We had another beautiful morning today and by midday the sun was warm with some cloud cover and a lovely breeze blowing. We celebrated our last international day of the summer today focused on Kenya and Pakistan and the food was delicious! Our Mountainside and Riverside groups are into their second night of being out […]
What a great opening today with lots of new first time campers and many returning to Session E. As I write children are in every part of camp enjoying their first afternoon of activities. We don’t waste any time in getting them oriented to camp, its bell schedule, and a good meal under their belts […]
Great start to our C-2 / C Session yesterday. The weather was perfect, good for traveling and dropping off C-2 campers in the cool of our morning. C campers held sign-ups in the morning just after breakfast and also in the afternoon which was hot and a good excuse to hit the water or the […]
Yesterday was another excellent day here at GV as I spent the morning visiting program areas. As I traveled around camp, it gave me insight into what programs were doing during the day. On the climbing wall were Main Camp campers as well as Mountainsiders. Mountainsiders were learning about Ground School and the ins and […]
Yesterday, we were still a little damp here at camp, but spirits were sunny. I must admit that we’re all very excited to have sunshine today! I popped around to lots of camp activities yesterday and found that everyone was happy with whatever activity they were in. Waterfront was rocking because you didn’t notice the […]
Even though it rained today off and on, we went full on into program for our first full day of Session B. As I write, the staff are putting campers to bed and singing, playing music, or reading stories as they drift off after a full day of fun, discovery and making new friends. We […]
“Those first few days go so slowly and way too soon it’s almost over.” This was said to me by a child in passing yesterday and it’s so true. Our last full day started with a glorious morning – sun shining bright and full steam ahead for all water activities. Morning activities were wrapping up […]
We’re in our second full day of Session A and we couldn’t ask for better weather and a great start to our summer. I just spent some time with our mountain bikers and Dr. David, Molly and Jed who are overseeing that program. It was a group of 7 campers who were mostly beginners and […]
And so it begins, another wonderful summer at GV on a beautiful opening day filled with long waited expectations, friends greeting friends from previous years, new friends greeting for the first time, a staff excited and primed for fun and adventure, and lastly, our 88th year of the simple joys for children to teens. It’s […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 foggy sky but it didn’t take long to see the sun peeking through and burning away our river bottom haze. We held our last day […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Dear Parents & Friends, I was truly a spectacular day here at camp. No rain and hot this afternoon and the weather was great. Every single activity was enjoying our dry day and water activities were at the top of the heap for appeal. Even our nature and camping group took to the water trying […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
One of the great things about ringing in the New Year is a renewed sense of purpose, an opportunity to set goals, and look toward the future while appreciating and being grateful for the past year. It’s a time to reflect and to think about change, growth, and what we have learned. Gwynn Valley’s new, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you for a great ending to our D 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 program. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dear Parents and Friends, It is a beautiful sunset here tonight and as you can guess that made for a great day. I must admit I wasn’t here much today because of going out with the Main Camp Kayakers on the Green River. We got home about 6:30 but they saved us lots of dinner […]
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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, As the mist on the mountains settles into our view the sun has faded and evening is here. It’s cool now after a thundershower, again during dinner tonight and just before campfire. Good timing! It was a hot day here and I managed to escape some of that by being out […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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” […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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!
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dear Parents and Friends, It’s Tuesday and International Day here at camp. We’re celebrating the countries of Ireland and Holland. Campfire just finished and it was great. Campers were involved in a lot of skits and songs. Sinterklaas came to visit all the way from Holland and a leprechaun with a pot of gold came […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Parents & Friends, What a great opening day here at Gwynn Valley. Parents and campers arrived to a cool morning after long drives and eager smiles. It’s nice to see how our returning campers have grown since last year as well our new campers to the world of GV. Everyone settled into their cabins and […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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! […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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!
