Author: Glenn Smith

If there is one thing I have learned at Camp Tall Timbers in eight years, it is that CTT can always help you step out of your comfort zone and try something new. That was proven yesterday with our camp-wide trip to King’s Dominion. Brett Richardson and Jake Gutman had never ridden a roller coaster before, and intended to only ride water rides for the day. But, after some encouragement by their counselor, Zach Fang, they rode every roller coaster, even the ones that went upside-down. Brady Osterman thought that arcade games were rigged, but he knocked down cans with a baseball and won a giant Jamaican banana. Grant Leibow was the shining star of the day as he competed in four different basketball competitions and won five giant stuffed animals and a Duke University basketball. The trip ended with a quick eat at McDonalds before we returned tired from a fun day of rides.

Today, we have the scintillating playoffs of Boys’ Leagues with Easy-E’s Barbie Princesses in first place and the CTT Fantasy Football Darft where the counselors and CITs (with help from the campers) have an intense fantasy football draft that is played throughout the year. It is these last few days at Camp Tall Timbers that are the most memorable so we’ll look ahead to tonight’s scavenger hunt and the last fun-filled days of our time here at good ol’ CTT.

What a fast-paced weekend at CTT!

The fun began on Friday with Cheesy Skit Night. Each cabin got a phrase and prop that had to be used in the skit and each cabin was very creative with how they used it. Cabin 4 utilized a Chuckie mask and scared people prompting their phrase, “You Reptile!”. Cabin H was given a broom and the phrase, “The hills are alive with the sound of music” and did a skit where Casey and Reece Dennison used the broom as the camp goat, Goatee, and went to adjacent camp Sandy Cove where their campers were singing the phrase, “The hills are alive with the sound of music”. Boys Tents told a tragic love story where Grant Leibow fell in love with their prop, a hairbrush, and said to it their phrase, “hold my hand.” The drama increased when the hairbrush’s father, Riley St. Aubin, arrived to take it back from Grant leaving him heartbroken (and the audience a bit confused why a hairbrush had a fourteen year old human father).

While not the winner, Cabin A had my favorite skit. Over the course of the summer, I have had the issue of some campers calling me Little Fang and my brother Big Fang despite my many announcements suggesting otherwise such as Alex and Zach, Fang and Zach, or Fang and Big Fang. Though I make many announcements, some campers still do not abide by my recommendations. This controversy was addressed by Cabin A in their skit. Gracie Esherick, the shining star of Cabin A, led the cabin in a skit defending my honor as they said “I am not little Fang, I am Fang or Alex!” Even though my vote would have been casted for Cabin A, Cabin 5 was the champion with a hilarious skit about various cheeses.

The fun continued into Saturday. After a late wakeup and cinnabons for breakfast, the camp went to services led by Girls Tents. The theme of the service was friendship and many campers embraced that theme through poems or songs. Once the services ended, Camp Tall Timbers quickly turned into a scene from Camelot and we began Medieval Day. The teams had to embark on a scavenger hunt throughout the camp and then went to a jousting ring with inflatable bats to joust with and then had a canoeing race. After the busy day of screaming “huzzah” and “myargh”, the campers relaxed with a camp dance.

Today, we went back to normal activities, said goodbye to our Wet Your Feet Week Campers and Tryout Weekend children who will be missed dearly, and prepared for the week ahead. We also had our CTT Talent Show to exhibit the talents of the rising stars of CTT. The night began with a dance by Riley and Mayson Smith and then was followed by Spencer and Justin Leibow and their cousin, Noah Hayes, where the Leibows sang “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Noah accompanied them on guitar. The musical talent continued where guitar veterans Ethan Polk-Trauman and Matthew Kasoff performed a duet of Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” Sydney Sachs, Sydney Alloy, Hayley Sanders, Taylor Dennison, Reece Dennison, and Caoimhe Ni Dhroighneain performed a dance to a medley of Bruno Mars’ “Grenade”, Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, and Cee-Lo Green’s  “Forget You”. Sydney Sachs stayed on the stage where she sang “My Happy Ending” as a duet with counselor Maya Grodman. Vance Pallone then took the stage where he performed an original (but untitled) composition about how whenever you want to, you can throw your hands in the air. Jake Abel exhibited his athletic prowess with some very fancy basketball drills. Matt Kasoff brought us back to musical talents where him and counselor Tim McCarthy improvised the blues with guitar and harmonica respectively. While all the talents were fantastic, the winners of the night were Maddie St. Aubin and Gracie Esherick, who beautifully sang “Tim McGraw” by Taylor Swift.

The last week of camp is a bittersweet one. Some of the best aspects of the CTT experience come in the last week like the playoffs of the many leagues and then the Musical – ‘Everything is Groovy’ and on to Color War. After living together for two weeks, campers are closer now more than ever before and relationships are hitting their peak, but now everyone is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tomorrow Camp Tall Timbers heads to King’s Dominion for a fun-filled day at an amusement park. These last few days are cherished by all and I know that they will be extraordinary. Let’s come on up for the rising of the last week of 2^nd Session.

Tubing, Water Polo, Climbing, Archery, Frisbee, Tie-Dye, and more.

It’s no wonder with choices like those that Choose Your Own Adventure Day was so much fun yesterday. In addition to the activities above, campers also could have played soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball, and dodgeball. After three periods of choice, we had a whole-camp campfire with the story of the camp demon, Cropsey, and the story of the new camp shark, Gibson. Each cabin then had to produce their own sound and we had a camp-wide beatbox and then ended the campfire with a rock-paper-scissors train and some s’mores.

Today, we prepare for a fun-filled weekend ahead of us. Tonight the cabins put on their creative hats and prepare for Cheesy Skit Night where the cabins make the funniest possible skit to present to the camp. The fun will continue into Saturday with Medieval Day where CTT goes into a time machine back to the Middle Ages. Let’s see who is the most gallant knight of them all!

Only CTT campers can be brave enough to take on the wilderness. They fought the elements and won.

Last night was Under the Stars night and after a big camp cookout, cabins went to their areas around camp to start the camping. The campers went deep into the woods to get firewood and then worked together to build a fire to warm them for the night. Once the fire was built, we got our s’mores sticks and roasted marshmallows and each cabin had a fun night sleeping under the stars. The stories from Under the Stars night are some of the most memorable and lead to bonds between campers that last a lifetime.

Under the Stars night marks the halfway point in our 2^nd session. Everything is in full swing now with CTTFFL playoffs coming and the doubles tennis tournament beginning. The campers are showing that in just a few lessons, they can master any activity. Hayley Sanders caught her first fish and Scott Franklin, for the first time in eight years, caught his first fish, and Melorie Jenkins caught two fish. Michael Springer climbed the wall in twenty-three seconds and Laz Friedberg made it up the wall for his first time.

