Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,
On the road again! That’s right, folks, as you read this newsy issue of “Timberlife!” I am motoring my way around the Midwest! It’s a nostalgic time in many ways. Back in my earlier years of directing camp, I used to do this pretty often. Hop in the car from our house in Milwaukee, and travel the frozen, slushy highways to see kids all over the area. One year I was gone for a month, and included cities as far apart as Nashville and Denver in my road trip. Then I wised up a little and started flying a bit more. Then we moved to Tucson and driving became a bigger logistical feat.
This year’s trip will take me to cities in Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas (ish), and Missouri. Unlike my earlier ventures, this time I’ll have satellite radio and audio books to keep me going as the miles pile up. As you can see from the reunion schedule below, we’ll be joining up with you guys in a lot of different cities, so PLEASE come on out and hang with us for a while. It’s gonna be a great time!
Speaking of nostalgia, did y’all hear about the big rock festivals that took place in Palm Desert last month. There were two separate weekend festivals, both featuring classic rock bands and artists from the 1960s. So, Leslie and I hopped in the car and we got to go! Given the demographic the music mostly appealed to, we felt pretty young there (the event was dubbed “Geezerpalooza” or “Oldchella” since it was on the Coachella grounds), but there were definitely a lot of parent/child groups enjoying the music, the spectacle, and the festival atmosphere. And it was – simply put – epic! Great music from some incredible artists who can – for the most part – still rock a crowd of 80,000 plus. Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan was the first show, and we’re not entirely sure what songs he did, but the music was great! Beyond that, any of you folks who enjoy that era of music would have loved it!! We were incredibly tired after the weekend, but so glad we were able to go. And perhaps the best part was just how happy everyone seemed to be. It was always crowded and the weather was really hot right up until show time, and yet everyone was friendly, accommodating, patient, and so glad to be there. That was nice to be a part of.
  Things are continuing to move quickly on the enrollment front. We love how enthusiastic everyone is, and we’re excited to see that translate into a fun and exciting summer ahead. Welcome back to the following “old-timers” who re-enrolled this past month: JACOB & SAM KLINE, ETIENNE LAFLAMME and JOSH MEYER of Chicago, IL; MYLES BRODSKY, TOMMY HOLLAND, MAX KOHL, MATTHEW & SAM PALEY, and JESSE STOLBERG of Deerfield, IL; EMERSON CORONEL, JEREMY GROVER, JAMES LOVETT, ILAN REISS, and MILES STEIN of Los Angeles, CA; ELI GARBER, ELI & NOAH GOLDBLATT, and NOAH LEDERER of Glencoe, IL; NOAH LIGHT of Bethesda, MD; NOAH & WILL SEXTER of Rockville, MD; JOE & WILLIAM COOVERT, TYLER DEUTSCH, JOEY FLOM, CONNOR LANDER, JOSEPH LOURIE, IAN & MICHAEL LYNCH, JONAH SAMSON, JARED & MILES SETTLER, and OWEN TAYLOR of St. Louis, MO; AARON BERNS, ERIC ROBERTS, and LEO SCLAMBERG of Highland Park, IL; MILES PETERSON of Lake Forest, IL; MORGAN DECKER of Tulsa, OK; JACKSON SHALTIEL of Mundelein, IL; DREW MUTCHNIK and AIDAN POMEROY of Northbrook, IL; GRAHAM & MAX ELLIOT, MAX KELLER and OWEN SHAFFER of Nashville, TN; JARED ORKIN of Houston, TX; WILLIAM CROSBY of Oak Park, IL; and ELLIOT RUBIN of Wilmette, IL.
Say hello to the following first-year campers who joined us last month: CHRISTIAN WALLNER of Chicago, IL; MATT SILVERMAN of Cincinnati, OH; JACK DAVISON of Lutherville, MD; and RORY EVANS and LANDON SELZER of Houston, TX. It’s a few months away, but do you guys know how much fun you’re gonna have?! It’s gonna be incredible!! |
Right now, you can check out a special digital version of the photo album books we bring around the country. This includes dozens of photos taken by camp photographers (mostly Domi) and by none other than Britt Black, Jr. It’s a digital slideshow with music, and you can see it by clicking here.
And don’t forget! In just one month you will be able to download or stream live the incredible 2016 Reunion Video. It’s a Ryan Cohen production, so you know you’re gonna want to watch it and share it with all your friends!
We are on the road again!! By the time you read this, our travels will have kicked into high gear, and we could be coming to a camp city near you very soon. Please take a look at the slightly revised reunion schedule below, and COME BY AND HANG OUT WITH US WHEN WE’RE IN YOUR AREA!!!
