Camp has only just started to wind down and it’s already that time again: time to start thinking about next summer! As a long-time camp veteran (and former camper), I find myself well versed in homesickness. What’s been trickier to find a balance with as a Director is campsickness. That particular quiet that settles in […]
It always surprises me how quickly the end of camp arrives. We closed our last session of the summer on Saturday and it’s as if a hush fell over camp as soon as the last car pulled away. There won’t be any cabins chasing fireflies on the Gatehouse Green tonight. No campers are screaming joyfully […]
And just like that, we’ve jumped into our final session of camp for the summer. Today, we opened for E session, our shortest session of the year, but it carried all the classic hallmarks of an Opening Day nonetheless. Excited, smiling faces carrying a plushy here, a Crazy Creek there. Parents and counselors helping kids […]
I love when we get to celebrate firsts here at camp! A very exciting first we celebrated recently was the beginning of our first ever Starter Camp. On Saturday, we welcomed four cabins full of brand new campers who’ll be here at camp until the close of D session. It’s always a joy to see […]
I say this every year, but I truly can not believe our final three weeks are upon us. We had our third and final mass Opening Day yesterday, where we were fortunate enough to welcome a new group of Main Campers, Mountainsiders, Riversiders, and Young Leaders. The summer is racing by at the speed of […]
Three weeks ago, Opening Day arrived in a rush of duffel bags, cabin assignments, and that particular kind of noise that only a Dining Hall full of new faces can bring. Our Head Counselors have a tradition on the first evening, at Opening Ceremony, to ask campers to raise a hand if they’d made a […]
As C session draws closer to its end, I find myself reflecting back on the midway point of this session; that transition from C1 Session winding down to C2 Session beginning in earnest. I find myself thinking about how different that transition time has become for me and, paradoxically, how much that transition remains the […]
We were elated to welcome our C2 campers this week as the fun of C Session continues! The fun kicked off with some cabin campfires and an epic scavenger hunt. It’s safe to say the day was soundtracked with laughter and laced with both new and cherished friendships. We greeted the next day with vibrant […]
If you ask campers what they love most about their time at camp, the answer is often surprisingly simple. While they may remember the horseback rides, canoe trips, campfires, and special evening programs, the thing they talk most about is their counselors. Long after the summer ends, campers remember the counselor who encouraged them to […]
Sunset Over Friendship Circle The evening of Twilight Play was sparkling. Camp buzzed with waterfront play, horse painting, and the USA vs Bosnia soccer game. The activities were fun, fast paced, and a little hectic. But as the sun continued to set, time began to slow, and I joined our cabin Peter Pan on the […]
Summer camp, by design, fuels boisterous and happy energy in children. In only one day, the quiet mornings of staff training cede to the thunder of running children, to the roar of laughter from the Dining Hall. White squirrels, small black bears, and deer ebb a bit farther into the forest. These watchful animal denizens seem […]
Just like that… C session has commenced! We were so excited to welcome our C1 and C Session campers to Gwynn Valley yesterday. Opening Day was filled with smiling, familiar, and fresh faces as campers received their cabin assignments, settled in, and gathered for a delicious lunch together. Cabins then jumped into the afternoon excitement, and, […]
We have had quite the exciting weekend at Gwynn Valley! An air of magic always looms here, but with Main Camp, Mountainside, Riverside, and Young Leaders all here together for a few days, discoveries in full swing, and an extra-sporty Special Day, that sense of wonder felt even more amplified. On Friday, Main Camp’s B-day […]
I just counted the screens in my house: 3 televisions, 2 iPhones, 2 iPads, 1 Amazon Echo, 2 Kindles, 2 computers, and 2 car dashboards. That’s 14 screens. And that’s just at home. Like most parents, we make heroic efforts toward screen-free play (“Go outside until you’re smelly” is surprisingly effective). But it’s 2026, and […]
June 6th is a day that has loomed large on the calendars of our Year-Round Team and seasonal staff for the past 9 months. The first day of camp! It’s the day I look forward to the most all year long. When Gwynn Valley is reinvigorated with the simple joys of childhood and the transformative […]
Greetings from Gwynn Valley! Today was a very special day here at camp! Today marked the beginning of some of our longest sessions of the summer. The day started bright and early with camper families new and old excitedly streaming through the many paths of camp, in search of the whimsical cabin name our Greeters […]