After a morning of regular activities, we shake things up for the afternoon with Choose Your Own Adventure Day where the campers get to pick their activities from a tye-dye session, a hike to a river, water polo, dodgeball, and other fun activities leading to a great day.

Any night where Jake Abel dons a Mohawk, Ian Osterman and Laz Friedberg spike their hair, turn their t-shirts into girls’ clothes, and wear their underwear over their shorts, and Carl Lasker and Josh Arnold turn into desert wanderers is a good night at Camp Tall Timbers in my book.

Last night, CTT went to the Winchester Skating and Family Fun Center for a few hours of skating, arcade games, and socializing. The theme of the night was twins and the campers took that to a whole new level. ­Other than the previously mentioned groups, there were many sets of twins that made the night very entertaining. Scott Franklin and Grant Leibow went as twin lax bros, Justin Leibow (despite having his own twin) and Vance Pallone went as nerds, and Brett Richardson and Brendan Arnold were twin superheroes. While the costumes were entertaining, the best part of the night was watching the new campers leave their comfort zone and learn how to skate. Jack Corby, who swore that he could never learn to skate, made it one lap around the rink without falling and Laz Friedberg, who has never skated before, made it two laps without falling. The campers stood tall (for the most part) and made our skating night a blast.

By the halfway point in camp, everyone has learned something new. Jesse Alloy learned how to restring a guitar while John Fortney, Greg Sheyn, and Laz Friedberg learned their first chords. Cari Farmer, Katherine Kearns, Courtney Clark, and Grace Barnes got their first bullseyes in archery. While some campers are learning things for the first time, others are perfecting their skills. Veteran campers Spencer Leibow and Ian Osterman caught fish. Erin Smedley won a game of knockout while Brett Richardson and Jake Gutman shot bullseyes. In the CTTFFL, my Purple Nurples defeated the Orange Crush thanks to touchdowns by Scott Franklin (who claims that sports are not his thing), Adam Tommer, and Jake Gutman as well as the playing by the game MVP, Justin Leibow, who was our quarterback and intercepted the Orange Crush twice. The Yellow Polka-Dotted Hippopotami defeated the Red Bulls due to two touchdowns by Grant Leibow and one touchdown from Jake Abel.

Tonight is my favorite evening activity Camp Tall Timbers has to offer: Under the Stars Night. The whole camp has a cookout and then cabins go to different camping spots around camp where marshmallows, chocolate, and matches await them. The cabin works together to make a bonfire to sit around and cook s’mores. The night leads to a great bonding experience for the cabin as stories are told, games are played, and relationships are made for the rest of the session and even for the years to come.

Time to go be brave and sleep under the stars!

Only at Camp Tall Timbers can a green aluminum building be a gym by morning and Atlantic City by night.

Last night Camp Tall Timbers had its very own Atlantic City night with a casino, jail, wedding chapel, high rollers club, and beach. Each camper received a credit card with $1000 and was able to play in a variety of games such as blackjack, CTT craps, Texas hold ‘em, Roulette wheel, arm wrestling, and the traditional ‘guess which cup the ball is in’ game. In addition to the games, the campers could also pay to get married, receive a massage, or go to the bar for juice, soda, or, if they had $1500 or more to be in the high rollers club, a ‘margarita’. The night led to a fun time on the “boardwalk” for all of Camp Tall Timbers.

Yesterday also featured the accomplishments of some of our Wet Your Feet Week campers. All of Cabin 1 hit the target in archery which is particularly special considering it was their first time at the archery range. Rachel Heinemann (with assistance from Jake Abel) won a game of Frisbee golf and served overhand in volleyball for the first time. Katherine Kearns and Tasha Pressler learned their first guitar chords.

While the Wet Your Feet Week campers have been thriving, our veteran campers have been successful as well. Ethan Polk-Trauman caught a fish. Vance Pallone won the choomster (biggest potato chip) contest for Boy’s side. Grant Leibow made a basket from the free throw line on the other side of the court! In Boys’ Leagues, Easy-E’s Barbie Princesses defeated Albert’s Glitter-Consuming Unicorn Warriors in hockey thanks to double hat tricks from Jack “Vito” Parr and Kyle Solomon and Sean’s Team Domination defeated Sam’s Better Team Team twice.

Today, the CTTFFL continues and Camp Tall Timbers heads to the Winchester Skating and Family Fun Center for a few hours of skating, arcade games, and socializing. If you want more updates on CTT life, be sure to like the Camp Tall Timbers Facebook page and watch GMTT.

Well, International Night took a very different turn last night. The night was scheduled to be a celebration of cultures but while the teams were meeting, there was a gunshot. All the sudden, I had died and the campers were then faced with the task of figuring out who my killer was. They had to go to stations around camp where philosophers, clowns, jocks, nerds, preppies, and wannabes gave the campers clues as to who the killer could have been. Suddenly, counselors Ethan and Sam died as well and all signs pointed to Flip-Flop as the killer, but right as the night was ending, Flip-Flop was mysteriously murdered and now the campers realized who the killer was. It was Glenn! Upset that I took announcements from him at lunch, he shot me. Then, Sam and Ethan were snooping around and realized Glenn killed me so Glenn had to kill them. Lastly, Flip-Flop, being the good friend that he is, was tragically upset that the JCs had been killed so he confronted Glenn, but Glenn was victorious. Thankfully, this was all acting and I am still able to write the blog to you today.

In addition to Murder Mystery Night, the CTTFFL began yesterday. The Yellow Polka-Dotted Hippopotami defeated the Orange Crush with touchdowns by Grant Leibow, Kyle Solomon, and two touchdowns by Ethan Polk-Trauman and the Red Bulls defeated the Purple Nurples thanks to a touchdown by Jordan Abel. Today, we turn the gym into a casino and have our very own Monte Carlo Night! Time to put our poker faces on.

What an exciting weekend at CTT!

The weekend started with Game Show night where cabins competed against each other in Family Feud, Jeopardy, Minute To Win It, and Deal Or No Deal. The campers worked hard together but in the end, Cabins G and H were the winners of the night with the most points and they won an ice cream party for rest hour today.

The fun continued into Saturday. The day began with a late wake-up and a sweet breakfast complete with Cinnabons and donuts. After the sweet breakfast, we had friendship-themed services where Vance Pallone read his own poem about his friends at CTT then Cabin 5 got up on stage singing their version of “Baby” by Justin Beiber, but it talked about their friends more than Justin Beiber’s love interests. We then had a whole-camp pool party before going to lunch.

