Fun is not our mission. Fun is what we feel when we have accomplished our mission. For years, the summer camp experience has been touted as a place to come have fun. And much of that is true. Camp IS FUN. The friends that you make, the activities you do, and the experience you have is all part of the …
Where we find our camp inspiration: Fallon
A while back a question came up in the office, “Where do we find our camp inspiration?” Well, that’s a great question but I quickly caught myself asking more. How do you find it? When do you know you’ve actually found it? As I sat there wondering what I was going to say, it occurred to me that I didn’t …
Living with Sophomores
Oh, Sophomores.. where to even begin?? As many of you know, this summer marked my first ever summer at Heart O’ the Hills, or any camp for that matter (WHAT?! Crazy, l know). Growing up in Hunt, I never felt that it was necessary to attend camp because I got to enjoy the same outdoors and experiences as I would …
Life in a Junior Cabin
Juniors are the third eldest on camp. They are between the ages 11 to 12 and are an amazing age division. This past summer, I spent my first time away from home working at the Heart, in a completely different country, miles away from anything familiar, and told that I was looking after twelve, 12 year old girls for a …
It’s the most CHARM-ing time of the year!
When we first bought The Heart 40 years ago, one of the sweetest traditions we inherited was that of sending a Christmas gift to the “Earlibirds”. The Earlibirds, of course, were the campers who registered for the next summer before Christmas, and for many years the gift was a tribe-colored blanket. In October 1976, the Ragsdale and Moore families bought …
Riflery at The Heart
Howdy! My name is MaryFrancis Benning and I am the Adventure Sports Coordinator for The Heart. I grew up in the wilds of west Texas in El Paso. While I didn’t go to traditional summer camp, I did go to ranch camp where I learned how to shoot guns as well as bows and arrows, I learned how to rope, …
Why Our Camp Values Are Important
I’m Cristi Lee and I have been working at camp for more than 20 years now. During the “off-season” I am a teacher in Kerrville so I come to you from the perspective of a camping professional, an educator, and now a mother with kids at camp. One of the many reasons that I continue to spend my summers working …
Sing along with me!
Sing along with me! Every Sunday afternoon at camp we have “free activities.” Once upon a time, there was just free swim, but then other activities were added that campers are free to come and go from at will. We have free art, free riflery, free archery, free soccer, free dodgeball, and so forth. So many people, especially former campers …
Dear Camp, Love A First Time Counselor
Dear Camp, Well the two months of camp have passed and guess what? I did it, camp is over and it’s a bittersweet moment. At the beginning I almost thought that I was going to hate this place, but I soon grew to love it and call it a second home. The time was well spent here and I could …
Pickleball at The Heart
Being the daughter of a retired History teacher of 40+ years (way to go, daddy), I have learned hundreds of lessons about my country, other civilizations, and way more about the Civil War than I would prefer (no offense, dad). However, there is one lesson he did not give in any of his classes: Pickleball. This lesson comes from Dick …