May Update: Cultivating the Best People

It has been snowing. A lot. Even though it is plenty wet and muddy, we do not mind because a) we need the moisture, b) the plants, animals and birds love it and c) it makes us appreciate the summer even more.

We had an incredible Alum Work Day last weekend, with over 75 former and current Sanborn staff members, campers and Friends of Camp helping the year round team fly tents, move beds and mattresses, paint buildings and both arenas, label mailings, clear gutters, relocate tons (literally) of mitigated tree slash, pine needles and much more. We also found time to play in the treehouse and try out a few low ropes course elements!

Work projects and work crews are a foundational part of the Sanborn camp experience. Sandy and Laura Sanborn famously used to say they had, “Friends, Family and Friends with Hammers”–and we are pretty sure it was the “friends with hammers” who were their favorites. As our staff begins to arrive in the next few weeks, we will have plenty of classroom and backcountry training sessions, but we will also all put on the grubbiest of our grubby camp clothes and stain decks, power wash pools, deep clean the lodges, paint pool houses, rake pine needles and so much more.

And as we mop the lodge floor, or drive to unload the 32nd truck bed of pine needles, we will get to know our staff members in new, real ways. During these conversations, we will talk about our pasts, presents and futures; we will laugh after we drip paint on our heads or back a truck into a tree; we will conspiratorially sneak into the bakery and “steal” a cookie from Bernie; and we will all begin to cultivate the foundations of new, real, authentic friendships and connection.

Cultivation is the right word to use when we talk about relationships at camp because camp is all about growth. We think about the “skills” we want to cultivate in each of our campers: the ability to make new friends; discover a sense of adventure and appreciation for the natural world; find grit, perseverance and possibility within themselves; engage in IRL communication…even when it is hard; practice independence and take responsibility; deepen problem solving and critical thinking abilities; and broaden their perspectives: of others, the world and their own possibility.

One of the most coveted work projects doesn’t even happen until close to the end of May: flower planting day. Laura Sanborn was always an enthusiastic flower person–but Jane Sanborn is The Queen of the Planter. Bring on the “Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers” because Jane can tell you exactly where each should go (and with an attractively mixed color palette as well). Many of the Senior Leadership Team will tell you they learned how to plant flowers, and to coach staff, while working with Jane. Even though Jane KNOWS where the flowers should go, she always gently encourages the staff member who is new to spilling lobelia that it “might be happier” near the edge (not the middle) of the pot.

It is just this sort of people cultivation while working on flower cultivation that makes the seeds of a Sanborn summer so strong. Our campers, and all of us, have seeds of possibility within us–and, at some point, someone or something came along and watered that possibility. And then we grew into something new.

This summer, our staff and campers will arrive and be a bit like those newly planted pots: maybe a little imbalanced, with a few holes, but with plenty of color and pep. The sunshine and rain and a little extra space will provide the flowers, the campers and the staff the opportunity to flourish and grow together. They will all take advantage of the longer days, the cooler nights and the care they receive from the community around them. And, unlike the annuals we often plant, the lessons the campers and staff learn in these summer days will continue to nourish them in the months and years beyond camp and on into the rest of their lives.

We are excited to kick off another summer of cultivation, growth and community. We can’t wait for flower planting day!