Category: In The News

Best Overnight Summer Camp

Posted on by Glenn Smith

It is with great pleasure, immense gratitude and immeasurable pride, that we announce Camp Tall Timbers was voted “Best Overnight Summer Camp” in the Best of Bethesda Readers’ Poll.  Thank you to our amazing community of parents and campers, past and present, who believe in what Camp Tall Timbers is – a special place where we have been serving up fun and rewarding camp experiences for over 45 years. A place where campers are encouraged to be themselves, try something new, unplug and have fun! 

Indeed many of you have recognized us for all that we have been.  Still, we continue to make positive changes and modernize, including most recently our new brand. We have launched our new website with even more information to share, pictures of activities, and testimonials from our campers and counselors who year after year make Camp Tall Timbers a place unlike any other. 

Experiences had at camp are unique and invaluable. We’ll be spending more time in the community showing just how transformative our camp really is and why campers, year after year, love to call Camp Tall Timbers their home away from home.  If you know someone interested in learning more about our Camp Tall Timbers program- please let family and friends know we will be at the Washington Episcopal School on January 21 @ 9 am– link here for more info. Hope to see you there.

It is hard to believe the holidays are here. If you are still contemplating that perfect gift for your child or grandchild, think Camp Tall Timbers Summer 2017, we would love to be a part of your holiday celebrations!  To our families and friends, wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season.

Cheers,

Glenn

Movie in 5 minutes

Posted on by Glenn Smith

Sunday, July 19th 2015

 

Hi guys! It’s been a busy weekend! Friday night, we did Movie in Five Minutes for an evening activity. Each cabin drew a movie out of a hat. They also had to draw a celebrity name out of a hat. The cabins then had to act out the movie (in five minutes) and somehow incorporate the celebrity into the skit.

 

Yesterday, for Saturday Activity we did World Domination Day! The camp was divided into four teams. Each team picked a color, and they were given a continent. The teams were Asia, Antarctica, Australia, and Africa. There were a ton of mini-activities planned. Each activity was set up in a different area of camp. For example, minefield was set up in the gym. The teams picked one leader, and everyone else was blindfolded. There were a variety of things lying in the team’s path, and the leader had to guide them through it without anyone stepping on anything. Whichever team won this activity was given the gym as property.

 

There was stations set up at the soccer field, baseball field, lake, etc. Whenever a team won an activity, they inherited that property. At the lake, the kiddos had to canoe out to the middle (with lifejackets, don’t worry) and wrestle over a greased watermelon. That was a camper favorite!

 

After all of the property activities, each team was given a flag to hide at one of their spots. We played a camp-wide game of capture the flag. The teams who had done better in the activities had more places to hide their flag. In the end, Australia (the blue team) won!

 

For an evening activity, the kiddos had a social. Each of the girls took off one shoe and put it in the middle of the gym. Each boy had to walk up and choose a shoe. The owner of the shoe was whom they were to dance with. It was a fun night!

 

It’s Lynn’s (counselor) birthday! Her tent girls were waiting for her to come back from her off night last night. They had signs for her. A bunch of campers made banners and brought them to breakfast. It was so sweet.

 

Today, we are back on a normal schedule. The girls are at Girl Power Hour, and it’ll be a good day of activities. The weather is supposed to be nice today! Tonight, the older campers are going bowling! The younger kiddos will be able to go Tuesday.

Another great day!!

Posted on by Glenn Smith

Wednesday, July 15th 2015

 

The campers had another day full of activities yesterday! A lot of campers hiked. In swimming class, Abby from Cabin F won the freestyle race, and the Super Singers (Margaret, Olivia, Charlotte, and Jamie) won in water polo!

 

Last night’s evening activity was MTV Night! Each cabin picked a genre out of a hat. For example, some genres we had were opera (Girls’ Tents), Disney songs (Boys’ Tents), oldies but goldies (Cabin F), and country (Cabin 3).

 

All of the skits were put together well. A few that stood out were Cabin F and Cabin 3.

 

Cabin F did a skit about a surprise birthday party for grandma. Margaret and Jamie played grandma and grandpa. They were hilarious. It was Grandma Margaret’s 52nd birthday, but she was walking and acting like she was 100. She used a cane and couldn’t hear well. Her grandchildren tried to show her and grandpa how to dance. Margaret fell down. Olivia loudly asked her if she had broken her hip. The grandparents then decided that they would show the kids how to dance like they did in the old days. The song “Grease Lightning” came on. They did the dance from Grease. Then they did the hand jive. After that, grandpa decided that it was their bedtime (it was after 6:00).

 

Cabin 3 did a dance to a “You Belong With Me”. Teddy told the story about how he met the kids’ mother. John and Leonard played two girls who were fighting over the same guy. Leonard wore high heels, and it impressed us all how well he could walk in them. In the end, John won.

