Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,
Greetings once again from the incredible Northwoods of Wisconsin!! It is impossible to describe how great it is to be up here again. Wow! Camp is shaping up so beautifully, and it is really busy up here right now. We have so many different projects being completed which means the place is crawling with activity. And you will notice the difference the moment you roll into camp! The trampoline area is nothing short of spectacular, and the new building out by Mountain Biking is HUGE! It’ll be a great home to Floor Hockey and Ga-Ga and other assorted games, and will come in very handy on those few days of “heavy dew” (‘cause it never rains at camp!). Our 20 year Kitchen Manager, BILL MILLER has been keeping us way too well-fed these past weeks, and our new Head Cook and Prep Cook arrived and they’re awesome too. We’ve got some assistant directors already here, including RICK JONES and MICHAEL BREEN, as well as Trips Director HITCH, and we have a few counselors and trippers already here. Leslie and DEBBIE PURCELL have the office up and going. The Lifeguard Training and Wilderness First Responder courses are underway, and our Climbing Wall Instructor course starts soon. We’ll have re-certification courses starting soon as well for guys to freshen up their LGT and CPR, so as you can see, we’re cruisin’!!
We’re keeping this month’s newsletter short and sweet, but let’s take care of some business right away.
This particular issue of “Timberlife!” is the last one we’re going to write you for a while. But, not to worry…beginning when the campers arrive, we’ll start posting our “Directors’ Journal” online every other day or so. We’ll use that to catch you up on the happenings around camp, and also to fill you in on anything important you should know. But…again….don’t worry. If there’s important stuff like Travel Info or anything else, we’ll send you a notice via email too. Speaking of which:
YO PARENTS: If your son is a first-session or 8-week camper, we have mailed you Travel-to-Camp information via US Mail. You will find specific instructions about your son’s trip to camp, so please read through it carefully. If your son is riding a bus to camp from Chicago or Milwaukee, we’ve also mailed you two baggage tags that you should fill out, and then attach one to each of his duffel bags. If your son is flying en route to camp, we have added two vinyl baggage tags to your packet. Each duffel should get one vinyl tag, and one paper tag, both of which filled out with your home address information. If your son is coming up 2nd session, we will mail a travel packet to you at the beginning of July.
In other news, we have had a few inquiries about E-Readers. Unfortunately, most E-Readers have games built into them, and many have 
Internet access. So, once again this year, we are NOT allowing E-Readers at camp. We know how convenient they are, and we understand their allure. However, we flex where we can, and this is one of those areas where we cannot flex and still maintain our “unplugged” camp environment. So we suggest you hit the book store and send up some good old-fashioned books with your camper. We also have a pretty large library in our office, and kids can come take out books whenever they wish. Thanks for your cooperation.
And as a memory refresher, please remember our policy regarding iPods. Kids can bring any form of iPod that they wish to camp. If it is video or game-capable, we will ask that they be turned in right when they get to camp. We will lock out all functions on the devices except for music with our own super secret code, and return them to the boys. At the end of the session, we’ll unveil the super-secret code, and then do it all over again 2nd session. Oy. THIS APPLIES TO IPODS ONLY!! We still DO NOT ALLOW iPads or iPhones or any similar devices. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS! Any prohibited devices will be confiscated to either be shipped home at owner’s expense, or retained in our office till the end of the session. Again, thanks for your cooperation.
FLIP FLOPS – UH UH. And please note that we have changed our footwear requirements this year. Flip-flops are only for inside the cabin (i.e. for showering) and can not be worn outside of the cabin at all. Sandals with a heel strap are okay up until right before dinner. We gather each night to lower the flag before dinner, and at that point everyone must be in closed-toe shoes. That’s full shoes….not sandals with a closed-toe. Shoes. Zapatos. Chaussures. נעליים, обувь, Schuhe, Thanks. Gracias. Merci. תודה. спасибо. Dank.
GLUTEN-FREE? Another little reminder. If your son is gluten-free, we’ve got ya covered. (I’m gluten-free too!) We will provide all of our gluten-avoiding campers (and staff) with gluten-free bread, pastas, pizza crusts, cereals, and any other staples. And we’re not talking about the yucky stuff that’s out there (spoken from years of personal experience!) Our local grocer is carrying the full line of Udi’s products, so that’s primarily what we’ll go with. There will be no extra charge to you for this. What we are asking is that you NOT send any of these things up to camp for your son. We know that each of us may have our favorites in the gluten-free world of foods, but it has just become too big for us to manage so many separate preferences. We WILL make an exception if you have some special treats that your son would like in place of a glutenous slice of pizza during pizza parties. In that event, please send whatever the treat is up to camp and to Leslie’s attention. If you do not send anything, we will make sure the counselors pick up something meaningful and yummy for him to enjoy during pizza parties. Have we thanked you yet for your cooperation?
