Author: Glenn Smith

It pains me to say this is it. In less than twenty-four hours, the final goodbyes are said, between counselors and campers alike, it ends. It doesn’t really hit you until you look at the camp and realize it is a bit emptier than it used to be. But even when camp ends and people leave, all that changes is not waking up to a bell. The memories stay in your mind and the skills you learned stay in your muscle memory so a little bit of CTT is always with you.

As much as I love the big things at camp like campfires and bowling trips, I really remember the little things. I remember Greg Sheyn always refusing to get into bed and having to throw him there sometimes or the Rosenthal brothers and Oliver Walke being incredibly good at Frisbee golf that hopefully by the time they hit high school, they can represent the U.S. in the Olympics (hopefully it’s a sport by then). As much as I mock him, it is impossible to forget a Chet Stein story or Chet Stein skit or Chet Stein noise the same way it is impossible to forget Krista Ross-Black singing her heart out every day in preparation for her Grammy award. I don’t have enough space in this blog to write out every memory I have from Third Session, but rest assured, they were priceless.

And that’s what CTT is. It’s what it is to me and I think for most, it is a haven for fun and memories. Perhaps the greatest thing about CTT however, is that it is always there. For the next eleven months, all I think about is the next summer and I am comforted by the fact that there is a next year, a next summer, and a next opportunity to better myself and have a lot more memories. The bell may not ring as much and the cabins might not be as clean, but CTT waits for us; the same way we wait for it.

In a matter of minutes, I leave my blogging computer and head off to a college class, and I’m not worried like some of my peers. I hear from friends that they are worried about leaving home and making new friends and I just get to chuckle because I had a decade of Camp Tall Timbers and that does more for me than any freshman orientation Rollins College can offer me. I digress, but it is true, you may leave CTT and spend a summer working or training, but CTT sure doesn’t leave you. The traditions stay there and you rest easy because you know, deep down in your heart, that there is always a next summer, and there is nothing that makes me happier than picturing myself there.

We’ll be seein’ ya real soon, summer 2013 is less than a year away. This has truly been an honor. Thank you all.

Alex Fang

You gotta love a pajama party. You gotta love bowling. What better way to spend a night than combining the two? To top it all off, half the camp got a campfire!

Last night, half the juniors went bowling for a pajama party. The seniors had a campfire as a fun bonding time for the older campers. After a round of boom-chick-a-boom, we sang camp classics like “Country Roads,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “Last Kiss,” and a new camp song, “Chicken Fried.” Following the song session, we broke out into our last prop skits and the winner was Albert and Rachel’s group who did a spin of the camp skit, “Doctor Doctor,” but replaced the medical scene with baking and it featured cameos by campers playing myself, Albert’s sister Georgia, and the Tummy Monster. The night ended with a telling of the story of the camp monster, Cropsy, and s’mores.

Yesterday was another great day for activities. Jack Clauss, Sam Greenberg, Max Shugerman, and all of Cabin G shot bullseyes. Hailee Williams won a game of jail. Oliver Walke and Aaron Rosenthal beat their last record and got par on the Frisbee golf course. Crawford Hemmis won a driving contest and Mikayla Pettit, Hailey Mostow, and Magan McNeal made it up the climbing wall.

Today, we flip-flop the activities and the seniors have their last hurrah bowling whilst the juniors have one last campfire. Here we go!

These last few days at camp are always special. We break some of the routine with out-of-camp trips and campers get to show the skills they have learned in camp, outside of camp. All of the balancing the challenge course activities did helped many last night at the skating rink. The theme was costumes and they were all gorgeous ranging from a Mister and Missus Tye-Dye to a toga. Of all the great costumes, Stevie Nocket had the best costume dressed as a Red M&M. The night ended with camp-wide dancing in the rink to the “Cha Cha Slide”, “Cupid Shuffle,” “Teach Me How to Dougie,” and “Telephone.”

This time also demonstrates how far campers have come in the camping season. Jack Clauss untangled his own fishing rod and Krista Ross-Black shot a bullseye. Sam Greenberg won a game of jail. All of challenge course has successfully ziplined and mountain boarders now board down hills of over one hundred feet! Additionally, the CTT Ping-Pong tournament is underway and the 3-on-3 Futsal tournament closes shortly.

Just because the fun comes to a close soon, it certainly doesn’t stop. Tonight, the juniors head out to go bowling whilst the seniors have their farewell campfire complete with songs, laughs, and s’mores. Here’s hoping I get a strike!

Runnies, go karting, and tie-dying. Even before the talent show began, we knew one of these last days here at CTT would be nothing short of awesome.

CTT mornings are a hidden gem at camp. There’s the traditional dippies that meets at the pool after the wake-up bell to wake up with a lap in the pool. As time has gone on, there have been movements to combat dippies and it was announced yesterday that runnies, waking up by running a lap around camp, would have their very own plaque at the end of the session giving dippiers like me a run for our money.

Yesterday was also a great day for individual campers even before the talent show. Cole Williams shot a bullseye and won a game of knockout. Aaron Rosenthal set a new 3^rd session record with a Frisbee golf score of +1 and Jack Whitehill set a record for mountain boarding down the hill in 12.02 seconds.

After a full day of activities, it was time for the CTT Talent Show. The show opened with Cabin A who did a well-choreographed dance to Cobra Starship’s “You Make Me Feel…” Autumn Mallon dazzled the audience with her gymnastics skills. Krista Ross-Black beautifully sang “Bust Your Windows” by Jazmine Sullivan, Hailey Mostow sang an Elvis Presley medley, and Justin Dryer sang Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” Reid Madison juggled and Livia Lampal and Dani Primerano demonstrated their fabulous hula-hooping abilities.

Other than individual talents, there were a few noteworthy group talents. The tent girls (with Jerome Williams as a backup dancer) cross-dressed and danced to “The Call” by Backstreet Boys. Cabin B did a hysterical skit about how females are preoccupied with their weight. One of the most interesting skits of the night was Boys Tents. They had Parker Mitchell as an adventurer, Chet Stein as a director, Aaron Walsh as a cameraman with Dakota Pettit as the boom mic holder, and Meier Parr as a bear. In the skit, the adventure crew would move to different areas to catch animals, like the jungle and the savannah, but halfway through the skit, Parker Mitchell got a nosebleed. Rather than break character and not get back on stage, he mended his wound and got back up there to finish the Antarctica setting for their skit.

Today begins our big finale to the end of camp. As daily activities climax with tie-dye and ziplining, our evenings are spent out of camp. The last couple nights of camp, we go bowling and have farewell campfires but tonight, we go to the Winchester Skating Center for a night at the rink! Let’s hope I don’t fall down!

Tent girls dancing to dubstep; Cabin 8 dancing to show tunes; such glorious sights can only happen at last night’s MTV Night. Each cabin received a genre and danced all night to try to win the coveted MTV Night trophy for their cabin.

