The campers awoke bright and early this morning to the call of the bugle, and headed down for a breakfast of eggs, sausage, and biscuits. The boys then went through the usual routine, though it was no less great than any other day. They sang some songs at chapel, heard a message from our very own Danny N., cleaned their cabins, and it was off to the races with their activities. After a delicious pizza lunch, there was (of course) free-time, complete with Trading Post candy, tetherball, and even a free swim. While many great things happened today in the activities, the night-time was even more full of great things that are worthy of recalling.

As it was the last night of camp for this session, tonight was a very special night. After dinner, the campers headed up to the Council Ring for our Final Campfire ceremony, a combination of the weekly Little Chief ceremony and a unique segment dedicated to the last night at camp. First, we went through the Little Chief portion, calling out the commendations and promotions. The camper and counselor commendations are honors given to those campers who demonstrate unusual service and helpfulness to those around them. These campers are chosen by their peers and their cabin counselors. This week’s commendations are as follows:

Tomahawk

Camper Commendation: James K.

Counselor Commendation: James K.

Big Piney

Camper Commendations: William B., James D., Lucas O.

Counselor Commendations: William B., Charlie H., Lucas O.

Little Piney

Camper Commendations: Britt F., Hugh S.

Counselor Commendations: John C., Joseph D., Carter F.

Stomper’s Knob

Camper Commendations: Jacob A., Alex E., Jack K.

Counselor Commendations: Jacob A., Jack B., Witt S.

Little Slaty

Camper Commendations: Parker K., Haze M.

Counselor Commendations: Khari D., Alexander P.

Big Slaty

Camper Commendations: Jack B., Garrison B., Gabriel V.

Counselor Commendations: David F., Owen S., Lachlan W.

Greybeard

Camper Commendations: Michael A., James B.

Counselor Commendations: Trey F., Sam P.

The next section of the ceremony is dedicated to honoring the promotions within the Little Chief system. The promotions for this week are as follows:

Scout: William B., Paul B., Bryce B., Harold B., Carter F., Benjamin L., Hudson L., Jackson N., Lucas O., James S.

Guide: Whit P.

Pioneer: John C., Maxwell C.

Tracker: Michael A., Alex E., Alexander P., Sam P., Witt S., James S., Lachlan W.

Hunter: Thomas B., Khari D., Aidan K., Haze M., Leonardo R.

Warrior: Logan B., Tyler K., Tyler S., Jack W.

Pathfinder: Trey F.

We are proud of these young men for their hard work in their cabins and activities. However, the promotions do not end there. Tonight we are extremely glad to celebrate the huge accomplishment of two young men earning the rank of Little Chief! This is an extraordinarily difficult task to complete, and thus it is a rare accomplishment. Tonight we would like to honor once again these two Little Chiefs whom we are extremely proud of:

Henry S. and Henry M.

To the Henrys, another congratulations! We are absolutely convinced that camp is a better place because of your dedication and love for Timberlake. We are fortunate to have watched you grow up and we are thankful for your service to all of us.

After the Little Chiefs were celebrated, we moved on to the Final Campfire portion of the evening. Our last-year campers in Greybeard stood in front of the camp and had an opportunity to share with all of Timberlake what camp has meant to them across their years here. For many of them, camp has been a home away from home, a place of learning, growing up, and simple fun. The counselors then shared our “Remember whens”, calling back to mind all of the funny, great, and awesome moments from this first session at Timberlake. Next, the campers all added a small stick to our fire in the Council Ring, leaving behind a small token of their presence before they left camp, and then shook the hands of all the staff. Finally, the camp gathered together in a giant circle for one last rousing rendition of the Camp Hymn.

The Seminole and Iroquois tribes battled one last time in a fiery game of Commando. The rules for this game are lengthy, but I can tell you that it involves an absurdly enormous amount of water balloons, several water balloon launchers, and plenty of water balloon throwing. After the battle ended, campers went back to their cabins for bed, awaiting the end of another great session at Camp Timberlake.

Davis Bateman

Program Director

Proud Iroquois

“We have stood in the Council Ring

No longer Paleface men,

We have heard the voice of God our Lord

Gentle in the wind,

From the mountains, to the chapels,

To the river’s raging falls,

We’re Timberlake one and all.”

-Final verse of the Timberlake Camp Hymn