A new day and a new way of thinking!
By: “H” Rothenberg Co Owner/Director TRIPLE C CAMP
Yesterday we had our first open house of the summer. Staff arrived early, families came in mass and the liquid sunshine joined the party.
It was wonderful to get the opportunity to share with families our core values at Triple C. We love the activities that we teach: Many different sports, arts & crafts, drama, music, nature, ropes course, swim instruction and free swim, ga ga and so much more. As much as we enjoy seeing campers grow with our activities, a bigger goal of ours is to use our activities as a vehicle to learn how to work together better. By explaining this aspect of our vision to our camp families, they really see how our staff are trained, how our staff are valued, appreciated and most important for the staff is to gain skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. We have more staff members returning this summer than we have ever had before. It will be a very special summer and we hope you will be part of it.
If you are interested in coming to camp for a private tour, or to chat about child development, camp, or anything… please contact us: [email protected] or 434.293.2529
Yours in camping,
“H” 🙂
April 1, 2015…No Foolin’!
Greetings from the “Friendly Confines” of Triple C Camp!
The off season has treated us well and it’s time to get rollin’! In the next few weeks there will be some amazing groups visiting camp, learning to work together on the ropes course, building camaraderie and having fun! Just this past week, we had our weekly home school program, Klockner-Pentaplast, Tandem Friends in school program, a job fair at PVCC, loads of tours and training staff for spring break camp. Up and coming is Spring Break Camp next week which will then be followed by RVA Police Law Enforcement for an overnight, K-9 Nose Work Trials, Sutherland 7th graders for a two day overnight, Blessed Sacrament, and so much more. A busy spring is ahead at camp!
Spring break camp is always a calendar mark for us. First of all, we get 60+ campers to spend time with as a warm up for what is to come in the summer time. As part of SBC, we will have lots of returning camp staff and play many of our favorite camp games like GA GA, forts and fairy houses, climb the tower, have a camp fire with s’mores and SO MUCH MORE!
Transportation for SBC is limited to Barracks Road, however it’s nice to be out with the community.
If you are considering the summer of 2015 at Triple C and want to learn more of what we are about, come out for a tour. We are happy to have you during Spring Break Camp, on the weekends or even once school is back in session on a sunshine afternoon after the kids come home.
Please make sure to LIKE us on Facebook as there are so many fun things to learn about what is happening at camp. https://www.facebook.com/Tripleccamp
Also, please come play with us! Many friends to be made, things to learn, and the right place to grow!
Yours in camping,
“H”
H Rothenberg
Co-Owner/Director of Triple C Camp
[email protected]
www.tripleccamp.com
2015 Tutor Doctor
Over the last 15 summers we have partnered with amazing tutors. This year, we are partnering with THE TUTOR DOCTOR. Kids will learn and grow under their guidance while at camp. Check it out! http://tutordoctorcharlottesville.com/
EXCITING TIME OF YEAR!
Camp friends and family,
As we look toward February, the reality of summer coming soon hits hard. We are so excited and PUMPED! Coming up, we have the Charlottesville Family Camp Fair the middle of the month and lots of families starting to contact us about registering for the greatest summer ever…2015 at Triple C Camp.
Ben Ward our Teen Scene Coordinator has been planning some spring events here at camp for our middle schoolers in March and May! We are building a Teen Scene Pavilion to replace the Teen Scene Tent. We have two new year round Assistant Directors moving in the main camp house and Libby and “H” are moving off site for the first time in 15 years.
This past 
week we have been asked by Crozet Families if we are going to offer transportation from Crozet. If this is something you are interested in, please email: [email protected] or call us: 434.293.2529. If there are every other things that we can do to make camp better, let us know as our families and their campers safety are our #1 priority!
We will continue to work with Albemarle County to service and maintain our buses. Thank you ACPS.