Cabin 3, led by Kyle Foster and the Hemmis brothers, rocked out to Billy Squier’s “The Stroke” for their genre of rock and roll. Cabin A’s genre was 21^st Century pop artists and did an adorable dance to Selena Gomez’s catchy hit, “Love You Like a Love Song.” Cabin G had to dance to a song by a 21^st Century pop group and chose LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” while Cabin 1 danced to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” for their Disney genre. Cabin B had a very well-choreographed dance to country sensation Marc Broussard’s “Home.” By the end of the night, there was a tie between Cabin 4 and Boys Tents. Cabin 4, led by Ferris Bueller-esque lead singer Simon Rosenthal, did a phenomenal skit to The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” for their classic rock genre and Boys Tents had opera and performed “All I Ask of You” from The Phantom of the Opera with Aaron Walsh as the Phantom and Oliver Schwartz donning a white dress and wig to be Christine Daaé. The tiebreaker was a skit-off where Cabin 4 and Boys Tents had to present a skit of Pimp My Ride. They were both very good, but the audience cheered loudest for Boys Tents and they got to take the gorgeous trophy back to their tents.

Today, Boys Leagues playoffs begin and the CTT Ping-Pong tournament commences with the entire camp competing to see who the true table tennis master is. Tonight is another special night with our talent show that demonstrates some of the skills and abilities campers have that cannot be shown in normal daily activities. The winner of the talent show receives a free trip to ice cream haven Pack’s. Let’s see who has the best talent!

What a weekend here at CTT! Between Clue Night on Friday and Olympic Day on Saturday, there was fun all around!

Friday night was Clue Night where we made the famous board game a reality with counselors dressing up as Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, and the rest of the Clue™ gang. Campers went around to various stations set up at camp and complete challenges such as answering trivia questions, blindly shooting a basketball, or eating a piece of candy and guessing what flavor it was without looking at the wrapper. If the challenges were completed, they could guess the question. In the end, it was Mr. Green in the Rec Hall with a choomster (a very large potato chip).

Saturday was a different day. With a late wakeup and sweet breakfast, the camp was in a great mood and ‘courage’-themed services only boosted everyone’s spirits for Olympic Day. The day began with individual events in archery, riflery, climbing, challenge course, and pudding eating. Jared Lampal won the gold medal in pudding eating with an impressive 4.9 seconds and the Mostow siblings won three challenge course games to win medals. Noah Gross won the gold medal in basketball. Sam Hu and Dakota Pettit were particularly impressive winning two medals in archery and climbing. In riflery, Cole Williams won the bronze medal, Jack Whitehill won the silver, and Noah Braman took home the gold!

After individual events, it was time for team competitions in water polo, an obstacle course entitled “The Gauntlet,” a diving competition and a canoe race. There was also a Frisbee golf competition where the team of Noah Gross, Crawford Hemmis, and Simon Rosenthal got the bronze with a score of +8, Oliver Walke and Meier Parr received the silver medal for a score of +5, and Aaron Rosenthal and David Ayers won the gold medal with a score of +4. Oliver Walke was particularly impressive throwing a birdie from over forty yards away.

The day ended with three grand finales: a flag presentation, a relay race, and a synchronized swimming competition. Each team made a flag to demonstrate their spirit. The black team of Anja Schempf, Sam Greenberg, Maia Primerano and Sarah Jewell won the bronze medal for their Batman flag, the blue team of Hailey Mostow, Mikayla Pettit, and Josh McConnell got the silver medal for their Blue Brits flag, and the red team of Autumn Mallon, Tasha Pressler and Shelby Buyalos took home the gold for the Crimson Communists flag. The relay race, the Decathlon, was ten legs that spanned the entire camp starting at the pool with a race to get ten pennies and ending with a sprint up the golf hill where each team waved their flag in excitement to see who would win. Lastly, we had synchronized swimming where the red team got the gold medal for their dance led by Meier Parr to “Evacuate the Dance Floor.” At the end of the day, the red team was the winner and each member got a glittery gold medal and the whole camp had a pool party to cool off after an intense day.

Tonight is one of my favorite skit nights, MTV Night, where each cabin gets a genre of music and has to create a choreographed dance. The nights only get better as the week progresses with the talent show tomorrow and skating and bowling trips on the way!

Nobody deals with a thunderstorm better than CTT. Everyone was having a great time on the beach playing in the water and building sandcastles until about an hour into our trip to Cacapon State Park, a storm hit and we were all huddled into a pavilion to wait out the storm. Rather than worry about the thunder or be afraid of lightning, we sang “Singing in the Rain”, “Lion Hunt”, “Last Kiss”, and the signature CTT “Friends” song until we were ready to leave. The thunder made plenty of noise, but we were much louder!

When we got back to camp, we had a cookout and then engaged in cabin competitions in trivia, gaga ball, family feud, and name that tune. The night led to great cabin bonding with Cabin G rallying around Hailey Mostow for her impeccable name that tune abilities and Cabin 4 working together to defeat Cabin 3 in gaga ball. Boys Tents and Girls Tents had fun competing against one another, notably Chet Stein who had a perfect score playing CTT Family Feud. The night also showed some of the hidden talents of some of our campers with Zora Stovall dazzling everyone in trivia and Kyle Foster for knowing more about Disney than anyone else in the camp. Kyle also had a very impressive accomplishment balancing a shoe on his head whilst brushing his teeth.

Today, we start hitting our peaks in activities. Challenge course classes start ziplining, arts and crafts begin tie-dying their plain white shirts and making them glorious, and climbing classes are already conquering the hard side of the wall. Tonight is Clue Night where we turn the whole camp into the classic board game and play. Let’s find out who’s the best detective!

The bonds made at CTT last a lifetime. Whether it is because you all go back to camp together for years and years or you stay in touch once you leave, there is nothing that beats a friendship made at CTT. Last night, those bonds were solidified with Cabin Activity Night where each cabin spent a couple hours doing an activity as a group together.

Cabin G had a pool party and, in addition to having a blast at the pool at night with music, played red light/green light and Mother May I. Boys Tents played an intense game of soccer on the basketball courts before cooling down with a game of mafia. Cabin 3 conquered a series of challenges ranging from building a sacrifice to camp legend Billy Mathis to putting a golf ball with a large stick and Kyle Foster successfully drove fifteen golf balls at once! Cabin 4 played a super-secret camp game that can never be discussed outside the camp, but they had fun. Girls Tents had a relaxing night on the Rec Hall porch talking and playing card games.

Yesterday was also a big day for some of our campers. Mikayla Pettit and Brendan Cutick won games of knockout in archery. Sofia Navas Sharry, Stevie Nocket, and Shelby Buyalos became a formative team yesterday winning a canoeing race as well as scoring eight home runs in softball. Ewan Hemmis shot a gun for the first time and knocked a can over. Sam Jewell won a driving contest at the golf course. Mikayla Pettit, Hailey Mostow, and Rachel McNeal climbed up the wall for the first time this session and Asgeir “Ice” Olafsson won a game of knockout in basketball.

