The Merrie-Woode Values: Our History
Our History: Our goal is to create a future based on the best of the past, including
honoring those who have loved it and given it their best.
At Camp Merrie-Woode, we are incredibly proud of our history. For 108 summers, we have welcomed girls and young women to the mountains of Western North Carolina to explore the wilderness, challenge themselves through outdoor adventure, strengthen their character, and make lifelong friendships. Over the course of these summers, many willing and capable leaders have stepped forward to guide the campers in their development and inspire them to become the best version of themselves. Others have devoted countless hours to establish the Merrie-Woode Foundation, ensuring that Camp will remain the beautiful sanctuary it has always been. Each in their own way has fulfilled Dammie’s Day’s vision, as she expressed it in the Merrie-Woode Plaque:
It is because there is a kindred spirit in you that you have recognized what Merrie-Woode stands for. God has given us a place of rarest beauty and since I first beheld it, I have tried to match His gift as best I could with permeating love and honesty. It is a composite thing made of all those who through the years, have loved it and given it their best.
Camp’s enduring strength comes from the many people who have placed their talents and faith in the service of Merrie-Woode. Many stories captured in Merrie-Woode’s Centennial Book,
Camp Merrie-Woode: One Hundred Years of Following the Gleam, detail the devoted alumnae and staff who contributed to Camp’s development. Over the course of several years leading up to the Centennial, a team of dedicated individuals, led by alumna Dorothy Moss Williams, pieced together letters, photographs, interview transcripts, and other archival records to create a narrative that accurately captured Camp’s history. Thanks to their efforts, we can all be inspired by tales, some of which were not widely known, about Camp’s first one hundred years.
Most Merrie-Woode campers know the name Dammie Day through excerpts of her writings read at Opening and Closing Campfires. Not all are as well-acquainted with the traditions that she created, such as changing the name from Lake Fairfield Camp to Camp Merrie-Woode in 1922. Dammie was also responsible for introducing British lore to Camp, including Follow the Gleam and the many references to Arthurian legends. Dammie saw Merrie-Woode in a greater context than just a summer camp; she wanted Merrie-Woode girls to see themselves as members of a global community. To that end, she placed colorful cut-outs of children from all around the world in their national costumes, interspersed with Merrie-Woode campers in their uniforms, along the porches of the two-story Tajar building that she had constructed in the 1930s.
When Dammie was ready to retire in the early 1950s, she could not have identified better successors than Augusta and Fritz Orr. Fritz, Sr. was a passionate outdoorsman and led Merrie-Woode campers on many exciting adventures, including a favorite Backpacking-Canoeing-Horseback Riding. The outdoor adventures continued when Fritz Orr, Jr. and his wife, Dottie, became Merrie-Woode’s Directors after Fritz, Sr.’s passing in 1968. Apart from his many contributions to Camp, Fritz, Jr. advocated for protection of the Chattooga River. Together with fellow Camp staff member and future Director, Hugh Caldwell, Fritz, Jr. guided two Georgia governors, Lestor Maddox and Jimmy Carter, on separate trips down the Chattooga, making such an impression that in 1974, the Chattooga River became the first river east of the Mississippi to receive protection as a Wild and Scenic River.
The legacy of Dammie Day, the Orrs, and Hugh Caldwell continue to influence Camp in the present day. While Hugh was best known for his brilliant paddling skills and hilarious pranks, he especially loved classical music. Hugh created a fund in his will to provide Merrie-Woode campers with the opportunity to hear chamber music each summer at Camp. Now known as the Hugh Caldwell Chamber Music Endowment, Hugh’s gift funds a chamber music performance for each of our three sessions every summer.
Today’s campers are living out traditions that have endured decades beyond the lives of those who established them. In this way, we are creating a future based on the best of the past, while honoring those who have loved Merrie-Woode and given it their best. We remember those who came before us at Merrie-Woode and consider how we can honor their legacy in our current camp experience. These ideals are best expressed in a favorite campfire song,
In Years To Come, originally created for the 1951 Banquet:
In years to come, our hearts will turn, back to Merrie-Woode.
Our eyes will shine, our hearts will yearn, remembering Merrie-Woode.
And all through life we’ll find a way for nobler work and higher play,
because God led our feet one day, back to Merrie-Woode.
Chug-a-wump,
Robin & Frost
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