YO OLD GUYS: If we assigned you a camp Little Brother, you should have spoken with him already. If you have not, please put your computer down and pick up the phone! We also want to remind you that we sent you an email indicating which trips you are eligible for this coming summer. We have pre-signed up several guys on the Apostle Islands, BWCA, Quetico, and Isle Royale trips already, but there is still room in most of those trips! So, if you are qualified for any of these trips and you wanna go, please have your parents email or call us, or you can login to your Camper Keylog page and sign up that way. With this awesome group of trippers we have this year, you’d be crazy to miss out on these fantastic wilderness trips!
We had very few spots open at the start of May, and now we have even fewer. First session has been filled up since early Spring, and 2nd session is filled in most age groups, though we have a few spots here and there. Welcome back to the following “old-timers” who re-enrolled last month: MICHAEL KAPLAN of Milwaukee, WI. and DIEGO RODRIGUEZ of San Andres Cholula, Mexico.
Say hello to the following first- year campers who will join us this summer: DESMOND BROWN of Hillside, IL; ISAAC STILLMAN of Lincolnwood, IL; ALEX LYNCH and JAVY VALLEJO-MCCANN of Cleveland Heights, OH; DARION STARLING of University Heights, OH; and EMILIO RODRIGUEZ of San Andres Cholula, Mexico. We’re so glad to have you all with us for this amazing summer we’re about to start!!
We are extremely pleased to welcome back to camp JAKE REUTER, who will be with us for his 9th summer 
We’ve already welcomed some of our new staff to camp, and they are great people! We have 2 more to introduce you to. MIKE SCLAVI is 30 years old and is from Superior, WI. He has traveled a lot around the country, and had different types of jobs, but his true passion has always been cooking. Mike owned a restaurant in Superior with his relatives, and he brings some real culinary talent and creativity with him. Mike is joining us this summer as our Head Cook, and based on the treats he’s cooked so far, he’ll contribute to a very yummy summer. And in case you over-indulge and have a tummy ache, you’ll be in good hands with BRAD SCHULTZ, who is joining us as one of our camp nurses. Brad is 22 years old and is from Arbor Vitae, WI….right down the road! He is a nursing school graduate and registered nurse, and he has worked at a mental health facility in Osh Kosh, WI and at the Howard Young Medical Center in Minocqua, WI. Brad is very bright, and is connected to the community, so we’re in great hands with him.
THE JUICE
A special section by Michael Breen
No more need to wheeze—a new summer is almost upon us! For camping season 2013, may your cup runneth over with juice chock-full of appetizer nights, bulls-eyes (of the archery, riflery, and lazy breakfast variety), camper hunts, drop-skis, “eggs your way,” friends for a lifetime, ga-ga in the brand-new Arena, “hello fluffies,” island exploration by kayaks, jumps on the sand dunes, knots on your harness, lack of heavy-dew, mail calls, Nautique ski runs, outings to the Waters, Pestigo River fun, Quetico adventures, rides on the pump track, some memories for a lifetime, Timberloops, U.N. Days, volleyball matches, weight-shack workouts, x-treme tripper jackets, your best summer yet, and z…z…?…z!…Zemach until every last drop is savored. C’ya real soon!
-Michael Breen
BRAVO TO OUR JUNE BIRTHDAY BOYS & GIRLS! Warm up those singing pipes, y’all. We get to sing later in just a few weeks!! 
Jordan Fine – 6/2/1995, Zack Piell – 6/2/1999, Lauren Gardner – 6/5/1994, Myer Galis – 6/9/1998, Ricky Jacobson – 6/10/1996, Ari Kaden – 6/10/2003, Ben Kaden – 6/10/2003, Alex Peck – 6/10/2001, Grant Kibel – 6/12/2001, Cameron Hardegree – 6/13/2001, Matt Jarvis – 6/13/2000, Alex Dathan – 6/14/1993, Josh Spaeth – 6/14/1999, Ryan Hearst – 6/15/2000, Scott Gold – 6/16/1999, Marshall Strawbridge – 6/16/1999, Lisa Salaway – 6/17/1964, Drew Mutchnik – 6/18/2004, Chris Sajdak – 6/19/1993, Ari Asarch – 6/20/1998, Zack Schreier – 6/20/1998, Zack Connell – 6/21/2003, Mike Cohen – 6/23/1961, Charlie Lovett – 6/23/2003, Eli Selz – 6/23/1999, Parker Dawson – 6/24/1999, Diego Rodriguez – 6/24/1998, Drew Mitchell – 6/26/1997, Adam Cortes-Ferrie – 6/27/1999, Alex Freedman – 6/28/1999, Avi Hiken – 6/28/2001, Tyler Newmark – 6/28/2001, Joey Rosenblum – 6/28/2001, Henry Levy – 6/29/2002, Joe Levy – 6/29/2002, Spence Litow – 6/29/1999, Miles Padzensky – 6/29/1998, David Wine – 6/29/2001.
We hope you all have a great start to the summer. Please stay healthy, hurry on up here, and be prepared for the greatest summer ever imagined!
Benches up,