Today, Boys Leagues, a league where all the male campers are split into teams and compete for an hour every A and C day, continues with an hour of competitive play at the pool or upper fields and the camp heads off to Cacapon State Park! We have a fun day of sun, the beach, and an old-fashioned cookout ahead of us.

Look out Broadway, CTT is sending some campers your way. Last night was Cheesy Skit Night soap opera style where each cabin or tent group received a line and had to perform a soap opera featuring that line. Each skit was funny and dramatic in its own way and nobody disappointed.

Cabin G had the line, “that’s not an elephant, it’s a time machine” and told a story narrated by Krista Ross-Black where the girls transported to the wild west, Jurassic Period, and finally, the afterlife. The best skit from Girls’ side was Cabin B, or according to their skit, Salon B. Their skit featured all their campers sitting on chairs and pretended to get manicures and facials whilst gossiping until their line, “the cake is a lie” was uttered causing the entire audience to erupt into laughter. Cabin 1 was given the line, “I didn’t kill your mother, in fact, I AM your mother” and their skit was about a hobo that gave Aaron Foster a note saying that his mom was dead. After the despair, Jack Clauss, as the mother, appeared to inform Aaron, and the audience, that she, in fact, was not dead, much to everyone’s relief. The winner of the night was Cabin 8 who had the “most soap opera-y” skit of them all with the line, “I have a confession: I am secretly in love with your evil twin brother.” The skit was a romance between Justin Dryer and Reid Madison where everything was going swimmingly until Justin revealed his true feelings and crushed Reid’s heart.

Yesterday also featured some non-drama related accomplishments. Adam Lampal, Oliver Walke, and Sam Hu shot bullseyes at archery. Simon Rosenthal rode a horse at full gallop. Crawford and Ewan Hemmis successfully climbed the rock wall. Scott Sakura and Brendan Cutick won a driving contest and Jerome Williams, Josh McConnell, and Sam Jewell all caught frogs!

Tonight is Cabin Activity Night where, after having been at camp for a couple days together, cabins choose an area of camp to have fun and create those special bonds that last a lifetime. Let’s go!

There is literally nothing that beats a couple of weeks at Camp Tall Timbers, and one of the best nights at CTT is our whole-camp welcome backwards-hat campfire. Before I get too far into the details of one heck of a first full day at Camp Tall Timbers, allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is Alex Fang; some of you may remember my brother as the blogger from last year. Have no fear, I am much better. I am one of the cabin 3 counselors, and I have been at Camp Tall Timbers since 2004. To put that into perspective, my last summer I spent at home, I had seen Finding Nemo three times. My summers have only gone uphill since then. Even after almost a decade, there is not a day at CTT that I have not enjoyed. But I’ll be with you for a while this summer – back to the campfire.

The campfire began with a celebration of camp unity in our backwards hats. Though it sounds kind of silly, it is truly an awesome thing when we all do something together, even if it is just a fashion statement. We then had a brief explanation and demonstration of CTT traditions such as CTT’s signature hug, the story of the ‘founder’ of camp, Billy Mathis, and his greatest composition, the “Friends song.”

After we were caught up on traditions, we broke into teams to work on skits. Each team was a mix of boys and girls and young and old and had to use a superhero and a random prop to tell the story of how Camp Tall Timbers was saved. While they were not the winner, the team with Deadmau5 as their superhero had the cleverest skit with Hailey Mostow as both Deadmau5 the DJ and then an actual dead mouse. The winner of the night was the Batman team with Meier Parr as the “tummy touching” villain and Asgeir Olafsson as the Dark Knight himself.

Following skits, it was time for campfire songs with the traditional “Country Roads” and a whole- camp sing-along of “Wagon Wheel.” The night ended with more songs and everyone’s favorite, s’mores.

Even though we have not been at camp for very long, campers are already doing things they have never done before and starting their session off on the right foot. Sam Jewell won the first home-run derby of the session. Crawford Hemmis perfected three magic tricks. Meier Parr won a game of Frisbee golf and Cabin 1, Rachel McNeal, Hailey Mostow, and Mikayla Pettit all mountain boarded for the first time in their lives.

In addition to reading the blog every day, be sure to like Camp Tall Timbers on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube page so you can be up-to-date on all things Camp Tall Timbers. I look forward to a great summer and if you have any questions/comments/concerns, feel free to contact us. Let’s have a great summer!

I always heard the expression time flies when you’re having fun and just assumed it was something people said to make me want to do stuff, but Second Session 2012 has proven that maxim true. The past three weeks have raced by, much to my dismay, because soon, coach buses will arrive and Second Session will officially be over. As devastated as I am that the best session I have experienced as a counselor will conclude shortly, I smile when I look back on these special weeks.

It is going to be hard to forget about watching Vance Pallone and Adam Tommer running to me yelling “thunder buddy!” whenever we had a thunderstorm or the enthusiasm the Rappoport and Dalton sisters had about going hiking to catch frogs at the creek. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Hayley Sanders and Julia Stern become leaders of girls side and replace Lauren Friedman as best female all-around campers and their impact on CTT is appreciated by all. Let’s not forget about Josh Arnold who, at lunch, thought he made an egregious error by putting cheese on his French fries and then put his plate in the microwave causing all of Boys’ side to rejoice that we now could make cheese fries. It is impossible to forget about Boys Tents’ brilliant “Day-O” skit which spawned a wave of campers yelling, “six foot, seven foot, eight foot, bunch!” to one another at random times. A special compliment to Jack “Vito” Parr who, as a CIT, led the camp in a good direction and I sincerely look forward to seeing him as a counselor.

There’s also a sense of joy throughout the summer watching campers do things they have never done before or progress in their activities. I cannot think of a day where I did not hear about Brett Richardson crushing a baseball or Jordan Abel doing something incredibly athletic in any sport. Watching Jacob Sanders get excited about a log flume put a smile on my face just as watching Brady Osterman get excited about kickball did. It’s not just these campers, but everyone who made the past three weeks so incredibly entertaining, fun, and blissful.

But, as nostalgic and sad these last few days are, they are also some of the best in camp. Boys Leagues just wrapped up and while I was personally rooting for Sam’s Fang’s Bloggers to vanquish any and all competition, Albert’s Rhinoceri maintained their status as an undefeated team and are the Boys Leagues champions. Also, campers have been learning lines for the past weeks in preparation for tonight’s musical, The Big Bad Musical, and the CTTFFL Super Bowl is today! Tomorrow is one of my favorite parts of camp, Color War, where the camp is divided in two teams (blue and white) and the competition is intense for the last two days. After color war, we get a relaxing pool party before we start cleaning and packing and working on our cabin plaques and eventually getting ready for banquet.

So with this final blog entry of Second Session 2012 I say goodbye. I have the greatest job ever as every day I get to tell you all how great my second home is. I appreciate that people have read every day and the occasional compliments about the daily Springsteen references renews my faith in society. Once again, good luck, goodbye, and be prepared for hours of stories your kids have to tell. Enjoy.

Well it was an interesting transition to go from Disney Night on Sunday to Peanuts’ themed King’s Dominion on Monday, but CTT sure had fun!

