Summer of the All-Stars!
Happy New Year! Like many, besides one more day to play, to watch football and to lounge around, the new year brings visions of a better version of myself into semi-focus. I'm a big picture person and love nothing more than to think of the possibilities that exist with whatever catches my interest. This serves camp well, and luckily we have other detail-oriented folks to help bring all of our collective ideas to fruition. Each summer brings about a new opportunity to make it the "Best Summer Ever," and I have always used the new year as a benchmark to start the countdown to the best time of year...summer in the Heavenly World. As winter takes its deepest hold on our mountain community, the thought of a new generation of Illahee girls beginning their love affair with camp warms all of our hearts.
We have dubbed the coming summer the "Summer of the All-Stars." We are in an all-out effort to make sure that we get the very best and brightest staff and counselors back...because that is really what makes camp special when you add all of our great campers! It is working too...it seems that everyone knows that the place to be is Illahee during the summer of 09! We have heard from Carol S., who will return to help out Laurie, Kris, Gretchen and me when she finishes teaching 5th grade in Chapel Hill. Maria Nelson will join our year round team in a few weeks to take over Carol's role as office guru. Maria was our Arts and Crafts director last summer and comes to us from the public school system. We have also heard from Molly Christman, Toya, Tennis Dave, Elizabeth Eiland, Kwynn Kirkhuff, Maddie Hargis, Bri Ambrosic, Kat Costello, Laura Bennett, Elizabeth King, Jamie Knapp, Kim Manek, Carly Steele, Catherine Babcock, and loads of others.
We are also thrilled to welcome back Jeremy "Soup" Campbell, who will help coordinate our adventure programs this summer. Soup has worked at camp in Trips Kayaking as far back as the late nineties, and will join our leadership team in overseeing Trips Climbing, kayaking and the ropes course. It's truly going to be the Best Summer Ever, and one you won't want to miss!
Keep checking back for more news. We can't wait to see your excited face as we welcome you back to the Heavenly World in the summer of 09!
I love to wake up to an unexpected snow. One of my favorite poems is Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, and it's hard to go out in camp during a snow without thinking about it. It has been pretty chilly at camp. We have been stoking the woodstove during the night so that we don't wake up to frosty breath the next morning. Winter is another beautiful season in our neck of the woods. We are truly blessed to be able to be in the Heavenly World year round. My favorite season, though, is when camp is full of excited Illahee girls.
We are pleased to announce the addition of Maria Nelson to our year round team. Maria comes to us from the Transylvania (our county) school system where she has taught the last five years. Many campers will remember her as last summer's Arts and Crafts head. Maria will add a great deal to our team as we strive to continue to make Illahee the best girl's camp around!
