Transcription of Camps #134
Dr. Lisa: This is Dr. Lisa Belisle, and you’re listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, show number 134, Summer Camps, hearing for the first time on Sunday, April 6, 2014. Maine summer camps offer a unique opportunity for young people. For generations, children have come to our beautiful state to experience the wonder of the outdoors and to gain life skills such as an independence. They’ve also created lasting relationships with their peers.
Today, we speak with Richard Deering, Director of Birch Rock Camp, and Garth Altenburg, Director of Camp Chewonki. Two individuals who are so changed by their own years as campers. They became camp directors themselves so as to bring camp happiness to children from Maine and around the globe. We hope that you enjoy our summer camp show today, and perhaps think about how it might become relevant to your life. Thank you for joining us.
In last year’s wellness issue, writer Jaed Coffin wrote a piece about Birch Rock which is a wonderful summer camp, one of many wonderful summer camps, here in State of Maine. We decided to do our show about summer camps and camping here in Maine, we thought we really need to reach back out to Birch Rock because it seems there is quite an experience going on there.
Today, we have with us Rich Deering who is the alumni and Community Director of Birch Rock Camp. Rich Deering started at Birch Rock Camp at the age of nine. Six summers later, he became a staff member. He worked his way up from teaching swimming to Waterfront Director, to Head Counselor. Then, in 1995, Rich became the Camp Director.
Today, he works at Birch Rock Camp as we mentioned as the alumni and Community Director. He is also a realtor with the Buckspan & Deering Group at Remax by the Bay. Thanks so much for coming in and talking to us about Birch Rock and your experience with the camp.
Richard: Thanks for having me.
Dr. Lisa: I am not going to ask you how old you are on air but you’ve been doing camp for a long time. If you’ve been doing camp since you were nine, I am going to guess, that’s at least a few decades worth of camp experience.
Richard: I think right now … I’m on summer of ’42.
Dr. Lisa: That is more than a few decades of camp experience.
Richard: Yeah. I feel very lucky to still be part of Birch Rock and still growing up there.
Dr. Lisa: Birch Rock, first of all, for people who are listening and haven’t yet read the article which I do encourage everybody to go back and read. Just go online to TheMaineMag.com and read Jaed Coffin’s article about Birch Rock. Anybody who hasn’t read the article, tell us what Birch Rock is, and where it’s located.
Richard: Birch Rock is a small residential boys’ camp located in Western Maine, in just the foothills of the White Mountains in Waterford. It’s on a nice pristine private lake called Lake McWain. Birch Rock started in 1926. It was an offshoot of Chewonki, Camp Chewonki, on the coast of Maine. The founders Chief and Onie Brewster were the headmaster and mistress of Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire.
They had set up to start a camp for three criteria. One was to find a camp on a fresh pond. They enjoyed being on the rugged Maine Ocean of the Atlantic but they want something a little bit more pristine, a little bit more engaging for the campers to be in the water all day. Two, they wanted to be on a hillside. They found this plot of land up on Western Maine right near the creek or river because it was a sloping, I should say, at that time, a cow Pasteur that fell right into the lake. They bought the land from a neighboring friend of Mrs. Brewster’s. Third thing, they always felt it should be a singles sex camp because they felt that boys needed their own time away from family and their friends, and to be isolated into a natural environment. That’s how Birch Rock began, and Birch Rock continues to hold those values today of just being very small, nurturing, natural environment.
Dr. Lisa: What are the ages that are served?
Richard: Seven to 15 are the boys that come to Birch Rock. We’re fortunate, about 38 to 42% of our boys are right here in the State of Maine which we’re really proud of. We have boys coming primarily from New England area but we have pockets coming from the Southwest, Mid-Atlantic, West Coast, and about 10% of the boys are overseas. That is fun for me to watch having been there for 42 summers now because now, we’re starting to see third and fourth generations return to Birch Rock.
Dr. Lisa: There is a strong sense of history associated with camps like Birch Rock, and it sounds like Birch Rock as well. That even in the story that you’re telling is evident. It’s something that every summer gets reinvigorated. That’s not something that we get to have in everyday life these days.
Richard: Yeah. I think part of going to camp is probably learning about your story. Just like the family fabric of the camp has its own story and it continuous to evolve, and with many chapters, so to with the individual, and I think that’s a whole mission really about residential camping as helping young men and women learn about their stories. Learning about self-confidence, learning about their own character, learning about their soul, and giving them an injection of life-long learning.
We’re a lot about what camps are about is the storytelling and how you begin to write that chapter, and on that chapter in your life, and we’re not the authors. We’re the editors to help them along the process.
Dr. Lisa: What was the process that you got you to Birch Rock when you were nine years old?
Richard: I was very fortunate, and that is a great question. I was very fortunate to have both parents had gone to summer camps themselves. They really believe that part of their family fabric was that my sisters and I didn’t hang around the streets of Greater Portland, and didn’t just bumble through the summer but have a chance to really experience different people, different opportunities, and breakaway.
