Author: Kim Aycock

As I write this blog, there are about 400,000 bikers (on motorcycles) joining the residents of Galveston Island (where I now live) for the Lone Star Rally this weekend.  As I have listened to bikes of all shapes and sizes drive by all day (and all night), I can’t help but think how they are really just coming here for their yearly reunion.  And, we are about to do the same thing ourselves when Woodland/TP campers and staff come together later this month for an afternoon with camp friends in the Chicago area.

I can only imagine that the excitement for the Lone Star Rally has been building up as the weeks and days drew closer in anticipation of meeting up with friends who haven’t seen each other for a period of time.  Bikers are gathering at their favorite restaurants to catch up on the events that have passed between visits, enjoying rides along the beach and other scenic routes, meeting new friends, and making plans for future opportunities to do what they love (ride motorcycles).  In many ways, this weekend is one giant family reunion.

Sound familiar?!  The excitement for meeting at Jeff and Jenny’s house on Saturday, November 22nd is starting to ramp up as campers and staff make plans to spend a few hours together at the annual reunion the weekend before Thanksgiving.  We even have a few die-hard camp friends among us who will be making the trip to Chicago from Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, and even Mexico City (Aranxta wins the award for coming the farthest distance this year!).  We are also excited to welcome any new campers who will be joining us in 2015.  Please feel free to bring along any friends from home who might want to learn more about the TWO BEST CAMPS AROUND!

The video from the summer will be shown, scrapbooks containing numerous camp photos will be passed around, stories from the past summer will be retold, school year events will be shared, and plans for next year will be made to DO WHAT WE LOVE AT CAMP (and of course, we will enjoy an assortment of yummy snacks!).  And, yes, this weekend will be one giant family reunion!

We can’t wait to see you on Saturday, November 22nd from 3:30-5:30!  Please RSVP to jstarcamp@aol.com to let us know you are coming.  p.s. Motorcycles welcome!

Costumes are not just for Halloween…we dress up at camp almost every day!  Alien Night, 4th of July Games, Seasons Camper Council, Silver Birch Pajama Party, Olympics, Campfires…you name it, we wear it!  We would love to see pictures of you in your Halloween costume, so email us at: campwoodlandtp@gmail.com

Starshine Favorite Things

Daphne: I like looking back and seeing everyone’s accomplishments throughout the summer, the toasts that the counselors give are funny, spoon assassins because everyone is suspicious of each other, but is completely into the game, cabin nights because I like spending time with my cabin

Sofia: cabin nights because it forms a tighter bond with friends, Olympics is so much fun because it is the one day you are with different people other than your cabin and competing with friends, and banquet because I enjoy the toasts our counselors make for us as they make us all laugh and cry about the amazing inside jokes we share

Silver Birch Pajama Party

Arantxa: spoon assassins because I like running after people and trying to eliminate them, Olympics because everything gets so competitive but it is still super fun and winning or getting awarded the spirit stick is one of the best parts, and aqua tram; because I just love my cabin and bonding with them is by far the best thing

Colette: spoon assassins because it is super intense and suspenseful, banquet because even though it is sad, it is fun to hear about all of the things you accomplish in only six weeks, 4^th of July campfire because I love seeing the songs and skits TP does and doing a cabin song and skit

Seasons Camper Council

Elena: banquet because the whole camp comes together to laugh and cry at all of our memories, Olympics because you can compete against other girls and scream until you lose your voice, and Wednesday campfires because we get to gather around the fire in our Crazy Creeks while laughing at our hilarious campfire leaders

Frida: Olympics because we learn how to work with your team and also you can show your abilities, campfire because you spend a good time with your friends and the entire camp, and cabin night because you get to know your cabin and also we tell stories and have a great time

Chelsea: I love Olympics because it is super competitive, everyone cheers super loud, and I love competing in the track event; I LOVE banquet because I love hearing all the awards that everyone has accomplished and seeing if I passed my levels; TP and Woodland fairs because I love running the booths and going to them, and I love seeing my brother and hanging out with our friends from TP

 Super Hero Night

Before September is too far behind us, I wanted to be sure to post Sunnyside’s “favorite things” (see below) since they were the sponsoring cabin for the blog last month.  I received the clay sun you see here (which reminded me of Sunnyside!) as a thank-you gift at the ACA SE Fall Conference in Savannah 2 weeks ago, and the story that came with it made me think about how at camp it is OK to color outside the lines.  In fact, we encourage it!  (see accompanying photos)

One morning when my daughter, Cora Grace, and I were eating cereal, she stuck out her tongue and said, “Daddy, what color is my tongue?”  I responded, not paying much attention, “Cora Grace, your tongue is pink.”  “No, Daddy, my tongue is blue.”  That caught my attention.  I realized she was eating cereal pieces of the same color so they would change the color of her tongue.  I saw the game she was playing and started asking her, “What color tongue does Daddy have?  What color tongue does Mommy have? “  And so on, until we’d named most of the people she knew and the cereal was gone.

Then I said, “Cora Grace, what color tongue does the sun have?”  She thought for a moment then said, “Oh, Daddy, the sun has a purple tongue.”  Since then, most of the clay suns I make have purple tongues.  They tell me that we should be able to say, “Why not?’ instead of “That’s not possible.”  They also say that it’s OK to color outside the lines. 