New staff always excite us, however we have so many returning staff! Sophie Adams, Tayler Bruce, Joy Carveth, Danny Allinson, Hannah Ciucias, Emily Davidson, Toni Green, Jemma Herdman, Michelle Heuchert, Jonathan Heuchert, Lindsey Johnson, Emily Kostenecki, Melissa Leider, Kasey Massih, Wanda McDaniel, Shannon Myers, Andy Riddler, Eryn Rothenberg, Ryan Rothenberg, Christine Savoie, Jamie Turner, Ben Ward, Rosser Wayland, Jason Coleman, Terri LaRue, Sam Smith, and Caitlin Delaney will all be back at the Friendly Confines of Triple C Camp for another amazing summer. It is very rare to have so many returning staff committed to be with us so early. We are so fortunate to have this talent. Ultimately, your children are really the ones who benefit. Our staff is amazing!
Thankful for you!
By: “H” Rothenberg: Owner/Director
As we are now more than a week into November, 2014, we want to pause and share our thankfulness for our camp family. Campers, staff, parents, rental groups, etc. all make up part of the Triple C family and we are so appreciative of the relationships we have established over the last 15 years in Charlottesville. Thank you.
As we look forward to the summer of 2015 we have many key staff members that have already committed to being with us for the “the best summer ever!” More to be thankful for. Ben Ward to lead the Teen Scene, Kasey Massih and Toni Green to lead campers and horses at the barn and Gemma Herdman our fantastic Arts & Crafts specialist. I can not think of another year in the last 15 that so many great leaders have committed to being back with us this early! We are pumped!
Fall is here!
By: “H” Rothenberg Owner/Director
I just realized I have not written a BLOG post since the beginning of camp. Have we really been that busy that I couldn’t sit down for 20 minutes and share all the haps? Fortunately, we have Skooby to put up daily videos during the summer and families can see all that is happening at Triple C EVERY DAY!
Camp is a magical place where a day seems like a week, and a week seems like a day. This is a very strange sensation and I can’t think of too many other places in the world that I could say that about. The time goes by so fast. However, we get so much done in a day as we have so many staff and the most amazing campers….it does seem like each day is a week.
As for moving forward, this BLOG post is about a month over due as we have been hosting school groups, corporate groups, scout programs, nature and science activities and so much more. It’s pretty exciting to get to share our property with so many. For example, this Saturday, we have Hospice of the Piedmont coming with about 30 children who have had a death in their family. This is a very therapeutic program that allows Hospice Staff to work with camp staff to give the children a special experience and memories of their loved one in a safe fun environment.
We are fortunate each fall that many of our summer staff stick around and help us with fall programs. This fall has been no different. Ben Ward, Ben Pewton, Jake Woods, Travis Yuille Tom Greenwood, Ian Camper, Ryan Rothenberg, and others have been around camp helping with fall programming. It is so reassuring to have such professional staff helping us and people who know the camp property and the programs so well. Of course Shannon Myers our Assistant Director helps me with all these programs and she is such a valuable asset.
As we get deeper into the fall, we will start talking to some of our former campers that were in the EDGE program last fall about coming back to camp as a staff 
member. We also here from past staff about their desire to return. This continues to be a special spot in our hearts as the key to the success of the camp is the Counselors.
As for me and Libby, we want to thank not only the children for an amazing summer of 2014, but the parents who choose to partner with us each year. It takes a village to raise a child and we are fortunate to be involved in so many children’s lives. I humbly say, “THANK YOU!”
SUMMER CAMP HAS ARRIVED
By: “H” Rothenberg Co Owner & Director 6/7/14
As a camp director, I often get asked, “What do you do the rest of the year?” I normally respond with, “We operate groups year round on our ropes course and offer nature and science programs to School and Scout groups.” However, what we do most is spend nine months preparing for three. That to me is an amazing statistic. Where else in the world do you spend nine months preparing for three? Not even in pro sports does that ratio come into play.
During the “off season” we spend time promoting camp, marketing to and recruiting campers. Improving the property which this winter included paving Camp Road. We also give about 100 tours. We interview, check references and hire staff as a big part of our preparations. We even go to many of our summer campers sporting events, plays, and community happenings. All part of preparing for these magical three months. We have been pretty fortunate that over the last 15 years we have lived on the grounds of Triple C Camp and even taken some great vacations during the months of November & December when our camp families and staff are not as interested or engaged in thinking camp.
