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Your heart pounds as you sprint across the field, ducking and dodging enemy fire as you re-focus on your goal. You think of taking cover, but as you do you feel a smack on your back and sudden a wetness.

You turn and snarl at the kid who pegged you with a water balloon and wait for 30 seconds before you can continue your quest to nail the other team’s boogey board with the water balloon you are clutching in your hand.

This may sound intense, but this was reality for all of us here yesterday during the final battle of Water War Day. Throughout the course of the day the camp was divided into four teams and competed in various water-related ‘war games,’ including water polo, a canoe relay and a rather humorous event where campers had to use only their bottoms to free a t-shirt from a block of ice. It was a fun day all around but before we all trekked down to the lake for a chill campfire,  the Battle of the Upper Fields was the key event for the whole day.

Each team started from a different corner of the soccer fields. When it was time to go, they charged another teams’ base and tried to pelt their boogey board, which was adorned with team colors, names and logos, with water balloons and wet sponges. The objective was to screw up the other teams’ boards and protect your own. It was an intense event and all of the campers and counselors involved were soaked, but smiling.

At the end of the day it was announced that the blue team had won the war. If you’ll remember, the blue team also won Pirate Day. It has been rumored around camp that this is a precursor for Color War, but the white team contends that it can’t be because there hasn’t been a white team during either Water War Day or Pirate Day. As a proud member of the white team, I hope this isn’t true. Actually, I’m rather sure it is not. But you have to wonder, as we head into the last week of the session, can it be true? Color War is right around the corner, and questions are rampant. But, like everything else, only time will tell. And the Apache Relay. And the skit. And the speech. And the plaque. And every other event. But as is it nears, the growing tension is impossible to ignore as we prepare for the ultimate CTT tradition- Color War. Go white!!!

Leagues, leagues, leagues. It seems like every free swim there is a league game to see. At CTT, there is a softball league, a flag football league, a water polo league and there have been talks of forming a soccer league. Basically, regardless of want you want to do with your game ball- hit it, pass it, catch it, kick it or get it wet- we have what you want.

Yesterday, the CTT Softball League played its season opener, which pitted Bill’s Wildcats against my Red Sox. The Wildcats took a 6-2 win, but I contend we only got to have one at bat before the bell rang. Regardless, it was good to see Bobby Jaffe robbing counselors of hits and Casey Dennison finally smacking a single into fair territory after a few foul balls. It would have been better to win, but it was still awesome to see the kids doing such a great job.

The flag football league kicked off a few days ago and the kids are very excited for the second game of the season, which will be during today’s first free swim. In week one, Jakeabel led the Red Bulls to a 20-12 win over the Orange Crush with two passing touchdowns and an interception return TD and the Yellow Polka-Dotted Hippopotami relied heavily on David Morrel to trounce the Purple Nurples 28-0 despite the best efforts of Brandon Kagen.

The water polo league is new this year. It features five teams made up of campers and counselors and it is a ton of fun. In the inaugural game, Zach LaPorte led the Bulldogs to a 12-8 win over the Flying Fish. The second games of the series will be played during second free swim today and I will report on those games as soon as I can. The league is a great way to organize one of the campers’ favorite pool activities and so far everyone is having a great time.

Well, it is almost time for round two of the Red Bulls quest for second straight Super Bowl berth. Hopefully we can pull it out, but Nicky Feldman and the Crush have been working hard… you just never know how all of these league games will play out at CTT.

When counselors Megan, Ollie and Marylou announced the assigned genres for Jive Through the Genres, the boys of the Buffalo Village got really excited when they heard that they were to come up with a lip sync routine for a country song. The tent boys were already buzzing about their Disney routine and Cabin HuG seemed pretty hyped to tackle a 90’s pop song. Everyone was excited to exit the dining hall and start preparing for another great night of skits.

The show began with BV’s interpretation of Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story.’ Brandon Kagen, who (along with several other boys) had donned a dress, make up and nail polish for the occasion, played Juliet. As he serenaded Nicky Feldman’s Romeo, the crowd couldn’t stop laughing. When it was all over, the youngest boys had thrown down the gauntlet for the rest of the night.

But every cabin broke out the big guns for the event. Cabin A got gangsta, girls’ tents went punk, Cabin 3 were greasers and Cabin 7 disturbed us. Cabin 5 even found the Eye of the Tiger. But like most skit nights, the judges decided it was too close to call and the winner was to be decided with a dance-off between the BV, Cabin HuG and boys’ tents (who got in with a well-rehearsed Disney medley mocking the life of counselor Kyle and his relationship with the pretty princess Fangorella).

After a dance-off filled with everything from Ethan Harrison doing the worm under a tent boy to Sam Friedman leaping over someone to the HuG counselors being banned from the stage, the BV boys finally claimed victory. It was a huge win for the boys and the ones that dressed as girls were sure relieved they hadn’t done it for nothing.

But just like every competition here, the winner was forgotten soon after and the laughter lived on. It may have been the best skit night I’ve seen in my time at CTT and I know I won’t be forgetting it for a long time. If we had that much fun together during Jive Through the Genres, I can’t wait to head off to the skating rink tonight. It should be a blast!!!!

Last night, Max Penn bounced a cookie off of his forehead and into his mouth. Miller Friedman separated a cup of M&M’s by color in under a minute. Nate Fink bounced tennis balls off of the floor, off of the wall of the gym and into a bucket on his head.

None of these activities have any use in the real world, but these campers’ strange talents came in handy during our version of the popular game show ‘Minute to Win It.’ Some kids had to stack and unstack cups, keep two feathers in the air by blowing them and bounce their head 125 times in a minute. It was a hectic night, but in the end Casey Dennison proved to be the ultimate champion by catching four marshmallows in a cup after she launched them from a plate with a broom (I’m not sure how else to describe it…).