While the pool party and services were fun, the real entertainment of the day came when the bell rang and the campers saw a full carnival at the lower fields. Some of the games include a hula-hooping contest which Spencer Leibow won by hula-hooping over fifty minutes, a softball hitting game where a softball is dropped from a pipe and you have to hit it (it is a lot harder than it sounds), a traditional knocking down cans game, and the always beloved dunk tank and moon bounce. When a camper won a game, they got a ticket to put in the raffle to compete for prizes. In addition to the raffle, there was a jar of 724 jellybeans that Scott Franklin won by guessing that there were 722. At dinner, we  had the big raffle drawing with big prizes like a game of ping-pong with camp director Glenn that Ethan Polk-Trauman won, seven free sodas which was won by Nora Siegle, an extra fifteen minutes to stay out at night which Cabin 2 won, a Pack Attack (it’s like a McFlurry but way better) which Adam Fiergang won, a super special surprise at Cabin Night that Matt Kasoff won, and a pizza party for his cabin which Jake Gutman proudly won. Needless to say, the Camp Tall Timbers Carnival was one of the best ways to spend a Saturday, but that was not all.

After dinner, CTT boarded buses and went to see the Winchester Royals take on the Front Royal Cardinals. I do not know what has changed with the Winchester Royals as in my eight years, they have won a game maybe once, but just like last session, the Royals were victorious and beat the Cardinals 11-6. Maybe it was the help of Camp Tall Timbers cheering for them, but that victory allowed the Royals to clinch the second seed in the playoffs.

Today is also slated to be a great day. The Camp Tall Timbers Flag Football League (CTTFFL) begins today! In addition to the CTTFFL, Camp Tall Timbers greets nineteen new campers for our Wet Your Feet Week and we are all very excited for their arrival. With the weather cooler, today will surely be another fun day at CTT.

Yesterday, most of the camp went to Cacapon State Park. After a game of “Bury Flip-Flop” where everyone but counselor Flip Flop won, the camp had a competitive game of Beach Ultimate Frisbee where Ian Osterman was the MVP. The day ended with a cookout and a chance for the camp to unwind from a fun day at the beach. While most of the camp was at the beach, some of our older campers took on the Shenandoah River for a day of white water rafting. They paddled their hearts out and after conquering the class three rapids, the older campers had a buffet at the Butcher’s Block where they were able to eat as much as they could (much to the delight of all the campers).

Today, Jesse Alloy has already caught three fish and Michael Springer, Erin Smedley, Ryan Berman, and Jake Abel successfully ran to the boundaries of camp and back for an early-morning workout. Tonight, Camp Tall Timbers has its very own Game Show Night where we all compete in various game shows for prizes and tomorrow we have our Camp Carnival where we turn CTT into a Carnival complete with our moon bounce and dunk tank before heading to see the Winchester Royals play that evening. Time to play ball!

The relationships you make at CTT last a lifetime. Some of my best friends are people I met here eight years ago and are going to be some of my closest friends for the years to come. Last night was Cabin Activity Night and it gave the campers a chance to build on those bonds or, for some of our new campers, make the bonds that will last a lifetime.

Each cabin or tent group got their own area of camp to utilize for the night. Cabins 3 and 4 occupied the upper fields and basketball courts and played sports for hours before heading to the horse barn and the petting zoo for some relaxing animal time. Cabins A and B changed things up from usual and instead of going swimming in the pool, they went swimming in the lake and had a fun night. Cabin 5 had a very competitive and intense game of Ultimate Frisbee with touchdowns by Brett Richardson and Ian Osterman. Cabin G had a dance party at the pavilion while Cabin H spent time watching Mamma Mia before playing card games. Boys Tents, a group that has been together for years, occupied the gym for dodgeball and scooter games. The night allowed for the cabins to spend some time together as a group and reinforce the friendships made throughout their summers at CTT.

Yesterday also featured the start of Boys’ Leagues. Camper-turned-counselor Ethan Ebinger’s Barbie Princesses defeated Sam Friedman’s Better Team and Albert Oriol’s team defeated Sean Vinten’s Domination. The teams have another two hours of play today. Also, Melorie Jenkins won the first game of Zombie Knockout of Second Session (it’s like knockout in archery but now we have zombie silhouettes to hit) while Jonah Gutman and Grayson St. Aubin got bullseyes.

Today, Camp Tall Timbers heads to Cacapon State Park for a fun day at the beach with sandcastle building contests and a cookout. Let’s go to the beach!

Another skit night at CTT, another night of fun. Every cabin and tent spent hours perfecting a dance to display to the whole camp and nobody was disappointed. First up were Cabins A and B where Hayley Sanders led the girls in a dance to “Somebody to Love” by Justin Beiber. One of the most interesting skits of the night was Cabin 3. Rather than using an iPod to dance to, Ethan Polk-Trauman performed a Beatles medley on his guitar that the rest of the cabin danced and sang to. Girls Tents did a very well-choreographed dance to a series of songs by Beyoncé wowing the whole audience with what they could do. But, though all the dances were great, the winner of the night was Cabin 4. Jordan Abel took the stage first in an extravagant suit, lip-syncing “The Time (Dirty Bit)” by the Black Eyed Peas with the rest of his cabin behind him looking down. When the female vocal part came up, however, Jake Abel appeared in an orange wig and short pink dress to dance in front as well. The true talent of the cabin came in the chorus of the song when the whole cabin began dancing “The Bernie” and after achieving a near-perfect score, Cabin 4 had won MTV Night.

Yesterday also featured the campers beginning to excel in their activities. Ian Osterman and Jesse Alloy caught some of the first fish of the session and Spencer Leibow won the first ever CTT game of tennis ball machine jail. The big accomplishments of the day were from Brady Osterman who won a game of knockout, shot two bullseyes, and caught a fish. While some campers were building on the skills they learned in past years at Camp Tall Timbers, others are learning new things at camp for the first time such as Spencer Fields, who learned his first four chords on the guitar.

Though we are only a few days into Second Session, some of Camp Tall Timbers’ wonderful traditions have begun. The battle between Dippies and Sleepies is in full swing. For those who do not know, Dippies is when the proud and brave campers and counselors run to the pool right after the wake-up bell rings, scream “Good Morning Ladies” followed by “Dippies”, and swim a lap in the pool. Sleepies, however, is Dippies arch-nemesis. Sleepies is when the wake-up bell rings and campers scream “Sleepies” and sleep for another seven minutes while others are at the pool. Another camp tradition, Boys’ Leagues, led by camper-turned-counselor Sam Friedman, begins today. In Boys’ Leagues, the male campers are split into four teams and compete in a variety of sports for at least an hour each day led by the same coach and CIT2 assistant coach for the whole session.

As Camp Tall Timbers gets into full swing, be sure to watch the brand new “Good Morning Tall Timbers” posts on the Camp Tall Timbers YouTube and Facebook pages.

Well it is only the second full day here at Camp Tall Timbers, but the energy is high and the memories are being made. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alex Fang. I am a senior at the Gilman School in Baltimore, this is my eighth year at CTT, and I am one of the counselors in Cabin 5. My favorite thing about the first couple days of camp is the reunions. Friends of all ages come from all over the country to reunite at their favorite place to be: Camp Tall Timbers. Last night, we had our welcoming campfire. After a review of CTT Traditions such as the CTT Hug, the CTT song, “Friends, Friends, Friends”, and the somewhat fictional story of the camp’s creator, Billy Mathis, the campers created skits using a TV character and a prop and how that character saved Camp Tall Timbers. The winner of the night was Team Oprah where Alec Marks (as Oprah) saved the goat (Corrine Polk-Trauman) from villains trying to attack CTT. The campfire symbolized the start of new beginnings at Camp Tall Timbers and the start of a fantastic three weeks.