We are also fortunate that we have time to volunteer. Libby has been a dedicated volunteer to the Scouting Movement. First, she was our daughters Troop Leader and Service Unit Coordinator for the Monticello region of Virginia Girl Scouts. The last several years she has been the Program Coordinator for our sons Boy Scout Troop. My volunteer work used to be on the basketball court as I help found VABA’s Developmental Basketball League. The last couple of years I have been serving the American Camp Association as the Professional Development Chair for The Virginias which hosts three conferences a year with about 125 people at each conference. Also, during this time, Libby will enjoy reading a book on the beach and I definitely enjoy time on the golf course with the quest to obtain the perfect golf shot. This too is preparation for the three months of summer.
Well, those three months this year have been shortened just a little bit due to old man winter. However, now the time has come. This Monday (June 9) we will have over 100 campers in camp. Our returning staff will be working with those campers while our first year staff members (and a few returners) will be in staff training. The following week we will be closer to our average of 275 campers. Staff training for me is the most important week of the year. All the conferences we attend, the trainings, the reviewing of the cutting edge child development strategies all come down to this critical week of training. Of course one of things I’ve learned this year is that training doesn’t take place just during training week, we are training the staff all summer long in our daily morning meetings and our two in services we schedule each summer.
The past two weeks have been filled with Life Guard Training, Ropes Course Training, preparing the camp grounds, International Staff arriving, and other preparations for the greatest summer ever! Now, the time has come. The fences are painted, the grass is cut, the green is on the trees and our Leadership Team is prepared for the summer of 2014. A lot goes into preparing for a summer. However, it does not compare to the summer itself.
This summer we will average about 275 campers a week and 70 staff who will grow and develop our campers through the activities we offer. Many people look at summer day camp as child care. Our focus has always been to train our staff to develop each individual child. Each year we look for new and innovative ways for staff to connect with the campers and peel back the layers of each child to help them grow into better young people and specifically more responsible and confident young adults. Every child has some thing to offer. Something special that the staff can make a connection and lead them toward a great path.
This summer we have “GUIDE” on the back our Staff members shirts that they will wear each Monday. We hope that our staff recognize their role as a guide through this experience. Parents are giving the most prescious thing in their lives to us… their child. We must guide the children toward the goal of taking steps to become a better friend, and growth and development of the whole person. This is a responsibility we do not take lightly. If you have an extra few moments this summer, please make the effort to be a GUIDE to someone in your life. Whether it be a child or a peer. The opportunity will be there. You have great gifts to share, please share them with those around you.
Here at camp, we will be busy with buses, activities, food service, staff soccer matches, flag ceremonies, and so much more. Please come by and visit us some time and see the magic of camp in action. There is plenty to see during our three months that are not to be missed. Come be part of the action, and help Guide to “MAKE IT A GREAT ONE!”
International staff at camp
By “H” Rothenberg Co-Owner/Director
Overnight camps have a long standing history of hiring international staff. Back in “the old days” International staff came to the U.S. to hang out with some kids, work a little bit, party a little bit and sometimes would even go up to Canada, then reenter the U.S. with a new visa. Easy Peasy. Not such the case anymore.
Today, they have to pay several hundred dollars in program fees to a company to help organize a visa. They must make an appointment sometimes a thousand miles from their home at an U.S. embassy, they must be excepted into the program and they must leave the country on a designated date. If any of these procedures are not adhered to, they get red flagged and may not be able to come back into the U.S….ever!
Then there is the camp side of things. We have a relationship with a U.S. placement coordinator. We review applications, we interview prospective staff members on the phone or skype. We have many levels of follow up interview questions, references, back ground checks, etc. We pay the agency a fee for the staff member and a sevis fee. It is all pretty complicated and as a camp, we MUST provide room and board. All just for international staff??
