Category: Alumni News

Anne Jordan (1931-2018)

As many of you may remember, one of Anne’s special gifts was to write toasts for camp birthday honoring campers and staff reaching 5- and 10-year milestones and at banquet to recognize the growth that occurred and achievements made over the course of the summer. To pay tribute to a truly remarkable lady, we would like to celebrate Anne through a special toast.  We will miss you!

For some of the old timers, she was known as Commander Anne;

For all of us, there were no “I Can’ts”; it was only “I Can.”

Driving down the Woodland Road brings a smile to each and every one;

Mrs. J was loved by all for turning camp into a summer home.

Friends from around the globe she would welcome each June;

Washington Waddle and more, she could harmonize many a tune.

We will remember her infectious laugh and telling a joke or two;

She added much needed humor to carry us through.

For guiding campers and staff she was like no other.

We loved to see her dress up for the highly anticipated, “Mother, Mother.”

Cooking was a favorite, and Anne could do it well.

How many donuts or biscuits were downed, we will never tell.

She liked to visit activities, but at tennis she was an ace.

If it was TLC you needed, going to Mrs. J was always the right place.

Driving the golf cart around, Anne was certainly on the go.

She played the piano and accompanied songs for the co-ed show.

Through her music Anne was positive and upbeat;

At camp we like to stay on the “Sunny Side of the Street”.

For generations of girls, this strong woman helped find their happy;

Through Anne’s children and grandchildren, special it will always be.

A fond memory is hearing the wind blowing off Sand Lake creating a gentle breeze;

Linking hands right over left, Anne passed on the traditional friendship squeeze.

Each campfire lights anew, the flame of friendship true;

The joy we’ve had in knowing you, Mrs. J, will last our whole life through!

We have started a new format for connecting with staff this year and are holding monthly meetings via Zoom as a way to see each other (think mini-reunion!) and discuss pertinent topics of interest relating to camp.  Recently we asked 4 alums to join us and share their insight on how working as a counselor at Woodland or Towering Pines has benefited their career (and life!) success.  Let me just say that we were BLOWN AWAY by what our panelists shared – each person had very specific skills and experiences learned at camp that transferred to the ‘real world’, be it in the workplace or at home and raising a family.

Let me introduce you to Becky Coady Langton (on right in above photo), a former camper/staff member and now camp parent, who was one of two Camp Woodland representatives on the panel.  Becky was a camper for one year as a CIT in 1988 and worked several summers as a cabin counselor teaching gymnastics and anything that involved “jumping around.”  She is an exercise physiologist and currently works as an instructor in the Health and Fitness Science Division of Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Becky’s two kids, Sydney and Sam, attended camp for the first time this past summer!

Becky recalls gaining confidence and the ability to publicly speak as skill sets that were most developed during her time as a staff member.  She feels that this pushed her ahead of her peers, many of whom today have an intense fear of speaking in front of others.  Becky finds that having the ability to work with diverse experience and talent levels and massaging that atmosphere in way so that everyone is having fun (even if all you have is a paper bag!) were some of the biggest takeaways from her camp experience.  Camp certainly is the stage for learning how to make the best of every situation!

Becky teaches about the positive effects of exercise and a healthy lifestyle on longevity and chronic disease prevention.  One of the things that speaks to Becky the most about her experience at camp is being active and always doing something.  In the health world, physical activity rounds out and provides balance along with the emotional, social, environmental, intellectual, spiritual, financial and occupational dimensions of the wellness model.  Becky allows how all of these areas melded together describe the camp experience on steroids!  She attributes being at camp on her own without her tribe and THRIVING was a catalyst for her to seek out a career in health science and promotion.  So cool!

When talking about different aspects of applying for a job, Becky reminded us how important the first phone call can be because this is when the applicant has the opportunity to engage in a conversation with a potential employer and share about themselves.  According to Becky, the candidates who do this best find their voice, find their WHY and know in their gut what they want to do and are connected to it.  Being able to then verbalize who they are in a way so that the person conducting the interview can FEEL the energy and passion is what helps a person stand out from the masses of job candidates.  Becky believes the “amazingness” within each person that fuels this energy and passion grows at camp.  Being leaders of crazy and fun and being children ourselves as camp counselors fosters that amazingness!  So true!

