Jan observed that she didn’t think such nice young people were still around these days.
Heart Ownership Comes Full Circle
Fun fact: Doc Stewart established Camp Stewart for Boys in 1924, and Heart O’ the Hills in 1928. The ownership was soon split up. Yet a half century later, the properties came again under a single umbrella. Here is how that unfolded. Doc Stewart’s life, in mid-career, came to a horrible end in 1929. Accompanying a group of inn guests …
A Camp is Its People
So much that makes a camp a camp is the people. Here is the story of the people who turned Heart O’ the Hills Inn into Heart O’ the Hills Camp. Heart O’ the Hills Camp was born of dual tragedies. It’s actually sort of a phoenix story, because it began when the inn burned down in November of 1947, …
Common Ground gets down to earth
New officers of each Sisterhood are revealed in a ceremony we call “Common Ground”. How did that tradition begin? Campers on one hill would strain to hear the names of their friends as they were called out on the other hill nearby, desperate to know the news of their own group, as well as the news on the other! One …
I can’t get ’em up! A History of Heart’s Bugles
Every morning, Heart girls rise and shine to the lilting tune of Zippity Doo Da! But it hasn’t always been so. How did these bugles, so unique to Heart O’ the Hills, come to be? “The Heart” became a camp in 1953, just a few years after the end of World War II. Everyone across the USA was quite familiar …
These kids are driving me nuts! (and what you can do about it)
What a strange new world we are living in now. Social what? Social distancing (an oxymoron!) is imperative, and yet it’s way outside of human nature for us to live remotely from one another. Humans have evolved to cleave to our clans, we long for interaction and community and connection. This is hard by nature, not to mention the challenges of …
Impromptu Extended Spring Break Extravaganza
Hey y’all! Hope everybody is happy, healthy, and primarily, safe out there! In response to our COVID-19-Induced Impromptu Extended Spring Break Extravaganza, we have compiled a list of quarantine-friendly activities to keep everyone entertained, and to make sure all our campers stay happy campers! Dig up old Halloween costumes, write skits, and perform them. Switch roles. Practice no-trace play in …
Can a parent help a child find their passion? Can a camp?
Having a child develop a passion early in life is a blessing, I often tell parents. Jeeper Ragsdale developed his passion for horses at a very young age! Note: There is no better place to develop a passion than camp, because of the exposure to a wider range of activities than most have at home or school. Jeeper, the Camp …
2019 Program Calendar
IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE! THE 2019 PROGRAM CALENDAR IS HERE! Check out all the amazing things we will be doing this summer.
Happy winter solstice!
Merriam-Webster’s word of the day today is solstice. It was a good reminder that today is the winter solstice, and it is a happy occasion for me! It should come as no surprise to anyone that I LOVE CAMP. As a child, I endured school and lived for summer. It was the time of year that camp happened, with all …