Dear Parents,
Glorious weather the past week---so good that we have been going at a
tremendous pace. My boys are tired this morning, so Im going to
let them sleep later and well be having our traditional lazy
breakfast--- more on this later. The past week got over in a hurry--
the boys arrived at camp on schedule, and then we started moving to
get over the red tape. Tuesday was testing day and then we signed the
boys up for activities--- they were so excited about getting
started---then we had our Timber league tryouts and the athletic
fields (both of them) were filled with boys playing different
athletic contests on a cabin basis. The next morning we were now on
full schedule and it seemed as if we had been doing things for six
weeks or more-- Many new things have been introduced to our
activities and I am constantly amazed at the growth of our gymnastics
program in particular... We purchased two safety belts and the boys
were very busy doing flips and other exercises.
Wednesday evening was an All-Camp Capture The Flag program and the
boys were split up into two groups, the blues and the whites--the
battle raged on and on and it looked like it would end in a tie, but
the blues planned a special strategy -- each on took off his shirt
and yelled, Hey, Ive got the flag-- the opposing
whites were flabbergasted as they didnt know who really had the
flag-- one of the blues slipped into the goal are of the whites,
stole the flag and was quickly absorbed by his teammates--- then he
ran to his goal and the blues had won capture the flag...Thursday
morning was picture day, (our last bit of red tape) and we worked
hard trying to get our pictures taken--the boys did a good job and we
were able to get all the pictures done...This year were going
to try to get more of the face in our portrait shots, and
I know that those of you who ordered the memory book will really
enjoy it. The weather continued to hold good and that night we kicked
off our Timber league contests. We were now ready to get some of our
canoe trips out and we had two contingents start off on some of the
trips that they had been looking forward to so much. As the boys
begin to trip more and more, well begin cabin overnights as
well, and then head up to the porcupine mountains for backpacking
trips where the boys carry their tents and equipment on their beaks.
Finally, well have two large contingents of campers visit
Canada for our Canadian Canoe Trip.
We have two dogs at camp this year--Towanda, who is named after our
lake, and is 10 years old, and my new puppy, Timber who
is a beautiful white Russian Samoyed husky, and who the kids love to
pet. His belly is always covered with sand because the kids love to
roll him over after hes gone swimming. Timber used to be a good
eater, but I think the kids are feeding him, its got to figure
this way, because when I try to feed him dog food, he turns his nose
up at it. Recently, he cut his paw fairly deeply, but he is walking
on three legs and still tries to catch chipmunks, skunks, and
anything that moves--including me...Friday night was our first
campfire in our new campfire site---it was just beautiful and the
boys listened to a talk, stories, songs, music and then we wrapped it
up with a big marshmallow roast. Saturday, the weather was cloudy,
and it looked like rain. We moved into our 1st activity and then got
about half of our second period going, when we were hit by a big
cloud-burst of rain. Everyone headed for their cabins and the rain
lasted only a short time. Then the blue sky moved in again and we
were ready for our afternoon program.
The plan was to open up many different areas and heres a list
of the special activities that were run on Saturday afternoon. All
former TImberbat Waterski members were given a two hour clinic on the
acts that they would be doing for the coming season. We offered two
basketball games for campers, opened up the tennis courts, ran indoor
ping pong, sent out a fishing trip, ran a tennis archery shoot type
contest in which boys shot for score. We offered a softball game,
held an all afternoon class for any boys that wanted to learn how to
operate our radio station and to become disc jockeys. We also opened
up our arts and crafts department during the afternoon, and held
boating, canoeing and sailing on a relaxed basis. The swimming area
was open all afternoon, also. It was a very pleasant day and we also
had our trampolines operating. After dinner, we were really hit with
a heavy rain, and we went into a progressive game party in which the
camp was split up into ten groups, and we would have each group play
a game for three minutes---then they would move to the next game and
this went on for the whole series of ten games. It was a lot of fun
and the boys yelled during the whole evening program.
