Category: Activities at Camp

We were able to peak into  Sailing Counselor, Suzanne, Capatain’s Log and found this particularly interesting entry about the first sail race:

Second Period begins with the ringing of the bell.

July 4, 2013… the first Towering Pines- Woodland Sail Race of the summer

The five minutes to start whistle is blown. The wind dies. Course: 1, 3, 2, 3, 1. At the one minute mark the wind picks up.

The four boats cross the starting line. Similar tacks by all. At The buoy rounding is when the clear the division in ranks is made.  Boats are crossing courses to the next mark.

Rules being called out- “Buoy Room” “Leeward over Windward” “Starboard over Port” “Overtaken over Overtaking”

The race goes on… they head for the finish. Two boats are in front.  Chelsea skippering I Spy with crew of Mera and Daphne comes in first. In second and a long shot ahead of the third place: Boat was skipper Paige and crew Colette and Regina.  Eventually crossing the line was Mike’s boat with Jack, Santi, and Kate… This happened while the last boat finished rounding the last buoy. Matt, Diego and Jess were pinching their sails while heading downwind… could be the explanation for the fourth place finish.

Third Period ends with the bell.

Overall it was a beautiful day for a race. Woodland wins. Better luck next time TP.

Yesterday evening, as the sun started to descend on another beautiful day in the North Woods, the fun here at Towering Pines and Woodland was only just beginning. Right after dinner, the girls piled into vans to go and visit the boys for a wonderful and very special 4^th of July campfire right on Lake Nokomis. The campfire leaders for the boys – The Referee, The Trojan, and The Slave – joined up with our Woodland campfire leaders Luanne, Hazel and Napoli to keep our campfire moving along and to entertain us all. Great work, campfire hosts!

All sixteen cabins from both camps performed and enjoyed a night of fine entertainment. Each cabin group performed a skit, and boy, were they hilarious! There were some camp classics, but also a few original creations. Treetops, that was quite the production! It’s always great to watch all of the campers work and perform together – and it’s especially fun to see how the boys do things!

We also had some very special musical performances from the gentleman of Towering Pines – what a treat! First, the boys from the Towering Pines Band evening workshop performed The Lumineer’s “Ho Hey.” Great job, guys! The youngest Dellingers, Calla and Willie, sang “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, and the Sorkins, Jessica and John, teamed upfor another family performance with Phillip Phillips’ 0“Home”.Andoni a0nd Michael Palmer performed a duet and serenaded us with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge”, and later Andoni followed up with a solo performance of Mumford and Sons’ “The Cave”, and we wrapped up the evening’s concert series with Jeff Jordan and John Sorkin singing and playing “The Cape.” Amazing  musical selections!

We closed campfire as always with our friendship circle and closing songs, then headed over to the waterfront for some Ooh, Ahh, Wonderful fireworks. Each burst of sparks was dedicated to a different aspect of life here at camp, including our amazing kitchen staff, the hard-working CITs, and finally, to a great summer – and many more to come – here at Towering Pines and Woodland. What an amazing way to celebrate our nation’s independence!

This is what 4th of July at Camp Woodland means to one of our Alumni, Alice Decker Burke:

The Fourth of July is the time of year that most reminds me of summers at Woodland. From my very first summer at 10 years old, I always, always loved the Fourth of July TP/Woodland campfire. I loved the change of setting from Woodland’s beautiful campfire spot to TP’s, with Nakomis Lake, so windy by day, suddenly still as glass. I loved the campy skits, inevitably puzzling me because boys sometimes find things so funny that strike us girls as so dumb! (On the other hand, sometimes they’re totally, legitimately hilarious.) I loved hearing guitar played in the fading summer light, appreciating how beautiful it is to hear men and women singing together. And I loved waiting – and watching – and waiting…. and waiting… and waiting…. for each solitary firework and answering each one with a sleepy chorus of “Ooh… ahh… wonderful!”

So as I prepare to watch fireworks over Lake Michigan with 1.3 million of my closest friends, I know they’ll be a spectacular symphony of light. I know they’ll be over the top. I know the Tribune will say they were perfect. And I also know they won’t be what I really want. Because I will always prefer my fireworks on Lake Nakomis – one beautiful burst of light at a time.

– Alice Decker Burke (11 summers at Camp Woodland)

One of the best things about being here at Camp Woodland is that for all of the girls, camp really is a “home away from home.” From the family atmosphere of the cabins to the amazing home cooked meals, we do our absolute best to ensure that each camper feels as comfortable and at-home as possible. There are lots of little ways we do this; singing after dinner, cabin-bonding activities – even just having laundry done every week!

But we work extra hard to create a homey feel is at night – because who doesn’t want to feel safe and snug at bedtime? Fortunately, making bedtime feel like home                             

is one of our specialties here at Camp Woodland.
Every night, the CITs visit each cabin to sing a “good night” song.
These “good night” songs become so familiar to the girls that nighttime would
seem very strange without it!

Even before that, though, each cabin gets read a bedtime story every night by their counselor. Each book is chosen to be both age appropriate and engaging for the girls, so each cabin has a different book. Not only is reading a bedtime story a great way to ward of homesickness and nighttime sadness, but it gives the girls something to look forward to each night at bedtime. Each camper knows that in order to hear a story, she needs to have showered, put on pajamas, and in bed by Lights Out time. Our bedtime stories are the perfect end to each wonderful day here at Camp Woodland!

At Camp Woodland we believe that you are never too young to start developing leadership skills.  Every Friday night a cabin is in charge of planning and leading an all camp activity. We call it Camper Council! This week the Tamarack cabin planned “Super Hero Night”.  All the cabins dressed up as super heroes assigned by Tamarack.  Just to name a few, Silverbirch-Bright Girls, Treetops– Captain Underoos, Aquarius– Candy Girls, and Hilltop – Aquagirl.  The campers got to play games that were led by Tamarack that would save camp from the escaped Villan. It was a lot of fun and the cabins loved being silly and dressing up!