Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,
You may have heard the name Richard Louv. He’s a journalist and author who grew up in the Midwest in the ‘60s. As a child, like many others of his generation, when he got bored he would go and explore the woods surrounding his neighborhood. He and his friends would make up games as they roamed around outside. In those days, kids were granted geographic freedoms that today’s parenting generation might regard as excessive or even irresponsible. However, we kids of the ‘60s and ‘70s, could get on our bikes and venture miles away from home. In my house, that was fine, but when the bell rang in our backyard, it was dinner time, and we were expected to be back in time. We usually were.
Back to Richard Louv. In 2005, Mr. Louv wrote a book entitled The Last Child in the Woods, which he says was written as a clarion call to make parents aware of the generation they were raising and the future they were creating. Central to the message in the book is the term he coined, the “Nature Deficit Disorder.” He quotes a fourth grader who once told him, “I like to play indoors better ‘cause that’s where the electrical outlets are.” If that sounds familiar to some of us, we’re not alone. Together we parents are raising a generation that is more disconnected from Nature than any in history. And if you’re wondering (reasonably so) if that’s so bad, I encourage you to read the book. Some of the impact of our children spending so much play time indoors and on electronic devices is abundantly clear to anyone. Clearly the childhood obesity increase we’ve all witnessed in the past 15 years is connected (no pun intended). You can also listen to the music being created by and for our kids and see how often there are references to anything natural….rivers, creeks, mountains, meadows, forests, animals, birds. Those topics practically never come up in popular culture, and that absence is a recent development.
There’s much more to this, though. In his book, Louv illustrates the many behavioral ramifications, ranging from an enduring fear and mistrust of the outdoors to increased diagnoses of childhood depression and AD-HD. So, is it possible that our children are afraid of Nature (a mind-boggling notion) and also unable to focus in school because they spend their free time indoors. According to studies Louv cites, the answer is yes…absolutely yes.
Louv cites studies that show spending just 30 minutes of unstructured play time in a natural setting significantly reduces the key behaviors identified as symptoms of AD-HD. Or in other words, evidence shows us that kids actively playing outside are better capable of controlling their impulses and focusing when they are back in the classroom. If my child struggles with those things, and I can help him by pushing him out the door and getting him to play outside, I’d have to ask myself….what have I been waiting for? Is his school encouraging outdoor play?
The evolution of modern day parenting has put up some road blocks to unstructured, outdoor play. Many of us have our kids programmed in outdoor games like soccer or baseball or lacrosse, and while those things are tremendously positive in many respects, they do not replace UNSTRUCTURED outdoor playtime in the connection of kids to Nature. And that connection is the key. Other benefits include many creative and problem-solving skills that kids develop by playing together in unstructured, made-up games. What to do, what to do?
Enter camp. Yeah…you knew that was coming, right? We do believe this trend towards indoorsy and highly structured playtime is of great concern to anyone who advocates for kids. At the same time, what a great way to highlight how camp is here to help! Our camp experience does address the need for outdoor, unstructured play time in a big way for four or eight weeks of the year for our campers. What’s more, our fantastic Wilderness Trips Program goes even further to connect your kids to Nature, build their confidence and awareness of their own capabilities in the outdoors, and decimate any notion that Nature is a thing to fear.
So, if you are with us on this, let’s work together. We will do our thing with your boys, get them outside, active, unstructured (in a balanced way with healthy structured times as well), and playing independently. We will also continue to offer incredible opportunities to connect intimately with Nature and derive all the benefits that come from that. We’d love it if you would strongly encourage your kids to take advantage of the Trips program while they’re at camp. Through the years, many kids have arrived at camp with reluctance to go out camping. That’s natural and okay, though it has been exacerbated by the fear attached to Nature, resulting from a lack of familiarity with it. So an extra push from home, a discussion about the value and fun of these opportunities, and an expression that, while no one will ever force a Timberlane camper to get out on trips, it is something you, as the parent, hope and expect they’ll do. We’ll happily take it from there.
Along those lines, we have acquired most of our permits for our wilderness trips for the upcoming summer, and we have posted our 2017 Trips Calendar online! And it looks awesome!!! Hit the white water on the Peshtigo, Brule or Sand Rivers! Dip your paddle in remote lakes in the serene beauty of the Boundary Waters or Quetico. Scale the cliffs at Devil’s Lake or Tettegouche. Or, take to the trail and backpack at Pictured Rocks, LSPP, or the awesome Isle Royale! It’s all out there for you. We know so many of our campers are pumped to get out there, and we think that’s awesome.
In early April we will send every enrolled camper a summation of any trips he has done at Timberlane in the past (for returning campers), and a list of trips he is eligible for this coming summer. Please review that with your camper, and if anyone has questions, please contact us.
