Timberlife – November 2024 – Volume 1
Directors Message
Hello Timberlane Family,
I hope everyone is doing well and having a great fall. We are so excited about Summer 2025—it’s our 65th Summer!! We have been hard at work getting ready for the summer. Ryan is getting another fantastic staff hired and ready for the summer. Jameson is up at camp working on some very cool new projects that we will let you know about a bit later. We had the admin team working on some great new programming and other surprises. And I am getting ready to see our campers from all around the country.
I do have some news about Summer 2025. At the end of the 2024 summer, Rick and Holly informed me that after 39 years, they will not join us in 2025. Rick and Holly have been a part of the Timberlane family since they joined Mike Cohen after working with him at Northstar Camp for Boys in 1986. Their impact and dedication have shaped countless campers and staff at Camp Timberlane over the past 39 years.
Holly, our long-time office manager, was home caring for some family this past summer. For 39 years, Holly’s presence shaped camp with her welcoming smile, quick problem-solving, and heartfelt interactions that made everyone feel at home. Holly ran the office since her first summer at Timberlane. She has always been a friendly voice on the phone when anyone calls or for anyone coming into the office. Her love of unique things from garage sales can be seen all around camp. We missed Holly this past summer and know that the office was not and will never bet the same with her fantastic energy.
Rick Jones, our assistant director, has dedicated his life to Timberlane. He has always ensured that campers and staff were happy and that all their needs and concerns were handled. His tireless work behind the scenes, like coordinating pre-camp preparations and ensuring every camper’s seamless experience, reflected his unmatched dedication. We are grateful to Rick for his song-leading at campfires, his incredible portraits of campers and staff, assigning the best staff to each activity, using his art teaching experience to enhance the creative programs at camp, and playing an essential role in the physical setup of camp, among many other contributions. Having been at camp for almost 40 years, Rick has contributed to nearly every aspect of camp life, and we are grateful for him.
Camp Timberlane is genuinely the most special place in the world (I am biased), and it would not be near what it is today without Rick and Holly Jones. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and hard work over the past 39 summers. Their legacy will continue to influence and inspire us for years to come. We hope to see them as part of our extended Timberlane family in future summers, whether it’s joining us for reunions, visits to camp, or helping set camp for the campers. On behalf of the entire Timberlane community, campers, staff, and alumni, Thank you Rick and Holly Jones.
Timberlane has been and continues to be so lucky to have some amazing individuals who have impacted not only the current campers and staff but many more alumni. As we look forward to next summer we will have more updates in our next newsletter. Please enjoy this newsletter with a note from Jeff Melrose about 4 Star Fellowship, and please give a big birthday bravo to our November birthdays!
Benches Up,
Sam
Timberlane Update – Four Star Fellowship
When the busses roll out on the last day of a Timberlane summer, it’s a truly emotional moment for the staff. The community we built the past 8 weeks, and the connections we developed are put on pause for the off-season, and a quiet sets in that we hadn’t experienced in a few months. A balm for the painful realization that the end of an amazing summer has arrived is the excitement of having a new group of campers arriving about 14 hours after our Timberlane boys head home.
The Four Star Fellowship is a program we host at Camp Timberlane after our traditional summer program. Timberlane has become a partner in the program through our partnership with Camp For All Kids. Its mission is to strengthen the relationships between mentors and mentees through the power of summer camping. The week gives our fellows a break from the city’s stresses. Timberlane provides counselors to help with cabin logistics, running activities, and making sure the fellows have a Timberlane experience.
This was my second summer serving as the program director for this amazing experience. It is such a pleasure and source of joy to see these young men get off the bus, initially very nervous about this new environment, and thrive within a day thanks to our staff doing so well what they did all summer: provide great outdoor adventure experiences for eager young men. These fellows, in many cases, are brand-new to the Northwoods and have never experienced the spectacular night sky, tubing on a lake behind a ski boat, or trying to climb a tower. The number of times I heard campers express disbelief that they were able to do something they just tried for the first time was truly inspirational and brought such pride in our staff at being able to provide these experiences.
One of the highlights of the week was an all-camp river trip, taking all the fellows, the mentors, and our staff down the Wisconsin River for a short but exhilarating canoe trip. The fellows were clearly out of their comfort zone, but everyone gave it a shot. Upon returning, they were exhausted but extremely happy, and I know they were proud of their accomplishments on the river.
When the week ends, I know many of the staff have another very emotional morning watching the bus roll out with the Four Star campers. The stories they brought to us and their eagerness to truly live in every moment while they were with us was beautiful to be a part of, and I couldn’t have been prouder of our counseling and program staff, our trippers, and the kitchen for taking amazing care of everyone. I am already excited to welcome each fellow back next summer.
Jeff Melrose
BRAVO TO OUR NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS!
This month’s birthdays include 
- 3rd – Gabe Miles
- 4th – Ryan Hendricks
- 6th – Nikita Ostapenko
- 7th – Jeremy Andrews
- 8th – Alonso Leff
- 9th – Ben Flanzer
- 11th – Gryffin Greenstone, Alex Mc Cloud
- 13th – Jeffrey Rose, Owen Lilly
- 14th – Asher Kaplan, Max Keller
- 18th – Dylan Ginsberg
- 23rd – Will James
- 24th – Kingston Pierce