The sun rose over the misty mountains of North Carolina this morning to greet the wonderful place of Camp Timberlake. The day started with a tasty breakfast of eggs, sausages, and biscuits, a favorite for many of the campers. The usual routine of the morning continued with songs being sung in chapel and very inspiring words from the director Dan himself. And then there was cabin clean-up. Oh cabin clean-up, what a wonderful time. These campers impress me daily on how well they can clean, which may surprise you parents. Activities soon followed and the campers did excellent on those as well.

In the lake, Andrew Spicher did awesome in kayaking, getting down his T-rescue. Henry Stout and Rob Curtiss had perfect arm entry and head position in swimming class. Jacob Aiken is starting to put his whole stroke together and looks powerful in the water.  David Fryman introduced the pencil sharpener dive off the diving board. Brendan Duffy also showed off his signature cannon ball. Seder Martin, Will Cobb, and Jack Ellis had an awesome run on the mountain biking trails of Fletcher Creek this morning. Logan Brown was able to win two times at knockout in Team Sports class. In the climbing class, Thomas Farris, Jack Ellis, and Seder Martin were able to scale the tower. Nico Leshaw was a big help in climbing class as he belayed for the class.

For the evening activity, the campers got to hang out with their cabins and do fun activities. Little Slaty was able to make candy sushi in the kitchen. Big Slaty had fun frisbee golfing around the camp. Big and Little Piney had fun in the lake with a free swim. All and all it was another great day at camp.

Counselor Rusty

The young men of Iroquois awoke with renewed vim and vigor this morning after winning the Sock War last night. But with another day of new activities ahead, the competition was quickly put aside. Both tribes enjoyed a hearty breakfast of egg casserole, sausage, fresh fruit, and coffee cake before assembling to wake the neighbors with the Morning Yell.

Classes today went great overall. In the first year of Timberlake pottery, Cooper Denning and Seder Martin are quickly becoming masters on the wheel, and Max Rosner made a coffee mug in record time. William Tiller had an excellent round of shooting on the rifle range. Andrew Thompson showed a lot of promise at archery.

Outside of camp, Sherrod Bell, Andy Leshaw, Henry Stout, Logan Brown, and Brett Buchanan went on a mountain biking trip today. Harrison Carmichael, Quinn Martin, Jackson Singleton, and Grant Metzger navigated the rapids of the Broad River. After a great dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, the boys gathered to face off in battleball. Excitement is high as Seminole and Iroquois face off again for the banner.

Yet another exciting day at Camp Timberlake as the boys kicked off the beginning of the first session of the summer! The day began with the newly initiated campers of Iroquois and Seminole awaking with the tribes’ paint dried onto their faces from their ceremony the night before. The camp’s activities started up as the boys enjoyed classes from kayaking to riflery. Though it is only the first day of activities this session, the campers are already making achievements. Carter Boone successfully launched his first rocket today which reached over 300 feet into the air. Grant Metzger, Will Cobb, Sherrod Bell, and Jackson Singleton participated in a mountain bike safety ride and are already looking forward to biking trips later this week. Jacob Aiken was quick to learn the kicking technique in swim class this morning. John Cooper shot a rifle for the first time today and hit his target twice. Tyler Snively was the first to play a brand new guitar which Camp Timberlake purchased for the guitar class. Nico Leshaw climbed a challenging route 4 times during a climbers trip to the Little Lost Cove, and Oliver  Nicholson climbed a bronze route on the Traverse Wall. Harrison Carmichael, Quinn Martin, Jackson Singleton, and Grant Metzger are all preparing  for a kayaking trip they will be going on tomorrow to the Broad River. The day’s classes ended with a full camp picture in which Lawton Harper was awarded the “Most Still During the Photo Shoot Dollar”. Following dinner, the boys were thrilled to learn that they were going to play an epic game of “Sock War” for the nightly activity. Everyone is excited and ready for a wonderful summer in which the boys will most assuredly make leaps and bounds in their respective activities and into quality young men.

Why do we run this website?

Every year we labor to find an employee who has just the right blend of computer skills coupled with a background in photography.  This year we hit the jackpot with our two technology directors, David Friedrichs and Jay Fordham. Jay is an extremely talented photographer and David is a communications expert who is excited about the opportunity to maintain our website and assist you in viewing what is going on here with your campers!

