starting early in the morning, right up until dinner.  Campers zipped, swam, learned new […]

594

Opening Day B Session!

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Dear Parents and Friends, Opening Day for B Session was the best.  Beautiful weather, great kids and a smooth transition to the valley.  Hope you all had a safe trip home.  As I write I’m sure most everyone is snuggled down in their camp beds after a very full day filled with the anticipation of […]

595

Closing Day A! Great Way to Start Our Summer!

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Dear Parents & Friends, What a nice way to start our 78th summer of camping here at Gwynn Valley.  Thank you for sharing your children with us this past 8 days.  We’ve had a wonderful session and it was evident as we held our closing for Session A this morning.  It’s been a beautiful day […]

596

A Great Day Had By All!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a full day at camp and unfortunately the last full day of Session A.  We just finished our evening campfire program which is always called Friendship Campfire on the last night of camp.  It’s been a great session and we celebrated that by showing many of the pictures that […]

597

Bright, Beautiful and You Couldn’t Ask For More!

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Dear Parents & Friends, A sunny day here at camp that was bright and beautiful which made everyone’s day.  By 10:30 the temps began to rise and so did the activity level.  We had a wonderful breakfast with French Toast and all the trimmings.  Tonight’s dinner was baked Ziti with fresh broccoli and cauliflower from […]

598

Weather FIip Flop

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Dear Parents and Friends, Today was a total flip flop of yesterday.  We awoke to rain this morning and lots of it.  My rain gage at the house registered 2 ¼ inches of rain overnight but by the end of lunch we had beautiful sunny skies and it’s a cool and clear evening here.  The […]

599

Some Sun and PM Rain…!

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Dear Parents and Friends, It was a brilliant morning and the sun slowly gave way to a few showers this afternoon.  No thunder meant that all activities went on as planned.  Activities took place this morning and afternoon with children riding horses, arrows being shot, kayaking on the lake, weaving, pottery, dance, basketry, and many […]