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dear Parent and Friends, We’ve just wound down from our OLS Web of Life Campfire and it was the perfect night to get everyone into the Lodge, build a big fire in the fireplace, tell a few stories, sing a few songs and cozy up. It has rained most of the day and even though […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Our title for today comes from a song we sing at camp called “It’s a Beautiful Day”. It was indeed a beautiful day. I’ve just returned from my morning rounds and watching many activities at play. Our day started with pancakes, cereal, bacon and fruit. After breakfast everyone learned what their […]
Dear Parents and Friends, We’re having some technical difficulty getting our pictures to publish on the website. Please bear with us and hopefully we can get this corrected in the next day or so. When we do get things straightened out, all pictures will be there. We’ve been taking quite a few photos since your […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Thank you for a great opening day of our 2013 season. Even though we had a few showers, the rain did not dampen spirits at camp. I hope all of you have arrived safely at home or your next destination. Campers arrived throughout the morning and everyone had a buffet lunch […]
As we get closer to our camp season it’s important to follow these suggestions as you begin to make a decision about coming to camp and preparing for a summer of fun and learning. If you’re coming for the first time or maybe back to camp these tips will help you and your child to […]
Gwynn Valley is excited to welcome Maggie Curme as our new Assistant Director of Older Programs. Maggie comes with a great deal of experience at Gwynn Valley and is already digging deep into the work here at camp and preparing for another awesome summer at camp. Maggie grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina where she […]
Campers, Parents and Friends, Last week we had a new arrival at the stable; a new horse named Frost. He came from the Winston-Salem area and belonged to one of our former campers who is going off to school next year and will not have time to work with her horse while in college. She […]
Camp’s new video has been with us on the road for several weeks but we’ve just uploaded it to our website. If you click on the video link you will see there are quite a few changes to the new one. You’ll see some different camper and staff interviews as well as added coverage from […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Gwynn Valley just hosted the first race in a series for CYMBL (Carolina Youth Mountain Biking League) held at camp on Aug. 18th. There were just around 100 youngsters participating after final count. The next event will be at Camp Carolina in Sept. here in Brevard and the final event will […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Gwynn Valley is hosting the first event of the CYMBL races series tomorrow, Aug. 18th, here at camp. CYMBL stands for Carolina Youth Mountain Biking League. Don’t be put off by the fact it’s a race. It’s a family event and great fun if your children are into mountain biking. For […]
Parents & Friends, Here is our last installment of video from Session E. You will see scenes from Main Camp as well as some paddling from Riverside and Mountainside. We enjoyed having you and please let your friends know about Gwynn Valley. Click on the link below vimeo 7 2012 E Session to see it in a […]
Dear Parents & Friends, What a great session we just completed today for those of you that picked up your children for E Session. Thank you for sharing your children with us this past 8 days. What a terrific way to end our summer and start to prepare for 2013. What a terrific way to […]
Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a wonderful last full day of Session E. The weather cooperated for most of the day and we had a few sprinkles here and there. All activities ran this morning and we completed our last morning of Discovery activities where campers signed up at the beginning of the week […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Today was a very celebratory day at camp and the Tajar played a major role. It was the Tajar’s birthday. If you don’t know who the Tajar is let me give you a bit of background. Of all the animals in the forest, there is none so curious as the Tajar. […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Sun gave way to rain today but only later in the afternoon. If you missed the blog last night, I was on a little time off and had dinner with Anne. Despite the rain today, camp keeps right on chugging along. Our Main Camp Bikers braved the elements and left early […]
Dear Parents & Friends, We have some video footage up from the past several days! Click on this link E Session 2012 Vimeo 5 to see it in a bigger screen. Enjoy and stay tuned! E Session 2012 Vimeo 5 from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo.
Dear Parents & Friends, Thanks for your patience today with pictures. Our uploader is still moving slower than we would like and presently we have more pics coming your way and a video. It was a splendiferous day here with a little rain and a little sun. It seems to rain when we’re indoors which […]
Dear Parents & Friends, We’re having some difficulties uploading photos and some of yesterdays photos are still not up. We hope to have this corrected by later this afternoon. Bear with us and look for everything to be back to normal later today.
Dear Parents and Friends, Just as we let out for campfire it began to sprinkle and now about thirty minutes later it’s raining on those tin roofs and children are hearing the waterfall of rain that is like the sandman times two. Living here as we all do each summer has so many touches with nature […]
Parents & Friends, Thought you might like to see some footage from D. Hopefully E will follow in the days ahead. Stay tuned! vimeo 4 2012 from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo.
