On Friday, our short session (A1) campers left, while our Big and First lodgers departed for their canoeing, hiking and rock climbing trips.
So far, we have been blessed by fine weather, and also by our hard working and creative staff and campers. We all noticed immediately that this group of campers came in ready to work. The Outdoor Living Skills (OLS) area was abuzz from the first day with campers eager to get their fire tests, knife tests as well as learning camouflage and knots. We have a Pathfinder candidate who is busy teaching OLS skills to younger campers to help earn that recognition. When there was a brief, but torrential, downpour at 4.30 p.m. before our first cabin cookout. When some people raised doubts about whether the fires could be made at each cabin, I said “absolutely, trust yourselves!” Wet weather fire skills won the day and everyone enjoyed well-roasted hotdogs and marshmallows.
Other notable events occurred on Tuesday when several Barn Day Campers and their families visited us for a tour and Big and First Lodge campers helped guide the group. It’s nice to hear a director speak, but to hear young campers be so articulate and field questions so adroitly let me know we are reaching our goals of invested and informed campers who are passionate about our program. The parents on the tour were also some of the very first members of our community to meet our young calf who was born only two hours before. Standing almost immediately after birth, he has long eyelashes and a cute white mark on his tail. Soon, the camp will vote on the suggestions for his name.
We have also had the Timberlake musical for the second half, which told the legend of the KYBO hag and featured our camp ethics, Major Tom and Led Zeppelin renditions. Look for the full script in the Thunderbird after camp.
Last weekend, Timberlake alumni Rich Parker visited for his 50th summer at Timberlake! The campers asked him many insightful questions about our past and were amazed to hear about how in his youth you could see from the upper lodge all the way down to the waterfront, as the trees had not grown so much. Rich was able to stay for our First and Big Lodge “Guy Night”, divided into elementary and middle School groups. These powerful evenings create a space to set norms around accepting and supporting different types of boys as well as hearing their unique stories. Having a place you can be open really sets up a level of trust and Rich commented on what a welcome addition to program it was to have these spaces.
While trips are out, we will be preparing for our big events at the end of the summer – Banquet, The F&W Fair, Harvest Meal and more. We will have hand-made arcade games this summer for Fair, including a foosball table that includes a homemade ball made from sawdust and carpenter’s glue!
We hope we’ll see you at the Fair.
-Tulio Browning, Timberlake Director