What happened was my dad went to Camp O-AT-KA which is a great camp in Sebago. We took a look at that, but a good friend of the family told us about Birch Rock. I was the youngest of three children and the only boy. I just remember taking that trip up there and the rumbling Buick station wagon, and going down this hill, and a good friend of mine by the name of Harry [Cliss 00:07:58] was screaming my name and saying, “You little tub need to get here and start running around.”
It was just the moment we walked in. It was a firm handshake, a guiding force from the principal, Chief Brewster at that time, and I knew I found home. It started the next year, 1973 and signed up for four weeks, and about within a week into the process, I asked to speak to the Assistant Director, and he said, “What’s wrong?” I said, “I need to go home.” He said, “Well, we don’t really let phone calls go home. What’s up?” He said, “Well, I need to tell my folks that I am staying for the summer.” That became a journey. I get to have that one phone call. My mother said, “Don’t you want to come home for a little while and hang out?” I said, “No. I want to be at camp.” My father said right away, “He’ll stay for eight weeks,” and that’s how it all began.
Dr. Lisa: That’s an interesting thing to have happened nowadays. Maybe in 1973?
Richard: Three, 1973, yeah.
Dr. Lisa: 1973 perhaps was a little bit more normal to go away for that number of weeks of summer camp, but now, it seems like there is a lot of draw for parents. Keep the kids home. They want to do summer soccer. Keep the kids home. They need to earn money for college as they get a little older, but you still have campers that are coming back for extended periods of time. What is the value that parents and kids see in that?
Richard: I think that’s a great point because we have so many more competing factors, competing interest both economic, both social, both familial. I think we’re in the society too when we see most of our parents both working and they’re filling that pool of time and energy, and want to have quality times with the kids, but I think those who had choose to send to camp and make that investment or know that the opportunity is ripe, know that this is probably the best gift of their own education, both not just for the campers and the kids but for the family because they get to be unplugged, unwind from the electronic world.
They get away from the socioeconomic pressures of what is going on at home and at school. They also get away from their mom and dad. That’s probably the greatest gift. I think people know, they want boys to be boys, and free in civilized environment where they can just enjoy nature and the natural world, and get away from the television and the computers, and have a sense of mano-a-mano and look in each other in the eye, and shake a hand, and make a friend.
I think that’s probably why they’re such, I think, resurgent’s of camps because they know it’s so important for them to feel good about themselves, and feel independent and breakaway. I think those families are willing to take that risk or rather make that investment or those that don’t have the economic means but look for those kind of opportunities of scholarships and investment really see the potential of where their kids can be later on in life to be more free and to be more independent.
Dr. Lisa: As you’ve said, it is an investment. If you’re a family, eight weeks’ worth of summer camp, it doesn’t come cheaply.
Richard: No.
Dr. Lisa: There are scholarships available for people who don’t have the means. Have you found a scholarship needs have increased overtime or remained about steady? What’s the progression?
Richard: No. It definitely increased, Lisa. That is a great point, and it’s not just our camp. Our camp tends to be a nonprofit entity and model but many of the camps either for profit or nonprofit, especially here in Maine which is such a mecca of residential camping. It has been for over a hundred of years plus. We’re seeing more and more of that need but I think you’re seeing more and more the commitment and mission of each of these camps to reach a broader base of people from all different means. Even those with modest means, it’s an investment.
You’re seeing more initiatives in terms of campership funds, more investment in terms of fundraising opportunities, and more reaching out to former alumni, and people, and corporations that know the importance of giving back. We have one motto at our camp. It has always prevailed since 1926 and that is, “Help the Other Fellow.” I think time goes by and as longer than I am part of that family fabric of Birch Rock Camp, I see so many people reaching back to say, “Rich, now, it’s time to let others help you, and help you provide these opportunities for future generations to come back to camp. How can we get back?”
Of course, the greatest gift is so they can give a boy their own generation, their own family, and if they can do that, that’s fabulous too but if they can’t too is how they can financially support or come back and be part of Birch Rock for part of the summer, and give back some talent, and time. It’s interesting to see how many people wanting, you have to give to get, and I think it’s interesting to see young men come through the Birch Rock community and then want to circle back. To me, that’s the greatest compliment. It’s like the whole circle of life. They want to separate, and in some point you want to return.
Dr. Lisa: We speak to a lot of people on the show, and everyone has a Maine connection. For many people, that Maine connection begun with a summer camp, and some of it is a family camp but summer camp is really strong. In fact, I can think about one of our sponsors is Mike LaPage who is a local realtor, and he also has a strong summer camp connection. I think …
Richard: Yes, he does. He does indeed. Yeah.
Dr. Lisa: There seems to be … You can’t really extract camps and campers from Maine. You can’t think of one without the other. Why is this the case? There are all kinds of places that have trees in the United States, why does Maine seem to be the place for camps?
Richard: I think it goes back … You can take the camper out of the camp but you can’t take camp out of the camper. It’s the soul injection of what you get. It can be a spiritual awakening, it’s an emotional awakening, it’s a confidence booster, it’s all kinds of things, and I think as people go through their journey in life, once again, it’s that myth-making.
