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Dear Alumnae -

Lady Lochearn has been very lucky indeed. For almost a century she has been constantly loved and cared for by her owners, directors, staff members, campers and their families. She deserves this positive regard as she continues to be a noted piece of American camping history; over the course of 98 summers, Lochearn has provided tremendous fun, friendship, adventure and a well-conceived character education program to tens of thousands of girls and young women from around the world.

Lochearn’s future is bright and will carry on into its next century providing quality camping and personal growth and development to new girls and to the children of many of our former campers and staff members ... a heartwarming generational story of love, leadership and loyalty. While life at Lochearn and for all of you will remain the same with Rich and Ginny continuing on as Directors, we are very pleased to announce that Lochearn is now under new ownership. This decision has been well thought out and is a positive and important development for all members of the Lochearn community.

Ron and Ann Scott, the new owners, come to Lochearn with years of dedication to children's summer camping in New England. They were the former owners and directors of Camp Laurel in Maine for over 30 years.  In the early 90’s they founded Camp Laurel South, serving there as owners and directors. Ron and Ann Scott are highly regarded camping professionals and have been very successful in delivering quality camping experiences to children and their families. Over an extended transition period, Ron and Ann sold Camp Laurel and Camp Laurel South to selected long-term employees and took a short sabbatical from camp ownership.

The past few years both Ann and Ron have been actively involved on boards of not-for-profit-camps that serve children from disadvantaged homes, both here in the U.S. and in South Africa. Now they are ready and excited to once again be a part of the wonderful tradition of New England summer camping and the Lochearn family. Ron and Ann were attracted to Lochearn because of our beautiful Vermont lakeside setting, our well-maintained grounds and facilities, but mostly they were enchanted by the positive social culture we have created that enriches the social, emotional and moral development of girls. The Scotts wish to continue Lochearn’s mission to help each girl form a strong, positive identity which becomes the most meaningful part of her Lochearn experience. We are confident and want to assure our campers, parents and staff that the essence of Lochearn as defined by kindness, inclusion, respect and positive character enhancement will continue well into the future. This is very important to us, to Ron and Ann, and we know, to you.

As before, Rich and Ginny will continue as Lochearn’s directors.  Ron and Ann will serve in supportive roles at camp for the 2013 season. Ron and Ann will be readily available to meet you at camp this summer on opening and closing/family days. They look forward to getting to know you and your girls this summer and experiencing all the wonder that is Lochearn! Please join us in welcoming Ron and Ann to the Lochearn family.

We thank you for your loyal support. We know how important Lochearn is to you and your daughters and the Maxsons and Scotts look ahead with great enthusiasm to a terrific 2013 camping season. If you would like to speak with us, please call our work lines: Rich at (843) 849-7300 or Ginny at (843) 881-7421 or email ginny@lochearncamp.com. We will see many of you at the upcoming Lochearn Gatherings. Since these occasions are aimed at reuniting the girls, welcoming new families and providing information to inquiring families, we would enjoy the opportunity to speak with you about this new development ahead of time so, at the gatherings, we all can focus our energy on enjoying each other and welcoming new families eager to learn about Lochearn.

With warmest regards and in Lochearn Spirit,

Rich and Ginny

Growing Up Strong

Now is a particularly challenging time to raise daughters and keep them on a safe and positive path. Much of our media culture overtly conveys negative messages to our children, encouraging them to behave in ways that are inappropriate and self-destructive. Children are led to believe it is “normal and cool” to be mean or use foul language as a typical form of expression. The social networking proliferation enables girls to be secretive in their actions and associations, leaving parents uncertain of their children’s involvements.  Between the enticement of contemporary media messages and the difficulty parents face maintaining a close watch, how does one keep their daughters on a safe and positive path? 

At Lochearn, we have long believed that building a strong sense of identity helps girls develop the confidence and strength to stay the course no matter what direction their peers may take. Any camp can teach girls archery, swimming or tennis, but at Lochearn, amidst a very strong teaching program of 45 different activities, girls learn something more. They enter a community committed to kindness, inclusion and integrity. There are no cliques at Lochearn; these are simply not allowed because cliques are hurtful on both ends: the girl who is left out aches from humiliation and questions her own self-worth; the girl who is unkind to another is conflicted, knowing this is not how she was raised to behave, yet enjoying the attention she gets as girls flock around her taking great interest in her ability to debase another. Cliques are part of a culture where it is “Cool to be cruel”; kindness and inclusion are part of the Lochearn culture where it is “Cool to be kind”. Unlike some school administrators who have given up on our children, assuming there is nothing they can do to change the inevitable, at Lochearn we strive to help each girl be the best girl she can be.  

Our camp motto gives us constant reminders and guidance on how to treat one another while keeping friends with ourselves “but to do so without surrendering our ideals”. The motto, in essence, helps to keep us strong by providing common themes and standards that we discuss regularly at campfires, Sunday morning community meetings, during cabin life and at Senior Council (a time for our 14 year olds, about to enter high school, to take stock in staying true to their ideals). Beyond these public occasions to embrace our community of goodness, everyday girls meet challenges that help them gain personal strength. For some it can be basic skills such as adjusting to living away from home, learning to make and to keep friends, mastering skills in their activities or taking on larger challenges such as qualifying for and running a 10K race around the lake or swimming a one or two mile open water swim. Imagine yourself anywhere from ages 7 to 15 performing a song, dance, dive, or gymnastic routine with poise and confidence in front of over 175 other girls. Only a community of affirmation would enable this level of confidence in girls. A girl’s life at Lochearn is immensely fun, filled with song and humor with hundreds of positive interactions, moments of encouragement and a host of emotions converging at any given time. Recognizing that every moment is a teachable one, we are committed to helping girls practice socializing with others in a positive manner by discovering how to manage emotions and by giving girls the time and guidance to consider how they affect each other through their actions and words.

With the guiding principles of the camp motto and a carefully selected and well trained staff, with the love and friendship of peers and adults, our aim is for each girl to learn on a deep level the importance of being her best self and living comfortably within her own skin. Next, we endeavor to help each girl harness the confidence and strength to stay true to the sound values that make up that best self. This is our mission and the greatest gift we can offer our girls and give to you as our loyal Lochearn parents. This is how we partner up with you to support your efforts in raising strong daughters of sound character.

Thank you again for entrusting your daughters to our care. We hope to be part of their growing up years for many seasons to come.