There are a handful of trips that we make available for advanced registration for returning campers who are qualified for those trips. You can find those and pre-register for them on our website. Click here, and then click the “Trips Info” link, and then the “advanced registration” link. FYI, while some trips do not fill up at all, in the past few years we have filled several trips with advanced registered campers, and have had to turn away kids who would have liked to go. So please, before pre-registering your son, make sure he is (or will become) eligible for the trip, and make sure he is committed to the trip.
Trips eligible for Advanced Registration include:
1st Session:
- Sand River
- Isle Royale 10 Day
- Apostle Islands Sea Kayak
2nd Session:
- Isle Royale 6 Day
- Quetico Canoe Trip (The Canadian)
- Apostle Islands Sea Kayak
 We are still rolling along and maintaining a faster pace than last year’s enrollment. We have ONE age group still open first session, and several have also closed for second session. And we have lots of new campers enrolled as well. Welcome back to the following “old-timers” who re-enrolled in the past month: CHARLIE CARROLL and EDDIE TEPPER of Chicago, IL; BUDDY & TOBY ASKENAZI of Denver, CO; TOMMY HOLLAND of Deerfield, IL; NOAH LEDERER of Glencoe, IL; DEVON BIERMAN of St. Louis, MO; TYLER BORSTEIN and COBY TEICH of Highland Park, IL; OLLIE & JAKE LUCOFF of Omaha, NE; CHARLIE CALLEN of Oak Park, IL; AIDEN HOLSTEIN of Wilmette, IL; CHASE WOLINETZ of Pepper Pike, OH; CODY KENDALL of Winnetka, IL, KOBE CERRA of Kildeer, IL; and TIMOFEY VORONIN of Girne, Cyprus.
Say hello to the following first-year campers who will join us this summer: LEO WEISS of Los Angeles, CA; MARTIN ASKENAZI of Denver, CO; JAY CARROLL and OWEN LILLY of Chicago, IL; BEN & ZANE FREY of Leawood, KS; RYAN ACREE of St. Louis, MO; DIEGO VILLA of Houston, TX; JOSH TRAUB of Dallas, TX; and ANDY & FERNANDO ABAROA of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. |
YO PARENTS: Summer still seems like a ways off, but February is when the pace starts to pick up a bit in our preparations for the summer. Regarding billing, most of you have already submitted your Winter Deposit, which was due January 15th. We know you won’t love hearing this, but the Spring Deposit is due on March 15th, so this is an early heads up. IF YOU EVER WANT TO KNOW THE STATUS OF YOUR ACCOUNT, REMEMBER YOU CAN CHECK IT ON YOUR PARENT KEYLOG PAGE. Thanks.
FLYING CAMPERS: If your son is flying en route to camp, we hope you have registered already with Sojourn Travel, our selected travel agency. Fares go up as travel dates approach, so you are better off taking care of that as soon as possible.
CIT TRAVEL: CITs start on June 11th, so travel-to-camp day is June 10th. We will have a van in Chicago to pick up our area CITs there, and we’ll have room for their duffels too. CITs from all other cities will fly to camp, into the Central Wisconsin Airport, where we’ll meet them and drive them and their bags to camp. If you have any questions about your CITs travel or anything else, please contact us.
YO OLD GUYS: If you are a returning camper in 8th or 9th grade this year, then we want you to be a Big Brother for a new camper this summer. This is a great opportunity for you to connect with someone new, share your knowledge and experience of camp, help your little bro feel welcome and at home, and gain some leadership experience. We will connect as many of our returning guys with little brothers as possible. We ask big brothers to call (not text or Facebook message) their little brothers, spend a few minutes on the phone, and if it works out, maybe even get together with them before camp. There is definitely no obligation for you to be a big brother if you’re not crazy about the idea. If you prefer NOT to be a big brother, please email or call us as soon as possible. We will send out Big/Little Brother assignments in April.
 Last month we were able to tell you about lots of awesome counselors and other staff members who are going to be back with us this summer. That’s on top of all the people we told you about the month before. Well, the train keeps on rolling! We have even more fantastic folks to officially welcome back to our staff this summer. Among our returning staff members, thus far, we have more than 500 combined summers of Timberlane experience leading the way this summer. And….we expect there will be even more coming soon.