They go down a path, they go out and get their expertise, they experience different things, they marry, their career is built, life happens in so many different forms and fashions but the guiding principles and what’s important to them, and how they view the world usually comes back to the ideals of families, and nesting, and roots. If you had a wonderful camp experience, those prevailing principles of what is important always come back to the nest. I think camp is just one of those things that always is inside of you.
Dr. Lisa: You’re on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast. We’ve long recognized the link between health and wealth. Here to speak more on the topic is Tom Shepard of Tom Shepard Financial.
Tom: Send your money to summer camp. I know it may sound like an absurd suggestion but the truth is you may actually be doing that right now if you all do is let automatic deductions place your money in savings or retirement plans without thinking too much about it. If that’s the case, you’re sending your money away on vacation, out of sight, out of mind. Of course, your hope is when you need it, the money will come back to you with little interest, but why keep doing that?
There are a lot of ways to be more involved with your finances without sending it away. All you have to do is evolve your thinking. If you think you’re ready to evolve, send me an e-mail at [email protected]. Let’s start talking.
Recording: Securities offered through LPL Financial, member of FINRA SIPC. Investment advice offered through Flagship Harbor Advisers, a registered investment advisor. Flagship Harbor Advisers and Shepard Financial are separate entities from LPL Financial.
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Dr. Lisa: My daughter who is now 18, she and I both spent time at Camp Huckins which is actually across the border in New Hampshire.
Richard: Great camp.
Dr. Lisa: Yes. It definitely is.
Richard: A great camp.
Dr. Lisa: A great camp, and what I remember most was that you almost as soon as you were out of the early thesis, you became a teacher. You were taught but then you became a teacher. You became a guide for those who are younger. You had the juniors, and the middlers, and the seniors. If you’re a middler camper, a middle-aged camper, you were always being called to help out the juniors. This started before you became a CIT counselor in training or counselor itself. You were always reaching back. Is teaching an important part of the camp experience?
Richard: I think it’s a critical part because, again, it goes back to what our camp motto is and always been is Help the Other Fellow. Through different ages and stages, it’s that mentoring process of helping just from the simple time when Johnny comes at seven, or eight, or nine, and even ten today or 11, how you make a bed. I can’t tell you the number of kids that come to camp don’t know how to make a bed or what is a hospital corner or the importance of maybe standing up when a guest comes into the room, learning how to shake a hand, and giving a firm handshake, and look someone straight in the eye, or family dining. That is another great example, Lisa.
I think one of the few camps today that hold true to that everyone sits down and eats at the same time, and we stay, and we stand up, we have a blessing, and we all sit down, and everyone gets served one at a time, one a time, like a Thanksgiving buffet every day. It’s bountiful. They’re ready to go but just that whole important thing about what the family meal and communicating, and patience, and learning to say please and thank you, and knowing that has certain value, and knowing that this is important to any type of community. You have to share, and you have to compromise, and you have to give, and you have to lead. There’s times you have to lead and sometimes, you have to follow.
I think that mentoring process happens at all levels. The greatest compliment I always get at the end of the summer is when a parent says to me, especially a mother said, “Thank you for taking my Velcro away because my kid came home more confident, more bolder, stronger, and freer, and I love the fact that he keeps his room so impeccably neat.” Unfortunately, only lasted a couple of weeks, but as long as people can continue that pattern and know that those ideals have been introduced, this is a partnership in parenting. That’s what camp is. We are given a unique opportunity to just make a little difference not just for that camper but for the family fabric.
Dr. Lisa: That’s an interesting point. The Velcro, when you use the word Velcro, I thought of the term of helicopter parent. The sort of helicoptering that parents have been noted to do, I guess, increasingly over the last ten years with their college students. Somehow the children were the most important thing that these parents have ever done, the children leave, and the parents want to go after them.
Richard: Right. They want to relive the experience, I guess. I don’t know. Unfortunately, I never grew up in that kind of environment and I think because I had been a camper for so long and a counselor, and had that sense of young independence, and that confidence that you continue to build early on. I never personally experienced that but when I see families today I think that’s when they need camp more than ever.
It’s like everyone’s going to have their own journey. Everyone is going to have to write their own book, and there’s got to be a point where you have to give people their … Show them the roots and know that you’re an important part of it but you got to more importantly introduce them to wings, and let them fly. That’s what we try to do. Just let them fly and let them know that they’re going to fly, and soar, and they’re going to fall down, but we’ll help them get back up. That’s part of the whole journey.
Dr. Lisa: I am going to read a paragraph from this article by Jaed Coffin, and the article is entitled To Help the Other Fellow which sounds like it is one of the mottos of Camp Birch Rock.
Swim, Neutron, swim. It’s a sunny midmorning down at the waterfront at Birch Rock Camp, and Nate, 15, of Scarborough – nickname: “Neutron” – has been swimming the five-mile circumference of Lake McWain for about two and a half hours. Two counselors in a small white dinghy row quietly behind him while 85 boys wearing tucked-in maroon camp shirts cheer him on from floats.