Each day we assign a counselor (or two) to roam around camp snapping pictures of what is going on. We also get cameras out on the many trips that we take during each session.  Usually after the evening activity that counselor is given the task of writing an article to let you know what happened for that day.You will see things like bar requirements earned (goals that the campers strive for in each of the activities), trips that went out, frogs that were caught (and by whom), tribal results for the evening activities, food that was eaten, evening trading post raids that happened (campers dressed like ninjas of course), and most recently campers who were initiated into their tribes.  Each camper went into the tribal teepee tonight and came out a proud new member of the Seminole or Iroquois tribe! Here is a list of those initiated tonight:

Seminole

Trevor Brown, William Bryan IV, Grant Deuterman, Reynolds Johnson, John Cooper, James Kitchen, William Tiller, Simon Ciprari, Rivers Shealy, Brenden Duffy, Rob Curtis, Jacob Wimberly, and Patterson Beaman.

Iroquois (I should mention here that this is also my tribe)

William Berg, Thomas Berg, Lawton Harper and Andrew Thompson.

So why do we run this website?  Because we want you to be able to be caught up in the story of CampTimberlake! By doing this we are giving you a one way mirror into what all we do here while camp is in session. As you will see we have a lot of fun!  Chances are that you will see your boy on this website in the coming days, but if not,  please be patient with us. It takes a while to get everyone on camera. We are going to do quite a few “cabin shots” to try to help with this. But I can promise that you will be able to know what all is going on here and in some cases before the campers even do.  If you are having trouble navigating it or logging on please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Thanks again for sending your boys to CampTimberlake and we want you to know how proud we are to have you in our camp family! Congratulations again to our newest tribesmen.

Sincerely,

Dan Singletary

Director of Camp Timberlake

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Today, Camp Timberlake struck again. In Swimming, Nicholas Davy, Nico Leshaw, Peyton Parker, Sam Beals all got their bronze in swimming! Josef Mills had a successful day in canoeing, and Nico Leshaw is incredibly close to getting his role in Kayaking. In Climbing, Parker Brown received his bronze, and Nico Leshaw learned his Munter and Bowline knots. During Free Time, the entire Tomahawk cabin hiked the Tomahawk trail, earning a mark toward their next promotion. There was also a Kayaking and Canoeing trip to section 4 of the French Broad that Jackson Singleton, Logan Brown, Charlie Oliff, Marc Fromang, and Alejandro Garcia went on. This was some of their first whitewater experiences ever, and everyone did a phenomenal job!

Tonights evening activity was the Little Chief ceremony, where campers receive promotions based on their marks. Following this, the lower cabins (Tomahawk, Little Piney, and Big Piney) played kickball, while the Upper Cabins (Stomper’s Knob, Little Slaty, Big Slaty, and Grey Beard) played Ultimate Frisbee. Overall, it was a stupdendously eventful day here at Camp Timberlake!

Until Next Time,

Dylan ‘D Scary’ Scaringelli

Grey Beard Counselor and Proud Seminole

The mountains were glistening today, perfect for another busy day at Camp Timberlake. A lot was accomplished in classes today and many campers came one step closer to earning their bars. Thomas Highfield painted his rocket red today and should be able to launch within the week. And let’s not forget about Mark Fromang, a.k.a. Robin Hood, who hit the bulls-eye in archery from 30 yards. Fencing was one of the more active classes today and many campers reached their goal of a bronze bar. Among the fencers to obtain bronze are Clayton Harris, Clayton Whetstine, Costan Holtzman, Britt Ferguson, and Tripp Young. Meanwhile, in backpacking, Weston Shoudy completed the low ropes course while Brycen Young and Logan Brown worked on tying knots. Logan was able to successfully setup a tarp all by himself, using the knots he learned in class. Speaking of knots, there was a climbing trip today that went to Chimney Rock.

After a busy day in Black Mountain all of Timberlake participated in Cabin Night. Tomahawk enjoyed both slip n’ slide and a piñata. Little Piney also took part in the slip n’ slide fun, as well as a trading post raid. Big Piney made ice cream sandwiches and Stomper’s Knob played some intense water polo and made s’mores. Little Slaty was another cabin that participated in slip n’ slide, but they also did some pottery. Big Slaty grilled burgers at lake tomahawk. Last, but certainly not least, the veterans of the Greybeard cabin went to Craggy Mountain to grill some steaks. In all, it’s been a great day at Camp Timberlake and we look forward to many more exciting events throughout the summer.

Patrick H.

Ladies and gentleman: it is summertime at Camp Timberlake.

The sun is out and the staff and counselors are tremendously excited for another year of fun, adventure, and character growth. All the young men of Camp Timberlake showed up at breakfast today as new or returning members of a Timberlake tribe: Iroquois or Seminole. It was encouraging to see those already initiated into a tribe take in their new brothers with a pat on the back or a hand on the shoulder. The day began early with a delicious meal of oatmeal and sausage, followed by the first summer 2013 morning yell. It shook the rafters.

