Register

99 THINGS — Part 2: Downtime

There are at minimum 99 Things about life at Camp Alleghany for Girls that are NOT changing this summer! That’s why we started our 99 THINGS Blog Series. Read Part one about our unchanging Activities, here.

Rest…Relaxation…AND Renewal

And now on to one of the things that makes life at Camp Alleghany so very sweet — simply getting away from it all to relax into “camp time.”

By “camp time” I mean a slowed-down pace that leaves the frantic modern world behind. A pace that’s defined by the rising and setting sun, by the world awakening as morning birds begin to sing, and the night closing up as crickets begin to chirp. It’s a world where starlight winks at us over night, and where the river is always lulling us into a sense of ease, of simplicity, of renewal.

And do you think a pandemic has the capacity to change those things? No way! That stuff is eternal and isn’t even remotely affected by such human concerns.

So you can count on it 100% that this summer as we live on camp time, we’ll also get the relaxation promised above AND THEN SOME! Because our other forms of relaxing come in what each of us does with our downtime, and during our Free Time period.

Here are 11 things you can do during downtime and Free Time that are just like always at camp..and that’s just scratching the surface.

How will you spend your downtime and Free Time as you get camp’s vital summer reset for body, mind, and soul?

Downtime/Free Time

1. Relax in a hammock

2. Play tennis with a friend

3. Have dance parties on Tent Row

4. Make water babies

5. Slide down the rainbow slide

6. Skip rocks

7. Enjoy a book from the Lending Library

8. Pass notes during Rest Hour

9. Laugh with friends

10. Sing silly songs and cheers with old and new friends

11. Enjoy Free Swim in the Greenbrier River

Can you just hear the river lapping on the banks now, and the Barge waiting to carry you to our timeless paradise, a paradise that’s been there for 98 other summers where girls and young women simple got away from it all.

Can’t wait to see you this summer. Tune in next week for part 3 of our 99 Things blog series…

— Elizabeth Shreckhise, Director, Camp Alleghany for Girls

Picture of Elizabeth Shreckhise

Elizabeth Shreckhise

Elizabeth is the Director of Camp Alleghany for Girls, the third generation member in her family to hold this position. But she also spent her childhood (ages 7-16) as 'Ghany camper, then held various counselor positions, and spent a decade here as the Assistant Director. She has a Masters in Education and Human Development and is a former School Counselor. Elizabeth lives in Staunton, Virginia during the "off-season" with her husband Matt and sons Mason, Ellis, and Noah. In addition to staffing, enrollment, program planning, outreach, and camp management duties, she helps keep the website current, writes and updates camp literature, and oversees the blog.