Author: Kim Aycock

Chelsea, Aranxta, Colette, Sofia, Daphne, Elena 

Here are the final updates from campers who attended the Chicago Reunion last month.  The 2015 CIT’s interviewed each girl and asked: 1) what is the favorite thing about school this year, 2) activities when not in school, 3) any fun trips taken or planned, and 4) what each camper is looking forward to next summer.

Chelsea: 1) Student Council, 2) go running and hang out with friends, 3) cruise to South America over winter break, 4) Co-Ed Show

Aranxta: 1) be with awesome friends, 2) dance & tennis, 3) came to reunion from Mexico, 4) Co-Ed Show and be a good CIT

Colette: 1) at a new school and I really like the people I have met, 2) dance & soccer, 3) came to reunion from Florida, 4) being a CIT, being in Co-Ed Show and assisting classes

Sofia: 1) junior tennis team at school and intermediate girls choir, 2) hanging out with friends, 3) no trips planned, 4) being a CIT and Co-Ed Show

Daphne: 1) being part of the tennis team, 2) tennis and hanging out with friends, 3) Arizona for my sister’s graduation, 4) sailing and Co-Ed Show

Elena: 1) meeting new people in HS, 2) school’s dance team, hanging out with friends, and spending time with family, 3) going to an island off the coast of Florida before camp, 4) being a CIT, being in Co-Ed Show, organizing events, and seeing all of my camp friends

Grace, Claire, Caroline, Jackie

Grace: 1) my cooking class, 2) volunteer at a barn for kids with disabilities, 3) possibly going to Italy, 4) camp

Claire: 1) my Spanish class, 2) sailing team for school, 3) going to visit camp friends in Mexico City, 4) being a 2nd year CIT

Caroline: 1) fashion merchandising class, 2) planning a Relay for Life event, 3) going to visit camp friends in Mexico City, 4) being a 2nd year CIT and making new memories

Jackie: 1) AP History class, 2) 3 clubs: Future Educators of America, Volunteering Club, and National Spanish Honor Society, 3) Mexico City to see camp friends in January and a cruise in March for Spring Break, 4) being a 2nd year CIT

Jenna and Gigi

Jenna: 1) Science, 2) dance, 3) Mexico, 4) riding

Gigi: 1) the end of the day, 2) riding my horse, Buddy, 3) Door County in Wisconsin, 4) seeing everyone

Aubrie, Chelsea, Sofia, Arantxa, Irene, Susie, Daphne

Irene: 1) plays the trumpet in band, 2) plays soccer and softball (made it to the Allstars), 3) possibly going to Italy for Spring Break, 4) seeing everyone again

Lydia: 1) being in 8th grade, 2) Riding horses and trying out for volleyball, 3) Italy?, 4) seeing everyone again

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Maya, Susan, Molly, and Liz

We were excited to have several alumni present at the annual Chicago reunion in November with their daughters!  Maya will be a first year camper in 2015, and Molly joined the Woodland family this past summer.  Susan (Austin) Short was at Woodland for 10+ years including time as a camper, CIT, JC, and counselor.  Susan and I were actually co-counselors together my first summer at Camp Woodland in 1986; we even ended up rooming together while we were both in grad school in the early 90’s.  Liz (Churchwell) Kunkle spent 5 years at Woodland (and still has her pendant!) from 1981-1985.  Liz was a camper for several years as well as a junior counselor.

To continue our updates of campers at the reunion, each girl shared: 1) her favorite thing about the current school year, 2) activities when not in school, 3) travel plans, and 4) what she is looking forward to for summer 2015.