That’s quite a picture. You’ve got a kid doing something that I know I’ve never done, and you’ve got an entire camp behind these efforts. Is this another thing that camps have to offer is this just unwavering support that perhaps fits that we might not attempt in everyday life?
Richard: I would hope so. Certainly, in case of Birch Rock and I think all the camps do to some former fashion. What Neutron did in that article and they captured so pointedly was that here’s a boy who has been at camp for six or seven years. He’s progressed every year. He has grown every year mentally, physically, spiritually, and here is the cojones of his last summer and he’s going to swim the whole circumference of the lake.
He is getting down there. He is getting all greased up. He is feeling good. He’s got a big breakfast, big carve of breakfast in the morning. The lead boats going out in front of him, and here he goes. He is feeling like this is going to be a swim of a lifetime. Whether he’s a swimmer or not is irrelevant point. It’s the mental journey, and the physical pursuit of I am going around the whole circumference of the lake. All the neighbors on the lake know. They are ringing the cow bells. They are cheering him on.
At the very end, when it comes to the other end, the whole camp is descending down to the waterfront, yelling, screaming, cheering, and really saying to Neutron, he’s done it. You’ve captured everything you’ve wanted to do in the biggest feet, and now, you’re a whale. Now, you graduated into society. To him, it’s that passage. Now, I finished my camper time. Now, I’ve gone on to be that next leader.
I think that and these couple of different other variations in any other kind of sport activity, but whatever the form or fashion is, I think building that confidence booster is what camp is about. It’s being the biggest cheerlead and being the biggest advocate.
Dr. Lisa: I know that people after hearing our conversation are going to want to learn more about Camp Birch Rock. Obviously, they can go to Maine Magazine article from January of 2013 but you also, I’m sure, have a website.
Richard: I do, BirchRock.org. www.BirchRock.org.
Dr. Lisa: I know that my experience with Camp Huckins is that camps fill out pretty quickly, so if you’re going to want to do camp experiences, you might be planning further in advance than you realize you’re going to need to.
Richard: That’s right, Lisa. I think we’re seeing that and having them the former presence of all the Maine camps. We’re seeing at every resurgent’s of camps, and all of those. Not just residential camps, private camps, camps that are church-sponsored camps, day camps, programs. I think there is a real sense of purpose that we want kids to be engaged and we want kids to feel good and have different experiences. The whole education school year should be year-long, not just in the schools but in the summer recreational programs.
Maine is one of the greatest forms to do that. The best time to look at camps really is for the next year is to visit these camps now. We always encourage people interested in Birch Rock or any camp, come visit us while we’re in action. That’s when you want to see it. You want to see the stars, you want to see the counselors, you want to see what it’s really all about, but get on the sites, talk to the directors, find out what makes them tick, what makes them sparkle because it’s got to feel right. We’re fortunate that most these camps are seeing good enrollment for this coming summer, so we hope that continues.
Dr. Lisa: Not every camp is right for every camper or every family.
Richard: Not at all. Not at all. In fact, there is a number of kids that come that we talk to or families we talk to, and that is the greatest gift as well. What we can do is help them and point them into the right direction because every one’s need is different. If we have an opportunity to talk to people, and their family, and their camper or campers, sometimes we can say, “We might not be the right fit for you but there is a program out there and there is hundreds and hundreds of programs out there.”
Dr. Lisa: We’ve been speaking with Rich Deering, alumni and Community Director at Birch Rock Camp. Also, a former camper at Birch Rock Camp and so many other roles. We really appreciate the time that you spent with this multiple generations of young men from the State of Maine, and also really around the world. Thanks a lot for all the work you’re doing.
Richard: Thanks, Lisa. Great to talk with you. It’s always fun to talk about camp in Maine and Birch Rock.
Dr. Lisa: As a physician and small business owner, I rely on Marci Booth from Booth Maine to help me with my own business and to help me live my own life fully. Here are a few thoughts from Marci.
Marci: When was the last time you took a break from what you were doing, from the work that was piled up on your desk, and just look up? I know that during the course of my days, I often forget to take a moment or two to just breathe, look up at the sky and dream. Terrible that I have to remind myself to breath but when I do, I feel energized because in those moments, I am able to let go of the daily grind and think more about what I want to accomplish, how I want my business to grow.
Sometimes those are aha moments. If we all took a few moments out each day to stop what we are doing, and dream a little about our business futures, not only would we feel a great sense of calm but we may come to realize that these dreams can in fact come true.
I am Marci Booth. Let’s talk about the changes you need. BoothMaine.com.
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Dr. Lisa: Summer camp season is soon upon us and today, we have with us Garth Altenburg. Garth Altenburg is the Boys Camp Director at Camp Chewonki. He began at Camp Chewonki in 1988 when he was 15. After serving as counselor, trip leader, and assistant director, in 2005, he became the director. Garth served as the President of the Maine Summer Camps Board from 2009 to 2013.
