ELLERBE — Millstone 4-H Camp closed out it’s first summer camp of the year on Friday with a riding show for the campers’ parents.
Millstone has been around for 80 years as of 2019 having begun in 1938 and serviced 68 out of 100 counties in North Carolina, and a few campers from Virginia or South Carolina as well, last year alone. The Horsemanship Camp has been a part of Millstone for 45 years.
Millstone gives the campers a heavy itinerary including riding their own horse twice daily, games on horseback, trail rides, horse judging, and more. This summer’s Horsemanship Camp also had special sessions on other topics like fox hunting in which hunting dogs were brought in and a demonstration was given to the campers.
For Nikole Newkirk, a political science major with a minor in psychology, this camp was her first time as a counselor.
“I love it! It’s very rewarding,” Newkirk said. “A lot of (the campers) are first-years also, so it was cool to get to experience that with them.”
An interesting wrinkle in the camp is the barring of smart phones for the entirety of the week, but Newkirk said the campers didn’t miss their devices.
“They really enjoy the disconnect,” she said.
Another first-year counselor, Joshua Gay, who recently finished graduate school, said he sees a future for himself with Millstone.
“Never being in camp, I didn’t know what to expect but I don’t regret any of it. I’ve grown to love it. I’d love to come back,” said Gay. “I would love to do photography or videography for the camp in the future… I already feel like I’m a part of the family. It’s definitely a relationship I want to build on.”
Millstone director of 12 years, Keith Russell, takes great pride in giving kids a chance to get back into nature and the here-and-now. Not having electronics allows the kids to “learn more about themselves and others,” Russell said.
“We want them to communicate with each other… (We’ve banned phones) since they came out,” he continued. “Before that it was, ‘Don’t bring your own radio.’ We play music for them at the dance or during activities sometimes but that’s all they get.”
Another important aspect of the camp is to break down any social or age barriers that may exist.
“We work hard in the first 24-hours to build that relationship,” Russell said. “We’re all here for the same reason. We all eat the same food, walk the same paths. We’re the same.”
Millstone is working toward the goal of not turning any children away due to costs, Russell said, a mission that comes from Russell’s 20 years with a YMCA camp which he said cost $1,000 per week by the time he left in 2004. Millstone stays open all year and hosts a number of conferences, getaways, weddings and more to offset the costs of the camps to keep prices low.
This year, Millstone is giving out 65 full scholarships and either two or three partials, according to Russell.
While the Horsemanship Camp only had 67 campers, the average for Millstone’s camps is 100. This year was abnormally low due to the dates starting earlier in the year.
“Some schools aren’t out yet,” Russell said. “That hurt our numbers a little bit. We usually operate at max for each session.”
Millstone is offering a wide variety of summer camps until Aug. 9 including three regular 4-H camps for ages eight to 14, Cloverbud for ages five to eight, Boating Camp for ages 10 to 16, Shooting Sports Camp for ages 10 to 17, and two Fur, Fish and Game Camps ranging from ages 11 to 16. For more information non the camps, pricing and dates, visit www.millstone4hcamp.com.