Do you remember the magic of Gwynn Valley? We hear so often from alumni that their summers as campers and staff were some of the best times of their lives, and for me it’s no exception! The bonds between campers and staff can make childhood memories the stuff of dreams. I can still recall being […]
As the holiday season is fast approaching, we hope you and your family are able to spend time together and experience many “simple joys”. Those of us at Gwynn Valley are missing our campers and the laughter, excitement, and energy they bring. During the fall and winter months, we like to take time to reflect […]
The New Year and January bring about resolutions, self reflection, and a little bit of dismay as we put away the holiday trimmings and decorations. For me, it also brings excitement that camp is around the corner! In a couple of months we will start planting veggies at the Farm, building new kayak stands in […]
Giving Tuesday is today! Please consider a donation to the Gwynn Valley Campership Foundation. “Camp creates a feeling I call more. [More is the feeling that I believe everyone longs for, feeds for.] The best way to describe more is the act of being in your ideal environment, receiving all the help, love, and support […]
With trees looking bare and cold weather greeting us every morning, those of us at Gwynn Valley have so much to be thankful for as we reflect back on our 2022 season. This years Millwheel news articles include: Giving Thanks at Camp – Cultivating Gratitude New and Updated Spaces – Facilities Report The Adventure of […]
It’s hard to believe we are halfway through D session. Time has really flown by here at camp, and we hope it has for you as well. It has been a full day here with the third day of AM discoveries. Campers were doing everything, from riding a horse through the center of camp, biking […]
Today was another chilly morning at Gwynn Valley as the sun crested over the mountains. Breakfast was a huge hit this AM–the chocolate banana bread was enjoyed by everyone! Today was the second B-day of B session, with campers getting to develop their skills over a period of three days in their alternating discoveries. It […]
At Gwynn Valley we LOVE celebrating local agriculture and honoring food cultures both locally and from our international staff around the world! For this reason, the Bullard family has loved watching Vivian Howard’s new show “Somewhere South” on PBS. Watching this series, we learned so much about other people and their food traditions across the […]
Green Camps is hosting a contest where participants can design signs “that will inspire green behavior change”. As you know, sustainable living is very important to us at Gwynn Valley! How do we do this? Many of our campers, families, and staff are aware of our Farm to Table program which supplies 60% of the […]
White Rabbit to our extended Gwynn Valley family! For those of you who don’t know, it is a tradition at camp to say “white rabbit” to others on the first of the month. This tradition is meant to bring good luck and seeing who can say it first each month is always a great source […]
Thank you for everyone who called and videoed in to our third virtual Singing in the Lodge! It was so exciting seeing campers, staff, and alumni, especially those who wore costumes. Here is a link where you can find our video and sing along at home to some new songs and some classics: https://vimeo.com/414040878. We […]
Happy Friday everyone! Our maintenance team has been hard at work mowing grass, taking care of cabin repairs, building benches for our dining room, and much much more around camp. Last week they got another task added onto their long list of things to do to get ready for the summer. Can anyone guess what […]
Happy Earth Day from GV! Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, celebrated April 22, 1970. Spending time immersed in the natural world is part of what makes Gwynn Valley so special; we hope that everyone can find a moment to appreciate the natural world today! Stargazing is a quintessential summer camp […]
Happy Monday everyone! We hope you all had a relaxing weekend. For those of you who weren’t able to make the virtual Singing in the Lodge 2 last Thursday and those who were able to make it, here is the link where you can listen and sing along at home: https://zoom.us/…/uOVfErfN_H9OUpHM8k7ndrQ4MIDZT6a8gyMXq6Zfy… A huge thank you to […]
It’s been a beautiful day here at Gwynn Valley, and we can’t wait to see some hummingbirds use the feeders Grant has just refilled. Watch our video to learn how to set up your own and follow the link for the recipe for the syrup and some fun hummingbird facts. https://drive.google.com/open…
Those of us who live at Gwynn Valley all year awoke to quite the silly sight at camp this morning. We found kayaks on pathways, a year-round staff member on the lake, and paddles left at the top of the Green spelling out a close approximation of the word: “Tajar”. Our furry friend the Tajar […]
Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, Today was the first full day of E session and what a day it has been! We started the day with a delicious breakfast of bagels, scrambled eggs, cheese, fresh fruit, and cereal. With such a filling breakfast, main camp campers were ready to head back to their cabins to […]
Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, We hope you all have reached your homes or the place you are staying for the night safely. We had a beautiful day, if a bit overcast. This session we have a mix of both returning and new campers. Upon arrival, all campers were greeted and told which cabin they […]
Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, It’s hard to believe we are halfway through D session. Time has really flown by here at camp, and we hope it has for you as well. It has been a full day, starting with the first day of AM sign-ups. We do morning sign-ups when discoveries are over, as […]
Dear Parents, Families, and Friends, Today was Special Day at camp, and the last one of the summer. For Special Day Molly, one of our Main Camp Logisticians, planned a day full of magic with the help and support of our leadership team, and cabin counselors. These days revolve around a theme and today’s was […]