He and his wife, Heather, have three children: William, Benjamin, and Phoebe. Will and Ben are currently Camp Chewonki campers, and from what I understand, Phoebe is going to be going to summer camp as well. Is that not true?
Garth: That is right. Her first summer this year. She’ll be eight. We’re very excited for her.
Dr. Lisa: Thanks for coming in and talking to us about summer camps, Garth.
Garth: Certainly. It’s a pleasure.
Dr. Lisa: Garth, you’ve been with Camp Chewonki for a very long time. What got you interested in the first place?
Garth: It’s sort of a roundabout story. The town I grew up in Cape Elizabeth sends their sixth grade to Chewonki for a week of environmental education each spring. They started that tradition in the sixth grade when I was in seventh grade, so I missed it by a year. I am certainly familiar with the Chewonki Program from my younger siblings who went, and there were some people in my neighborhood who were strong advocates for the program.
My summers were spent delivering newspapers, and mowing lawns, and earn a little extra money, and I was attending a two-week camp over in New Hampshire each year when I was 11, 12, and 13. I was familiar with camps and enjoyed the experience but didn’t necessarily loved it. Someone in my neighborhood ran the camp where my daughter will be going this summer, and they had a seven-week coed backpacking expedition on the Appalachian Trail which I did when I was 14.
It changed my world. It really did. It opened up the whole new experience for me. That journey from Mt. Katahdin to Mt. Washington over those seven weeks. To this day, it stands out as one of the most pivotal experiences in my life both for the journey itself, but also for the developmental growth that I experienced. I was about to enter high school. It was a coed trip, and it was just such a powerful experience to have that peers, my peer group on that trip be a coed group and the girls be just as strong friends for me as the boys in that group. We were all carrying heavy packs. We’re all hiking the same miles every day.
It’s just a really informative and powerful experience for me. I really, really enjoyed that and I went to the directors of the camp and said, “I’d like a similar experience. What else would you recommend?” They said, “How about Chewonki?” Again, I was familiar with Chewonki through the schools, through the Cape School Program, and ended up going on a five-week canoe expedition off to Northern Quebec when I was 15. We had a Cree American, Native American guide with us.
That was just, again, another fantastic journey. Both the adventure, sense of adventure in its own right was powerful. The sense of leaving my home community to go see the world and as to go see the world was powerful, and then the group dynamic. Again, people that I am still friends with to this day because of the journey we experienced in Northern Quebec now or 25 years ago.
That experience led me to work at Chewonki the next summer as a young junior counselor, as a 16-year-old, and it was through my work as a counselor through many, many summers where I realized I really enjoy working with children. That led me to become an education major in college. Right out of college, I taught middle school here in Maine for ten years, but all the time I stayed involved with camping.
Most summers returning to Chewonki in some leadership capacity and continued to grow that leadership over the years until in 2005, my predecessor stepped aside and I stepped in as the director. I just saw that as the opportunity of a lifetime, and that’s something that sure to my own parents, Chewonki has been probably the most significant developmental opportunity in my life. It just has really influenced who I am, and how I look at the world, and how I raise my own children. It’s just an honor to be working there today and carrying on the tradition.
Dr. Lisa: Tell me about some of the ways on which you’ve been shaped by Chewonki, the way that you look at the world and the way that you raise your children.
Garth: There is an inherent goodness in all of us, and I think camping really helps bring that out for each child. There are high expectations for camps today, and there are many, many, many competing opportunities for children and for their summertime. We have a large responsibility at a camp but when I raise my children, it’s with the goal in mind that they have a passion for life, that they develop or continually develop independence, and that’s a long progression through raising children, and that they are contributing members to society in some way.
I think of my parenting as being one pillar in that development for them. I think of their time at school as being another pillar in that development for them, but the real essential piece, I think, is the time at camp and the independence they have to be away from the watchful caring eyes of their parents so they can really make their own choices and experiences success and challenges away from the safety net of their parents, but that took a little while to develop and realize both as a parent but also as a teacher, as a camp counselor myself.
Dr. Lisa: Many people start sending their children to camp when they’re very young, and I know you’re going to be sending your daughter to camp and she’s fairly young. In your case though, as you said, you were delivering papers and you were mowing lawns, and you were already developing a sense of independence. Is this something that your parents thought was important prior to you even beginning camp?
Garth: Yeah. I should ask them why they chose that for my siblings and I because we all went to camp. It necessarily wasn’t in my parents’ background that I am aware of but I think they did think broadly for us, and I think they had high goals for us. They were professionals. They were working hard all summer, and I think they saw it as a way for us to really gain some independence, to gain some friends with a different perspective from the cocoon of Southern Maine that we were living in, and just to have some really, really wonderful, powerful experiences with new friends, new places, and new skills.
They worked hard to make it happen, to sacrifice for that but I think again, they knew and this is what I share with our parents as well. It really is a gift that we can give our children that we can’t provide for them directly as parents in our day-to-day lives. Our children are going to react a certain way to us because we’re their parents, we’re always there for them.