Dear Zeke, I’m writing this letter to you on the eve of your first day at camp. Tomorrow will not only be your first day at Gwynn Valley but also your first day as a Mountainsider. It all seems a little scary, in that way that unfamiliar words always do. Your brother has animatedly […]
Greetings from Gwynn Valley! As the summer approaches, we are very excited to announce a new addition to our Director Team at Gwynn Valley Camp, Annika Carlson! This summer Annika will be stepping into the role of Assistant Director of Older Programs while also returning as the Head Counselor of Mountainside. Annika joins our team […]
We are thrilled to be announcing 2 new but familiar faces to our Year Round team at Gwynn Valley Camp: Andy Dial and Mary Kathryn Craft. Andy is a born and raised Carolinian who grew up in Pisgah Forest where he learned an appreciation for the wilderness. He is very fond and familiar with the […]
And that’s a wrap! With one final Friendship Campfire, our summer 2024 season is drawing to a close. It’s natural here at the end to think back and reflect on everything exciting that’s happened at Gwynn Valley this summer. We’ve had a summer filled with beautiful music, mesmerizing fireflies, wacky Tajar Balls, inspiring International Days, […]
Saturday night we gathered for the last time as a full staff before the conclusion of the summer in a ceremony called Big Circle. This is where we circle up after some much needed R&R between sessions. We sang, shared some words of wisdom, and made important community-wide announcements. It’s a testament to how quickly […]
Happy International Day from Gwynn Valley! Yesterday at camp we celebrated our staff and campers that hail from the United Kingdom. Our Welsh, Scottish, and English staff have put together a very exciting day filled with witty performances, Elton John classics playing from the Pavilion, and tasty morsels served in the Dining Hall! We started […]
Hot and sunshine filled; time spent playing in the water; fireworks; BBQ picnics; everything bedecked in red, white, and blue; and connecting with people that you care about. These are a few of the things that spring readily to mind when I reminisce about July 4th celebrations from my own childhood. Thankfully, these are all […]
One of my favorite daily rituals here at camp is rounding the corner on my way back to the office after Evening Program has wrapped up and seeing the sun set over the Gatehouse Green. The front range of the Blue Ridge Mountains dazzle with how many different hazy blues they can take on. Scarlets, […]
During my time as Assistant Director of Older Programs, working with our Young Leaders for the first time has been a definite highlight of my career. As the newest program at camp– we ran our first YL session in 2017– Young Leaders has undergone the most significant change of any of our programs at camp […]
Greetings from Gwynn Valley! We’re excited to announce two new faces joining our Director Team for this summer, Heather Chalmers and Dr. David Adams! Heather started attending Gwynn Valley as a camper back in 2006. She will be stepping into the role of Assistant Director of Main Camp, having served as the Head Counselor of […]
We spend a lot of the off-season reading applications and interviewing prospective candidates. Finding folks who are passionate about nurturing and teaching children in the outdoors is one of the most important things we do. And one of the most exciting parts of this work for our year-round staff is getting to hear from our […]
Camp has always been a place for our campers to grow. Away from the comfortability of home our campers cultivate both resilience and independence. Campers are free at camp to choose what they wish to pursue and our non-competitive program builds a community around them to support them in the endeavor. From trying new things […]
We hope that our wonderful camp community is faring well all across the globe. Today we want to share a little treat that comes to us all the way from New Zealand. Please enjoy this rendition of the Tajar Tale “A Noise in the Kitchen” read to you all by our very dear friend Andy […]
Today we are sharing two Tajar Tales read to you by our friends Lauren and Daniel who have worked at Gwynn Valley for many years and grew up as campers here before that. You might recognize them as the 2019 Head Counselors of Hillside and Brookside. For those who haven’t met the Tajar, well he’s […]
Do any of our camper families out there have a case of the Mondays? I don’t know about ya’ll, but one of the simple joys that never fails to brighten up our day is… coloring! Attached are some photos taken from iconic locations around camp and then rendered into color-ins with a free to use […]
At camp we always want to encourage children to try new things. Whether it’s eating a hand-picked veggie from the Farm, climbing to the top of the tower, or making your first tie-dye; camp is chock full of opportunities to embody a growth mindset. We also hope that our staff will employ an attitude of […]