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Archive for the ‘Directors’ Category
Saturday, July 30th, 2011
Hugs were happening everywhere on the last day of camp for our 1st session campers. As your buses pulled out of camp and around the winding road, we stood in front of the gates and made our way back down to the porch of the Main House. We can’t stop thinking about how amazing 1st session was!
It’s hard to believe that it has been only 4 weeks since that same gate opened and we welcomed you to your summer home – back to this incredible world of love, laughter, family and friendship. This is the place where your friends always know how you’re feeling, who always know how to make you laugh and who are always there to give you a hug, a pat on the back or just a smile…
Just because 1st session has ended for this summer doesn’t mean you can’t be in touch with us or your camp friends throughout the year ~ It’s never too soon to call your camp friends and tell them that you miss them already! (They’re probably about to dial your number, too!) It’s never too early to start counting the days until next summer.
From White Rio to Red Hong Kong to Minute to Win It and ice cream social snack. Remember the dance parties, star jumps and the themed Barbecues – Country, Rock Star and Halloween – and don’t forget all of the FAKEOUTS and fortune cookies falling from the sky . . . Dance Dance Revolution and our very own TLW Aladdin. Remember Fourth of July fireworks, Ultimate Entertainment and Chocolate Pudding wrestling, Miss TLW and Girls’ Sing . . . the list just goes on and on.
To all our 1st session campers: We hope you all have an incredible rest of the sumer and school year, and we hope that you will stay in touch with us over the next eleven months. We are already counting the days until June 24, 2012. We miss you so much already!
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Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
What am I forgetting?!? Ugh….. Yes, the panic of “What am I forgetting?” settles in as you ready your child for camp while you go over all the various piles of things that he or she will need this summer.
But I can tell you that probably the most important thing you can pack for your child is a sense of confidence and reassurance that your child will have an amazing time while at camp this summer. Remind them that although you will not be there, Jenn, Justin, Cassie and the rest of the TLW team of counselors, group leaders & support staff will be there for them and that they are not alone.
Camp will provide your child with the added self-confidence, self-esteem and resilience that comes from doing things that sometimes takes them out of their comfort zone. You can’t over-estimate the benefit for a child that comes from getting through a challenge without mom or dad. Jenn, Justin, Cassie and the rest of the TLW team are there to help them to do just that, and to do it successfully!
So, as you go over the various piles of all the camp necessities that are scattered throughout your living room and pack them up in your child’s duffle bags, don’t forget to pack your child up with a bit of “can do” attitude and a dose of positive spirit! The positive changes in your child of having spent a summer of fun and adventure, and making new friends, will make it clear – It was all well worth it!
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Thursday, May 19th, 2011
With just under 40 days until the start of summer 2011, most parents are focusing their concerns on the seemingly overwhelming task of collecting the clothing and other “necessities” needed for their child’s summer at camp. Readying for camp usually boils down to accumulating, labeling, and packing an inordinate amount of items deemed vital to the production of a successful summer. But are parents really “packing” the right things? Are they really preparing themselves and their children to get the most and the best out of a great summer camp experience?
On some levels, not much has changed in the forty years since my father packed me up for my first summer as a camper at Timber Lake Camp. Yet, times surely have changed and so have parental expectations. My father was content in the hope of getting me back in one piece. Parents today have much higher aspirations for their child’s camp experience, commensurate, I suppose, with the higher tuition now demanded. Today’s parents should expect more than the obvious; safety and fun. They should look for real growth in their child. The first step in assuring it, is “packing” correctly – preparing properly for the camp experience. (more…)
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Monday, April 11th, 2011
I recently took a trip up at Camp and I find myself longing for the summer when I am at camp during the off season. It is the quiet that grabs my attention. There is no pop of a tennis ball meeting a racket, no twang of the ball hitting a bat, nor the splash of happy campers jumping in the pool.
I miss the noise at camp… The cheering in the dining hall, the singing as the girls walk to activities, the hammer hitting the nail in woodworking, the wheels of the skateboard grinding in the park, music pumping out of the dance studio and hearing the dance counselor say “5-6-7-8”, that sound, that sound the zip line makes when a camper goes for a ride, the dull hum of the motor boat along with the laughter and happy screams of the banana boat riders, and you always know then the go-carts are running!
The PA does not play music during the day or Journey to call you all to snack. It is just as quiet as the rest of camp, this time of year.
But soon, soon, in less than 80 days, the staff is going to start making their way up Burnt Hill Road, followed a short time later by the Camp Buses and then Camp will be Camp once again. Because it is the staff and campers that make camp come alive and make it the place you live 11 months out of the year for that one month on the top of a mountain in Roscoe, NY. Timber Lake West – it is the place we all call home. We are very much looking forward to seeing our Timber Lake West Family once again.
~ Jenn
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Thursday, March 17th, 2011
This article was written by Jay Jacobs, President and CEO of The TLC Family of Camps.
Just like the famous line from the Wizard of Oz, “there’s no place like home,” there really is no place like camp. You often hear about “the magic of camp” and the “camp experience,” but what really is it and what is it that makes it so unique?
I have been going to camp since I was five years old. I spent three years at Camp Kindering, and two at Echo Lark (now Westmont) in Pennsylvania before my father sent me to Timber Lake at age 9 in 1967. I’ve been there every year since. I have been homesick (though not recently), camp sick (I still miss camp after every summer ends), left-out, included, won Marathons, lost Marathons, made friends, lost friends, laughed, cried, whispered to bunkmates in bed, shouted cheers in the Dining Hall (Mess Hall, back then) and have done all of the hundreds of things that made camp life unique then, and make it unique still.
Camp is a world unto itself – a place where children come to experiment, be themselves, try out new selves, practice what they do well, learn things they have not tried before. At its best, camp offers children a safe environment to succeed, fail, and learn to try again. Particularly in today’s technology-driven, text-messaging, cell-phone connected world, camp focuses on the here and now, right in front of you relationships that still work to create the old-fashioned friendships that last a lifetime. Most important, camp allows children to practice the skills of making and keeping friends. (more…)
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Friday, May 7th, 2010
As part of our Partners In Parenting program, we felt that in light of recent events in the media, we wanted to draw your attention back to the issue of cyberbullying, and the latest effects it’s having on children today. New laws are being created and passed across our country to help protect our children, but as you know, being well informed is the first step in helping to protect your child. (more…)
Tags: Cyberbullying, Social Networking
Posted in Directors, Partners In Parenting | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 19th, 2010
Yes, you are ready! You have made your doctors appointments for the camp physicals, submitted your camp forms online and otherwise, purchased your camp clothing and you are ready to pack the camp duffel bags. But are you really ready?! We are here to help you prepare for you child’s “independence” and the potential separation anxiety you, your child or both of you may experience while your child is at camp. We look forward to helping to create a comfort zone for both you and our future camper. (more…)
Posted in Directors, Events & Reunions, New Campers | No Comments »
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