Good evening, camp families!
Does anyone have a weather service app that is actually reliable?
If you were to travel in time back to late afternoon July 4th, you would have seen a Camp Timberlane admin team studying various forecast predictions for today, and ALL of them said that it was going to be a rainy morning this morning. A seriously rainy morning. And they ALL said it. So we made plans for a great morning, one that would excite our campers regardless of it being cloudy, cool, and rainy.
Fast forward to 9:45 this morning. Every weather service now tells us that the morning will be moderately warm, partly cloudy, and dry. We didn’t care… the plans were in place, a reservation made, and vehicles assigned. All systems were go, and there was no going back.
So what was this plan? We took the whole camp into town to see Despicable Me 4 at the local movie theater! After all the excitement and fun of July 4th, we didn’t need to improve on what had been a fantastic day. Still, based on the reaction when we announced the plan this morning, it was pretty clear that a movie outing even without any nasty weather could still make for a very magical surprise morning for the campers.
After everyone got back, we had a hasty lunch because our 12 & under campers had to board a bus to head over to Camp Kawaga for an afternoon of intercamp sports competitions. Our older boys stayed here and we hosted Kawaga for games of ultimate frisbee, pickleball, archery, tennis, soccer, and more. The campers who didn’t care to compete had a variety of clinics to choose from, meaning they could move between a set of activities hosted by our activity directors. After a more chill morning, the weather and activity level of the afternoon was welcomed by all.
We had a delicious homemade pizza & salad dinner, and then got ready for a very special campfire we hold each session. Our Legacy Campfire is held once a session to recognize and celebrate our community members who are spending a milestone summer with us. Tonight we recognized cabin counselors Zach Liss, David Berk, Aaron Berns, and associate director Ryan McDonough for spending 10 years with us. We also had our office clerk, Carter Hitchens, celebrating her 15th summer (at age 15!) and trips director Steve “Hitch” Hitchens celebrating his 20th summer with us. We are so proud to have camp community members who have spent SO many summers with us, and deeply grateful for their commitment to the mission of camp. The huge number of returning campers and staff each summer is a point of pride for us, and we know it is a huge part of what makes Timberlane special to so many people.
We ended the day with a slice of cake to celebrate, and then got to bed a little late. Tomorrow we have a full day of activities, and we will end the day with opening ceremonies for UN Day. More on that tomorrow!
Best wishes to everyone. Have a great Saturday!
Benches up,
Jeff “Mel” Melrose
Assistant/CIT Director