Tonight, we test the campers’ creativity with MTV Night. Each cabin or tent group is assigned an artist or genre and has to do a dance or music video to a song by that artist or genre. For example, Cabins A and B have to dance to Justin Beiber. Cabin H, who was enamored by Cody Simpson last session, gets to dance to a song by him. In a humorous twist, Boys Tents must dance to “Female Vocalists of the 1990s”. Tonight will surely be the start of a very fun and entertaining summer for the whole camp.

Be sure to “like” the Camp Tall Timbers Facebook page and to follow @camptalltimbers on Twitter so you at home can feel like you are right here at camp. Also, be on the lookout for broadcasts of “Good Morning Tall Timbers”, a camper-produced webcast reporting on events at Camp Tall Timbers, on the Facebook page and the camp Youtube channel, CampTallTimbers. If you have any ideas for the blog, please feel free to contact us here and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. Let’s have a great summer!

The judge has spoken. Last night campers were tried at the Camp Tall Timbers Ghost Court where counselors gave Judge Flip Flop crimes that they have committed against CTT and revealed to them their punishments. Cabin H was tried first for their obsession with Cody Simpson and their punishment is to read ten reasons why CTT is better than Cody Simpson. Next were Jacob Langer, Theodore Kling, and Noah Schweitzer who loved rap music too much so they must do a choreographed dance to Wicked’s “Defying Gravity” at lunch today.  Sam Audia, Sam Blum, Jesse Alloy, Jakeabel, and Matt Kasoff were the next ones in court for their constant playing of Pokémon and their punishment was to dress up as a Pokémon character and list ten reasons that camp is better than Pokémon. Going back to the girls, Jessica Hymer, Nicola Lee-Oesterreich, Ashlyn Morrisroe, and Catherine Ni Dhroighneain were ghost courted for being too sassy so now they must walk around camp today like polite country girls with pigtails, a country accent, and with no sass.  Cabin B was next and they were tried for always wanting others to fill their water bottles. Their punishment was that they must go around to every table at dinner and fill cups of water for anyone who wants some. The full cabin punishments continued with Cabin 5 who is known for being too loud so their punishment is to dress up as mimes and whisper all day. Girls Tents (a group with several international campers) was tried for never speaking English causing the punishment of writing poems in English about why they like it (except for fluent English speaker Ashlyn Morrisroe who must write about why she likes Spanish and French, in Spanish and French).

After whole cabin punishments, Max Penn went alone to Ghost Court for procrastinating at bedtime so now he must shower during rest hour, both free swims, and before bed before he does anything us. A punishment for brothers is rare at Ghost Court but the Balaban brothers were next to be punished for spending too much time in Cabin 4. They must now list ten reasons at lunch why Cabin 4 is the best. Jacob Blitz and Ethan Weinstein were tried for always asking counselors to run lines with them for the upcoming musical so now they must speak in Shakespearean English for the day. The last single punishment went to Matthew Ziegelstein who for the umpteenth time was tried for never wearing any clothes. His punishment was that he had to be dressed up by his counselors who gave him a bedsheet, Indiana Jones replica hat, coconut bra, and some leaves that he must now wear all day.

Today, the CTTFFL had its Super Bowl with the Jerry Smith trophy being awarded to the Purple Nurples thanks to two touchdowns by Jacob Langer and the winning field goal by Theodore Kling. Ethan Harrison and Zach LaPorte caught fish. But perhaps most importantly, the musical is tonight! Many campers have been working hard running lines and dancing during their free time to prepare for tonight and I’m sure that it will be a show we do not want to miss. During the intermission of the play, we have our Art Show so the talent of CTT’s artists can be displayed. Let the curtains go up!

The last week of camp is a bittersweet one. Some of the best aspects of the CTT experience come in the last week like the playoffs of the many leagues, the camp musical, the art show, and last but certainly not least, Color War. After living together for two weeks, campers are closer now more than ever before and relationships are hitting their peak, but now everyone is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Just because we are reaching the end however, does not mean that the fun stops! Sunday night was Murder Mystery Night where counselors and administrators were mysteriously murdered and campers were divided into detective teams to figure out who the killer was. After a thorough investigation, they discovered that Glenn, Mark, and Keith were the murderers. Yesterday, Camp Tall Timbers boarded coach buses and went to King’s Dominion. Younger campers rode roller coasters for the first time while the older campers tried to see which ride they could ride the most. Michael Balaban competed in basketball challenges to win a giant stuffed dog named Carlos and Ryan Kalata knocked over bottles to win a giant Jamaican banana. The boys of cabin 4 took on 3-point challenges to win University of Maryland basketballs. The trip ended with a quick eat at McDonalds before we returned tired from a fun day of rides.

Today, Boy’s League playoffs begin with Sean’s Team Outrageous 1^st in the standings. The CTTFFL Super Bowl is tomorrow morning with the Yellow Polka-Dotted Hippopotami competing against the Purple Nurples. The 3 v. 3 Basketball tournament ended with counselor Nick Zmuda, Jacob Langer and Ethan McCann as the winners and with that ending, the Ping-Pong tournament starts today. We have our last all-camp campfire tonight and the Musical – ‘Everything is Groovy’ tomorrow and on to Color War. These last few days are cherished by all and I know that they will be extraordinary.

What a fantastic weekend at CTT!

It started Friday night with Dance Thru the Decades. Cabin B had to perform a  2000s pop song and featured Hayley Sanders reprising her impression of me (which admittedly is kind of funny…okay really funny), Sage Jacobson singing an incredible version of “Rolling in the Deep”, and the whole cabin dancing to Rebecca Black’s “Friday”. Cabin 3 followed with a medley of 80s pop with Joseph Balaban, Jacob Blitz, and Noah Schweitzer as the “friends of Eileen” leading into a dance to “Come on Eileen” before Jacob Langer came out as Michael Jackson and stole the girls away by singing “Man in the Mirror”. In 2^nd place, cabin 4 did a medley of 80s hair bands with Matt Kasoff, Sam Audia, and Matthew Ziegelstein in full makeup as members of Kiss. In 1^st place (not to brag) was cabin 78 who did an eleven song medley to 50s music with Constantin Emeury as the leading lady. Sam Brami and Theodore Kling played themselves while Aaron Morris, Javier Sanchez, and Tristan Cabotin mocked the boys of cabin 4 with some…um…interesting dance moves to “Under the Boardwalk” and “Blueberry Hill”. The skit ended with the French boys (Theodore and Sam) stealing the pretty girl away from the cabin 4 boys and the skit received a perfect score for the night.