Maya: 1) likes school a lot, especially Math, 2) takes dance and gymnastics, 3) will be visiting her grandfather in Naples, FL over Spring Break, and 4) Riding and getting a turn on the Big Banana during Rec Swim

Molly: likes her classmates and learning about the American Revolution, 2) Girls on the Run, 3) going to Florida this winter, 4) meeting new people

Sam and her parents Renee’ and Tom

Sam: 1) my friends, 2) soccer and horseback riding, 3) Denmark, 4) seeing all of my camp friends again

Libby, Rachel, Katie, Tory, Amelia, Molly, & counselors Calla and Raquel

Libby: 1) my friends, 2) tennis and singing, 3) came to reunion from Wisconsin, 4) riding horses

Rachel: 1) Math, 2) dance and gymnastics, 3) went to Paris right after camp, 4) horseback riding

Katie: 1) Recess, 2) swimming, 3) Galena, IL, 4) seeing my friends

Tory: 1) really likes her classmates and her teacher, 2) tennis, ride horses, dance, gymnastics and soccer, 3) will be going to Florida for Christmas, 4) excited to see camp friends again

Amelia: 1) lunch and Social Studies, 2) dance, 3) Door County in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, 4) seeing everyone

Calla: doing her student teaching this fall with 6th grade science and now 3rd grade; will be graduating in December and looking for a long-term substitute for the spring

Raquel: is graduating in December and has a part-time job at a barn in Grayslake working with horses and goats

Aubrie, Lou, and Jess

Aubrie: 1) has a super awesome teacher, 2) ice skating, 3) went to Denver for Thanksgiving, 4) horseback riding (Aubrie is still taking care of Marshmallow and Butterscotch!)

Lou: 1) Math, 2) art class, 3) River Forest for Thanksgiving, 4) riding

Jess: 1) extracurriculars, 2) Fermata Nowhere & Express – singing groups, 3) will be going to Orlando with her choir, 4) getting to have new and bigger experiences as a JC

We’re Excited for 1-5!

As you can see, we had a FABULOUS turn out for the annual Chicago reunion the weekend before Thanksgiving!  In a series of blogs in the upcoming weeks, we will give you an update about the Woodland girls who joined us for the afternoon to watch the 2014 camp video, flip through the new scrapbook, relive camp memories, and of course, to eat yummy treats.  Irene was the winner of the “how many more days until camp?” contest (she answered correctly that it was 216 on the nose that day) while Aranxta took the prize for traveling the longest distance to get to the reunion since she came all the way from Mexico!

Molly A, Eden, Sam, and Molly J

The 2015 CIT’s had their first “duty” at the reunion; they helped us interview everyone to find out 1) what is the favorite thing about school this year, 2) what activities campers do when they are not in school, 3) any fun trips taken or planned, and 4) what each camper is looking forward to next summer.

Molly A: 1) new teachers, 2) gymnastics, dance, and lacrosse, 3) Pennsylvania for Winter Break and Florida for Spring Break, 4) doing all activities

Eden: 1) new teachers, 2), tennis and soccer, 3) London, 4) getting 5 year pendant!

Sam: 1) my friends, 2) soccer and horseback riding, 3) Denmark, 4) seeing all of my camp friends again

Molly J: 1) Mrs. Reggie is my favorite teacher, 2) horseback riding and soccer, 3) went to California, 4) seeing all of my friends again

Kelly, Cayley, and Abbey

Kelly: Kelly’s big news is that she has a new puppy, Sadie!

Cayley: 1) my friends because they are always there for me, 2) volleyball team and singing for fun, 3) came to Chicago from Florida for reunion, 4) seeing all of my friends

Abbey: 1) singing “Feliz Navidad” with the choir, 2) making music videos, 3) Florida for Thanksgiving, 4) seeing everybody again

Susie and Claire

Susie: 1) really likes her teachers this year, 2) field hockey and boxing, 3) went to New York to see her brother, 4) seeing everybody again

Claire: 1) likes new teachers, 2) made new volleyball team, 3) travel to cousin’s house, 4) CAMP!

Stay tuned for more Reunion “Rap” in the next blog post…

Happy Thanksgiving!