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  We have an outstanding group of CITs to tell you about. We’re happy to welcome back SAM FRISHMAN of Buffalo Grove, IL; ETHAN GOMBERG of Chicago, IL; ETHAN LETWAT of Deerfield, IL; ZACHARY KALLMEYER of Highland Heights, OH; ADAM COHN and JOSH ETTINGER of St. Louis, MO; EVAN GROSS of Glencoe, IL; JOE BERNS, ANDREW KARMIN, JOEY ROSENBLUM, MYLES ROSENSTEIN, and ALEXANDER ZLOTNIK of Highland Park, IL; GRANT KIBEL of West Newton, MA; JOEY SALIT of Mundelein, IL; CASEY MUTCHNIK of Northbrook, IL; and DAVID WINE of Oak Park, IL. |
  Thanks to everyone who sent us some news about their “off-season” happenings so we can share it with y’all. We appreciate it. In Nashville, JACOB VINER is a busy boy. He and his family hosted our Nashville reunion very recently, he will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah this month (way to go!), and he made his school’s A soccer team. MAX KELLER just completed the fall play, “Sound of Music” at his school, and is already auditioning for another show. Max and his family recently went on a trip to LA. In Houston, RORY EVANS is playing football, riding his bike, playing violin, and is way into Legos. ARI COPLON has been playing baseball and is looking forward to basketball season. AIDAN FELDMAN has been busy with school and baseball, playing in several tournaments. And in the stand watching some of those games, none other than DAVID ARTZI who is living in Houston. They’ve also been to a few U. of Houston and Texans football games. And Aidan played in the Macabbi games alongside some camp buddies from St. Louis, including ETHAN and TYLER DEUTSCH. Some of our 6th grade St. Louis campers got together and ran a 5K to raise money for Camp Moves Me, benefitting Camp for All Kids. Our thanks and congrats to LUCAS LEVY, DANNY FISCHER, JARED SETTLER, JOSEPH LURIE, ELI TENENBAUM, JACK BECKER, and JONAH SAMSON! You guys are awesome, and you raised nearly $1000!!! BEN SIWAK is the leading goal scorer on his hockey team…and also leading in penalty minutes. SAM SIWAK  made a trip to Chicago to help JARED LETWAT celebrate his Bar Mitzvah (congrats, Jared!) last month. ZACH HEARST made his high school rowing team and had his first regatta last month in Ohio. JEREMY COHN celebrated his Bar Mitzvah back in September (congrats, Jeremy!) OWEN TAYLOR is in his school’s rendition of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” performing 4 shows in the role of Tom Snout. Amazing role for a freshman! In the Chicago area, DUSTY & ANDREW KARMIN got to hang out with Duane Wade while he was shooting a commercial. No big deal. JESSE STOLBERG has been enjoying high school, and has been building sets for the stage crew for the upcoming performance of “44 Plays for 44 Presidents.” He and 3 buddies also formed a band. Jesse is lead guitar and backup vocals. Bar Mitzvah congrats to RYAN TEITELBAUM who celebrated last month. LEO SCLAMBERG performed at a Halloween festival at Millenium Park last month and sang the National Anthem and performed at an American Diabetes Ass’n. walk at Monroe Harbor. JACK MORRIS has been swimming in a lot of meets. GABE NEWMAN is doing well in school and often sees SAM “PICKLES” KAHN in the hallways. Gabe played some golf tournaments after camp and is now playing tennis. A.J. STEWART is running cross country for his middle school team and had a 7:29 mile. ALEX KIPNIS is wrestling at Northshore Edge Wrestling club and learning songs on his guitar. As mentioned earlier, JARED LETWAT celebrated his  Bar Mitzvah last month and had a a bunch of camp friends in from out of town to join in the fun. JACOB KLINE is doing well in high school and learning Sign. SAM KLINE is playing fall baseball. DOX RASKIN is playing Ultimate for his middle school team and was selected to play trombone in the Illinois Music Educator’s Jazz Band. LEVI RASKIN is on his high school Vex Robotics and Science Olympiad teams and is playing upright bass in the Illinois Music Educator’s Concert Band. In Kansas City, DUSTIN GREENWOOD went to a sports broadcasting camp at UCLA at the end of the summer. Last month he met up with St. Louis campers JONAH SAMSOM, DANNY FISCHER, and ELI TENENBAUM when they were in KC for a soccer tournament. They enjoyed some classic Kansas City BBQ together. Indianapolis finds GUS MERVIS playing travel hockey and taking high school entrance exams. One of those sounds like fun. In Maryland, NOAH LIGHT played catcher & first base for his select baseball team and they played in the championships. n Cleveland, JAMAIRI COTTRELL should recover from a broken thumb in time for basketball season. MORGAN DECKER is in Tulsa and is playing drums in his school’s jazz band. Bar Mitzvah congrats to Los Angeles campers ILAN REISS and EMERSON CORONEL. Both celebrated last month. In Seattle, ELI WACKSMAN has been doing a little hiking with his family in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. In Denver, JACKSON TURNER has been competing in bouldering competitions for his team, Rock’n & Jam’n, and he’s playing trumpet in his school’s jazz band. Here in Tucson, congrats to AIDAN MEASE for earning the Principal’s Award for getting all As on his first quarter. He’ll start playing lacrosse this month. |