On Sunday night, a mysterious princess was casually visiting CTT until tragedy struck and she was kidnapped. Luckily, campers were on the case and travelled all around camp to find out who the princess was and what happened to her. At the lake, the Seven Dwarves were in canoes and had to be paddleboated to in order for them to divulge information. On the Upper Fields, Aladdin carried campers on sheets as part of his magic carpet ride and at archery; they had to shoot arrows at villains to save Pocahontas. After all the stations, including a spiderweb at the challenge course, each team had to come up with a skit on how to save the missing princess who was revealed to be Cinderella.

Monday, we went to King’s Dominion for a fun change of pace at an amusement park. With the temperature low and spirits high, CTT had a great day out with Jelly Chen riding her first ever roller coaster and Vance Pallone, Leonard Pasquier, and Jacob Sanders going through Snoopy’s Splash House over a dozen times, smiling each time! Even some of the more experienced campers had fun and did things they never had before. Justin Lasker went on his first ride with a drop and Ethan Polk-Trauman rode the Intimidator for the first time.

The past few days have been memorable to many campers as well. Ignacio Marco won a game of king of the court as well as winning a game of gagaball with Bastien Vitet, Justin Smedley, and Kyle Solomon. The CTTFFL began with the Purple Nurples being the league leader thanks to multiple interceptions and touchdowns by Jordan Abel. Vance Pallone won a game of knockout. Jacob Sanders and Maddie St. Aubin shot bullseyes. Melorie Jenkins conquered her fear of heights and climbed the wall. Brady Osterman, Brett Richardson, Jordan Abel won games of Frisbee golf. Lastly, Justin Leibow, demonstrating his basketball prowess, won two games of knockout.

The last few days of camp are always special to me. Relationships hit their peak and activities get to the point where it feels like you know everything; it’s the time that CTT feels like home away from home. Boys’ League concludes today with a dodgeball game and the CTTFFL playoffs begin. In addition to the sports competitions, the play is tomorrow and everyone is learning their lines in preparation. The art classes are tye-dying and mastering their painting skills whilst the rocketry classes are launching their rockets higher than ever before.

Tonight, we have a camp scavenger hunt and then the play and then color war and then our countdown to Second Session 2013 begins. Let’s go!

It’s hard to beat a weekend with Dance Thru the Decades, Campfire, and a carnival. The past couple of days here at CTT have been chock full of fun and entertainment.

Friday night was Dance Thru the Decades night where each cabin received a decade and genre and had to come up with a skit for it. Cabin B had the 1980s and told a beautiful story about marriage, to Lionel Ritchie’s “Endless Love” with Lucie Pasquier and Emily Smith as the couple. Using the 1970s, Cabin 3 had one of the most interesting skits performing The Who’s rock opera Tommy with Brett Richardson as the title character and Laz Friedberg as Tommy’s mom. Igloo 9 (Cabin 4) had modern dance music and did techno aerobics to “Call on Me” with Ethan Weinstein as the aerobics instructor. Cabin F had the 2000s and told the story of one of their campers, Maddie St. Aubin, and her love interest played by Julia Stern using the songs “The Time” by Black Eyed Peas and “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé and Jay-Z. All of these skits were entertaining and demonstrated each cabin’s dancing abilities, but there could only be one winner, and they deserved it.

When I saw The Dark Knight Rises, I thought that there could be nothing in 2012 that could top that. I was sadly mistaken as the skit Boys Tents performed was one of the funniest and greatest things I have seen in almost a decade at CTT and eighteen years of existence on Earth. Their decade was the 1950s and the skit started with Jack “Vito” Parr lip-syncing “Day-O” by Harry Belafonte, and Ian Patton and their counselor Sam held a sheet in front of the stage. When the line “Daylight come and me wan’ gon home” appeared, Justin Fribush and Aaron Morris arose from the sheet and mouthed the line and would proceed to go back under the sheet until the line “come, mister tally man, tally me banana” would be sung and they would lift up bananas. Riley St. Aubin was the conductor of the group and made sure bananas would appear on cue and send out Pol Casamada when a tarantula would be mentioned. Maybe it was one of those ‘you had to be there’ skits, but it was certainly a treat.

Just as everyone was ready to go back to their cabins and tents, ghosts invaded the gym and took everyone to Ghost Court! Ghost Court is when campers are charged with ‘crimes’ that they have committed against Camp Tall Timbers and are given ‘punishments’. Cabin F was charged with being afraid of bugs and in turn, had to read reasons why bugs are good for the planet. Ethan Weinstein loves fishing too much and had to carry a fishing pole around the whole day. Carl Lasker and Josh Arnold spider web the cabin too much (it is when they take yarn or dental floss and tie it around objects in the cabin making a ropes course spider web) so they had to be tied together for free swims, which did not affect them much as they are together all the time as it is. Cabin G, Pol Casamada, Riley St. Aubin, and Justin Fribush were charged with being in their cabin or tent too much so in turn, they had to broadcast where they were going every time they moved during free swim. Jacob Sanders, Leonard Pasquier, and Grayson St. Aubin were charged with playing their Nintendo DS far too much so they had to dress like a Pokémon and act like one during lunch. Cabin B collected too many animals as pets for their cabin so they had to act like frogs during second free swim. Cabin 8 never went to bed on time causing them to carry their pillows and blankets around during free swims. Lastly, Nora Seigle, a ghost, received far too much mail throughout the session so she dressed like a mailbox during meals and sung the mail song from Blue’s Clues when she received mail.

After that incredible, day, we had a late wakeup and friendship-themed services where Cabin F read a beautiful poem they all wrote about each other and their friends at CTT. Justin and Spencer Leibow reprised their presentation on family, but replaced the word “family” with “friendship” and Carl Lasker and Josh Arnold, using their Ghost Court punishment, did a poem on how, like spiders, they are very close friends.

Following services, we had a whole-camp pool party in preparation for the carnival. The carnival was a grand spectacle on the lower fields with a whale that shot water, a football tossing competition, a baseball game where you had to time when to swing exactly, tossing balls into a bucket or at cans, a hula hoop game, a face painting station, the traditional carnival game where you swing a hammer and try to hit the bell, a moon bounce with a climbing wall, and the triumphant return of the CTT slip ‘n’ slide! In addition to those activities, campers won tickets from some games where they could get prizes like glowstick straws, candy, plastic flutes, and more. That night, we had a campfire where we heard the story of Billy Mathis, the ‘founder’ of camp, performed skits, and sang songs before ending the fun-filled day with s’mores.

Today, we have the CTT Darft (intentionally misspelled) which is when the camp drafts players for the CTT Fantasy Football league and tomorrow, we take a trip to the amusement park!

Argh! Yesterday be Pirate Day here at CTT where ye campers competed in a pirate flag making competition, splash contests, walk the plank, water polo, and a giant pirate relay race complete with dizzybat, crabwalking, and a chanting of the drunken pirate song. The day continued with a scavenger hunt all over camp to find “pieces of eight” and then woo Calypso (counselor Rachel) by making her laugh. The night ended with a Pirates Ball and all were merry.