Welcome aboard to one of several first-year staff who will join us this summer:
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 In the Washington, DC area, NOAH LIGHT played on a select baseball team last fall. He’s currently playing basketball. NOAH SEXTER is playing basketball, starting winter baseball, and going skiing in Sun Valley. Brother WILL SEXTER also has been skiing, in Sun Valley and on a race team closer to home. Will’s Bar Mitzvah is this month (Congrats!!), and he’ll have some camp folks traveling to celebrate with him. MARK DAVID is refereeing youth basketball games. In Denver, BUDDY ASKENAZI is playing basketball and will start  baseball in the spring. He’s been doing some skiing also. Brother TOBY ASKENAZI is playing basketball and skiing. JACKSON TURNER took 1st place in a regional bouldering competition, and moved on to divisionals. If he wins there, it’s on to nationals!! Our thanks to all of our Atlanta guys, ZACHARY SEGALL, COLE KAPLAN, PETER FINK, and DANIEL VAN BUREN for their sticking together and having a camp reunion even though Mike & Leslie couldn’t get there due to a canceled flight! Y’all are the best!! Thanks also to the boys who came and visited with me at the St. Louis Summer Opportunities Fair last month. Phew! Sure would have been boring without you guys. I really appreciate it. Last month LEO & JOEY HANDELSMAN vacationed up in Wisconsin, and got to spend part of a snowy day in camp. Pretty fun walking ON Lake Towanda! In Chicago, SAM & MATTHEW PALEY had lunch recently with DAVID HEIMAN. JARED LETWAT has been swimming for a club. |
 BEN ROBERTS was able to travel to Israel last month. JACK ROSENTHAL participated in a 7 day trip to Qatar for the Hague International Model UN. Jack represented Russia (?!), and was there with students from around the world. He also got to do some sightseeing along the way. MILES & JACOB ROSENSTEIN paid a visit to JEFF (MEL) &ANDY MELROSE at Disneyworld last month. Jacob is paying a visit to “old-timers” DANNY LEVY and SAM WETZEL at Tulane University this month. A decidedly un-newsy month for our staff. Hmmmmm. |
 AROUND THE HAND-WASHING STATION I have no choice but to start here: last month, I got a total of one response to my request for Camp Resolutions. Everyone, please hold Sam Paley accountable for not messing with Dillon Berlin’s pillow this summer. You’re welcome, Paley! Ok, back to business. Earlier this month, I took a weekend trip to Boston with a guy some of you may know, Mel Melrose, and camp “old-timer” and perennial problem child in my age group Aaron Zemach. We each made the journey from our separate corners of the country to reunite at a Guster concert (jealous yet?). In my mind, Guster is the quintessential camp band – back in my day (he said as he adjusted his cane and sipped his prune juice), cabins had CD players (Google it), and my counselors would play Guster’s music for the cabin, because their counselor played it for them…and so on. It was silly, but it was a legacy. And I wanted to be a part of it. Zemach and I became close friends playing “Happier” and “Demons” around the campfire. Mel and I The sharing of these experiences as a way to connect to something larger than ourselves has always been one of my favorite things about camp. Camp is LOADED with history! And not in a stuffy text book way…think about how many fun, crazy stories you come home with after just one summer, and then multiply that by 56!! Every cabin has a story; every Capture the Flag Walking-Zone tells a tale. Seek out the legends from the experienced guys, and pass them along to the new ones. It can be a beautiful thing to walk across the Athletic Field and realize you are part of something that has secrets from before you were born, and will continue on whenever life decides to take you in another direction. You never truly leave that legacy behind, though. Just ask Zemach. I encourage you to listen to some Guster this week and get excited about camp! Also, decide what new camp band you want to introduce at a campfire this summer! New legacies have to start somewhere. I want to know what you think! Basically, let’s just talk about music: scottlorenwolf@gmail.com. Until next time, Scott |
BRAVO TO OUR FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY BOYS! Max Pugh – 2/1/2001, Zavion Steele – 2/1/2005, Brady Adelman – 2/2/2006, Gus Mervis – 2/3/2003, Massimo D’Agaro – 2/6/2003, Jackson Pawlan – 2/6/2001, Harry Smith – 2/7/2007, Max Glickman – 2/8/1997, Spencer Sherman – 2/9/2006, Ethan Deutsch – 2/10/2003, Tyler Deutsch – 2/10/2003, Caleb Gerstein – 2/10/2006, Martin Askenazi – 2/12/2004, David Ringel – 2/15/1997, Morgan Decker – 2/16/2005, Tommy Holland – 2/16/2003, Aiden Holstein – 2/16/2005, Daniel Feldman – 2/17/2000, Zach Walden – 2/17/2000, Robin Jong – 2/19/1997, Eli Wacksman – 2/22/2007, Sam M. Kahn – 2/23/1989, Elliott Korentager – 2/23/2006, Casey Mutchnik – 2/25/2001, David Friedland – 2/26/2003, Carlos Dorantes Banuelos – 2/27/1994.
Hey! Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training later THIS MONTH! Once that gets going, you know summer isn’t too far behind. Have a great month, and we’ll write you again soon.
Benches up,