The fun continued into Saturday. After a late wakeup and cinnabons for breakfast, the camp went to services led by Girls Tents. The theme of the service was friendship and many campers embraced that theme through poems or songs. Sydney Laporte and Taylor Kasoff sang Flight of the Conchords’ “Sellotape aka Pencils in the Wind”, Samantha Swindell did a poem about friendship, Jakeabel and Max Penn did haikus, and Steven Meree composed his own song about his friendships at camp. As the service was ending, we all heard a noise and then counselor Oli Knowles came out dressed as a Dalmatian and announced that it was Disney Day.

The camp was split up into the Red Mickey Mouse team led by Collin and Breanna, the Blue Donald Duck team led by Tim and Keith, the Yellow Pluto team led by Zach Fang (still no relation) and Rachel, and the Green Goofy team led by Ari, Emily, and myself. The teams were in charge of decorating a float, making a skit, and doing a dance to Disney music. After the teams worked on their creative performances, they went to The Gauntlet (a game similar to dodgeball) and Disney trivia and after a quick popsicle break, the teams went to army dodgeball and pool activities giving each and every camper a chance to show off their talents. After a hard day of competition, it was time for a Disney parade with Ashlyn Morrisroe, Taylor Kasoff, Sage Jacobson, and um…Ramon Ramirez as the princesses on the decorated floats. During the parade, each team performed a dance. The Mickey Mouse team danced to “Party in the U.S.A”, The Donald Duck team danced to “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, The Pluto team danced to “What Time is It?”, and the winner of the dance competition (again not bragging) was the Goofy team with a medley of “Circle of Life”, “Strangers Like Me”, “Let’s Get Together”, and “Breaking Free” choreographed by Samantha Zerwitz. The day culminated in a Princess Ball where the tent boys danced to techno and cabin G and H danced to Backstreet Boys and N*Sync and the night ended when the judges announced that the Green team was the winner (not bragging I swear).

As the Wet Your Feet Week campers have left and they will be missed, a new group of campers have come for a tryout weekend at CTT and are having a great time before they leave today. They have already climbed and fished and enjoyed almost every activity Camp Tall Timbers has to offer. Today, we are preparing for our last week of 1^st session here at CTT. The 3 on 3 basketball tournament is ending, CTTFFL playoffs have begun, and the amusement park trip is just around the corner. Let’s have a great last week.

Well, the parents are back and Home Alone Day has ended, but it was still a very fun and successful day. The day began with an obstacle course where the kids had to go from the upper fields to the gym without their “parents” seeing them and then had a “food fight” in the form of dodgeball. After a quick break, the kids got to go to their parents’ closet to get clothing and make-up to dress up. Once the kids got a new wardrobe, they had to prepare for a fashion show and Ryan Bernstein, Taylor Dennison, Max Penn, Jakeabel, Christian Guilloty, and Ashlyn Morrisroe were the fabulous and elegant models of the day. With their parents gone, the kids had a game of Hide and Seek throughout the whole camp and ended the night with a big pool party before the parents got home.

Today, the campers practice their skits for Dance Thru the Decades night. Each cabin is assigned a decade and genre within that decade and has to perform a dance or skit to a song from that decade and must also feature a special guest from that era. Let’s see what crazy skits come up tonight!

Yes we did! All of CTT successfully took on the wilderness and defeated it. We took our tarp and box of supplies and food and proved that CTT campers can survive outside. Cabin 2 and 5 played basketball and cabin B had card games going all night. Counselors Zach Fang and Ethan Ebinger led cabins 3 and 4 on a hike in the woods while cabin 78 played soccer and told scary stories. As the sun went down, cabins made their way to their campsites and began making a bonfire to keep them warm throughout the night and to roast marshmallows. With a clear and starry sky and a night that was not too hot and not too cold, Survivor Night 1^st Session 2011 was a big success and allowed the cabins to bond over a cookout and s’mores.

Survivor Night marks the halfway point in our 1^st session. Everything is in full swing now with CTTFFL playoffs coming and the 3-on-3 basketball tournament in its second round. The campers are showing that in just a few lessons, they can master any activity. Aaron Forest won a game of knockout. Pablo Heredia caught a fish and Ethan Weinstein continues holding the title of most fish after catching another one yesterday. New camper Riar Schell caught his first and second ever fish yesterday. Noah Schweitzer won a spinning target competition in riflery. The girls of cabin B served a volleyball over the net for the first time yesterday and Taylor Kasoff served over the net for the first time in three years.

After a morning of regular activities, we shake things up for the afternoon with Home Alone day where the campers do things that they would not normally be able to with their parents home like draw on the walls and get (temporary) tattoos. It’s a good thing this is only for the afternoon!

Any night where Paul Holtz wears a shirt that says “Duh, winning!” is a good night at Camp Tall Timbers.

Last night, CTT went to the Winchester Skating and Family Fun Center for a few hours of skating, arcade games, and socializing. The campers and counselors took the theme of superheroes and supervillains to a whole new level. Morgan Giles wore a full vampire costume. Ethan Weinstein donned a green outfit and used his signature cricket noise to create a new supervillain: Cricket. Paul Holtz made a shirt covered in Charlie Sheenisms and went as the warlock that is Charlie Sheen.  Counselor Julie Clark painted herself green and went as Green Lantern. But perhaps the best part of the night was Justin Kagen, who while was not in a villain costume, learned how to skate for the first time last night and successfully skated two laps without falling.

While some campers are learning things for the first time, others are perfecting their skills. Veteran campers Ethan Harrison, Ethan Weinstein, and Noah Schweitzer caught fish yesterday and Ryan Kalata caught two. Martin Babinet learned “Sweet Child O’ Mine” on the guitar, and shot two bullseyes in archery. Sam Audia also shot a bullseye in archery. Tyler Costopoulos and Aaron Morris made it up the hard side of the climbing wall for the first time and Tyler set a record for making it up the wall in thirty-six seconds. Miller Friedman and Michael Balaban won a game of Frisbee golf. Miguel Guinea completed the football course in the fastest time and Jacob Langer won a game of 500 in football. While not an activity offered at CTT, Ethan McCann and Jakeabel both lost teeth yesterday.

Tonight is my favorite evening activity Camp Tall Timbers has to offer: Survivor Night. After the last activity of the day, cabins go to different camping spots around camp where bags of frozen hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers await them. The cabin works together to make a fire to cook the food and later makes a bonfire to sit around and cook s’mores. The night leads to a great bonding experience for the cabin as stories are told and relationships are made for the rest of the session and even for the next few years.

Time to go survive!

Another skit night, another hilarious night at CTT.