 

These skits were the top two of the night. For a tie-breaker they had to make a rap about the judges (Megan, Kasoff and Lynn). Cabin F beatboxed while Jamie rapped, “All we do is win, win for Lynn no matter what. Got Megan on our mind we can’t ever get her off. Every time Kasoff walk up in the gymnasium, everybody turns and says WHAT? Camp Tall Timbers. Camp Tall Timbers. Blue, white. Blue, white. Blue white.”

 

All of Cabin 3 rapped, “Sittin’ here with my best friend Lynn. Megan, you look better than Megan Fox. I’m too lazy to write the next verse, but I do like your socks. I really enjoy playing color war with you Kasoff, even though you’ll lose when blue and white faceoff.”

 

In the end, Cabin 3 won because all the campers rapped and were included. It was a fun night. I love to watch the kids get involved and be silly. I like that at camp, no one is worried about what others are going to think about them. They come out of their shell and do ridiculous things they would never do at home or in school. It’s awesome to watch.

Mystery Night

Posted on by Glenn Smith

Thursday, July 2, 2015

 

All day, the campers thought that the evening activity was a cabin activity night. They were all ready to have a relaxing night. Some were planning on having movie nights, while others were going to paint nails and take it easy. They all gathered around the office to find out where their location was for the night and to get their snacks (Canteen). Josh, one of our Junior Counselors was already eating the Canteen, which was candy. All of the sudden he fell over. We called Nurse Melissia to help, but it was too late.

 

The returning campers knew right away that it was now a Murder Mystery Night! The campers were immediately put into teams to go out and collect clues. There was a ton of stations set up around camp. Every station had clues, and a way the counselors were supposed to act. There was a dancing station set up in the rec hall. In order to get a clue, the campers had to dance. At another station, the campers had to climb to the top of one side of the rock wall to receive the first part of the clue, and climb the other side to get the other half of the clue. Two counselors were sitting out in the middle of the lake on a canoe. They were sobbing and screaming. The teams had to canoe out to them in order to interview them.

 

After the teams went to all of the stations, they had to write out their theory on what happened. Some teams had the motives right, but the killers wrong, and others had the motives wrong but the murderers right. A couple of teams were just completely off the wall. The winning team figured out the storyline to a T. That winning team was made up of: David, Damara, Jack G, Jacob S, Caitie, Mayson, and Brendan!

 

The storyline was that Kasoff was upset with Mark for making him do the Dippies dance at meals, so he attempted to poison the candy that was for Canteen. Since Mark usually puts together the Canteen, Kasoff figured that he’d help himself to some of it before it was handed out. Unfortunately, Josh got into the candy before Mark did. He died right there in front of everyone on the office porch. While the campers were avidly collecting clues, another death struck. Carl, who was extremely torn up about Josh’s death drown Jenna in the pool. Apparently he had heard Josh and Jenna arguing about flag football earlier in the day, and Carl thought that Jenna was the killer. The campers were continuing to gather information when the final death occurred. The kids found out that Mark had been run over by a mountain bike. Kasoff had come back for him after all.

 

The campers had so much fun with this activity. There was so much laughter and camaraderie between all ages.

 

Today, we are having a normal morning of activities, but we are doing clinics again in the afternoon! I’ll keep you posted on how everything goes!

Let’s Dance

Posted on by Glenn Smith

Tuesday, June 30th 2015

 

Hi there! Yesterday, the campers had another full day of activities! In dance class, Euan taught the kids a traditional Scottish dance. He played some Scottish music, and everyone really got into it. It was fun to be a part of. The mountain biking class had a long ride yesterday that included a big hill! The upper field activities class played some football, working specifically on passes and catches.

 

The Purple and Red teams played against one another in flag football. They were pretty evenly matched up. The Purple team came hot right out of the gate. They worked hard with one another. In the second half, the Red team started to come back, but they ran out of time. The Purple team won.

 

The ping-pong tournament also started up yesterday. We have a huge bracket posted outside of the dining hall. Almost 50 people signed up to play!

 

For the evening activity, there was a campfire down by the lake. They created skits by cabin. Each group was given a location where their skit had to take place. One group was given outer space, while another was given the wild west. The campers then roasted marshmallows, made s’mores, and sang songs before it was time for bed.

 

Dippies are a Camp Tall Timbers tradition. Kids wake up at eight and run down to the pool. They jump in and swim across one time to wake themselves up. Lately, there haven’t been many campers participating. Matt Kasoff is one of our Junior Counselors and an avid dippy participant. He made a deal with the campers that if at least 29 people showed up for dippies, he would dance every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch for the rest of the session. This morning, there were 36 campers that participated in dippies! Mr. Kasoff will be showing us his high-quality dance moves today at lunchtime.

