Camp Merrie-Woode

In an effort to make the summer forms process easier on parents and save a few trees, we are sending our “Camper Forms Package” out via two e-mails this year. PDF files have been sent to all parents and must be returned to Phyllis in the camp office by May 1st.

Parents, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email Phyllis at phyllis@merriewoode.com or call at (828) 743-3300. Thanks for helping us to keep the “green” in our “green and grey!”

You can find more information at the following link: The Queen of Hearts Foundation: http://www.QoHF.org
To listen to some of Amber’s music, click the YouTube link image above or visit: http://www.myspace.com/theamberskye

Camp Merrie-Woode has joined over twenty North Carolina summer camps to form a trade association to represent their interests with local, state, and federal policymakers. The North Carolina Youth Camp Association seeks to strengthen and expand the educational, environmental and recreational opportunities provided by North Carolina 's camps. The Association will encourage cooperation among camps, sponsor camp-specific research, communicate camp industry information, and build relationships with various private, non-profit, public, and governmental agencies.

The Association is being formed at a time when summer youth camps are facing a wide range of challenges. Changing school calendars have condensed summers, primarily in the southern states, and have made it more difficult to operate financially. Public lands for paddling, biking and camping which were once freely available are sometimes no longer available to organized camping. Building codes require camps to construct buildings which are more like motel rooms and restaurants than camp cabins and dining halls.

The NCYCA will be a source of information for parents about North Carolina 's camps and will also be the voice of these camps with local officials, in Congress and the state capitol. It will also keep camp directors abreast of the public policy issues affecting their camps.

The Association has a Board of Directors made up of camp directors representing a variety of summer camps---boys camps, girls camps, coed camps, non-profit and for-profit camps, and camps associated with agencies. The Association will operate as a 501c (6) organization---a trade organization.

The NCYCA has launched a website, www.nccamps.org . The website will give parents information about the Association's member camps while being a resource for camp directors and legislators on a range of public policy issues.

Jason and Christina Daniels welcomed a new baby boy to their family this week! Leighton Edward “Eddie” Daniels was born on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:42 pm. He measured in at 20 inches and weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces. Congratulations, Christina and Jason! We are so happy for you.

With this joyous news, however, comes the announcement that Christina has decided to resign as the Programming and Development Director at Merrie-Woode. Christina would like to spend more time at home raising Eddie. While we will all miss Christina here at camp, we know that this next adventure awaiting her will be one of the most rewarding of her life. We wish Christina all the best in her new role as a mother. We look forward to many visits from Christina and baby Eddie at camp this summer!

Camp Merrie-Woode was covered with a blanket of thick snow this week. This has been our second major snowfall of the winter, the first arriving just before Christmas. This is the most snow camp has seen in quite a while! While the snow may be pretty to look at, we are all bundled up in the office yearning for the warmth of long summer days and the company of our Merrie-Woode campers!

Well, it’s that time of year again!The Third Annual Crazy Camp Photo Contest has begun! Here’s how it works…you send us your favorite goofy camp picture from the summer of 2009. It can be anything from evening program silliness to wacky cook-out costumes. The only requirements are as follows:

1. The photo must have been taken in the summer of 2009.

2. All names of people pictured must be listed, as well as the name of the photographer.
3. All entries must be submitted by March 1, 2010.

Email all entries to Lindsay@merriewoode.com. Winners will be announced and showcased in March right here on the “What’s New” page on the camp web site. Winners will also receive a prize in the mail! So flip through all those crazy camp pictures and pick out the best one to send us! In the meantime, here are some of our favorite pictures here in the office for you to enjoy.

Last week, a group of our year-round staff traveled to Chattanooga, TN to assist in the construction of a home for Habitat for Humanity. This home is being built in memory of Chris Horne. Chris and Mandy Horne moved to Cashiers, NC about two and a half years ago after Chris was hired to be the Director of Summit Charter School. Many of you will remember that this is the same position Jim held before he came to work at Merrie-Woode. Just before Thanksgiving in 2007, Chris and Mandy took a vacation to Mexico. They had been married for four months, had settled into life in Cashiers, and had grown to love the community of Summit School. While they were in Mexico, Chris was tragically killed in a car accident. Mandy was severely injured and returned to her hometown of Chattanooga to recuperate with her family. Our local children of Summit School lost their dearly loved director, the community lost a leader, and Mandy lost her cherished husband. We at Merrie-Woode grew close to Mandy as she worked in the camp office part time the following spring.

When we heard that Mandy’s family, the Hullanders of Chattanooga, was sponsoring a Habitat for Humanity house in Chris’s name, we knew immediately it was a project we wanted to be a part of. So last Tuesday, eight of us piled into the camp Suburbans and headed off to Tennessee. We spent Wednesday and Thursday working on the exterior of the new home and were very impressed with how far it had already come along. We worked with members of a team from the Hullanders’ siding and window company, Hullco Exteriors. By the time we left, the siding was finished on the house. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chattanooga was gracious enough to put us up in their building for the three nights we stayed.

As the house nears completion, a single mother and her two daughters are beginning to look forward to moving into their new home. We were thrilled to meet the future homeowner, Michelle, and enjoyed seeing her excitement as construction progressed. We left on Friday with a feeling of accomplishment and pride in the work we were able to do in memory of Chris. Our short time in Chattanooga reminded us that out of pain and loss can come fresh beginnings and renewed hope, and healing can often be found through the productivity of helping hands and a generosity of spirit.

To see more photos of our time in Chattanooga, please visit Camp Merrie-Woode’s Facebook album.

Well it has been downright frigid here in the mountains over the past couple of weeks as Jack Frost has made a long and prominent visit! Lake Fairfield is now frozen solid. The ice is so thick that you can walk out between the docks. It has been a long time since anyone can remember the ice being so thick. Normally you can crack it easily just by throwing a rock. Luckily, though, the temperature is supposed to start rising back up above freezing this week. We are all ready for things to start thawing out – including our fingers and toes!

Christina and her husband, Jason, are thrilled to announce they will be adopting a baby boy, due in February. His name will be Leighton Edward Daniels, and they will be calling him Eddie for short. Camp hosted a baby shower for Christina and Jason on Monday evening at the Dunn's house. Strollers, baby clothes, diapers, and teddy bears soon filled the living room as excitement and anticipation grew for a new member of the Merrie-Woode family. The party was filled with good food, good friends, and warm wishes for the excited parents-to-be. We can't wait to share baby pictures with you all in the next month!

Happy New Year, everyone! A new decade has arrived and camp will be here before you know it. We are already busy, working to make the summer of 2010 the best ever! We will be out on the road again in the coming weeks as we visit college campuses to recruit counselors. Go check out the Campus Recruiting Schedule to see when we’ll be in your area.