Dear Parents & Friends, It was a splendid day in the Valley. Thank you for dropping off your children and I hope that all of you made it safely to your home or other destination. We just finished dinner which was of course a child friendly meal of Macaroni and Cheese (super cheesy) salad, fresh […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a great day at camp with our last morning of sign-ups and our end of session pillowcase day at the pool. Pillowcase day is actually in the afternoon and while our staff are making sure that luggage is in its proper place our waterfront staff are attending to your […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Today we awoke to a foggy and mysterious morning and it fit perfectly since it was the Tajar’s birthday. If you don’t know who the Tajar is, well just let me tell you a few choice facts about him. First of all let me help you parents with pronunciation of the […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Our day didn’t start as a beautiful GV today and we had rain starting just before breakfast that lasted well into the morning with lots of deluges on and off during the first part of the day. It never quite cleared off until dinner when we saw some sunshine but it […]
Dear Parents & Friends, As I write, there are counselors working down the hall from my office working on tomorrow’s international day. There is always something going here at camp and creativity is oozing from our staff. You’ll see pics from many activities including the “Fuzzy Bottom Club”, our bareback horseback riders. I met them […]
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 could only be one and of course it was the Olympics. This was […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Wow – what a great and beautiful day at Gwynn Valley! Although it was hot, there was a nice breeze blowing most of the day and the sky was so blue and clear. Discovery classes finished up today with a plethora of skills being taught to campers as they navigate all […]
Dear Parents & Friends, If you missed my blog last night it was because I was on a day off. We’ll be around the rest of the session so expect to keep informed on life at camp. There is so much that happens each and every day here that I sometimes hate to miss any […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Campfire is over and it was held in our field outside the Gatehouse looking toward the mountains. We have one of the best long views in camping. Our field looks right up to the Blue Ridge Parkway which at that point is just over 6000 feet. Our elevation at camp is […]
D Session Creeks, UK Day, Fishing, Farm and More from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo. Parents & Friends, Check out the video just up on the site. I’ll be blogging tonight after campfire which is getting ready to start. Stay tuned!
Dear Parents & Friends, Wow! I feel like a camper because it’s been such an exciting day around camp. Sometimes at the supper table you’ll be asking 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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A beautiful day here at camp set the tone for our first day of programming. I spent the morning going to many activities and watching staff begin their day and begin their program with instructions and getting the campers familiar with the lay of the land in program. I spoke with […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A great start for opening day brought sunshine and warm temps. 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 our first […]
Main Camp Kayakers Green C, C-2 2012 from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo.
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 […]
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 and […]
Riverside and Main Camp Arborist Climbing from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo. Here’s a snipet of some video from the past few days. Just a small glimpse into camp life both for our Main Campers and Adventure Programs (Riverside in this Case). Enjoy and Stay Tuned!
Dear Parents & Friends, We’re just getting back from a full day at GV. All of Main Camp attended the theatre tonight with a production about the Avenger’s and their experiences from their high school days. All the super heroes went to high school together and they were all trying to be #1. The play […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Kia Ora everyone, which is Maori for “greetings”. Today was New Zealand Day at camp and we started off the morning with the discovery of the country. Food throughout the day was presented at each meal concluding tonight with a very delicious dessert called Pavlova. Very sweet and very good. Tonight […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It is a beautiful night here at camp and we’re inching into our final week of C, C-2. It’s been a fun weekend and sorry for not blogging last night. It was a busy day with “Special Day” all day long and then we had our Vespers service after dinner and […]
Dear Parents & Friends, If you are wondering why no blog last night it was because I was on a day off. We’ve finally had a day of reprieve from the rain. It was a sunny and not too hot day as we eased back into life without moisture. You reach a point when everything […]
Dear Parents & Friends, I’ve been on the river all day with Riverside and just got back to camp about 7:00 tonight. I understand our site is presenting some complications with logging on and looking at pictures. Our office staff worked on this throughout the day and will continue to work with our web folks […]
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. Thanks to our wonderful SIT’s who you will see in a […]
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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Our last day for C-1 Session and it was a good one. The big news this morning at breakfast was that the piglets were born on the farm last night. There are six babies clinging to their mother at this point. Many children were able to go to the farm today […]
Dear Parents & Friends, What a great day here at camp. It was special day here and the theme was “The Wild West” We took on the pioneer spirit and did a lot heading into the sunset. Even though not all activities fit the theme there was a choice of what to do and when […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Saturday at Gwynn Valley feels like every other day and every day is special. The day was hot and dry and it’s nice to have great weather for programming. We do need some rain but I’ll take the good weather at this point. This kind of weather is always good for […]
Dear Parents and Friends, It’s back to business as usual tonight and please know that I was on a day off yesterday. Tonight’s sunset was just wonderful. I tried to capture a photo but my camera needed charging. Also tonight was twilight play where we extend the after supper activities way into twilight and have […]
climbing, kayaks, ropes course, gv rescue C C-1 2012 from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo.