Aside from the pirate activities, the past couple days have also been eventful for some campers. On Wednesday, we went to watch the Winchester Royals vanquish the Front Royal Cardinals and a few lucky campers and counselors got the rare opportunity to stay after the game and run around on the baseball diamond for a wheelbarrow race, mill-and-grab, and capture the flag. Additionally, Hayley Sanders climbed up the hard side of the wall, Julia Perline won a game of knockout in archery, and Matt Kasoff won a standing-on-one-leg contest with twenty-five minutes on one leg!

Today, the senior campers go go-karting and Boys Leagues have a large dodgeball tournament. Tonight is Dance Thru the Decades where each cabin gets a decade to choreograph a dance to it and Saturday, CTT has its very own carnival with a moon bounce and other fun carnival games. Time for a great weekend!

Well some may have fallen, some may have just avoided the rink completely, but everyone had a great time at the Tank Top Party at the skating rink. Last night, CTT headed out to the Winchester Skating Center with the theme of a Tank Top Party. Ethan Polk-Trauman made a station in Cottage 7 where you could bring your bland t-shirt down and he could magically, with the help of some scissors, turn it into a stellar tank top to be worn for the night and his work was greatly appreciated.

Yesterday was a great day to show that it does not take long at CTT to be integrated in our community. The wet-your-feet week campers have only been here for a couple days and already Thomas Pearson has won a game of knockout and shot two bullseyes in archery, Eli Wazen won a driving contest, and Beck Mueller, Thomas Pearson, Reed Haske, and Daniil Em fed goats for the first time. Other campers are excelling as well with Jordan Abel mastering all forms of hockey scoring a hat trick in both field and street hockey. Robert Bell ziplined for the first time. In tennis, Taryn Dalton won games of tapeworm and jail. Brendan Arnold and Sydney Alloy both shot bullseyes and Ethan Weinstein won a game of knockout.

Today, Boys Leagues continues with Sam’s Fang’s Bloggers (the obvious favorite) battling Albert’s Rhinoceri in water polo and Corey’s Executive Line-Item Vitos competing against Toby’s Goldman-Sachs Backstabbers in soccer. Tonight, we head out to go see the Winchester Royals play the Front Royal Cardinals. Go Royals!

While by day, the gym is used for dodgeball and play practice, it was completely transformed at night to become the most happening boardwalk and beach in West Virginia.

Last night, each camper received a credit card with $1000 to use in Atlantic City and had the option of playing card games like Texas Hold ‘Em and Blackjack as well as Roulette and other carnival games. Other activities were offered like fortune telling, a wedding chapel, name that tune, arm wrestling, and knocking down cans. When they reached $2000, they were able to advance into playing at the High Rollers Club with complimentary Shirley Temples, Roy Rogers, and high stakes poker. At the end of the night, Ben Mendelson was the highest roller of them all with $3200 and Cabin F was the overall highest roller with an average of $1508 per camper.

I always thought that after all my time at CTT, very little would surprise me. I was wrong. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ongoing rivalry between Boys’ side and Girls’ side at lunch, it is basically the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry times infinity. Boys tend to be the loudest at lunch chanting Ray Rice, doing Peanut Butter Jelly Time, and singing “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” to the girls. Yesterday, however, things changed. Girls’ side did their traditional chant, but then “Boys, Boys, Boys” by Lady Gaga began playing on the speakers and every girl in the camp flooded the boys’ area of the dining hall and performed a very well-choreographed FLASH MOB dance impressing all. Maybe 2012 is the year of the Girls’ side comeback!

Yesterday also had some more expected accomplishments. Brett Richardson, who at this rate will be in the MLB by the time he is a tent boy, won another home run derby.  Laz Friedberg won a smallest splash contest. Grayson St. Aubin won the choomster contest (largest chip at Lunch!). In swimming, Charlotte Cadman won red light/green light. Carl Lasker dazzled the camp when he won a game of jail, tapeworm, and king of the court in tennis. Another fun thing about camp is watching people do things for the first time. Yesterday, Beck Mueller, Ben Barry, and Scott Barry mountain boarded for the first time and looked so happy doing it. In Boys’ League, Sam’s Fang’s Bloggers defeated Corey’s Executive Line-Item Vitos (named after their CIT and star player) in basketball and Frisbee and Albert’s Rhinoceri vanquished Toby’s Goldman-Sachs Backstabbers in the same sports.

Tonight, we head to the Winchester Skating Center for a fun night at the rink. Let’s hope I don’t fall!

Though we have only been at camp for a week, campers are showing that it does not take long to excel in activities. Sydney Alloy, Julia Stern, and Hannah Stitely won a canoeing race. Brett Richardson won a game of knockout and a driving competition. Justin Smedley was the first person of the session to launch a rocket. Adam Fiergang won a game of Frisbee golf. Cleo Borthwick won tapeworms (it’s a game) while Ben Mendelson demonstrated his tennis skills by defeating thirty people to be declared king of the court. Hayley Sanders and Carly Dalton won games of jail. Sammie Cooper made it up the hard side of the climbing wall. Emily Walke hit the archery target while Adam Tommer won two games of knockout. Andrew Priest won a game of bang. Even the wet-your-feet week campers who have spent less than twenty-four hours at camp are succeeding with Declan Casper climbing up the wall for the first time and Michael Godek winning a cannonball contest.

Today, Girl Power Hour and Boys Leagues continue with Albert’s Rhinoceri tries to maintain their first place standing over Sam’s Fang’s Bloggers (easily the best Boys Leagues team name in the history of Camp Tall Timbers) and tonight, we turn CTT into Atlantic City for a night of card games and boardwalk activities. Let’s see who the luckiest gambler is!

What a weekend! Even with the rain that to seemed to appear out of nowhere, CTT thrived these past couple days with Cheezy Skit Night and Alternative Sports Day.

Friday night was one of the best nights camp has to offer, Cheezy Skit Night. Each cabin was told to create an alternative ending to a movie and present it to the camp. At the end of the night, there was a three-way tie between Girls Tents, Cabin F, and Dorm 8. Girls Tents performed Romeo and Juliet with Melorie Jenkins as narrator. Their alternate ending was that Romeo and Juliet did not die and they wrote a letter explaining the whole snafu. Cabin F performed a spin on The Hunger Games where Katniss, played by Hayley Sanders, killed Peeta, played by Katherine Barnes. Dorm 8 reenacted Titanic with Aaron Mendelsohn and Ben Mendelson as Rose and Jack, but this time, the boat did not sink, and Rose went off with another man. The tie-breaking skit was a The Lion King performance where Dorm 8 crushed the competition mixing Titanic and The Lion King into a hilarious end to a hilarious night.