I love being a fly in the wall and watching my boys at camp interact with their peers, interact with their counselors in a very different way than they do at home with us. Their confidence is growing daily. Their ability to cope and adjust is growing daily because they’re stepping out in their comfort zone. Something that is very familiar to them now but they are stepping out of their comfort zone.
Dr. Lisa: Tell me about Camp Chewonki. What is it about Camp Chewonki that is special and as you’ve eluded to, sending, getting people from all over the state, getting students from all over the state to be involved in environmental education programs at the middle school level?
Garth: One of the exciting things is that we have campers and students from all over the world. About 10% of our camp population is global. My son’s best friend is from Barcelona, Spain, and they are trading letters all winter long. That’s a neat little byproduct. He’s developing literacy and letter writing with his friend from Barcelona.
Having served as the Board and President of Maine Summer Camps, I get to see so many different camps and they all have their unique culture and element to it. I think, Chewonki has managed to stay special and really one of a kind simply because we’re very authentic in getting kids to make their own fun, they use their own hands to do what they can. We don’t bring in a lot of outside entertainment. We don’t bring in a lot of fabricated fun. We really are doing it in our own way.
Most camps are going to say that they are hoping children grow. They grow uniquely and individually while they are at camp because they are challenged, that they develop a sense of community and appreciation for that community, and that’s certainly what we’re striving for at Chewonki. I think that something that’s very different at Chewonki than most of the other camps is really our focus on the natural world and the outdoors, and getting kids really excited about that.
My children, despite my best efforts, are plugged in most of the year but they come to Chewonki and they leave those devices at home. They’re happy to because Chewonki is a huge community. It’s a huge playground for them. It’s a huge old-fashioned neighborhood where everybody comes out of their front door and is interacting with each other in a real community way. We have a fully organic farm that the kids get involve with, and every summer, I see a handful of boys just really gravitate towards this farm as their place where they are just so comfortable.
Often times, they are urban boys. They live in the city, and this is the piece up there, the quiet, and there is the stillness and the rhythms of the farm life I think really resonates in a unique way for them. They’re getting up early in the morning on their own accord to help with farm chores be it milking a cow, or weeding the gardens, or feeding the animals.
We also offer early morning bird walks. Boys are choosing to get out of bed, again, at the crack of dawn. They go out and look for birds with binoculars. Part of that is because we have really enthusiastic teachers but part of it is they know there is something bigger going on in the world around them. We’ve been closed off to it because we’ve built up a busy life with devices but they know in their hearts, there are some really cool things going on around them. The first sighting of an osprey diving for a fish just ignites something within them.
We have really good teachers getting kids excited about the outdoors in a real hands-on way. That’s what, I think, helps Chewonki distinguish itself from all the many, many fine camps that are out there. Getting kids in the outdoors, learning to do things in a hands-on way, developing a passion for the wilderness and the natural world through some really gifted teachers.
Because we operate 12 months out of the year, we are develop some expertise in these areas, expertise in our teachings at the farm. Expertise in our teachings about the natural world, expertise in how we live and travel throughout the wilderness, ways to be good to the wilderness while we travel, to leave no trace in our camping and in our travels, but at the same time, be really skilled and comfortable in the wilderness, and kids will come home from their time in the wilderness and share this with their families, and they are always impressed.
I think that’s another unique and distinguishing characteristic of what we do. Every child who is with us in the summertime goes on some type of wilderness journey or expedition. Even our very youngest campers, eight years old, with us for ten days, they are going to spend a night out in the tent in the woods cooking over a campfire and a tent that they set up with their peers, and a meal they help prepare with our counselors. They have some type of wilderness travel, some type of wilderness journey, backpacking out to their campsite or canoeing around the peninsula.
Again, it’s that sense of they’re part of a larger world and they can interact with it, and hopefully develop a sense of appreciation and stewardship for this world. That is something that we need to be cultivating in our present generation for the future. I think that is something we’re doing really well at Chewonki.
Dr. Lisa: Define stewardship for me. This is a word that I am familiar with but I am not sure if everybody who is listening might know.
Garth: We have one planet. We have one earth, and we need to take care of it. Stewardship really is, if not outright preserving the land, thinking about the best ways to treat it, care for it, and be thoughtful about your impact upon the land. Sometimes, it might be through direct conservation means. Other times, it might be through education, just about how to be good owners and caretakers, stewards of our planet if you will, or own community. Really developing a sense of we have one planet and let’s do our part to take good care of it whether it’s immediately in our own backyard or through larger conservation and education movements.
Dr. Lisa: You chose to be a middle school teacher. What was your subject?
Garth: I taught seventh grade Pre-Algebra and eighth grade American History. Partly through the approach that middle school teachers need to be able to jump into a couple of different disciplines that sort of fit with the middle school model and that was really fun to be able to teach two very different disciplines.
