From camp’s earliest years, Merrie-Woode has been built around the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. As our founder, Dammie Day, was from British heritage, she chose to set the narrative of camp around these old English tales of chivalry and high ideals. You will find many references to Arthurian legend at camp, whether it is in names of camp buildings, stories told, or special traditional programming at Merrie-Woode.
Every Sunday night, we gather as a community around our weekly campfire. This is a time to sing together, tell stories, and reflect on our week. The torch brought in to light the campfire at the beginning of each session symbolizes the Spirit of Merrie-Woode. At our closing campfire, that torch is brought out and extinguished in the lake for the Spirit of Merrie-Woode to remain safe over the long winter.
At the end of each session, we present the traditional camp pageant of Follow the Gleam. The drama of King Arthur and his knights’ search for the Holy Grail is reenacted in our Chapel area. Afterwards, campers receive a lit candle and walk down the cabin line to the swimming docks where the candles are floated out on the lake, signifying the Merrie-Woode spirit in all of us going back out into the world. The high ideals of King Arthur, set in place by Dammie Day, live on at Merrie-Woode. More lasting than athletic skills or artistic pursuits, are these ideals that the campers take home. They learn that, because they have been given so much, much is expected of them in terms of useful lives dedicated to serving others.
Merrie-Woode is a community where each camper is valued for who she is and where the majestic beauty of the surrounding mountains makes her keenly aware of God’s presence. The symbol of light pervades our camp tradition. It is our hope that each camper will carry that light with her, recognizing her unique talents and capacity for learning, possessing the desire to serve the ever-widening world in which she will grow into adulthood.
“Aye, Sir Galahad, that we might see the grail!”