Saturday was a different day. With a late wake-up, the camp had family-themed services where Justin and Spencer Leibow gave a presentation on why family is awesome. Then, we broke out into Alternative Sports Day where we played games like opposite dodgeball where when you get hit, you go to the other team and French Darts where you throw a Frisbee at a pole to hit it or knock off a cup that is on it. We also had very intense games of crab soccer, pickle, and extreme cup-stacking. Due to the rain, the baseball game was cancelled, but that didn’t stop the fun as we had a camp social filled with party rock dancing and fun for all.

Today, Boys Leagues continues, the Camp Tall Timbers Flag Football League (CTTFFL) begins the drafting process, and it is also Olympic Night! We also welcome the wet-your-feet week campers who are going to spend a fun-filled week here at CTT and I know they will have a great time!

Nothing beats a day at the beach. Whilst seniors went white water rafting through Harper’s Ferry, the rest of the camp went to Cacapon State Park for a fun day on the beach. Our day at the beach was filled with fun activities. In addition to a gorgeous day to tan and play in the water, Vance Pallone and Laz Friedberg played football while Hayley Sanders led the Cabin A girls through the beach giving counselors new nicknames (I’m Mr. Meat).

After a fun time at the beach, we had a cookout with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs before beginning a Battle of the Sexes race. Boys and girls started in a circle and had to get their whole team through a hula hoop. Following the hoop challenge, each camper had to limbo under a tree, hit a ball with a badminton racket, and crab walk to a pavilion where they choreographed a dance awaiting their last member. The boys did the “creep dance” from The Lonely Island, but the girls amazed all with a beach-themed routine that ended in Katherine Barnes being held high on a pyramid.

We have a B-day today and tonight is one of my favorite activities: Cheesy Skit Night, where each cabin has to perform a funny skit. Tomorrow, we take a day off from normal activities and have Alternative Sports Day before going to watch the Winchester Royals play. Time to play ball!

If Camp Tall Timbers can teach one thing, it is to see the silver lining. As lame as a thunderstorm that delays and cancels activities is, it does make way for cooler weather and one of the most interesting evening activities I have seen in almost a decade.

With Cabin Activity Night cancelled due to rain, CTT went to the gym for an unknown activity. Upon our arrival, every cabin was given a paddle with their cabin number or letter on it and we saw a table with random items on it. Then, Mark Clark came on with the megaphone as an auctioneer and revealed that each cabin was to receive $100 to bid on the items, but we did not know what they would be used for. Most of the items went for about $40 until the case of balloons where cabins were borrowing money from others to try to get the balloons which eventually went for $164 to Girls Tents. After the auction, each cabin was to use their items to build the tallest tower that they could. By the end of the allotted build time, Cabin F came in third place using Styrofoam cups and scotch tape to build a 4’8” high tower. Cabin A came in second place utilizing paper clips, paper, and a cardboard box to create a 5’8” high tower and the winner of the night, winning fifteen minutes of extended curfew and free sodas, was Cabin 4 who combined a roll of string and a box for a whopping 6’4” tower!

Despite the rain, campers were still able to excel in their activities.  Robert Bell won a game of knockout in archery while Justin Leibow, Spencer Leibow, Jonah Gutman, and Ben Mendelson won games of knockout in basketball. Jasmine Whims made a half-court shot in basketball. Melorie Jenkins shot a bullseye in archery. On the newly built Frisbee golf course, Matt Kasoff, Carl Lasker, and Josh Arnold were our first winners.

Yesterday was also the commencement of Boys Leagues where all of Boys’ Side is divided into teams and competes in a different sport each time they meet. In their first game, Albert’s Rhinoceri defeated Sam’s Fang’s Bloggers (I’m rooting for them in all activities from now on) and Toby’s Goldman-Sachs Backstabbers vanquished Corey’s Executive Line-Item V-Necks. Today, they compete again for two hours.

Also, today CTT heads to Cacapon State Park for a fun day at the beach while senior campers go rafting. Off to the beach!

Do you ever wonder what life would be like if all of the commercials we saw on TV were done by kids? Think of how much funnier commercials would be. Well that’s exactly what last night’s Commercial Night was here at CTT.

Last night, each cabin was given a prop that they had to advertise to the whole camp and they all succeeded. Cabin 1 sold a pool noodle by demonstrating its many uses ending with Vance Pallone using it to kill a swarm of zombies. Cabin F advertised the “stay-put wig” with Hayley Sanders as the narrator and Maddie St. Aubin as the old woman who needed the wig in order to go about her daily life. Girls Tents had the most interesting skit of the night as they used their prop, a flashlight, to go find an ostrich, and when the flashlights turned on, Melorie Jenkins was on an inflatable ostrich running towards the stage! Cottage 7 (they prefer cottage, not cabin) sold one of their campers, Carl Lasker, as the horsemaster and used their prop, a broom, as his horse.

At the end of the night, there was a tie between Dorm 8 and Boys Tents. Dorm 8 had promoted body spray where Andrew Priest was their counselor, Corey, before the body spray, and Ben Mendelson as Corey, after he applied the body spray. Boys Tents did a spin on the traditional “Doctor Doctor” skit with Ian Patton as the director, Jack “Vito” Parr as the mother (wearing their prop – a dress), and Aaron Morris as the doctor. Instead of just doing the “Doctor Doctor” skit, they used the format to advertise their product, Memorex. The tie breaking skit was to use a new prop to make a commercial and Boys Tents overwhelmingly won with their advertisement for Transformers using a die as the cube.

Yesterday also demonstrated how quickly Second Session can pick up activities, whether they are building off of skills from last year or just learning them now. Sam Brami was the first person of the session to climb up the hard side of the wall and Aaron Morris made it up the wall in a potentially record-setting fourteen seconds.  Ian Patton learned his first guitar chords. Justin Leibow won a game of knockout in archery. Justin Lasker and Sydney Sachs shot bullseyes. In tennis, Ben Mendelson won the first game of king of the court of the session and Taryn Dalton won a game of jail. In the legendary B-2 Hockey class, Ethan Polk-Trauman, Alec Geis, Justin Leibow, Brady Osterman, Riley Smith, Jordan Abel, and Nora and Eric Siegle scored in what was one of the best games of hockey I have seen in a while.

Today, we have our first C day and tonight we have our Cabin Activity Night where each cabin goes to a different part of camp and has fun together as a cabin to get a good start to the bonds made in the camping season. Here we go!

As sad as I was that First Session ended, I could not be happier that Second Session 2012 is here and the best way to bring in the new session and new faces is with a whole-camp welcome campfire. Before I get too far into the details of one heck of a first full day at Camp Tall Timbers, allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is Alex Fang, I am one of the cabin 7 counselors, and I have been at Camp Tall Timbers since 2004. To put that into perspective, my last summer I spent at home, I was in tears due to the ending of Rugrats on Nickelodeon. While I sincerely miss the adventures of the Pickles gang, I could not be happier that all of my summers since Rugrats’s termination have been spent at Camp Tall Timbers. Even after almost a decade, there is not a day at CTT that I have not enjoyed. But I’ll be with you for the next three weeks, so let me tell you about our first-ever ‘backwards hat campfire’.