Cheesy Skit Night is one of my favorite evening activities because it is a time where the creative side of campers can shine. Cabin 5 acted out a barfight featuring Zach LaPorte as the leading lady with his nails painted and sporting a beautiful white dress. Cabin B performed a game show entitled Are You an American? with Hayley Sanders as the host, Sage Jacobson as special guest Ke$ha, and Sydney Sachs as the winner of the game. Cabin 4 essentially Rickroll’d the audience much to everyone’s surprise. Boys and Girls Tents did skits mocking boys side. Cabin 78 was the winner of the night with a hilarious skit featuring Theodore Kling and Samuel Brami as the owners of an Italian restaurant (even though they are French) and Jesse Alloy and Aaron Morris as their zany customers.

Mealtimes are always fun at CTT as they are never quiet. The girls side does a chant where they bang on the tables and clap and the guys respond with a chant celebrating basketball player extraordinaire John Wall. Yesterday, the boys walked over to the girls’ side to sing The Righteous Brothers’ classic, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”. Also, Brandon Kagen won the choomster contest for the boys side, which is a test to see who got the biggest potato chip.

CTT heads to the roller rink tonight. The theme of the night is “Superheroes” where the counselors dress up as superheroes and the campers dress up as super villains and we have a fun night skating.

If you have any feedback about the blog please contact us so we can make it the best possible blog!

By a week into camp, everyone has found their niche. Nicola Lee-Oesterreich and Abbey Morrisroe continue catching a fish during every fishing class. Joseph Balaban won a game of jail in tennis. Sydney and Jesse Alloy repeatedly win games of knockout in archery and Jacob Langer, Zach LaPorte, and Ethan McCann are points leaders of the CTTFFL.

Last night, Camp Tall Timbers went to a Winchester Royals game. I have seen the Winchester Royals play about a dozen times and they have won maybe once. Maybe it was because the CTT campers were cheering louder than ever before or maybe it was the joy in seeing former campers and counselors at the game, but the Winchester Royals won! To top off the night, we got an exclusive area to view a lengthy fireworks show celebrating America’s independence.

On to a more solemn note, today is the 4^th of July and for many Americans, it is a time to be proud of the United States of America but also to reflect on the fact that there are soldiers overseas fighting wars. The cabin 2 counselor, Jason Neely, was in the air force prior to coming to camp and he encouraged all of the campers and counselors to write letters to the troops and he ensured that the letters will arrive to his old troops. He also revealed that he sent the flag from the “Orange Scurvy” (they were a team from Pirate Day 2010) to his old platoon and it is currently flying under an American flag over the 2^nd platoon in the 357th MP Battalion’s humvee. The platoon thought it was adorable that CTT campers cared enough about their comrade to make a flag for him.

Enjoy your celebration back at home as much as we celebrate America’s independence here at camp but be sure to keep the soldiers in your thoughts and if you get a chance send them a letter, your local post office will send it to the nearest platoon.

Ahoy CTT Families! Yesterday was Pirate Day: a day where yer will be tested and yer strength be pushed to its limit. The campers put on their peg leg and grabbed their bird and competed in a series of challenges.

After a family-themed service to start off the day, the pirates split up into the Red Pearls, Green Peter Pan Pirates, Black Ninjas, and the Yellow Bones. Mutiny Ball, a dodgeball-esque game that combines wit and athleticism, started the day off followed by a game of Human Battleship. The pirates then were tested on their intelligence with a camp-wide Pirate Treasure Hunt to find Blackbeard’s treasure and they then went to the pool for a diving competition. The pirates then were sent to work on the pirate flags and stories that were displayed and told at the Pirate Ball: a marvelous dance where the pirates ignored competition and enjoyed each other’s company. The pirates danced and danced all night and the night ended with the judges’ announcement that the Red Pearls were the most cunning of all the pirates and the winners of Pirate Day.

Though talking and acting like a pirate is fun, the campers are now wearing normal articles of clothing and only the cabin 4 boys (and a few counselors…including me)  are still saying “Myargh!”. Boy’s League and the CTTFFL continue today as do the regular activities for the campers. Tonight, however, Camp Tall Timbers ­leaves the camp to go see the Winchester Royals play and celebrate the 4^th of July with a good old-fashioned fireworks show. Fingers crossed for a Royals victory!

Nothing beats the beach.

Yesterday, most of the camp went to Cacapon State Park. Enjoying their time at the beach, counselor Zach Fang, Aaron Forest, Kevin Shefferman, Noah Pugliese, Paul Holtz & Jacob Greenberg built a massive sandcastle. Theodore Kling, Sam Brami, Martin Babinet, and the Vitet brothers united to ensure that counselors went in the water. After a few hours of splashing, diving, and Frisbee on the beach, we had a big cookout.  The CTT campers showed their talent after the cookout with a sandcastle building contest. In 2^nd place, cabin 2 built a “sand city” and Paul Holtz explained the rich history of their sand city mixing in elements from CTT and the plot from The Last Airbender. In 1^st place, cabin 3 recreated Bikini Bottom and Jacob Blitz led the group in an adorable rendition of the Spongebob Squarepants theme song. All of the sandcastles were well designed and showed tremendous creativity on the part of the campers.

The older campers went rafting where Jake Abel lost a tooth and our international campers bonded with the veteran CTT campers in cabin 4 and cabin G over phrases in Spanish and cheering. The rafters then went to a buffet where they were able to eat as much as they could (much to the delight of all the campers).

Today, Ethan Harrison caught two fish and the Red Bulls and Yellow Polka-Dotted Hippopotammi hold their first practices today to prepare for the vigorous CTTFFL season that lies ahead. This weekend, it’s Pirate Day where campers take a break from their regular activities, divide into teams, and compete in pirate-themed activities throughout the day. CTT will give out a big “Aarghh” and we will see soon which pirate ends up on top.

One of the best aspects of the CTT experience is the bonds you make with your cabin friends. Last night was cabin activity night which featured each cabin being assigned a different area of the camp to run an activity and  take the time to connect with each other. Cabin B had a pool party filled with music and a counselors vs. campers game of water polo. Cabin 4 went fishing and Bobby Jaffe, Sam Blum, and Max Penn caught a fish for the first time. The Cabin 4 boys then proceeded to have what they call “Somalian Pirate Fights” with their canoes leading to a great bonding experience. Cabin 78 had an intense game of hockey followed by an even more intense game of Risk (which is not yet finished) and Cabin G played football and had a “girls’ night”.

CTT leagues are already in full swing. Boys’ Leagues has begun with Sam’s Team: Delightful Facial Hair and Sean’s Team: Outrageous, tied for first with a record of 1-0 and Albuquerque’s Meowing Growlithe and Collin’s Team: Inception tied for second with a record of 0-1 (but everyone is a winner at Camp Tall Timbers). The Camp Tall Timbers Flag Football League (CTTFFL) ran its first games yesterday with the Purple Nurples and Yellow Polka-Dotted Hippopotammi tying at 7-7 and the Red Bulls defeating the Orange Crush 20-0.