 

We also had Girl Power Hour and Boys’ League this morning! The boys played games of dodgeball in the gym. The girls met on the gym mats for a cheerleading session. They learned a short cheer dance. They also were able to practice stunts. All of the girls were excited to get involved in one way or another. Mayson, Cora, and Damara all made it into full extensions as flyers! They also learned how to cradle out of the stunts. It was a fun experience.

 

Tonight, we are taking the campers bowling! I’ll update you tomorrow on how it all goes!

Happy Monday!!

Posted on by Glenn Smith

Monday, June 29th 2015

 

Yesterday, the Wet-Your-Feet-Week campers arrived! Their fellow cabin mates were eagerly anticipating their arrival. The new campers settled in, were given schedules, and joined in for the rest of the day’s activities.

 

During Team Building (called Team Domination), they did an egg drop. The teams were each given duct tape, saran wrap, and tissues. They had to create something around their egg so that it would be protected. When the teams dropped their eggs from the top stairs of the gym, many teams were successful in saving their eggs. The campers are learning how to work together and rely on each other in Team Domination… and they’re having a lot of fun while they’re doing it. After the egg drop, each team got to crack an egg on their team counselor’s head.

 

We also had our first flag football game of the session! Signing up to be on a team is completely voluntary, but almost the entire camp has gotten involved! There are three teams: Yellow, Purple, and Red. Counselors coach the teams, and the campers have a lot of fun competing against one another. The Purple and Yellow teams faced off during the second free swim. After a long, intense battle the Yellow team came out on top.

 

Last night we took the campers to see the Winchester Royals! The kids had so much fun. A lot of them were able to talk to the players and receive autographs. A couple of the campers got to play catch with the players that were standing on the other side of the fence. It was a really great experience!

 

Today, the Wet-Your-Feet-Week campers have their first full day of activities! They have already been fully embraced by the other campers and are now a part of the family.

Start of the Summer!!

Posted on by Glenn Smith

Tuesday, June 23rd 2015

 

Hi guys! Yesterday, the campers had their first day of activities! We started out the day with Girl Power Hour and Boy’s League. The girls played a variety of games, including Little Sally Walker and dodgeball. The boys played a giant game of kickball. It was nice to see the bonding between all ages.

 

The campers were so excited for their favorite activities, like swimming, basketball, baseball, arts and crafts, and soccer. They were also eager to try out the activities that were new to them, such as archery, canoeing/kayaking, tubing, riflery, climbing, horseback riding, and golf.

 

The evening activity was a big hit with the campers last night. We played cops and robbers, but not the way you remember playing it. There was a range of various tasks set up all over camp that the campers (“Robbers”) had to fulfill. When a group completed a challenge, they were awarded with a balloon. Each activity had a different color of balloons worth a different amount of points according to the level of difficulty.

 

For example, the task at the archery station was for someone to shoot a bullseye. Since this is a rather difficult challenge, the balloons were worth forty points.  In the gym, the campers had to do “the human knot”. Since this was easily completed, the balloons were worth fifteen points.

 

Four of our wonderful Junior Counselors and one “Undercover Cop” had been painted blue. They were the “Cops”. They were sneaking around outside of the art shack, trying to steal and pop the “Robber’s” balloons. If the “Robbers” were able to get past the “Cops” and into the art shack, their points were added up. However, if the “Cops” were able to pop their balloon, the teams didn’t get to add any points to their total.

 

Congratulations to our winning team, who had a shocking total of 170 points… was Mohan, Lynn, Corinne, Sean, Abby, and Gabriel. I can’t wait to see what other activities are in store for this session!

 

 

Sorry for the delay in getting this posted technical difficulty, which has been corrected

50 Most Amazing Summer Camps in the U.S.

Posted on by Glenn Smith

Camp Tall Timbers was listed on the TOP 50 Amazing Summer Camps list by Top Education Degrees.

“A good summer camp should be a safe and magical place where girls and boys can make friends, discover new passions and learn to be independent. Here, they are taught values such as teamwork and cooperation – all while surrounded by majestic lakes, mountains, woodlands and wide-open spaces so often lacking in congested cities. More often than not, kids find out who they are and what makes them tick. Here we look at 50 of the most incredible summer camps in the United States.”

31.-Camp-Tall-Timbers-–-High-View-West-Virginia.jpg

Camp Tall Timbers is described by Lantern Camps as taking “a step back to a slower, simpler life.” Located in High View, Camp Tall Timbers gets its seclusion from the surrounding hardwood- and pine-packed West Virginian countryside, its own private lake and the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains. The camp was set up in 1970 by current executive director Jerry Smith and welcomes girls and boys aged between 7 and 16.  There are approximately 175 of them per session. The ACA-certified summer retreat is packed with amenities to “support its active camp agenda.” These facilities include a baseball diamond, driving range, gymnasium, riding stables, soccer fields, an art studio space and a performance stage. Camp activities are geared towards developing campers’ “self-confidence while enhancing their individual talents.”