Dear Parents & Friends, Can I even possibly remember all the things that have happened here at camp today? We started off with Paul Revere riding through camp awakening us to the fact that the British were coming. I think they are already here and working in our ranks! Just before breakfast a group of […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Happy 4th of July to all of you at home and hope you’re getting ready for our Independence Day! We will be celebrating the 4th tomorrow and looking forward to a splendid day. We’ll have fireworks tomorrow night and other festivities throughout the day and children will be up a little […]
Dear Parents and Friends, We did get the needed rain last night and it came while the children were sleeping. No major thunder storms in the night, just mild rumblings and a good steady rain for several hours. It’s been very dry and hot and this morning you can tell that the weather has broken. […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s a cool night here after thunderstorms gathered all around us tonight during campfire. 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 with a lot […]
Biking. Swing, and Pool B Session from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo.
Dear Parents & Friends, By now, many of you are winging your way toward home and perhaps already there. We had a great session and wonderful campers made it so. 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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, The last full day of Session B was spectacular. It was another beautiful day as far as the weather. Everyone soaked up the sunshine and enjoyed the moderate mountain temperatures. We’re up late tonight getting ready for you all to arrive and greet your children. We haven’t loaded all the pics […]
Dear Parents and Friends, A day without rain has been really nice. It’s good to dry out and it was hot here today. We had sign-ups this morning and also after lunch. The lake was a very active place to be for a number of reasons. Just to cool off was number one and then […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A great day at GV for our first “Special Day” of the summer. We started the day with a sleep in till 8:30 and a 9:00 breakfast which everyone was thankful for. It’s appropriate on this thankful day and we just finished up our Vespers Service about 10 minutes ago. More […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Tonight is a bit cooler and that means good sleeping weather up here. We had a shower earlier this afternoon just after rest hour and right at the beginning of afternoon activities. Four cabins are camping out tonight and the spring peepers are putting those children to sleep. I can hear […]
Dear Parents and Friends, We started off with another beautiful day here and it was fitting since it’s the longest day of the year. Mountainside was out on the lake, at the climbing wall, Bikers were on the single track across the road and Pioneers were at the Rock. Riverside had a giant game of […]
RS-1 Paddlingmusic from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo.
Dear Parents and Friends, Our title tonight comes from the name of a dance that was done by all of Brookside this evening. More on that later. It’s been another great day at camp. We had 6 cabins out tonight for campouts and it couldn’t be a better night for sitting around the fire cooking […]
Dear Parents & Friends, If you’ve been trying to reach us today our phones and electricity have been off. Just before 1:00 today our main power transmission line went down and it took until right before dinner to get things rolling. The line went down in a part of camp that is rarely visited in […]
Wall Climbing B Session from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo.
Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a most pleasant day here at camp. The weather was perfect and just the right temps here at camp. Everyone had a productive first full day and campers started their Discovery activities today. The waterfront was a very busy place starting early in the morning, right up until dinner. […]
We were paddling the Upper French Broad that comes out of the Pisgah National Forest. The West, North and East Forks of the French Broad join just above where we put in. It’s a good beginning river for those getting on moving water.A Session Kayak Trip from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo.