Fishing is also becoming a very popular activity. Under the direction of counselor Zach Fang (no relation), Abbey Morrisroe, Jonah Jacobson, and Nicola Lee-Oesterreich caught a fish for the first time this session and Ethan Weinstein has already caught four fish. Away from the lake, campers have already become very successful at their other activities. Jesse Alloy, Mathilde Carello, and Jessica Hymer won games of knockout in archery. Jake Abel won a game of Frisbee Golf and Michael Balaban, who has never picked up a guitar before, learned to play his first song yesterday.

Today, Boys’ League continues with two hours of competitive play and most of the camp heads to Cacapon State Park for a fun day at the beach, sandcastle building, and a cookout while the older campers go white water rafting. Remember to check out the Camp Tall Timbers Facebook page to watch the brand new episodes of “Good Morning Tall Timbers”. Off to Cacapon!

In my eight years at Camp Tall Timbers, I have learned to expect the unexpected. I never thought I could see a bunch of young girls be so funny, tent girls laugh so much, older boys be so willing to dress as girls, and a bunch of eleven-year-olds successfully reenact a cartoon that was around before some of their parents were born. But last night was As Seen on TV Night, and, like any skit night at CTT, it was filled with some truly outrageous and hilarious skits.

Cabin B was assigned The Bachelorette and had their counselor, Georgia, be their lovely bachelorette. The girls of Cabin B dressed up as some of CTT’s male counselors (including Hayley Sanders as yours truly) leading to a hilarious skit. Girls Tents reenacted the beginning of each season of American Idol with Ashlyn Morrisroe being one of the singers that…well…was not the best singer…but certainly the funniest. In 3^rd place, my cabin, 78, performed two episodes of the The Powerpuff Girls with Samuel Brami, Theodore Kling, and Javier Sanchez in skirts dressed as the Powerpuff Girls. Jesse Alloy mocked counselor Flip Flop in the first episode and Aaron Morris did a hilarious impression of counselor Sam Friedman in the second episode. In 2^nd place, cabin 5 presented an episode of Popeye the Sailor led by Ethan Harrison doing his phenomenal impression as Popeye and Ethan McCann (in a red dress) as Popeye’s love interest. In 1^st place, no surprises here, the adorable cabin 4 acted out a typical episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with Miller Friedman as Will, Sam Audia as Uncle Phil, and Max Penn in a coconut bra as Ashley.

Yesterday was also filled with new camper milestones. Ethan Weinstein and Noah Schweitzer caught three fish. Martin Babinet and Esthermarie Lopez shot a gun for the first time. Jacob Langer successfully dunked on a 9-foot hoop multiple times in basketball. Cabin 2 successfully completed their first challenge in challenge course and Jesse Alloy won a game of knockout and got two bulls-eyes in archery.

Today is slated to be a marvelous day at CTT as Dippies and Boy’s League started today! For those who do not know, Dippies is when the proud and brave campers and counselors run to the pool right after the wake-up bell rings, scream “Good Morning Ladies” followed by “Dippies”, and swim a lap in the pool. We had a great turn-out today and I am sure that we will get more “Dippiers” as the session progresses. Boy’s League is also a fun CTT tradition where the male campers are split into four teams and compete in a variety of sports for at least an hour each day led by the same coach for the whole session.

As Camp Tall Timbers gets into full swing, be sure to watch the brand new “Good Morning Tall Timbers” posts on the Camp Tall Timbers Youtube and Facebook pages.

 

It is only the second full day here at Camp Tall Timbers, but the energy is high and the memories are being made. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alex Fang. I am a senior at the Gilman School in Baltimore, and this is my eighth year at CTT. My favorite thing about the first couple days of camp is the reunions. Friends of all ages come from all over the world to reunite at their favorite place to be: Camp Tall Timbers. Last night, we had our welcome campfire filled with CTT traditions, hilarious skits, and good old-fashioned s’mores.

Today is our first full day of activities and already, memories are being made and bonds are being forged. Juan Antonio Monleon caught one of the first fish of the session. Sydney Laporte and Taylor Kasoff made a mural with their Fruit Loops at breakfast. First-time camper Aaron Morris shot a bow-and-arrow for the first time. Coming all the way from Paris, Samuel Brami and Martin Babinet played Ultimate Frisbee for the first time and they both loved it. Tonight, we test the creativity of our campers with “As Seen on TV Night” where each cabin/tent group gets assigned a popular TV show (Boys Tents has Glee, Cabin B has The Bachelor, etc.) and they have to create a skit using that TV show.

Be sure to “like” the Camp Tall Timbers Facebook page and to follow @camptalltimbers on Twitter so you at home can feel like you are right here at camp. If you have any ideas for the blog, please feel free to contact us here and I will try and get on it. Let’s have a great summer!

Today is a day designed to show third session campers the best things about CTT. We will play popular camp games and take part in chunks of activity days from the first two sessions. There will be a talent show, a play and even a new camp activity known as Granny’s Candy. It is looking like this will be a pretty good day (especially if these pesky dark clouds stay off in the distance).

With all due respect to the people that planned the Best of CTT day, the activities aren’t the best things about CTT. These things are great, but last night while I was playing ping-pong with my cabin I realized that these activities pale in comparison to the real best thing about CTT: the people.

So many things can happen during a single session at CTT: lifelong friendships are forged over the turmoil of living in a tent, memories are made at the most trivial of times and you see the faces that you hope to see in a crowd for the next year. The people here make the smallest moments special. For example, I huddled around a laptop screen and watched a movie with my cabin last night. My small Dell screen is a far cry from the large plasma screens a lot of these kids are used to, but we had a few snacks and laughed almost the entire time. I saw the same thing with cabin G’s dance party and cabin 8’s campfire.

So it doesn’t matter what we do here, really. All that matters is that we get to do it with our friends who we may only hang out with for a few weeks out of each year. Camp is a natural breeding ground for funny traditions and the best kinds of inside jokes. All of these things help result in these memories that everyone here, camper, counselor or admin, holds dearer than almost any other memory that we have.

So maybe the Best of CTT day will truly represent the best of CTT. It may not come from the specific activities we do today, but we will be there with the people we want to be with. We will be participating in this rotation of activities with a huge group of our best friends. I think that our friends are the best thing about CTT, so in a roundabout way I guess today really will represent the best of CTT.

And in that regard, the rainclouds are never a threat.

Last night, Camp Tall Timbers rocked Northside Lanes in Winchester.

First, we rolled up in a convoy featuring a bus, a van and two SUVs. When we unloaded, innocent bystanders had to take notice of the huge group of oddly-dressed strangers dressed like characters from popular movies. There was an elephant, some of the population of Whoville, the cast of Monsters, Inc., a cat in a hat and many, many more. And then we went inside.

Suddenly, every line in the joint tripled in size. The poor lady in the concession stand had to weather the unrelenting storm of dozens and dozens of hungry kids and if anyone unaffiliated with CTT wanted to play one of the few video games in the lobby, they were out of luck. And in between turns on the arcade games and standing in line for food, there was some bowling.