Dear Parents and Friends, Our morning started out very cool with temps hovering around the mid 50’s. Everyone was advised to use their sleeping bag as a comforter last night. Tonight may prove to be more of the same. No rain today and hardly a cloud in the sky which looks good for the days […]
Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, Today was the first full day of D session, and what a full day it was. Campers started off the day with delicious and filling breakfast of homemade whole wheat biscuits, pit ham, sliced cheese, fresh local peaches, and homemade peach jam. This gave everyone energy for their first day […]
Dear Parents, Family, and friends, Each day is important and fun at Gwynn Valley but today really seemed to take the cake, carrot cake to be precise. It started with an amazing breakfast of fresh baked apricot cranberry scones with pork sausage, scrambled eggs, and mixed fruit. Following breakfast, campers moved to their B day […]
Dear Parents, Families, and Friends, It’s been another fun filled day at camp. Our campers started the day with their first B day discoveries. For our C campers these activities differed from their first four activities in C1. Offering different activities allows our C2 campers to have a full range of choices, and for our […]
Dear Families, Friends, and Loved Ones, It’s a wrap on another day here at Gwynn Valley, and what a full day it’s been. Today is the last full day of C1 so we had a wide variety of things happening around camp. It was a normal morning with sign-ups for both our C and C1 […]
Dear Parents, Families, and Friends, It’s been another gorgeous day for the books! The sun was out all day and while we did have some cloud cover, and a few rumbles of thunder, our day carried on with no interruptions.. There was a delicious breakfast of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and fruit followed by the final […]
Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, What an amazing first day of our C and C1 session. We had a great opening day with campers choosing what Discoveries they wanted to do, and today they found out. Discoveries are various activities around camp where campers will alternate between their four chosen program areas. Unlike the afternoon […]
Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, The final night of B session is here at Gwynn Valley. It has been an amazing time with such awesome and awe inspiring campers. Those of us on the leadership team, counselors, and program leaders have seen growth in our campers. From trying new foods, challenging their fears and pushing […]
Dear Parents and family, It was another beautiful day at Gwynn Valley. Everyday is filled with the joy of trying new things and growing in so many ways. Piled on top of this is good weather, blue skies and sun drenching our property just enough for a cool dip in the lake or our Carson […]
Dear Parents and Families, What an amazing day! We had our first International Day here at camp and it was such a blast. What is International Day you may ask? These happen every Tuesday in our B, C, C1, C2, and D sessions. On each of these days we celebrate and learn about one to […]
Dear Family and Friends, Another great day has passed at Gwynn Valley. Each day brings more fun and excitement with more experiences to have. Today has been no different and we have been busy in many activities, making more new friends, and have had less rain with the sun coming out late this afternoon – […]
Beyond the Summer: Gwynn Valley Staff Updates is a series of blog posts to help share the stories of our amazing staff when they’re not here at Gwynn Valley. This blog celebrates the professional and personal successes of our staff and tells the stories of the journeys along the way. In some cases, their time […]
Beyond the Summer: Gwynn Valley Staff Updates is a series of blog posts to help share the stories of our amazing staff when they’re not here at Gwynn Valley. This blog celebrates the professional and personal successes of our staff and tells the stories of the journeys along the way. In some cases, their time […]
Beyond the Summer: Gwynn Valley Staff Updates is a series of blog posts to help share the stories of our amazing staff when they’re not here at Gwynn Valley. This blog celebrates the professional and personal successes of our staff and tells the stories of the journeys along the way. In some cases, their time […]
Beyond the Summer: Gwynn Valley Staff Updates is a series of blog posts to help share the stories of our amazing staff when they’re not here at Gwynn Valley. This blog celebrates the professional and personal successes of our staff and tells the stories of the journeys along the way. In some cases, their time […]
Greetings to our extended GV family and friends, 2019 has arrived and we are so excited to have summer just around the corner. Maggie has been hiring amazing staff to work as counselors, program leaders, adventure counselors, leadership, and support staff! Shelley has been enrolling campers and sending out information and emails to our camper […]
The Holiday Season always provides a time to look back on the previous year. Memories recalled and gathering together with friends and loved ones helps us to reflect on all that is good and joyful in our lives and to recall even the challenges. It’s a time to give thanks and recognize all the blessings […]
Every summer at Gwynn Valley we serve hundreds of campers and staff with food from our self-sustaining farm, and this past year was no different. We grow tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, corn, carrots, green beans, and potatoes, to name a few. Some of the newer vegetables we have grown are kale, and wax beans. We also […]
Over New Years, my brother, Jacob, and I took a trip to Manchester, England and Edinburgh, Scotland to meet up with some of our fellow GV staff. We had met up with many of the English/Scottish staff from that summer, along with a few other Americans who made the trip. In Manchester, our party was […]