  ETHAN LETWAT is in Chicago and just finished high school golf season. He’s also working as a Kindergarten aide. He and ANDREW KARMIN went to a Bears game together a few weeks ago. And Andrew bumped into ETHAN GOMBERG at a soccer game they were both playing in.  MYLES ROSENSTEIN has been playing volleyball on his high school team. His recent Face Time call to his brother, JACOB ROSENSTEIN interrupted a perfectly nice Mexican food dinner we were enjoying in Tucson with Jacob and “old-timer” JOEY RODIN. ADAM WASSERMAN is in a fraternity at Kent State and involved in their philanthropy efforts. In St. Louis, DAVID TAMSKY applied for a job at a local skating rink. It’s an outdoor rink, so it needs to cool off a bit there first. ADAM COHN is playing viola in the Webster University Youth Orchestra. Down in Florida, JEFF “MEL” MELROSE recently met up with “old-timer” PETER GOLDBERG at Universal Resort. DUSTIN COHEN has left Tucson and headed for Keystone Resort where he will be a children’s ski instructor this winter. His roommate will be JARED BURGDORF, who will be a snowboard instructor, and they’ll also be near JOVAN MCGEE who is a supervisor for a shuttle company in the area. |
 AROUND THE HAND-WASHING STATION –by Scott Wolf My editor censored my beautifully written piece about the Cubs in the World Series; here is take 2: I’ve never really liked November. It’s not the beginning of the school year anymore, but it’s still far from the holiday break. It’s definitely not summer anymore, but it’s certainly not winter. It’s not blockbuster movie season, but it’s not Oscar movie season, either! In a sense, we’re stuck in the middle. Come on November, make up your mind! Commit! Whenever I feel I’m stuck in the middle of things, not quite here but not quite there, I like to try to honor the past while looking forward to the future…asking myself why I made a decision and what goals I am working towards, or remembering past joys to inspire me to work That’s why this is the perfect time for camp reunions. What better way to honor the past and look towards the future than to reconnect with summer friends? I know I loved reunions as a camper as a chance to re-hash old jokes and start new ones, or to remember together the cool activities we took last summer and already start planning the ones we wanted to take next summer. I know this reunion tour if I see Alexander Zlotnik and Joe Berns I’ll want to remember going out on our disc golf clinic and see if they have any exciting ideas for new clinics next year! If I see Ben Goss I’ll want to remember his incredible storm trooper mask on Casino Night and ask what he was for Halloween and if there are any cool costumes I can look forward to next summer! If I see Brian Strain I’ll want to remember the amazing conversations we had with campers on the pontoon boat and ask if I can PLEASE go out on the pontoon again next year! November is also, of course, Thanksgiving. I’m so thankful I get to spend my days at “camp,” even if I’m not physically there. I’m thankful for my Shawnee boys and our *lit* pizza parties. I’m thankful for technology making you all just a phone call or text or email away. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Let me know: scottlorenwolf@gmail.com. I can’t wait to hear from you! Fly the W, |
BRAVO TO OUR NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY BOYS! Mike Sclavi – 11/1/1982, Gabe Newman – 11/7/2003, Connor O’Neil – 11/9/2004, Jordan Taylor – 11/9/1995, Zachary Zlepper – 11/9/1999, Zachary Zlepper – 11/9/1999, Alex Mc Cloud – 11/11/2006, Max Keller – 11/14/2002, Danny Fischer – 11/16/2004, Phil House – 11/16/1987, Noah Light – 11/17/2005, Noah Foster – 11/18/2001, Jack Rosenthal – 11/20/1998, Jonas Monieson – 11/21/1999, Jonas Monieson – 11/21/1999, Jack Davison – 11/22/2004, William Crosby – 11/25/2003, Jackson Shaltiel – 11/25/2003, Jack Kriser – 11/27/2004, Jonathan Vera – 11/27/1995, Ajene Cooks – 11/29/2004, Jaimari Cottrell – 11/30/2001.
Have a great month, a very happy Thanksgiving, and we’ll write you again next month!
Benches up,
