Stitched with Tradition: A Camp Cannon Favorite for 25 Years

For one week every summer, former Cannon School reading specialist Barbara Falkenbury makes the trip from her home in Charleston back to campus to lead one of Camp Cannon's longest running and most beloved camps: American Girl Doll Adventures.

Barbara has been teaching the camp since it began in 2001. She joined Cannon in 2000 after her children, James '03 and Catherine '06, became students. Following a military career with her husband that took their family across the country and through 14 different schools during Barbara's first 20 years of teaching, she found something lasting at Cannon. Even after retiring from Cannon in 2020, she wasn't ready to step away from the tradition.

"I look forward to spending a week here each summer," Barbara says. "It helps me reconnect with the Cannon community, whether catching up with former colleagues or working alongside camp counselors who were once my Lower School students. Cannon remains a special place for me."

Designed for rising first through fifth graders, American Girl Doll Adventures combines creativity, hands-on learning, and imaginative play. Throughout the week, campers design and create clothing, accessories, and keepsakes for their American Girl dolls while learning sewing techniques like attaching buttons and mastering the blanket stitch. This summer's projects included ponchos, tutus, skirts, bathing suits, blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, and even miniature ice cream soda accessories.

One of Barbara's favorite parts of the week is welcoming campers back year after year. "We have girls who return every summer they're eligible," she says. "It's so rewarding to watch their confidence and sewing skills grow over time."

The camp has evolved over the past 25 years, just as the American Girl brand has. When it first launched, Barbara centered activities around the company's historical dolls, weaving history lessons into each day before ending the week with a traditional American Girl tea party. Today, while campers enjoy creating for both historical and contemporary dolls, Barbara still finds opportunities to incorporate the educational storytelling that has always been part of the American Girl experience.

Helping bring the camp to life each summer is Barbara's daughter, Catherine Falkenbury '06, who has been part of American Girl Doll Adventures since she was 13 years old. Now a high school history teacher, Catherine works alongside her mom each summer, helping plan activities and guide campers through each project.

"It's become much more of a collaborative effort over the years," Catherine says. "We've been doing this together for so long that I can anticipate what needs to happen, and being a teacher myself has definitely changed the dynamic."

Catherine believes the camp's enduring popularity comes from its unique combination of creativity and connection. "The campers love making things for their dolls and taking home everything they've created," she says. "There's also a sense of nostalgia for many families. Parents who loved American Girl dolls as children are now sharing that experience with their own daughters."

For Barbara, returning each summer is about more than teaching crafts. It's about staying connected to the community she called home for two decades and continuing a tradition that has introduced generations of campers to the joy of creating something by hand.

After 25 years, American Girl Doll Adventures remains a Camp Cannon favorite: one stitch, one project, and one memory at a time.