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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, What a nice way to start our 77th 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 […]
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 that by showing many of the pictures that you all have […]
Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been another day full of fun, play, and laughter at camp. We woke up this morning to blue skies and sunshine with a little mist and to a hot breakfast of French toast, bacon, strawberries, and boiled eggs with cereal on the side as usual. After breakfast, it was off […]
Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been another day full of fun, play, and laughter at camp. We woke up this morning to blue skies and sunshine with a little mist and to a hot breakfast of French toast, bacon, strawberries, with cereal on the side as usual. After breakfast, it was off to do cabin […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A sunny afternoon made everyone’s day here at camp. It rained this morning during breakfast and then just stopped before lunch. By 10:30 the temps began to rise and so did the activity level. We had a wonderful breakfast with eggs, ham, grapes, pineapple, OJ and cereal. Tonight’s dinner was meatloaf, […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Although it has been a rainy day at camp, we have had lots of fun and played a lot. Activities took place this morning and afternoon with children riding horses, arrows being shot, kayaking on the lake, weaving, pottery, dance, basketry, and many other activities. We have had a fire going […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Our title for today comes from a song we sing at camp called “It’s a Beautiful Day”. It is indeed a beautiful day. I’ve just returned from my morning rounds and watching many activities at play. Our day started with pancakes, cereal, bacon and fruit. After breakfast everyone learned what their […]
Parents & Friends, What a great opening day here at Gwynn Valley. Parents and campers arrived this morning after long drives and eager smiles. Everyone settled into their cabins and then off to lunch for a wonderful buffet of good food from our Kitchen. After lunch it was off to the Lodge for a bit […]
Dear Parents, Campers & Friends, Here’s a recent article by Bob Ditter, who is a widely recognized consultant to the camping community and is renowned for his expertise in the field of child and adolescent development. I recently attend several workshops of Bob’s and he always challenges us as Directors to make the camping experience […]
Dear Parents, Campers and Friends, As the temperature hovers close to 60 today, I’m reminded of the last couple of winters we’ve had here at camp with lots of snow and cold temperatures. It’s been a mild winter so far this year with some daffodils blooming at the end of January! Even though Feb. is […]
Countdown to Camp! We are so excited because there are only 160 days until camp begins! The new year brings a renewed sense of pushing that camp train toward its destination set for June 8, 2012. We hope you’re on board. We will be out on the road in the weeks ahead to bring you […]
Dear Campers, Parents & Friends, Even though it’s a fairly warm day here at camp, true winter has been with us for a while. Leaves have been gathered, hydrangea’s have been trimmed and many projects have been started in preparation for the coming summer. We here at camp hope that you and your family are […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Here’s some video from Sat. and we’ll be posting more video later today and our final news. Enjoy! What a great session we just completed today for those of you that picked up your children for E Session. Thank you for sharing your children with us this past 8 days. […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Here’s some video from yesterday. Hope you enjoy! More to come in the PM. It’s been a wonderful last full day of Session E. We were able to get a group out of camp this afternoon for a bit of climbing up into Pisgah. These were our Main Camp climbers and […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Wow! It’s been a full day with lots going on at camp. The day started beautifully and ended a little wet but the fun never stops here and activities go right on. We’ve got lots of photos and some video that will be going up tomorrow so keep watching. Today was […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Here’s a short clip from our day with Mountainside Paddlers yesterday. Enjoy! Grant
Dear Parents and Friends, I’m sorry we didn’t get any video up today. I just returned from a river trip with Mountainside and I’m just eating dinner at 9:30. I’ll upload some video escapades from today’s paddling trip tomorrow. I did have time to upload quite a few pictures taken today from the trip, so […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Here’s another short from yesterday and last night. Hope you enjoy! As you can see from the photos and video from yesterday, we barely scratched the surface of creek hiking. We were just offering a teaser to our wonderful creek that flows through the middle of GV. The photos you […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Here a short video from the morning. Hope you enjoy! Click on link below. Session E Day 2 from Gwynn Valley on Vimeo. We were able to put up another video today and hope you enjoyed the action it provides. It’s been another splendid day here and the weather has been […]
Parents & Friends, Thought you might enjoy a video glimpse of our morning. Enjoy! I hope you enjoyed the video that I put up earlier today. It’s just a short of our morning in and around the main part of camp. I literally just took a five minute jaunt around a small area. So […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It was a splendid day in the Valley. Thank you for dropping off your children and I hope that all of you made it safely to your home or other destination. We just finished dinner which was of course a child friendly meal of Macaroni and Cheese (super cheesy) vegis, grapes, […]
Main Camp Kayakers D Session This is video taken on Wed. Aug. 5th of D Session Main Camp Kayakers on the Green River. Click on link above.
