Today was an extremely fun filled day at Camp Timberlake. We started to morning with the beautiful sounds of Reveille, and trotted down to the dining hall for a delicious breakfast of French Toast and Sausage. At the end of breakfast, Brandon Chase, one of the program directors, said those magic words, “AAAAAAND NOW!!!”. The entire crowd at the Tucker Inn was going crazy, cheering and wondering what this all could mean! “This is what we do before the EVENING activity, not in the morning!” some shouted. After the traditional preparation was made, Brandon announced that we would be partaking in one of the best days at camp, TRIBE-A-PALOOOOOOOOOZA. This is where instead of doing our normal activities during the day (except riding!), we compete in evening activities ALL. DAY. LONG.

After signing and hearing a message at Chapel, every Timberlaker headed to the lake for Aquafest. This is a game where both tribes compete in a series of lake activities, all trying to earn points towards the banner. The first activity was the Canoe Relay. Each tribe had one person from each cabin in a canoe, where the paddled around the fire dock 2 at a time and then exchanged for the next 2 paddlers. For the Seminole tribe we had Liam G., Charlie P., Henry T., Greyson, Robert H., Spencer, and Matthew R.; and for the Iroquois we had Maddox N., Robert B., Daniel V., Jay S., Adam V., Reid F., and Josh “Puffin” B. While it was an intense race, the Iroquois eventually came out on top. The second event was the Dolphin Relay, where 2 lower cabin campers from each tribe took turns on a Dolphin float as they were pulled by 2 upper cabin campers. For the Seminole tribe we had Liam G., Will L., Lance, Wells F., Matthew R., and Spencer; and for the Iroquois we had Mack P., Cody S., For L., Robert B., John F., and Robert T. Again, by just a stretch of a few seconds, the Iroquois came out on top. After this we had the swimming relay. Representing the Seminoles we had Liam G., Wells F., Greyson, Ford, Lance, Robert H., and John William H.; and for the Iroquois we had Maddox N., Jackson L., Nik P., Matthew, Evan F., Seth B., and John P. With a split second victory, the Seminoles came out on top. Next was the kayaking relay with Seminoles Scott R., Seth, Matthew R., and Trey F.; with Iroquois Ford L., Will C., Will H., and Jack R. All participants paddled hard, but the Iroquois won yet again. After this we had the Biggest Splash, Craziest Blob, and Craziest Dive competitions with Seminoles Jordan R., Drew, John William H., Matthew R., Seth., Dwayne, Sam, Will, Andrew R., Preston B., Scott R., Lucas, Nolan S., and Spencer; with Iroquois Nick L., Robert T., John F., Ford L, Nick G., Cody S., Karl V., John P., Will C., Spencer G., and Seth B. The Belly Flop contest followed with Seminoles Ben, Jack, Lance, and Ford and Iroquois Ben M., Nick G., Charles D., and Robert T. The Judges are still tallying the scores, but all of the flips, flops, dives, twists, and blobs were appreciated by all. Next up was Inner Tube Jousting where Seminoles Robert H. and Will L. both took down Iroquois Will C. and Will H., and Seminoles Henry T. and Nolan S. took down Iroquois Josh B. and Daniel V. in Paddle Board Races. The grand finale to Aquafest was the Greybeard Water Polo game, where both teams played triumphantly, but the Iroquois took the win in the end.

After Aquafest was a delicious lunch of Pita Pockets with homemade chips, with awesome cookies with a chocolate kiss in the middle for desert. Once all the campers’ appetites were satisfied, we all went to the best hour, REST HOUR! This was twice as long as usual, and was a much needed rest for many of the campers. Once we had all rested up, we enjoyed some delicious Trading Post along with Tetherball and Thunderball during free time. Also during this time, every single 1 week camper in rocketry successfully launched their rockets high into the sky, earning their Bronze bar! After an amazing free time, we all headed to the Mike for Camp Timberlake’s newest activity.

In the Mike, we played the first ever inaugural match of Jedi Wars that Camp Timberlake has every seen! Teams tried to knock cones down with battle balls, that allowed their team to pull a full size raft (full of campers!) across the court to pick up Yoda, and bring him back. One they reached Yoda, they had to shoot the target in the rafters with a Lazer gun, and then pull Yoda back across to their side of the court. Once this happened, the team captain would then throw a small Spikeball ball and hit the “Death Star” that was handing from a rope in the middle of the court. This was happening, ALL WHILE A GAME OF BATTLE BALL WAS GOING ON ON THE SAME COURT! It was crazy, intense, fun, and awesome. We played 4 rounds, and the Seminoles claimed wins on 3 of the 4 rounds, emerging victorious. After the amazing game of Jedi Wars, we all headed down to the Tucker Inn for a delicious dinner of marinated grilled chicken with potatoes and peas, all topped off with mini apple pies for dessert.

After dinner we headed to our Little Chief Ceremony, where campers are recognized for their commitment to camp and their service as leaders and helpers. It is a very special ceremony where camper and counselor commendations are given, and each campers learn what promotions they have earned. Post Little Chief, the counselors hid and the campers searched high and low for them in the exciting game of Counselor Hunt. Each counselor is worth their age in points, and whichever camper finds them gets to push them into the lake! After all the counselors had gotten wet, campers headed to various s’mores fires, free swims, and other awesome post-evening activities. Although this is the end of another amazing day at Timberlake, we are saying goodbye to our one week campers tomorrow. I know this sounds sad, but it is also exciting because we CANNOT wait to see them next summer!

I hope that you have enjoyed this recap of the day at Camp. Much fun was had and many chants were chanted. We can’t wait to see what adventures tomorrow has in store!

Dylan Scaringelli

Professional Graybeard Counselor and Proud Seminole