8:30A.M. and its time now for lazy breakfast---I just came from
the lodge and we have a whole group of campers making tons of eggs,
bacon, toast, cereal and all the trimmings that make for such a fun
filled breakfast...After the boys are done, well run our third
and fourth period classes. Following this, well have a very
special baked chicken dinner, and two more groups will be leaving on
a three day canoe trip with a little bit more rapid type of water to
paddle their canoes in. The afternoon will be marked by CHALLENGE
ROUNDS and various cabins will be challenging other cabins to a
series of inter-cabin ball games, or other types of activities, and
since the sun is so nice, well finish off the afternoon on the
waterfront with a giant general swim and some boating, canoeing and
fishing. Speaking of fishing, we are pleased to announce that Greg
Shahun, of Memphis, Tennessee was fishing with his class and suddenly
he got a tremendous tug on the line-- he worked for quite a while and
finally pulled out a 25 inch MUSKEE, (thats a real game fish in
this area.) We were very excited about it, but since it was slightly
smaller than the required size, we threw the fish back into the
water. Tonight is movie night, and were showing the picture,
BEDKNOBS and BROOMSTICKS, as previously announced---well
also be serving salted peanuts in the shell and cokes, and all shells
must be thrown on the floor. Tomorrow, well be back on full
schedule and well be having a counselor hunt for the evening
program. --That means that each camper has to hunt for the staff
members and it is really a lot of fun. Upcoming events will be Round
Three of blue and White competition, a treasure hunt, in which the
camp is split up into different groups and the boys are given a clue
to start out with, and during the entire evening well be
running all over the camp looking for the hidden last clue which
entitles the winners to a special treasure.
Well be visiting the famed Minocquabat ski show, and I know
that the boys will love to see this great ski team in action. On
Wednesday, well be holding our first Cruiser Day and many boys
will be visiting Pecks Wild Life Game Refuge Area, while others
will visit Bon Falls, and other areas...It is an all cabin day and
the boys hold this day very dear to their hearts...Our One on
One Basketball tournament has just started out, and it promises
to be a real series of contests this year. Later in the week,
well be having our second campfire, and our Sailing Team will
be competing in a big Sailing Regatta. Our scuba class has gone on
their first dive at another lake, and the boys tell me that the water
was just great. These past five days have been so nice that the water
is perfect now in terms of temperature. Were going to have 16
boys golf today at the Plum Lake Golf Course and I hope that they
dont lose too many balls. Its so difficult to type this
newsletter right now, as every minute or two, a camper comes in and
asks if the boys can jump on the tramps---theyre a little bit
wet, yet, so Ive had to keep the boys off of them. Weve
got lots of upcoming events this next week, and the riding
classes already have gone on two breakfast trail rides and are going
on a twilight ride tomorrow. Next Sunday they travel to Conover,
Wisconsin to view a horse show in which some of our boys will be
competing in it. Our athletic teams will be playing Camp Arrowhead in
a series of ball games, and we dont know what to expect.
Were not as strong a team this year as last, but you never
know.
At the end of this week, our counselors are going to write you a more
detailed letter about your boy, and Id appreciate it if
youd take the time to read the letter carefully, and to maybe
drop the staff members a return note. Some parents ask me what they
can do for the staff. My answer is for each of you to take the time
to let the staff members appreciate the type of job they are doing
with your son, by writing them a note. We accept no tips and I
consider this in very bad taste- so dont send them any
money--(the staff members)...Morale is so very high right now--
weve never had such good weather for such a long time, and it
has helped us get started right. At first we had two homesick young
boys, but thats over with after the end of the third day. We
had three cabins make pop corn at night and got some root beer, and
it helped dry the tears-- now the two guys are running and yelling
like all the other boys, and I havent seen a tear in three
days. Camp health is good, but weve had a couple of colds
amongst the staff members--the week before camp started was lousy,
and they worked hard out of doors, which didnt help matters.
Staff morale is great, through-out and a couple of them are getting
served breakfast in bed, but one counselor came running up to me
dripping with egg yoke, and syrup--seems his camper brought him a
meal, and when he served the counselor, the staff member got up too
fast--(He thought I was running a bed check????) and knocked the tray
right into himself. Was he howling and he smells pretty awful of
sticky gooey eggs.
Again, a reminder, only a couple of openings left for your son to
stay on at camp, as I received a few requests after my last
news-letter. As previously mentioned, we dont want to push you,
so if your son wants to stay on at camp and you notify me in a week,
we always leave a couple of spots open for stayovers....Gosh camp is
moving along so swiftly---its been lots of fun and I know
that your head must just swim with the countless things I mentioned
in this newsletter---I just dont want you to believe your son
if he says there isnt much going on at camp this week. We are
gradually fusing into one solid unit, and I see boys who never knew
one another, walking around the camp grounds doing things together,
and making new friends---thats good and this is an important
part of the camp life. I am no longer hearing such words as the
Louisville, or Houston, or St. Louis or Memphis, etc. groups but
rather the word Camp Timberlane, or us---I love this sound.......
Again, Parents Weekend is Friday evening, and Saturday July
12th and 13th, but we expect very few parents here during that
weekend, so your boys will be very busy in their own program. I have
just loved camp this year and I hope that you enjoy reading this
newsletter and that it makes you really understand what goes on at
Timberlane---Again, you are my best recruiters and I hope that each
of you really feels that youre here at camp with us today.
Regards,
HH