ABSOLUTELY! One of the greatest joys is seeing the friendships and long lasting relationships that develop amongst our staff. Most far outlast the summer. Some have even gotten engaged and married. We also have many staff that return year after year from England, South Africa, Australia, Russia, etc. It’s one thing when a staff member who grew up in Charlottesville returns for two or three years, however this summer will be Skooby’s sixth summer. Pretty special. She has become another daughter for me and Libby and an amazing big sister to so many of our campers. This year Loz from OZ will also be returning for her fourth summer after taking last year off she will be back. Travis Yuille is on his fourth year from South Africa. We also have 2nd and 3rd year barn staff from Australia (Kasey & Sasha) and Ben W. & Benny P. on their third years from England! It amazes me.
The camp really benefits. Not only do our campers get to learn about different accents, cultures, experiences, etc. we learn games from other countries like netball, cricket and touch rugby. Our international staff are the backbone of our camp and are so dedicated and committed to our campers, it is very special.
Another special aspect is the way our camp families and staff open their hearts and their homes to our international staff. Many invitations for dinner at an American home is a big deal for our staff from over seas. The average age of our international staff is 24 years old and they really want to learn about American Culture. On many occasions, our American staff’s families have invited many staff to their home to meet their extended families. All around pretty fantastic.
I could not imagine TRIPLE C CAMP without our international staff. Now in our fifteenth summer, they have become a staple of our camp and we have hundreds of friends around the world that we would not have otherwise. We look forward to this summer with great joy to work with the children, and to welcome our friends from over seas for another fabulous experience!
When you’ve got lemons, MAKE LEMONADE!
By: “H” Rothenberg Co Owner/Director
You may remember the winter of 2009. On a cold, wintery, snowy morning Libby and I woke up to a loud noise outside our bedroom window that sounded like a car accident on route 20. It was not a car accident…after looking out the window we saw the camp “STUDIO” had completely collapsed due to snow load. This was such a bummer. I got dressed, went outside and walked around the now demolished building. There were pieces of glass, timber, crayons and t-shirts everywhere. My next thought was about the other buildings in camp. I did a quick inspection and realized that the Dining Hall was collapsing. The roof was falling in and the walls were pushing out. We contacted a friend who is a contractor who quickly came to our rescue. We put up large 6×6’s to support the building up…which worked. Alas, the Studio had collapsed, but we saved the Dining Hall.
The next day we had the builder who had rebuilt cabin 5 (TEAL Construction) come and work with us on estimates to repair the Dining Hall and completely rebuild the Studio. Our insurance company wasn’t happy, however they did help us through the process. We found out the Dining Hall really needed a tremendous amount of work and we needed it ready for camp in quick time. Uggggghhhhhh….. TEAL was amazing! They got the snow off the roof, removed the old roof, straightened the walls, put in reinforcement studs, and put on a new roof. Then put in insulation so that if we ever winterized the Dining Hall, we are set to go there. Then re painted the entire building. WOW! The Dining Hall looks amazing. Little things got done too like new electrical wiring as the old wiring was cloth and the current code made things much safer for our campers.
![dumouchel_2[1]](https://tripleccamp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dumouchel_21-150x150.jpg)
When it came to the Studio, we were going to start from scratch, so the builder asked us what we wanted our plan to be? We had just started Green Adventure Project a non profit 501c3 on the grounds of TRIPLE C CAMP. We looked at this as a great opportunity and began to mix the lemonade!
We worked with TEAL and Albemarle County to build a new Green Building along with EarthCraft on our property. We now call it the NEST (Nature Environment Science & Technology). Campers and year round participants have a home base on the property for Nature and Science programming. Inside the NEST there is a giant Newton’s Cradle made with bowling balls, trebuchets, loads of animals especially my buddy Hercules who is a Red Footed Tortoise. There is also a teaching mural with over 85 different plants and animals that are indigenous to central Virginia. This is a great teaching opportunity where we begin to learn inside and then the magic really happens when we go outside to learn on our 43 acres on our fields, streams, creeks, etc. If camp families or corporations are interested, they can sponsor an animal by trophic level and these dollars help with Green Adventure Project Scholarships.
This whole experience was a learning and growing opportunity for us. Stuff happens. When it does, don’t freak out about it. Figure out what you can and make it better. Physically, emotionally, and experientially. And remember to enjoy the lemonade…come to the NEST, it tastes so good!