Director Adam Boyd then led the first chapel of the summer, reminding us all through the story of the prodigal son, that camp is a great place to begin to know God as our Father. After chapel and clean-up, the fun began as the boys ran excitedly to their first activities. From guitar to paintball to mountain biking, Timberlake has it all.

And the boys were having a blast. Hudson Shoudy won “red light – green light” in fencing five times in a row, showing amazing skill on the first day of camp. Kevin Ralton might as well have been Robin Hood on the archery range, scoring a 40-point round during his time on the range. Meanwhile, over on Lake Doris, Clayton Grubbs and Thomas Highfield were the first blobbers of the summer, sending each other flying into the air before gravity took over and they returned with a splash. Nearby, Chase Roberson caught a crawfish in the creek and Andy Leshaw broke his personal record in dam-building.

In climbing, Parker Brown impressed the staff by completing the traverse wall for a bronze medal requirement. Herbert de Sola, Tripp Young, and Max Custer had an exciting first canoe class before getting in some quality time on the blob. David Ganuza and Peter Marty, two of the older veterans of Timberlake, quickly got back into the camp rhythm by excelling in kayaking and completing multiple T-rescues.  Camp Timberlake also held its first ever pottery class today, with counselor Ryan Johnson teaching the boys how to make pinch pots. Dylan Hadley turned his pot into a turtle, showing a creative side that we are excited to see develop in the coming days.

At dinner, the boys dug into spaghetti and meatballs along with some veggies and breadsticks. You could tell it had been an exciting day from the way the boys were eating. But the fun wasn’t over. The camp celebrated Brysen Young’s birthday with cake and singing, and then Timberlake Program Director Nick Bratcher got everyone stomping and yelling in excitement for the year’s first evening activity: a roaring game of sock-war. The first order of duty after dinner was electing tribal leaders. The Seminoles elected Carter Boone as chief and Tristan Young as med-man (second-in-command). The Iroquois gathered over near the riding barn to elect Peter Marty as chief and David Ganuza as med-man. Shortly thereafter, the games commenced.

Sock-war is a cornucopia of camp fun. An ingenious combination of dodge ball, capture-the-flag, and commando-style hide-and-seek, the boys spent over an hour chasing each other around camp in an attempt to bring home the win for their respective tribes. The rivalry was intense and teamwork was absolutely essential. Will Singletary and Joseph Mills were doing an excellent job on defense for the Iroquois. Meanwhile, Carter Boone and the Seminole cohorts made multiple offensive surges. The game was close. Final scores will not be announced until lunch tomorrow, but each of the boys has a (strong) personal opinion about who won and why.

It’s now time to head back to the cabins for counselor-led devotions and teeth-brushing before taps, and we are all thankful to God for such an amazing opening day for the Timberlake summer. Parents and friends: keep checking back for daily updates and do not forget to check the Camp Timberlake Facebook page for pictures and more! Thank you!

Lawson K.

What does our web site have to do with our philosophy of camping?

Each fall we begin our search for two staff members with computer skills and love for camp that is required to manage our on line articles and photos.  We also hire an extra counselor so that we can pull a different counselor out of his activities and cabin each day.  His job is then to become our camp photographer and journalist.  He begins after our morning staff meeting taking pictures and notes of the day’s events and usually ends his day sometime after taps writing an article to be posted later that night.  Amazingly, all of this does nothing to change your son’s camp experience, in fact, that is the point!

Instead we want to give our parents a one way window into their sons’ summer.  As parents Ann and I want to know everything that happens with our own camper, but as camp directors we also know how important it is for him to develop a healthy sense of independence. With this in mind we have developed Timberlake’s web site as a way to sneak a glimpse of his camp experience without changing that experience at all.

Chances are that you will find your camper in the photos, but the purpose of the site is not to show individuals, it is to tell the story of camp.  We want our parents to see everything that happens at camp.  We want you to know what the Morning Yell sounds like.  We want you to become caught up in the plot of Stomper’s Knob raiding Greybeard.  We want you to know share the adventure of Swamp raiding the Trading Post.  We want this because these are the things that are making your campers smile and sing and lose their voices laughing and cheering!

Each morning before breakfast I sneak into my office to flip through the most current pictures.  My son’s picture isn’t always there, but each morning I learn something about camp that I never knew.   The reason we have a website is because we want our parents to fall in love with camp the same way our campers do, so let us know how we’re doing.  Let us know what parts of camp you would like to see and we’ll make every effort to show it.

Great Camping!

Adam