Edited June 5, 2008

Spruce Twigs

I have heard from several of you and also from a few CITs that they would like to work with the Twigs this summer. I am excited to hear that there is interest. I know last summer our newspaper was amazing. It was fun.

This summer, you are a new and different group. I know Caitlin Gager is possibly interested in sparking inspiration for the Twigs. If we work together, it will be another awesome piece of our history.

Barn Organization

As you know, we are always in need of helpers in the barn. Lizzie Briggs returns as our barn manager again. Lorie Kibler will be in and out as well. Jennifer Metz has agreed to assist Lizzie, and I'm sure there will be others of you who may offer Lizzie your organizational skills. If so, great! Just speak up and let us know if you are interested. That the load of feedings, stalls, and tacking up won't be totally on the shoulders of one or two people.

Ideas from Campers

As campers return to camp this summer, I am sending them a kind of evaluation form from camp last summer. What I want to know from them is how they would like to change camp this year, what programs they liked and want to see continued, and whether they have new ideas for things to do this summer.

The response has been interesting and positive. I've received wonderful feedback, good ideas for things to add this summer, and enthusiasm for the spirit we share.

Opening Ceremony

Counselors usually supervise the Opening Ceremonies. This is your chance to make a statement about what kind of leadership you are going to offer your campers.

Since our theme is SHREK, we need to brainstorm about how we can pull that into the Opening Ceremony. You're going to have to help me be creative here because although I've seen the SHREK movies, I'm not versed enough in them to advise you on how to use the theme    in the Opening Ceremony.

Music

Always I am looking for upbeat songs to use in the DVDs. As you know, I value your input on what you like. My preference is for music with a positive theme or message. If you have ideas about this, please communicate with me. These are the days when we can start collecting songs. Do the SHREK movies have songs that could be used?

Horses

We are looking everywhere for horses, especially those that can come in here and then go home at the end of camp. Because of the economy, we are finding free horses that need groceries. Some are sound, some are not. That means we cannot always keep them because I have to have sound horses.

If you know anyone who would like to send their horse to camp, let me know. I'm glad to talk with them about the free lease program we offer.

July 4th Drill Team

We usually put together a wonderful drill team for the 4th. I am curious now about whether we could start thinking and planning a routine prior to camp's start. That way we would hit the ground running and be ready for the 4th with the stress of designing the actual drill out of our way.

Riding Instructor Information

You may be interested to know that Bradley, Julie Batelli, Tarrah Phelan, Jaime, me, Jill Fisher, Raven and Alison will make up the riding staff this summer. Even Emily Krempholtz has offered to come do some lessons a few days a week. We all love teaching and will share the teaching load, offering as always quality instruction.

It is our hope that some of you will want to teach as well, and we will mentor you the whole way. Just make sure to speak up as we go so you feel as though you are getting the support you need.

Jaime's Page: This is a MUST READ

Jaime has sent me new information for each of you to read. Instead of squeezing it into this page, I have added another page for you. Click on the little dancing horse. It is aimed at the riding program and where you want to fit as riding instructors or barn managers, teachers or assistants. It actually expands and builds on the questions I asked in the paragraph above.

We are working hard to refine the riding program from an instructor's point of view. That way we are teaching with a consistent Sprucelands style, and we are giving each other ongoing feedback, training. At the same time, work is shared and no one ends up feeling angry or abused. We want this to be a positive experience so you end up wanting to continue your enthusiasm for teaching.

Counselor Dialogues

First time Counselors: What I would like you to do is list three specific goals that you want to accomplish this summer. Then list what your plan is for accomplishing your goals and how you will know when you reach them. Finally, let me know what I can do to enable you in the process of reaching those goals.

Returning Counselors: Let me know what you are going to do this summer to make your job different. So that you are challenged to become stronger leaders, I want to know what piece of your Counselor role you are going to change, having experimented with the role last summer. Will you run your cabin differently? Will you participate in the program differently? Think about this if you haven't already and let's use this as a starting point  for our dialogues.

Cabin Names

I think we're going to stick with the cabin names from last summer. It took us so long to get used to them that it makes sense to stick with what we have.

Rabbit's - Thunder's Thicket; Tigger's - Heather's Hot Spot; Kanga's - Honey's Hutch; Schroeder's - Josie's Journey; Marcie's - Midnight's Magic; Lucy's - Dolly's Dollhouse; Cats - Chester's Chase; Thidwicks - Lucky's Charm

We can be creative about what to call Hagrid's Hutch. Sue Krempholtz suggested The Swamp!