Doing things the easy way is apparently not a very “campy” way to be. So we decided to start a major building project within a month of summer camp actually starting. Mostly the fun is in watching our contractors sweat and develop hives, but the hives usually become contagious after a while.
Well, not with our contractor. Robert Sulaski laughs in the face of deadlines! He is like some sort of superhero. “No no, that carved native American totem pole simply will not do! Take it back and do it again….We still have time,” he sneers at the artsy man from somewhere in Kentucky. Even in the face of numerous April showers and sketchy soil quality because of moisture Robert is undaunted! “Dig a trench here to funnel the water away from the site,” he tells his graders. Truly a master in his craft! What do you think campers? Are we going to make it? Here are some pictures.
Look at those huge logs! Nice eh?
lumber arrives and is painted
Footers are poured. This is happening people!
Any thoughts? I think it will happen! Robert means business.
So I spent last week at the American Camping Association’s Tri-State Convention in Atlantic City, NJ. It was simply amazing! I got to sit and listen to some of the biggest names in American camping (guys like Chris Thurber and Mike Brandwein) talk about subjects like homesickness, bullying, staff training, and camp budgeting. These may not seem like head turning topics to most people, but as a camp professional (who thinks about these things a lot) I was literally on the edge of my seat taking tons of notes! Another great thing was that I got to do this with my wife, Annie, which was really fun. My mom and dad kept our son, Will, and spoiled him like crazy!
I also got to ride a mechanical bull at the conference.
Not many people know this, but I was actually born in Texas.
The Mt. Mitchell marathon has camp representation once again! A camp Timberlake legend, James Michael Wilson Sanders, is going to do battle with the elements and run from Black Mountain to Mt. Mitchell (and back) in what is forecast to be around 5 degrees and running through what is said to be almost 3 feet of snow! (Maybe we should all observe a moment of silence to lift up our crazy brother, James Michael!)
Last year our beloved Ryan Carlson the director of Black Mountain Expeditions placed second in the marathon. (Which I am still amazed by) The conditions were really bad then as well, pouring rain! He decided not to run this year due to the fact that the much needed training time was replaced with time spent on home renovation work on a new house he and his wife Annie have purchased here in Black Mountain.
So here are the proposed plans for our new camp pavilion! We are especially pleased with this for a few reasons. Not only is this another great location for rainy day activities, but it takes fencing indoors (where it is traditionally practiced) and takes more pressure off of the Mike for programming in both daily and evening activities. It will have a fire pit off to the side of it for tribal ceremonies and a flagpole to hoist the flag of the previous night’s evening activity winner! We plan to dive back into the history of Timberlake and carve the banner winners of each year’s first and second session in the timbers that surround the fire. Oh and Will Long is designing some really cool flags to raise. Get ready boys, this is going to be a huge addition to our camp traditions! Below is the layout that we have for the new building. Did I mention that the view is breathtaking from it? It makes me want to wrestle and fence! (I am terrible at both)
Most people agree that boys and girls develop differently. In general girls develop language more quickly while a boy’s develop in their visual/spatial abilities. Other studies show that boys focus when under stress while girls tend to take less risk in stressful situations. So it is no surprise that children consistently perform better in single-gender schools. Settings focused on their particular strengths are simply going to be more effective.
Camp, however, is different. We are not making our campers better students (though I suspect they are), we are making them happier, more adventurous people. Our strength is that camp is both an intensely social (we live together!) and a low stress setting. The result is a place where it is safe to try new things. It is a place where the boys live together in their cabins as families, and like a family, it is a place where they can cheer for each others’ success and encourage each other when they fail. This is why boys who attend single-gender camps are more likely to develop a healthy sense of adventure, make life-long friends and return year after year.
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