Dear Parents & Friends, What a great session we just completed today for those of you that picked up your children for D. Thank you for sharing your children with us this past 13 days. We’ve had a wonderful session and it was evident as we held our closing for Session D Friendship Campfire last […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a great day at camp with our last morning of sign-ups and our end of session pillowcase day at the pool. Tubing trips went out this morning as it was yet another very warm day here at camp. We just ended our day with Friendship campfire and had many […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Tajar Folly was what we awoke to this morning. As you can see there were kayaks on the Green along with some of our dining room tables as well as noodles from the pool where the Tajar spelled out his name. Let me help you parents with pronunciation of the Tajar’s […]
Dear Parents & Friends, As you can see we are celebrating International Day today and focusing on Poland, Russia and France. We have a staff member from each country, Monica, Elena and Camille in that order. Tonight’s campfire went into great detail about each country with songs, music and dance from campers and staff. There […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a perfect camp day here today. The weather couldn’t have been better. Sunny, bright and full of light with nary a cloud in the sky, well maybe a couple here and there. We had signups for the whole day today so everyone got to choose 4 activities. Stick weaving […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A cool evening here at camp that started out hot and muggy. It was Special Day today here at GV and that means no program, all specialness. The theme was in fact a “Theme Park”. The stations were set up so that campers could travel to anything they wanted in an […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a cooler day here and campfire just ended with the Hillsider’s coming to the Lodge for a little Mountain Dancing. We had them dance the Blue Bird Dance, the Hokey Pokey, Going to Kentucky, Circle Round My Zero, and the Patty Cake Polka. It was a lively dance to […]
Dear Parents & Friends, More campouts tonight and the perfect night for it. I would love to be by the fire tonight and way off in the woods making smores and telling stories. We just finished our campfire and the Brook came into the Lodge and danced while the Hillsider’s went to the Gatehouse Green […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Just a regular old beautiful day here at camp with no threat of rain and we have 11 cabins camping out tonight. It should be a starry, starry night. Our camp-out shelters are just that; three sided shelters with a wooden floor that’s up off the ground. Each shelter has a […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Greetings from the land down under. Today was New Zealand day or as we learned Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud). Campfire just finished outside the Gatehouse (office) as everyone sat on the hill underneath Playhouse and Mountain View. It was a holiday heme since they celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, and […]
Dear Parents and Friends, A sunny morning and early afternoon turned into a rainy late afternoon but camp goes on. Very few activities were affected with the exception of waterfront and sports. We move those campers indoors if it’s thundering and lightening. We played a new game in the Lodge today called GAGA (not to […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A great day for an opening of D Session and thank you for bringing such a great batch of campers. We hope you are safe and sound at your destination. We just finished our first night of cabin skits and will return tomorrow night to complete all the cabins on Hillside […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Thank you all 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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, As we passed by the Asheville airport this afternoon around 5:15, the temperature registered 99 degrees. Thank goodness we were on a paddling trip today and kept the temps at bay. I had a great day with the Main Camp Kayakers. They did a great job and were certainly tested on […]
Dear Parents & Friends, We’re all back together in the Cove. All of Mountainside and Riverside adventures are back home and everyone had a fabulous time. You will be seeing photos as they are loaded over the next 24 hours. Some of the Pioneer photos are already up and ready for viewing. Mountain Bikers are […]
Dear Parents & Friends, This week is flying by and I can’t believe we’re just a few days away from the end of the session. It’s been a great day here, in fact, it was Australia Day. G-day Mate and all the other idioms that go along with that part of the world. We just […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a great day here at camp and many cabins are on campouts tonight and a good choice for those who went out. The weather was just perfect today with the right amount of sunshine and the occasional cloud. As I write tonight and look out of my office window […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been a busy two days at camp and we had beautiful sunny skies today. It’s been a pleasant change from the overcast drizzle we’ve experienced at the end of the week. We just left our Sunday Service in the Lodge where the theme was “God’s Many Colors”. Many campers and […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Brrrrrr!!! It’s been a chilly day today at camp. It drizzled all morning and the temperature hovered around 76. Those that braved the water today had a treat waiting in the Lodge with a fire. We’ve had a warm fire going all day in the Lodge and it was big hit […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A cool and overcast day here was a welcome relief to the weather we’ve been having. For the next few days we’ll have cooler temps and will enjoy a break from the rain and humidity. Our first day of Discovery started today with the T,TH,S group. Tomorrow will be the first […]