The middle school model was really to connect with the whole child at that point and their development over time, and that really entice closely in the camp, as well as you’re really interested in not having the child specialize in one specific activity although if they are interested in woodworking, or want to become an exceptional sailor, or really want to develop their archery skills, yes, we want that to happen with quality instruction but at camp, we want our campers to experience so many things from technical activities, skill, and growth, and accomplishment.
Again, becoming a strong sailor is a lifetime skill and passion that can be learned at camp but we also want the character development to be there, and the ability to interact with a wide range, wide variety of people, to develop independence and confidence. Those similar goals that most middle schools have for their students are very similar to the goals we have at camp.
The difference being is most of our campers aren’t going home at the end of day of camp. They’re living and interacting with camp peers all day long. They really need to function as a team. You can’t close the door to their bedroom and shut off the world outside. They really need to function together and interact with a sense of respect for one another, and fellowship, and camaraderie, and support.
Dr. Lisa: The goal of the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour is to help make connections between the health of the individual and the health of the community. The goal of ted Carter Inspired Landscape is to deepen our appreciation for the natural world. Here to speak with us today is Ted Carter.
Ted: I’ve had the good fortune of working to some degree with the Lakota Indians, and I am always amazed of the Native American teachings and the power of intention. I did a ceremony with them, a Yuwipi Ceremony actually, and we all had to bring 500 prayer ties to the ceremony. As we did, each prayer ties stuffed with tobacco. We would say Tunkashila Mitakuye Oyasin. Tunkashila means creator and Mitakuye Oyasin means all my relations.
What I find striking about the Native American teaching is that all is one, it’s very first chakra. It’s very much about connection and connection to each other. In their teachings, they feel that the creator is the creator or the God force, and the grandmother is the earth. We all have the same father and we all have the same mother.
I think that is something very important to realize that we are all connected, and when tragedy strikes or when something happens, sometimes, we can feel that and we know something is up we can’t quite put our hand on it but knowing this and understanding how the earth works with these subtle energies and this form of connection between the great creator and the mother makes us feel like we’re not so all alone in the world, and at times when we’re despondent or having trouble, it’s important that we honor the earth and move out into nature, and her speak to us. She will comfort us and take good care of us.
I am Ted Carter. If you’d like to contact me, I can be reached at TedCarterDesign.com.
Dr. Lisa: The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast understands the importance of the health of the body, mind, and spirit. Here to talk about the health of the body is Travis Beaulieu of Premier Sports, a division of Black Bear Medical.
Travis: Recovery, that moment after a long grueling run when you realize you might just be sore in all the wrong places. We dread taking the time but we know if we don’t, sore pulled muscles will lead to potential injuries that keep you on the sideline.
Beyond stretching, try a few of these tips. Roll it out. It’s a love-hate relationship but those form rollers sure do work. Spend some time with them. They not only lengthen your muscles but give them an intense massage while increasing blood flow and flexibility to limit soreness and tightness.
Can anyone say IT Band? Tape it up. Can you see how this tape helps improve circulation by increasing the flow of bodily fluids to your muscles, and provide some stability to the muscle while keeping you flexible? Once applied, it will endure three to five days of activity and yes, that includes sweat and showering. It is especially useful for shin splints, IT bands, plantar fasciitis, and knee issues.
Knock your socks on. Athletic compression socks help with performance and recovery giving you the benefits of medical compression while still appeasing the fashion police. These socks are designed to reduce muscle soreness and fatigue by increasing blood flow and decreasing lactic acid buildup.
Give the cold shoulder, ice, that pesky three-letter word. We all know 20 minutes seems like a lifetime but try using body contouring icepacks made for specific body parts as they allow form ability and optimal penetration to the troubled area.
Visit BlackBearMedical.com or our retail stores in Portland and Bangor for more tips and tricks, keep you injury-free and active in the game of life.
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Dr. Lisa: It’s interesting to me that relationships end up being such a critical part of being human, and yet, it’s something we don’t get a lot of instruction in and has been changed, it has been altered in some way by our connectivity. I am not saying in a bad way. We have social media now so we’re connected in some ways but another ways, we’re less connected, but still the value of teaching relationships is something that I am not sure everybody recognizes.
Garth: Yeah, and camp really provides the opportunities for those relationships to develop deeply and significantly. Most of our campers at Chewonki are coming for three weeks, and over that course of the three weeks, the intensity that they’ll have with their cabin group, their peers, the eight other boys who are sharing their cabin with them and their two counselors is significant.
They are traveling on a wilderness journey together so they’re in a group every day. They are preparing meals. They are setting up camp. They are setting up a tent site. They really need to function closely and intensely as a team, and then there is nothing like sitting around a campfire at the end of the day for opening up and for reflecting and for sharing. What might be a highlight of the day for one boy might be a challenge for another boy. The thrilling ascend of the peak could be the highlight of the day for one boy and could be the great fear-inducing challenge for another boy who had to work really hard to overcome.
There is a real opportunity for depth in those relationships. It’s just not superficial because you’re living so closely and you’re living in such an intense setting. You have to be pretty true to yourself and I can’t think of many other situations that really require that full authenticity all the time. You really have to be willing to be your true self and accept others for their true selves, and then work with that. You have to. That is just the dynamic of camp. Great things can happen with that, great bonding and great closeness can develop.