Mud Dabber’s Pottery & Crafts (NC)

Sunnyside’s Favorite Things

Susie: my 3 counselors (Sarah, Rachel, and Sam) who love to be and have fun; riflery was a new and fun experience for me; I love the homey atmosphere and the fact that everyone knows each other; I loved the canoe trip and how fun it was to talk that night with my tent-mates; archery because it is a hobby I have always loved

Sophia: playing with the goats in Farm Zoo, making new camp friends, passing levels in swimming and riflery, going to campfire

Lydia: cantering in riding, canoe trip campfires, getting to un-tack the horses, seeing old friends from camp, the cheering at Olympics

Ana Pau: tennis, riflery, and sailing, memories, friends that will be forever, Dan’s grilled cheese, Banquet and Birthday

Isa: water-skiing around Sand Lake, meeting new girls and making new friends every year, learning more sailing skills and passing levels, trying new delicious recipes that Dan makes, growing from the inside and outside

Grace: Dan’s grilled cheese, canoeing (capsizing), Farm Zoo (bunnies), getting mail and packages, trotting in riding

Andrea: the feeling you get when you jump into the lake, hanging out with your friends, Dan’s chicken potpie, the sound you hear when you shoot a gun in riflery, accomplishing swimming to Cathy’s, EVERYTHING!!!

Claire: riflery, tennis, canoeing, Dan’s chicken patties, skiing during Rec Swim

Happy “Back-to-School” from Sunnyside!

We are starting our monthly blog sponsors again for this year, so a big thank you to Sunnyside 2014 for getting the ball rolling for our September post!  After camp I had the fortune of spending a week with my niece and nephews at Maplewood Resort on County D (in between Towering Pines and Woodland).  School started for them on the Monday after their return to Nebraska (so basically a week after camp ended), and they are already reporting that the balancing act has begun!  Being able to juggle homework, busy after school schedules of sports and other activities, and time for friends is not always easy regardless of being in elementary, middle, or high school.

When talking with my sister recently about the prognosis for the 2014-15 school year with her kids, she told me a story that I can’t stop thinking about.  Come to find out, my niece was anxious for most of the summer about returning to school this fall because of a new purchase in store for the school cafeteria.  At the end of last year, the announcement was made that the 30+ year-old rectangle tables that had become fixtures through the generations (they were the same tables that were there was I was a student!) would be replaced with brand-new round tables.

While it would seem that this announcement would be a good thing, it actually ended up being quite the opposite. The school administration thought that round tables would allow for ease of conversation among students, when in reality, it added to the already challenging and stressful negotiations that take place every day during the lunch hour.  When my sister delved into this issue some more, my niece explained that now she wouldn’t know where to sit at lunch.  She clarified further that all of the volleyball girls would sit together at one of the round tables, and that meant that there would be no room for girls not on the team to join in.  Naively my sister asked her daughter if she could just speak with one of the girls to see if it would be OK to sit there at some point in time, and my niece quickly responded with a big “No, Mom, that would NOT be a good idea!”

Evidently the long rectangle tables of previous years at least afforded the opportunity for students to appear to be sitting in a large group even if there were smaller groups clustered together within the masses.  So, my 7th grade niece decided to brave the very likely possibility of rejection and casually asked her friend of 10 years if it would be OK for her to sit at the volleyball table on occasion.  As expected, my niece was met with, “Why would you want to do that? and “I don’t think the other girls would like that very much.”  Interesting to note, my nephews faced similar scenarios within their own grade levels (6^th-11^th), so age and gender didn’t really matter in this instance.

So, what are the takeaways from this all-too-familiar scene in school cafeterias around the globe?

1) At Woodland and Towering Pines, even though we have both round and rectangle tables in our respective dining areas, cabins are assigned to their designated spot for each meal and campers are not left wondering if someone will sit next to them for each meal.  Counselors typically spread out amidst the cabin groups and often encourage campers to rotate seats so that mixing of campers is part of the normal routine at meals.  In addition, the counselors facilitate conversation at each table so that all campers are engaged and an integral part of the cabin community.  Spending three meals a day together for 6 weeks makes for a lot of togetherness and is great for cabin bonding!

(Kids: Thank you for showing your camp spirit and welcoming any student to sit with you this school year!)

2) The people making the decisions may not always be the ones with the best information.  My sister asked my niece if any students were interviewed to see if they wanted round or rectangle tables in the cafeteria, and as you might expect, the people whose opinion mattered most were not consulted.  Taking the time to listen to kids is what we do EVERY SINGLE DAY at camp…more often than not, kids have better ideas than most adults could ever begin to conceive!

(Adults: Thank you for taking the time to really listen to the kids in your life!)

BEST WISHES FOR A GREAT SCHOOL YEAR…we CAN’T WAIT to see you next summer!!!

Woodland Love,
Sunnyside

2nd Year CIT’s on Banquet Night

You Know You Love Camp When:

• You get super into all of your camp activities (ex: Spoon Assassins).
• You can’t wait to spend the next summer at camp.
• You’ve been away for several years but you still remember all of the crazy songs and traditions.
• You get to hang out with all of your best friends in the cabin.
• You plan your whole year around coming back to camp.

CIT’s at the Beach

You Know You Love Camp When:

• There’s no place you would rather be.
• You countdown to camp next summer as soon as you leave.
• You cry at the thought of leaving.
• You don’t mind getting bug bites.
• Real life problems fade away once you are at camp.

CIT’s Serving Pancake Breakfast — YUM!

You Know You Love Camp When:

• You can’t sing the real lyrics to a song that was sung at Song Contest or Co-Ed Show.
• You go to your camp friends instead of your home friends for advice.
• You are so excited to see your camp friends at the start of every summer.
• You cry during the slideshow.
• No one understands camp at home, and when you try to explain, they don’t get it.
• You’d rather tell your camp friends about the big happenings in your life versus your home friends.

CIT’s Showing Their Sunday Spirit

p.s. This is the last in a series of “You Know You Love Camp When” blogs…stay tuned for new blogs throughout the year!