Dear Parents & Friends, For those of you that dropped off your children today, I hope that you’re safe and sound and at your destination. Thanks for a wonderful opening day for the campers who are attending C-2. Even though it was a hot day, activities got off to a roaring start. Those campers who […]
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 […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Our last day for C-1 Session and it was a good one. I started off with a trip down the mighty French Broad with our Main Camp kayakers. You’ll find some photos from the day. It’s a good beginner section to tackle and our campers got their sea legs pretty quickly […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Sorry for the delay on the post. We have such full days here it’s sometimes hard to squeeze it all in. I just came from an Open House with the Riverside boys and Anne is hosting the girls. They’re all having a great time even though the climbing component was pretty […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A bookend day like yesterday. Some sun, some rain, more mud and camp marches on. We’re marching on our belly’s as any army does. The food today was great and supper tonight saw many helpings of ginger stir fry chicken, mandarin oranges, fresh corn and bread. Today’s lunch was mash potatoes, […]
Dear Parents & Friends, No rain today and many cabins are having a successful campout tonight. Wood is wet and during dinner one counselor came to get me to help them with a fire. What is a campout without a roaring fire and smores. It was certainly not a one match fire considering the amount […]
Dear Parents & Friends, A rainy morning turning to sun and turning back to rain about 7:30 this evening. You can never really make a call on the weather around here. If you don’t like it just stick around and it will change. That’s what one ole timer told me years ago. We had a […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Happy belated 4th of July and yes we’re just about to wrap up our grand ole day here at camp. Campfire was held in the Lodge tonight but it was full of the twilight’s last gleaming. Our staff and many campers just finished a fantastic show that started with the beginning […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Happy 4th of July to all of you at home and hope you’re enjoying the Holiday. We will be celebrating the 4th tomorrow and wanted to get a day of camp under our belts before we went into celebration mode. We’ll have fireworks tomorrow night and children will be up a […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s a cool night here after a great opening of our 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. One […]
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 […]
B Session Mountain Biking Click above ^ to view link. Sorry to get this up late but here it is.
Dear Parents & Friends, The last full day of Session B was spectacular. It was another beautiful day as far as the weather. Everyone soaked up the sunshine and enjoyed the moderate mountain temperatures. Some of today’s photos are from last night’s Tajar Ball. We haven’t loaded all the pics from today but they will […]
Dear Parents & Friends, What a beautiful day! We have a song we sing at camp that’s one of my favorites called “It’s a Beautiful Day”, and it certainly lived up to it today. It was our last full day of programming and we were all over the camp map going to the 4 points […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s been another great sunny/showery day here at camp. We had a little extra long rest hour today because of thunder storms and rain which came up just as we were about to start afternoon activities. Everyone was in their cabin but afternoon trips and activities went out just a bit […]
Dear Parents and Friends, We just left the Lodge where our Fine Arts program presented 2 one act plays. All the children were amazing and everyone did a superb job. The campers wrote both plays and there was some pretty strong moral themes with both. “The Princess Brat” started off with one spoiled princess who […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Sesame Street came to life today at camp as we celebrated a very “Special Day” with visits from Big Bird, Elmo, the Cookie Monster, and Oscar. After a little bit of a sleep in and breakfast, activities started with cabin groups traveling to the different Sesame Street activities which included Bert […]
Dear Parents & Friends, It’s a cool night here at camp and tomorrow morning it will dip down to 60 or the high 50’s. That’s good sleeping weather up here. We had a shower earlier this evening just before dinner and that started the cool down. We stoked those little furnaces with Chili tonight at […]