Some campers, like John, proved to be pretty adept (he rolled a 93 in his first game). Likewise, some people (like counselor Katie) had trouble finding the pins at all (she had a robust 3 in her first five frames).  Some of us, like Andrew Priest, were streaky. He managed to record a few strikes early but then struggled through to the last few frames. But the good thing about bowling is that it is fun regardless of whether or not you’re an expert.

And we did have a lot of fun. Everything from Caoimhe’s mock enthusiasm at her score of 30 to Parker Nocket rolling a strike from his stomach was just some good, wholesome fun. The counselors and campers both had a great time at the bowling alley, and I’m sure the good times will continue tonight during cabin night.

This is the night when we get to hang with the people we’re closest with here at CTT. Cabin 7 will be having a ping-pong tournament and a homerun derby, Cabin 8 is hiking to the river, girl’s tents is watching a movie in the pavilion and the tent boys will be having a grand ol’ time tubing at the lake. All of the other cabins also have big plans, and I know that none of us can wait for the bell to ring after dinner so we can start having yet another good night here at CTT.

Your pulse quickens when you realize the difficulty of what you once thought was a trivial task. The handful of M&M’s in front of you suddenly becomes a mass of no certain color or shape and all of the cups, helpfully numbered in front of you on the table, start to blend together.

Your simple task, to separate a tray of M&M’s by color in under a minute, suddenly becomes impossible. Just like the cereal box puzzle or balancing soda cans.

This is the drama of Minute To Win It.

Last night, the campers were splits into four teams and had to complete tasks such as these at four different stations. Some games were simple, some were hard and all of them were pretty fun.

At the art shack, some campers had to knock cups off of a table by releasing the air from a balloon. Others had to try and piece together a cereal box that had been cut into twenty pieces or try to keep two feathers in the air using nothing but their breath.

In the pavilion, Brennan showed his skill at shooting rubber bands by knocking five empty soda cans off the table well before his minute was up. Hans Vandenberg was able to empty the correct amount of soda out of a can in order to get it to balance so quickly it looked like it was his job. Some campers struggled with the aforementioned M&M’s game, but when it came to picking them up with a straw and moving them from bowl to bowl Meier Parr proved to be a beast until he knocked over the bowl with the straw.

There were some interesting moments in the gym, too. Thanks to a game called Paper Dragon (which involves unraveling two rolls of streamers in under a minute) T.J. Pallone was seen in a Rambo-style streamer headband for the rest of the evening. It was also at the gym that some people had to catch tennis balls in a bucket on their head, which sounds like a challenging game.

After the campers had their dexterity challenged in the rec hall by stacking cups, it was time to head up to the gym for the final challenge. In this competition, students had to launch a marshmallow from a plate by hitting it off of a table with a broom and then catch it in a cup. It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds, as Sam Greenberg can attest to. But some campers, namely the Nocket clan and Oliver Schwartz, proved to be extremely adept at this strange task. Stevie and Parker Nocket bested older brother Forrest by catching five to his three, but Oliver outpaced the whole field by snagging eight.

This feat was enough to give his team, led by counselor Taylor, victory for the night. Congratulations to them, but all of the games were fun and win or lose, I think everyone had a great time.

But what else do you expect in a place like this?

When most people think about camp, they think about things like baseball, archery, riflery and fishing. The most known activities at camp are the physical ones, but here at CTT campers have the option of taking classes in things that fuel their creative fires.

Each session at CTT, campers have the option of taking arts and crafts, photography and guitar as classes. In addition to these classes, this session will see a revival of the Tall Timbers Tribune, which is a newspaper written by campers.

The first edition, due out in a few days, will feature stories on the various activities during free swim and a section on zombie survival (see The Only Prescription from a few days ago for more details on why). Sofia Navas Sharry is working as the photographer on the issue and an entire slew of campers, including Parker Nocket and Andrei Ross, are involved with the writing end. It has been a blast working on it so far and I can’t wait to see the final product.

The photography classes at CTT have changed a lot this year, but the campers are learning a lot. The old darkroom has been largely unoccupied because the campers are learning how to compose better pictures and learning some neat tricks with their own digital cameras. Sydney Alloy has been one of the most dedicated students so far (she has taken three classes in her two sessions here) and her expertise is growing daily. Olivia Kimmel and Sabine Lipten are taking their first classes this session but have already recorded some pretty awesome shots and Stevie Nocket has a natural eye for finding the best angle for a picture. If the campers continue to progress the way they have been, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the next Pulitzer Prize winner come from amongst our ranks.

The sound of strumming six-strings isn’t a foreign one during free swims. Parker Mitchell has been playing for several years and he bangs away on his Yamaha almost every free swim. Catherine is now in her second session of lessons and is progressing wonderfully. Jackson Steele, who takes guitar class and private lessons, is also becoming a fixture when someone breaks out a guitar.

So camp is not only good for you physically, but you get to learn things that fire up the ol’ creative side as well. Whether a camper wants to be an artist, a photographer, a writer or a musician- we have something for them. It is really neat to see a kid dominate both on the field and in the art shack and sometimes these classes do reveal some surprising talents in kids who have never had the opportunity to discover them.

So let’s hear it for discovering new talents- that’s just one more reason why CTT is definitely the place where we want to be.

I’m beginning to think that some of the campers at CTT should form a private investigating business.

It dawned on me last night during Clue night that all we need is a giant dog that can talk and we have the stuff cartoons are made of. The camp was split into three groups and assigned a rotation to determine when we could interview different witnesses and suspects. At each station the groups got a clue as to either the identity of the killer, the location of the murder or the weapon used. There were also additional clues hidden all around the stations.

Using the information earned from Professor Plum (Albert), Mrs. Peacock (Megan), Mrs. White (Karina), Mr. Green (Ollie) and Col. Mustard (Jason), the teams had to piece together the events of the evening and solve the mystery (all except for Rachael Cooper’s group, who benefitted when she found a special tell-all card ten minutes into their first station). The teams also had to complete certain challenges to earn the clues, for example a team member had to make five shots on the pool table to get the clue and the whole team had to make a ten-person pyramid.

After all of the interviewing and completing challenges for clues the teams had to put together a story which explained the events of the night and the motive for the murder. Every team figured out that Mrs. Peacock did in Mr. Body with the candlestick in the art shack, but Tim’s team was able to make the most compelling story and win the night.

But because of the fact that every team figured out the story and because these kids always dominate murder mystery night and are able to find a counselor’s food even if it is wrapped in three jackets, a raincoat and a spare blanket buried seven feet underground, I believe that forming a CTT detective agency would be a smart move.

These campers have proven time after time that they can find the most difficultly hidden clues and solve the toughest mysteries, so why not? If nothing else, it would make for a lot more interesting rainy day activities…