Summer camps have been operating in WNC for more than 100 years. Keystone Camp was established in the summer of 1916, quickly followed by others like Camp Carolina, Camp Greystone, and Rockbrook Summer Camp for Girls, according to Rockbrook’s Director Jeff Carter.

The mountains were a retreat for people who lived along the Southern East Coast to escape the summer heat. Parents spending their summers in the mountains wanted an opportunity to create an experience for their children. As modern life began to leave out certain valuable aspects of daily life, camps began offering a special environment in which to highlight these principles and values.

“It’s simply healthier for children to be in an environment where they can be in nature, be active, and learn outdoor skills being lost to modernity,” Carter said. “This was true 100 years ago, and it’s even more true today. Modern life has a lot of things that make it difficult for kids to be the way they want to be — spending time outside, exploring, and connecting with nature without societal pressures. Camp experiences also offer opportunities to create connections with others, become more self-aware, and build better friendships.”

Summer camps are a haven; a refuge to escape pressures and influence of modern life, according to Carter. They offer a chance to return to something more basic. Campers can relax and be their true selves which allows them to become more joyful, more human, and more open to each other. This, in turn, allows campers to create very close, authentic friendships they may not otherwise have an opportunity to build.

Carter hears campers say they feel good about who they are and their place in the world when they attend camp. Children are immersed in a culture where they are encouraged by enthusiastic role models to notice the richness of the world itself. They practice treating each other with care and kindness, and are able to drop expectations of “who they should be,” which children say feels refreshing.

Fostering these types of personal development provides a positive outcome for everyone involved, according to Carter. Parents understand this growth is good for their children, who leave camp feeling more mature and more confident. Sometimes the challenge is maintaining those feelings of passion for the outdoors, freedom in creativity, and the sense of community in life outside of camp.

“These kids have been missing out on key parts of life that our current education system lacks, and they don’t even know it,” Carter said. “The American Camp Association has a notion that when kids attend camp, they gain real world skills that are educational in the best sense of the word. They learn skills like communication, listening, leadership, and confidence that allows their true selves to shine. That’s why it feels so good.”

Camp traditions dating back generations help to keep this feeling alive, according to Carter. Books of songs date back to the area’s original camps, and campers gather to sing them together daily. Special ceremonies and whole-camp gatherings give testament that “we are all in this together” and help define the community. These traditions are focused on strengthening bonds among campers, and lead to a feeling of belonging and ownership.

“We often hear people refer to the camp they attended as ‘my camp’,” Carter said. “These traditions definitely play a role in keeping people returning year after year, and also generationally. Campers of years ago have experiences that have meant so much to them, and they want to pass that positive experience along to their children. We are now seeing fourth- and even fifth-generation campers.”

While some things have changed over the last 100+ years, there is a fundamental desire among summer camps to continue offering a similar experience providing positive enrichment that allows campers to break away from their typical routines. Each camp may have their own traditions, amenities, and activities, but Carter said they all offer the same value and impact.

“Camp means a whole lot to the people that come here,” Carter said. “Real life tends to isolate people, and camp offers the opposite of that. Campers realize how impactful their experience was and they yearn to have that again. This makes a difference to people in their future, and that’s why they keep coming back.”

Learn more at RockbrookCamp.com.