Though it started as a comment in passing, word travelled that the welcome campfire would be backwards-hat themed and by the time people came down to the campfire, most of the camp were wearing their hats backwards. It was just one of many signs that CTT is unified and ready for fun, even this early in the session. The campfire began with a brief explanation and demonstration of CTT traditions such as CTT’s signature hug and “friends song.”

In honor of the backwards hats and Jay-Z, a pioneer in wearing your hat backwards, each cabin was given the opportunity to give a Public Service Announcement about their cabin. Dorm (they prefer to be called dorm, not cabin) 8 did their introduction to the tune of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” but instead of West Philadelphia, it was West Virginia and instead of spending time on the playground, they spent time on the porch of Dorm 8. Cabin A did a cheer about how they are the best with a dance by Autumn Mallon. Boys Tents, in rivalry with Girls Tents, did the historic and traditional “We are Boys Tents/Boys Tents we are/We live in tents/In tents we live” chant that has been around for as long as I can remember. The best Public Service Announcement of the night was Cabin F who, in addition to having awesome backwards hats, did the longest rhyme pattern of any cabin.

Following cabin introductions, it was time for campfire songs with the traditional “Country Roads” and “Wagon Wheel” and the not-so-traditional One Direction hit song, “What Makes You Beautiful,” which I do not foresee becoming a long-term campfire song, but who knows? The night ended with more songs and everyone’s favorite – s’mores.

Even though we have not been at camp for very long, campers are already setting camp records and starting their sessions off on the right foot. Brett Richardson won a biggest splash contest. Brady Osterman shot a bullseye. Anna Merkx, Autumn Mallon, and Emma Clark shot a gun for the first time. Even counselors are trying new things as Georgia Oriol, even though she has been at camp for ten years, mountain boarded for the first time yesterday.

In addition to reading the blog every day, be sure to like Camp Tall Timbers on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube page so you can be up-to-date on all things Camp Tall Timbers. I look forward to a great session and if you have any questions/comments/concerns, feel free to contact us. Let’s have a great summer!

Well this is it. The fact that first session ends doesn’t really hit me until the second session kids arrive and as excited as I am to have some new blood in camp, I still reminisce about some of the first session shenanigans that made these past three weeks special.

It is going to be hard to forget about Harrison Forest always challenging counselors to pickup basketball games even when the counselors are easily four times his height, or Sydney LaPorte, Taylor Kasoff, and Sami Zerwitz being the loudest girls in all of camp and making sure that everyone knew it. Let’s not forget about the night Max Penn dressed as a girl twice just to win a skit night, or the day Matthew Ziegelstein became Viking Ziggy, the cream of the crop. Who can forget Joe Balaban’s hilarious impression of Levi or Enrique Rodriguez singing “Call Me Maybe” (yea it stuck around after campfire) in the most haunting falsetto imaginable? A special shout-out to Michael Balaban and Tyler Costopoulos as they were stellar leaders of camp, and I cannot wait to see how they are as counselors.

There’s also a sense of joy throughout the summer watching campers do things they have never done before or progress in their activities. I cannot think of a day I did not hear about Ethan McCann doing something incredible in basketball or Ashley Stern driving a golf ball further than anyone else. Watching Justin Kagen ride his first big roller coaster put a smile on my face just as watching Reece Dennison catch her first football pass did. Marc Blitz helped pioneer a new game where you catch a Frisbee whilst mountain boarding and that will hopefully be at camp for a long time.

But, as nostalgic and sad these last few days are, they are also some of the best in camp. Campers have been learning lines for the past weeks in preparation for tonight’s musical, The Big Bad Musical, and the CTTFFL Super Bowl is today with the Red Bulls going against the Green Machine. Tomorrow is one of my favorite parts of camp, Color War, where the camp is divided in two teams (blue and white) and the competition is intense for the last two days. After color war, we get a relaxing pool party before we start cleaning and packing and working on our cabin plaques and eventually getting ready for banquet.

So with this final blog entry of First Session 2012 I say goodbye. I have the greatest job ever as every day I get to tell you all how great my second home is. I appreciate that people have read every day and the compliments about the daily Springsteen references renews my faith in society. Once again, thanks, farewell, and be prepared for hours of stories your kids have to tell.

 

Perfect weather and no problems, sounds like a great day to spend at Hershey Park. Elizabeth Stern and Sydney Sachs rode their first upside down roller coaster yesterday and Casey Dennison rode her first roller coaster ever! With the temperature low and spirits high, CTT had a great day out.

The last few days of camp are always special to me. Relationships hit their peak and activities get to the point where it feels like you know everything; it’s the time that CTT feels like home away from home. The Plátanos are the Boys Leagues champions and CTTFFL playoffs begin today with the first-seed Red Bulls go up against the fourth-seed Purple Nurples and the second-seed G-Machine plays the third-seed Black Attack. In addition to the sports competitions, the play is tomorrow and everyone is learning their lines in preparation. The art classes are tye-dying and mastering their painting skills whilst the rocketry classes are launching their rockets higher than ever before.

Tonight, we have our counselor hunt where campers search camp in teams to find counselors and then the play and then color war and then our countdown to next first session begins. Let’s go!

Weekends at CTT are unforgettable. Between MTV Night and Wild West Day, this past weekend was one of the best weekends in a while.

Friday night was MTV Night where each cabin was given a genre and had to make a music video for that genre. Cabin B had pop and performed an adorable dance to Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend.” Cabin 3 had current-day music and performed “Starships” by Nicki Minaj with Jake Greenberg as Ms. Minaj and the rest of the cabin as her backup dancers. Boys Tents miraculously connected blues music and Romeo and Juliet and had a hilarious skit. At the end of the night, there was a tie for first between Cabin 56 and Cabin 78. Cabin 56 had performed a medley of Boy Band songs as they mocked the counselors with Joe Balaban as counselor Levi, Adam Dunham as Corey, and incredible dancer Malec Sayyad as Hugh, and 78 danced to indie rockers Of Monsters and Men’s hit song “Little Talks” with Matt Kasoff as the male lead and Max Penn as the female lead. The tie-breaker was a MTV-off so each cabin had to act out a show on MTV. Cabin 56 chose “16 and Pregnant” and Enrique Rodriguez was the mother; Joe Balaban reprised his role as Levi to be the father of the child. But, the winner of the night, was Cabin 78 as they performed a hilarious rendition of “Teen Wolf” with Max Penn as a female lead yet again and Jake Abel as the teen wolf.

The fun continued into Saturday with Wild West Day. For the morning, each team had to write a Wild Western skit, paint a cowboy hat, and make a brand for each camper. In the afternoon, teams went in rotations to a rodeo where they had to lasso a wild stallion (or just a very well costumed counselor) then they went to dueling where when the sheriff said “draw,” you had to shoot your opponent with a water gun and then a water balloon toss. Lastly, they went to the massive obstacle course, Outlaw Pete’s Revenge, where they had to drive through a course and then go through obstacles on foot, all while avoiding Outlaw Pete (yours truly) and his water gun. At the end of the day, each team performed their skits and the White team was the winner of the day due to their How I Met Your Mother-inspired skit with Michael Balaban as the narrator.

