Activities

Another favorite camp memory that lives on is the camp songs. I have sung them to my kids when they were babies … and still sing to them to wake them up in the morning ("Good morning to You!"). Last summer my daughter went to camp for the first time (at age 6). She had a great time and is looking forward to going again this summer. She sings camp songs almost daily (I'm ready for her to learn a few new ones other than "Boom Boom, Ain't it Great to be Crazy?" and "I Wish I Were a Little Bar of Soap")!

The experiences at camp gave me a confidence and feeling of accomplishment. First, just being able to take care of myself away from home (with the counselors help, or course) allowed me my first feelings of independence. Being able to try different activities in a non-threatening environment — things I probably never would have tried at home — was a great way of discovering who I was. Then, later on having the responsibility of caring for children by being a big sis to a younger camper and then CIT, gave me a life-long heart for children. Enough so I became a registered nurse working in the pediatric intensive care. I don't believe I would be the person I am today without those many experiences at camp.

This was my very first camp I ever went to and let me tell you it was the best! I only wish I had found out about it earlier so I could have spent more than just one year there. Y'all are an amazing camp and I hope you keep running for another 50 years.

I loved RRR from the second I saw it. The smell of the cedar trees sure was heaven compared to the pollution of Dallas. I only got to stay for two weeks that first summer, which was way too short a time. I rode the horses, shot up targets, and made stuff in the crafts hut. I know I made it down to the river a few times. It was the year that I got my red tie in the horseback department and I was sooooo proud! I got to stand in front of the campfire while the campers all went berserk over my accomplishment. I feel so lucky to have the memories that I do and those are of RRR. I don't remember much about my childhood, but I remember everything about RRR and how much I loved going there every summer. It was heaven on earth.

I am grateful for the girls that Skeet, Sandy and Rue had as our counselors because of the character and leadership they taught me. I love them all. Many are my friends still and I cannot wait to see them again year after year. We are all grown, some mothers now, some in interesting careers, but all of us sharing one special thing in common -- outside of careers, husbands, family and schooling -- the RRR Spirit that endures in our everyday life.

I would definitely not be the person I am today without the experience of camp. I remember being 7 years old and so excited about my first camp experience. I don't think I slept the entire night before leaving. When I arrived at camp it was the most wonderful place I had ever seen. Rue was my first counselor and she took the time to show me around and introduced me to the other girls. I was scared at first, but it did not last long. By the end of the first night camp already felt like a second home. By the end of my first two weeks I did not want to leave. Rocky River was a part of my life forever. In the end what I took away from camp was friendship, love, respect and confidence.