Becky also pointed out how being able to communicate well verbally, utilize active listening and motivational interviewing, and understand nuances such as making eye contact and offering a firm handshake count as social collateral in a world where people are lacking in these areas.  This is another chance for job applicants with work experience at camp to shine because face-to-face interactions and being unplugged are the norm and not the exception.  Working at camp nourishes the exact skills that make for a strong candidate in just about any career field!

Next up – meet Rachel Davidson in Part 2 of how working at camp translates to the real world!

Waterfront Director 1987-1997

Because I moved on from Woodland/Towering Pines after a 12-year stint as counselor, program director, waterfront director, and eventually assistant director, and then returned after a 14 year hiatus, I am often asked by fellow alumni why I chose to come back.  In the time I was away, I was the associate director at a much larger all-girls camp in the mountains of Western North Carolina full-time for 8 years. There are 60+ camps in three neighboring counties in that part of the US alone!

It happened again. You know the look. You know the comments. And this time it was from another mom who I respect, has a great attitude, and is raising wonderful children. My daughter, Maya, and I were talking with a friend and her daughter about Maya’s summer camp experience at Woodland.

Maya: “…And next summer I want to go back for six weeks.”

Other mom gasps loudly: “I would never let you go for that long, Sweetie!” (hugging her daughter tightly)

Other mom’s daughter: “I would never want to go for that long, Mom.” (hugging back and smiling)

Okay, I know the drill. I went to Woodland for eight weeks when I was nine. I went for ten summers after that for eight weeks. There was never a two week or four week session when I attended. There was a reason for the long session. The same magic in terms of growth, confidence, and perseverance just can’t happen in two weeks. I remember Anne Jordan explaining it to me when I was a counselor during pre-camp. The same way she explained to me when I was a camper that if she let me call my mom during camp not only would I not feel better, I would feel worse. She was right on both accounts.

Now, as a mother who has experienced the loss of a child, I don’t think I would have sent my daughter if Woodland did not have a two week session. I am grateful for the shortened option because now both Maya and I will be better prepared for the separation next summer.

So, what to do about these parents who would “never” let their daughters go to camp for so long? The ones who tell me they love their daughters too much to let them go. Do they understand they are implying I do not love my child? Some seem to think we are somehow damaging our children by sending them away from us for several weeks.

I know the best response to this is to dismiss it and not care what anyone else thinks. Most of the time I can remember what camp did for me, and let go. Every once in a while, though, I start to question my choice. I am “losing” all this time I could have with my daughter. How can I send her away and let other people take care of her for so long? Will she be okay? Will she get hurt? Will she feel alone when I am not there for her?

All these questions bring me back to three things: my own practical life experience at camp, inner strength, and faith.

I know the gifts camp gave me: confidence in myself in areas other than sports, meaningful and deep lifetime friendships, LOTS of time in nature, and exposure to activities I would not have had at home. Why wouldn’t I want to give this to my daughter?

Knowing how it enriched my life, how could I not let her go? When I am clear about this, I know it truly is a priceless gift to give my daughter. But our society and culture seem so different now than when I was a child. The parenting is different, the activity level is different, and what our children are exposed to is different. It seems to me that it takes more than the knowledge that extended overnight camp is a valuable experience in order to take the plunge. It takes inner strength and faith.

It takes the strength to dismiss the other parents’ reactions – respecting what they need to do in their own families -while calling upon the gifts I received from attending camp. It takes the faith that my daughter will be taken care of well. It will be different from how she is taken care of at home, and this is okay, even good. She will have camp sisters to help her through the hard times. It takes faith (still working on this one) to know if I don’t get a call home from JoAnne, everything is fine. It might not be perfect, but it is fine.

Let’s face it: Six weeks can be a long time to be separated from our children. I am relatively certain Maya did better in the two weeks we were away from each other than I did. Seeing her again, and having her home again is wonderful. Even in the short time of two weeks I noticed subtle changes; growth that I’m pretty sure would not have occurred for her if she was at home attending a day camp.

If you’re reading this, you already understand the gift of extended overnight camp for your daughter. But for anyone who still has insecurity or doubts when other parents’ comments come your way, just know you are not alone. We are in this together. And that is just one more gift Camp Woodland gives us all.

by Susan Austin Short, Woodland Alum and Parent