It’s really fun having been in this role for a while. Now, I am getting invited to former campers’ weddings and just to see who is involved still in their life, it’s all their camp friends, and I think that says something pretty powerful about the experience.
Dr. Lisa: Were you called be fully authentic in a way that maybe you hadn’t needed to be in other adult roles?
Garth: Yeah, I really have to be both for the campers, a large part of my work from September to June is building trust and relationships with our camp families. They are counting on me to be there for their children, and the campers are counting on me to be there for them in June, July, and August. I need to be very present. I can’t be thinking about back office, camp business-related issues. I need to be there for them. I need to be in tune who is missing home or who is struggling and adjusting.
I think the development of that skill to be a camp director, and also to be a teacher, and to be a parent just came through years of living it at camp in my adolescence both as a camper and then as a counselor myself. You just have to who you are. If you have people who are encouraging you to be yourself and welcoming of that, it’s easier to be yourself. It emerges more.
At camp, you can step out of who people think you may be at home and who they think they know you as, and you can come and really be yourself. That’s very powerful for kids to feel that comfort and acceptance, and all the while having just a ton of fun. Yeah, it really requires full presence and authenticity.
Dr. Lisa: Where do you see Chewonki going in the future? I am sure that it’s had to evolve over the years and as with anything as probably seen some changes and we’ll see some changes. Where would Chewonki go?
Garth: It’s funny. I think the gap between life at home and life at Chewonki has widened over the past 20 years significantly. Not because Chewonki has changed tremendously but I think life at home for our children has really changed tremendously. We need to continue to evolve and make sure the world knows of our value. I actually think the value of what we’re doing at Chewonki is more significant than ever because of the changes in home life, because our children, our campers are not interacting with each other in the natural world as much as they used to in a real authentic way.
There are so many wonderful benefits to life today. I think kids get some really fantastic opportunities but I also think more than ever, they really need what we have to offer. That is going to be our challenge. In 2015, we’ll be celebrating our Centennial. A 100 years of Chewonki. As we look forward to the next 100 years, the world will need strong leaders who can interact with a lot of variety of individuals, who have an appreciation for the natural world. I think that is absolutely critical. They are going to learn that through Chewonki.
I think we’re well positioned. I think we’re very well positioned to provide for the youth for the next 100 years. I can’t think of a professional setting as an adult where you can exist without some significant team player skills. Every company, every corporation, every small business needs team-oriented problem-solving people and that’s what we’re cultivating at camp, but again, this world needs good stewards. People who are really being thoughtful about taking care of it.
Chewonki inspires a passion for the world. It helps open up doors for people. It helps people see the world as a really lively, vibrant place that needs our true interaction with it, our true caring for all inhabitants of the world, and all species, and each other. Our mission is vibrant and strong. I think we’re ready to serve the world for the next 100 years and beyond. It’s an exciting time.
Dr. Lisa: Garth, how do people find out about Camp Chewonki?
Garth: Sure. Perhaps the easiest way is visiting us on the internet and we view that as a portal to a great experience. Our website, our web address is Chewonki.org. Then, of course, just word of mouth referral. It’s really fun talking to people who know of Chewonki and have some experience. Ask your neighbor, ask your colleague, ask your friends. There is probably someone out there who knows us, and speaks highly of us. There are alumni and our friends are such a treasured resource for us as well.
Dr. Lisa: We’ve been speaking with Garth Altenburg who is a Camp Director at Camp Chewonki. We appreciate your spending time with us today, talking about Camp Chewonki, and also, I really appreciate the work you’re doing with bringing high quality people into the world.
Garth: Thanks so much. It’s been a pleasure. I can’t wait for summer.
Dr. Lisa: You’ve been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, show number 134, Summer Camps. Our guests have included Richard Deering and Garth Alternburg. For more information on our guests and extended interviews, visit DoctorLisa.org. The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is downloadable for free on iTunes. For a preview of this week’s show, sign up for our e-newsletter and like our Dr. Lisa Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter and as bountiful one on Instagram.
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Recording: The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is made possible with the support of the following generous sponsors: Maine Magazine, Marci Booth of Booth Maine, Apothecary by Design, Premier Sports Health, a division of Black Bear Medical, Mike LaPage and Beth Franklin of ReMax Heritage, Ted Carter Inspired Landscapes, Tom Shepard of Shepard Financial, Dream Kitchens Studios, Harding Lee Smith of The Rooms, and Bangor Savings Bank.
The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is recorded in the studio of Maine Magazine at 75 Market Street, Portland, Maine. Our executive Producers are Kevin Thomas, Susan Grisanti, and Dr. Lisa Belisle. Our Assistant Producer is Leanne Ouimet. Audio production and original music by John C. McCain. Our online producer is Kelly Clinton. The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is available for download free on iTunes. See the Dr. Lisa website or Facebook page for details.