Dear Parents and Friends, We started off with a rainy day this morning and it finally abated around 12 noon. Most activities went right on including sports, climbing, and all other outdoor activities. When it rains here you only get wet skin deep. We had a fire going in the Lodge this morning so folks […]
Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been another great day at camp. We had a thunder boomer this evening right after dinner which put a damper on 4 cabin campouts. Never fear, they will reschedule and make it happen. The day started off with a strong group of mountain bikers heading to the Hunt Farm to […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Today was UK Day here at camp and the Union Jack’s spirit filled us all day long. Who, none other than William Wallace showed up this morning to greet the loyal citizens of Gwynn Valley to try to enlist them to roll for freedom, roll for truth for Scotland. His men […]
Dear Parents and Friends, It’s been a most pleasant day here at camp. We dodged some scattered showerss 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 […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Opening Day was the best. Beautiful weather, great kids and smooth arrivals. Hope you all had a safe trip home. As I write I’m sure everyone is snuggled down in their camp beds after a very full day filled with the anticipation of returning to camp or coming for the first […]
Dear Parents & Friends, What a nice way to start our 76th 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 […]
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 that by showing many of the pictures that you all have […]
Dear Parents and Friends, A day without rain is a day full of sunshine. It was chilly here this morning with the temperature hovering around 56 degrees. That’s chilly but nice. By 10:30 the temps began to rise and so did the activity level. We had a wonderful breakfast with French toast, ham, pears, OJ […]
Dear Parents and Friends, What’s a day without a rain shower. Thankfully the past few days we’ve gotten all our rain when children have not been in activities. We thought it might not rain today but sure enough the heavens opened up just as the last activity bell rang today to end afternoon activities. The […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Another very special day here at GV. We just finished our evening campfire program which consisted of dancing and some play party games. Half the camp is on an overnight tonight and camped out on the near and far reaches of our GV world. Campfires are blazing and by this time […]
Dear Parents and Friends, The magic of camp has begun in our first full day of Session A. I just left campfire and the finale to our introduction skits. Camp is now quiet and is well on its way to sleep as we had some great times today. It was our first full day of […]
Parents & Friends, What a great opening day here at Gwynn Valley. Parents and campers arrived this morning after long drives and eager smiles. Everyone settled into their cabins and then off to lunch for a wonderful buffet of good food from our Kitchen. After lunch it was off to the Lodge for a bit […]
Making new friends at camp is one of those bonus aspects found under “the benefits of camp”. Some friendships that last a lifetime start right here during the summer. The other benefits are numerous to just mention a few. Traditional organized camping is in its 150th year and has become a part of the fabric […]
Every parent wants their child’s first stay away from home to be successful and a good first summer camp experience can be a springboard to so many other positive aspects in their lives. When will my child be ready for an overnight camp, is a question often asked as families explore residential camping. Children are […]
Our road trips to promote camp are coming to an end over the next couple of weeks. I’ve seen a lot of new faces and many old campers from those trips throughout the southeast. Andy has also been on the road and just returned from Tennessee and Kentucky. We greeted many prospective camper families, dispensed […]
There is that great adage that says, “those who precede us”. Well in this case it’s a big brother. One of the true joys of camp is sharing it with a sibling. Many stories are told at the dinner table about life as a camper and younger siblings usually have to wait to experience it […]
It’s just a few days before our Holiday weekend here at camp. The grass is the field looking out from my office is showing again after almost of week of being covered with snow. It’s been very cold at camp and snow still lingers on all the north slopes that don’t get sunlight. More snow […]
We hope everyone is doing well and had a good Thanksgiving Holiday. We’re headed toward the next big part of the season which celebrates several major holidays. Just around the corner starting Dec. 1st is Hanukkah, then Christmas on the 25th and then Kwanzaa on Dec. 26th. We wish you all the best for these […]
As leaves begin to fall and our mountain weather changes for the arriving season, my thoughts turn to the land on which we host all the campers and staff each summer here at Gwynn Valley. Our appreciation of the land goes deep throughout the program as we venture down to farm and dive into the […]
Thanks for coming to camp campers and thank you parents, for sharing your children this summer. We had a great summer here at camp and are looking forward to 2011 with great anticipation. Applications are starting to roll in and don’t wait too late to get yours in before your session fills. As the […]
Dear Parents & Friends, Camp is way too quiet. All the campers have gon