Silver Birch Favorite Things:

Jillian: I love Dan’s cooking, especially taco bar; watching Yeller’s long mane fly when I canter; Boot Camp is my favorite evening activity because it is intense and we do 100 squats and planks; seeing the looks on people’s faces when they go to the “love bench” at the TP Fair; Spoon Assassins is my favorite all-camp activity – what’s not to love about “killing” people with a spoon?; listening to the “warm & fuzzy” and “lake gnomes” stories at campfire because they are so funny; I love Song Contest because you get to hear everyone’s creative songs

Alien Invasion

Nyki: the delicious homemade cookies are so good!; campfires when people dress up and do skits and songs up; Olympics when people have fun and laugh all they want; Woodland Fair – the fishing booth was so much fun; archery because I get to pass levels, and I get really excited when I get a bulls-eye!

Tory: there are so MANY things I love about camp!  I love activities; riding and tennis are my favorites.  In riding I love Big Red, Spud, and Yeller; in tennis I love the game “Queen of the Court”.  I absolutely love Dan’s homemade M&M cookies!  The favorite part of camp is my cabin; I love all my friends and counselors.  My counselors are always laughing and dancing, and it’s a blast!  My bunkmate is always smiling, and we play this game where we steal blankets from each other.  Last but not least, I love Woodland Fair!  Our cabin was in charge of the fishing booth, and we ran out of prizes so we gave out sticks and money.  One time I put a piece of popcorn I found and the person who was “fishing” ate it!  These are just SOME of my favorite things I love about camp!

Lip Sync Contest

Katie: I like passing levels in activities; I LOVE the grilled cheese here!   It’s awesome when my cabinmates and I make forts during rest hour.  It’s fun just sitting and laughing with everyone even if it is not that funny.  I like when we’re in a goofy mood and making random jokes like “knock, knock”, “who’s there?”, “hoo”, “hoo who?”, “Is there an owl in here?!” I like dancing to songs at night and swimming for cabin night.  My favorite activity is riding.  I loved all of the booths at Woodland Fair, but the fishing booth my favorite because we gave out random things, and it was funny.  These are all the reasons I LOVE Camp Woodland!

Libby: my friends, Dan’s yummy food, riding, Birdie (a horse), canoeing, Dan’s sugar and snicker doodle cookies, the awesome counselors, the goats, Banquet, EVERYTHING!!!!

Final Banquet

November is a notoriously happy time for a lot of reasons, namely the first snowfall, imminent holidays and promise of winter break in less than a month. But as a winter chill enters the air, it also brings about a certain nostalgia, because it feels like camp has never been further away. At least while it was still warm out, we could pretend like Eagle River was still within our reach, as if we had only just left the north woods or maybe—if we closed our eyes and tried really hard to imagine it—as if we were still there. The memories tend to linger longer when the sun is still warm on our cheeks and our backs and school hasn’t quite started yet.

But when winter comes around, it’s a cold reminder that there are still some long months ahead of us before we can head back to camp, and we want nothing more than to be surrounded by our camp friends and family.  Lucky for us, the Jordan family knows exactly how we feel. They bring us all back together under one roof on the glorious Saturday in November that we all know as camp reunion day.

To me, the camp reunion is that extra push of motivation to power through the cold weather and the reassurance that, once June rolls around, the wait will be worth it. You are reunited with all of your favorite people and, even in the cold, un-camp-like weather, you are filled with a warmth that reminds you a little bit of Sand Lake, horses and fresh bug juice.

When I was younger and had neither the access to a car nor means of communication to visit my friends who lived hours away, my mom would dutifully drive me to the camp reunion every November so that I could see the people that I loved so much. And even as I grew older and could drive myself, I relished in the chance to be surrounded by the people, pictures and memories that helped me remember that camp is something I can’t live without.

This is the first November in almost thirteen years that I won’t be able to make it to the reunion, so I know that I’ll be surfing through the camp website for photos that can try to replace the happiness that I feel when I’m there. It’s a weaker substitute, but just knowing that other campers and staff will be reuniting, reliving the days of summers past and chatting excitedly about summers future, will help me thaw the icy feeling that living in a world without Woodland tends to bring.

Come November 22^nd, I know I would probably give anything to be at the camp reunion. So if you have the chance to get yourself there—whether it be by driving, carpooling or even biking—I highly suggest that you take it!

Natalie Behnke