The weekend also gave way to some more camper accomplishments. Ethan Harrison climbed up the wall three times. Zach LaPorte and Alex Goldstein hit home runs. Brianna Sewell ziplined for the first time. Tyler Maizels shot a small bouncy ball from fifty feet away in riflery and Matthew Ziegelstein dunked a basketball for the first time this session.

The last week of camp is always a great one. Tonight is Disney Night and tomorrow we go to an amusement park. The play is in a few days and then Color War. We’ve got a great week ahead of us!

The weather here is unbelievable! It storms one day and is sweltering the next. At least yesterday’s water day cooled everyone down. After a morning of B-day activities, campers split into teams and competed in wet sponge dodgeball, a water relay, water limbo, and a water balloon toss. That night, we wound down with a superhero themed campfire where campers were given a superpower that they had to act out. After their skits, there was a freeze art competition followed by a campfire complete with sing-along songs and s’mores.

Today, Boys Leagues has two hours of competitive play and the CTTFFL continues with playoffs just around the corner. The weekend ahead also has fun activities with tonight being MTV night where the campers perform their own music video in front of the whole camp and Saturday, we forgo regular activities and have a special themed day and Saturday is Wild West Day. Yeehaw!

Yes, there was another storm. I’m all out of rain-related puns, but at least spirits are high. Last night was like any other Cabin Camp-Out night. We ate burgers and hot dogs and enjoyed time together as a cabin. By 9:00, almost every cabin had a fire and was roasting marshmallows and enjoying each other’s company, the way the night should be. Then some wind came, then some more wind, then a boom, and then, we were all safe and sound in our cabins.

But, like always at CTT, no amount of rain can stop our fun. Cabin 4 had boatloads of fun watching the storm roll in while Cabin 56 had a large game of Stratego. In an impressive display of strength and willpower, Cabin B stuck it out, watched the storm, told stories, and eventually stayed outside all night. Though they are not the biggest fans of Cabin Camp-Out Night, Girls Tents had a great time having a dance party in the showerhouse as they waited out the storm. In usual fashion, Boys Tents played Smartest Tent Boy, this time with Cabin 78, but despite the added competition, Michael Balaban maintained his title as the Smartest Tent Boy in Camp Tall Timbers.

The rain hit late yesterday so we were still able to have our activities. Yesterday was the first time of the session rockets were launched and they were awesome. Aaron Forest and Devon Cantor won games of knockout in basketball and Ethan McCann, who will likely go to the NBA, as for the umpteenth time, made a half-court shot. Yesterday was also the debut of a new game for canoeing, Blowing in the Wind, where the campers have to pick up balls in the lake and each are worth different points; the winner of the first game was Sam Brami, Cooper LaPorte, and Harrison Forest.  In CTTFFL news, the Red Bulls and Yellow Polka-Dotted Hippopotami defeated the Black Attack and Orange Crush respectively, and in an intense game that went into overtime, the Purple Nurples vanquished the G-Machine/Real Teal Turtles (they are slowly becoming a unified team) with Justin Kagen as the MVP for scoring two touchdowns.

Today, the seniors go Go-Karting in the morning while the rest of camp does regular B-day activities. In the afternoon,lots of fun water games to stay cool and later have a campfire, assuming of course, there’s no rain. Fingers crossed!

Waking up to Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” and an impromptu camp sing-along of the national anthem breakfast: CTT loves the 4^th of July. Campers and counselors alike are swaggin’ out in USA pride tank tops and American Flag t-shirts. Despite our Independence Day festivities being rained out last night, we still love the holiday.

Due to the rain, we did not get to see the Winchester Royals play, but we were able to have a pool party and dance party and who needs college summer league baseball when you have an entire camp shouting, “Stop the beat! Drop the bass!” to Rune’s techno masterpiece, “Calabria.” Yesterday also featured some new accomplishments from campers. New ‘Wet-Your-Feet-Week’ camper Jadyn Craig won a smallest splash competition while Justin Kagen won the biggest splash contest. Aaron Morris was the first camper this whole summer to climb up the hard side on the climbing wall. Adam Dunham shot four cans in riflery. Hannah Levitan and Claudia Munoz Perez went tubing without falling off, which is a pretty big deal!

Today, the CTTFFL continues and new franchise Black Attack works to build off the momentum from their victory against the Orange Crush. Tonight is one of my favorite evening activities at CTT – Camp Out Night (formerly Cabin Night). We have a cook-out and then sleep out under the stars as a cabin. With a campfire and s’mores, cabin bonds are formed and everyone has a good time. Time to camp!

Britain versus America. Tis a battle that has been fought for centuries, and last night, it hit Camp Tall Timbers. We were all ready for ‘International Night’ and a celebration of different cultures when it was revealed that British administrators Emma Bean and Karina were murdered and CTT had to figure out who did it. The campers went around to each station to ask witnesses what they saw and develop a story for as to how Emma and Karina were murdered. At the end, counselor Levi, the patriotic American, was the killer as he was upset that Emma and Karina mocked him because the U.S. dollar was not as strong as the pound and he was too American to let that comment slide without a fight. Thankfully, they were both at breakfast today and we can all put this little murder thing behind us.

Some of the best meals I have are at CTT. It isn’t really the food, but the atmosphere. A few days ago, all of boys’ side walked over to the girls to sing The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” After working hard on a new chant during Girl Power Hour, girls’ side unveiled a new “Girls Side” cheer which the boys then combated with banging on tables yelling “hey” and then changed the Yao Ming cheer to a cheer celebrating Baltimore Ravens star halfback, Ray Rice. The energetic atmosphere makes any meal delightful.

Yesterday was also the commencement of the CTTFFL. After a six-year hiatus, the Green Machine returned to the CTTFFL and won its first game against the Yellow Polka-Dotted Hippopotami and the Red Bulls defeated the Purple Nurples. In other CTT sports news, teams 5 and 6 won games of Frisbee (the team names are coming, don’t worry) and team 8 defeated team 7 in hockey in Junior Boys’ Leagues. In Senior Boys’ Leagues, the Fugly Filosoraptors won their basketball game putting them in first place in the league.

CTT is always a place for new things. Yesterday, counselor Alec Marks created a new game which combines mountain boarding and ultimate Frisbee and Marc Blitz won the first ever game of that. Ashley Stern did what golf pro, Eric, said “was very close to impossible” and drove the ball into the small ball bucket on the other side of the driving range. Max Penn, Miller Friedman, Michael Balaban, Jason Shefferman, and Ethan McCann made half-court shots in basketball and Matthew Ziegelstein (or as he now prefers, Viking Ziggy) won a game of knockout. Sydney LaPorte and Marta Juanes made it up the climbing wall and Grant Newcome shot a bullseye in archery. Lastly, Ethan Harrison shot a stuffed lion in riflery.

Today, we spend the night at the Winchester Royals baseball game to watch America’s pastime and see some fireworks to celebrate the 4^th of July. Let’s play ball!