I have been asked to speak to a community group next week on the history of summer camps in Transylvania County. Of course, having grown up in this business, I know many of the key players from the past 50 years. Given my level of involvement in my community, I am often asked to speak to the importance of camps for various meetings. However, I have not ever done a deep dive into the collective history of camps in the county. After a couple of hours in the history room of our county library, I came away with a renewed sense of the importance of summer camps. What a legacy for our county and for the many thousands of campers who have come through our doors since the early 1900’s.
We will close our four-week session on Friday. When the summer begins, the idea of a nine-week season seems daunting. However, when we get to the end of each session, it seems that the time has flown by. We are able to compress so much impactful living into such a short period of time.
I love camp! I take a lot of pride in the world we have created at Keystone. Good leadership is absolutely essential in success, but camp leadership is not in isolation. It is a group effort. Being a community means that we are constantly evolving. No two summers are the same. There are always new people to be brought into the group, new situations to address, new programs or activities to try. Each person makes a contribution to the life of our community and helps us put shape to who we are. If we are not dynamic and responsive, we will not survive. Gone are the days of dramatic poetry reading and flower arranging. We are now rock climbing and kayaking. I wonder what might be next? At nearly 62, I look to our new leadership to make those decisions.
Perhaps the secret of living well is not in having all the answers but in pursuing unanswerable questions in good company.
I am proud of being a wife and a mother, but those roles involve a partnership with my husband (a very patient, tolerant, and loving person who was often the only man in the dining hall). What we achieve as individuals is also important. When I look back at my 41 summers at Keystone, I realize how much my identity was defined by my role at camp. When I became a local elected official, I learned I had other ways I could be defined.
Camp is a complex operation. You run your own water system, your own restaurant, your own repair operation, your own horse farm, your own hotel, etc. I tallied things up recently: a physical plant of 125 acres, 31 buildings, 49 showers, 70 toilets, and 85 sinks. Absolutely nothing could go wrong, right? How I remember the days of a dozen horses running loose down the public road and through a neighbor’s newly planted garden. Those were the days.
Too often, there is a temptation to hang on too long because we fear we might become irrelevant. Others worry too much about leaving a legacy. In some ways, I would like to be irrelevant…for just a while! My father, Keystone’s Director from 1960-1987, always used to say that the day he was no longer able to carry on an intellectual conversation with an 8 year old was the sign he needed to retire. I still enjoy intellectual conversations with 8 year olds! It would be fun to have the time to have more of those and not carry the responsibility for the day-to-day health and well-being of over 230 souls. I come down the hill each morning to see the campers starting their activity day. I love the sounds of conversations, hearing the counselors teaching the girls a new skill, and the constant hum of camp. Even at midnight, there are sounds to be relished. I love greeting the girls when I walk across to and fro. My joy comes from their joy, and their joy is the legacy of Keystone.