Tonight is Jive Through The Genres and it is always hilarious to see what kind of dances these kids can come up with. Tomorrow night is Skating Night, and for those of you who are familiar with me and this blog, you know I actually bring ice packs to the rink in anticipation of the pain. Fortunately for all of your kids, they are much more skilled than I am and they never have any trouble zooming around the rink.

Well, it is time to go think of a dance for tonight. I’m thinking of a country version of ‘Smooth Criminal.’ Can it be done? I don’t know, but if it can be someone here will figure out how…

Yar mateys!! Saturday started out like any other Saturday at CTT – sweet Saturday breakfast, no cleaning, and services – but then the theme song from Pirates of the Caribbean blared over the speakers and a pirate ship came screaming around the corner of the art shack! A few minutes later, Captain Insano barked out the teams and the rules for the day and it became clear that it was Pirate Day at CTT!!!

Early in the day the teams had to come up with team names and build a pirate ship from materials they were given. The teams had to use each piece they were given in order to build a boat and, in the pirate spirit, cheating and sabotage were encouraged. After the crews dispatched everything from spies to kamikazes to give the other teams a disadvantage, it was time to put the boats on the water. All but one team was able to stay up for more than five minutes and the black team picked up a five-minute bonus because Miller Friedman was able to ride the boat for fifteen seconds before it sank. It wasn’t enough to beat the orange-clad S.S. Kirby, however. Their boat would float indefinitely and after ten minutes Captain Insano and the other judges declared them the winner.

After an afternoon rotation that included Human Battleship, kickball and ultimate Frisbee, all of the teams gathered at the lake for the Battle of Lake Tall Timbers. The battle included a land, sea and air portion and combined campers’ skills at riflery, boating and water balloon tossing (in individual events). The Blue-Bearded Pirates came away with the win thanks to an extraordinary effort by Jordyn Chace and Reece Dennison to maneuver a heavy aluminum canoe and find the Ultimate Treasure, which was hidden in a bucket floating on the lake.

After dinner, the whole day was decided by an event which hasn’t been seen at Tall Timbers in many years. There were four fire pits and a rope tied high above – it was a spectacle known as Rope Burn! Three-person crews gathered wood and the team who was able to build a fire high enough to burn through their rope was the winner. In addition, the rest of the team was judged on how spirited they could cheer on their fire crews.

The black team and counselor Tim Allen (yeah, he has heard the jokes) were able to burn through their rope in less than ten minutes. They won the burn portion, but counselor Katie, Jacob and Marc Blitz, Aaron Forest and the rest of the Blue Beards wrote two original songs for the cheer portion. When the final scores were tallied, the Beards took the win!

The kids really got into Pirate Day and we all had a lot of great times. There were battleships, water balloons and big fires. When you add all that to the Parlay in the Gym social afterwards, what more could you ask for? If, for some reason, you wanted to ask for a soft pretzel – we had those, too.

Although Pirate Day is done, there is plenty of fun to be had this week. Tuesday night is skating night and later on in the week there is a counselor hunt – but that could turn into anything. Who knows how things will shake out at Tall Timbers?

When the Camp Tall Timbers bus arrived at Cacapon on Thursday, the sand was smooth, the water was calm and the fish were just chilling without a care in the world. But when those doors opened, all of the calm was wrecked and the formerly tranquil lake was transformed into a trademarked CTT fury that Glenn Smith should seek a patent for.

Jakeabel was among the first campers to disturb the peace by reeling the first fish of the day and naming it Franklin. After a few rousing games of ‘Cut the Cake,’ Ethan Weinstein, Casey Dennison and Caoimhe Ni Droighneain, Hayley Sanders and a few Cabin One boys constructed a running moat in the sand complete with fortifications. Kevin Shefferman, Jason Shefferman and Aaron Forest weren’t content with swimming in the lake so they made a swimming pool. Counselor Kyle and the tent boys made a giant shark and not to be outdone, Jacob Blitz made an even bigger moat than the previous one. And so was the end of smooth sand and calm waters of Cacapon.

After all of that and a tasty cookout dinner, there was a mermaid contest (which entailed counselors being buried in sand and then being made into a mermaid) and we finally boarded the bus to head back to camp in time for bed. It was a long, hot day but it seemed to last no time at all- just like everything we do with our CTT family.

Cacapon may be over, but the fun sure isn’t. Tonight is the infamous Cheesy Skit Night and the kids have been buzzing all day coming up with ideas for the superhero theme. And tomorrow the campers and counselors will have the chance to become pretty infamous themselves during the one day they are encouraged to cheat and steal- but that will all stop when it comes down to the surprise final event that will determine the winner…

Argh! Why can’t it come any faster!

Some amazing things happen during Cabin Night. Every Wednesday of every session, a few campers go above and beyond what is expected and really shine while we hang out with the people we are closest to at camp – our bunkmates.

The kids from Cabin Seven trekked down to the rifle range and played a hand of Shoot ‘Em Up poker, which is played with the deck of cards taped to a solid object and the players shoot the cards they want. Benji Fleischmann proved to be the best shooter in the cabin by knocking down three jacks. I don’t want to say this is a direct result of the fact that he has a riflery class with me, but I think there could be a chance…

The Buffalo Village boys spent the evening at the pool playing water polo and jamming out to Blues Traveler. Several games were played and the kids scored a near-flawless victory against the counselors, but the real highlight of the night came in the final game when Kevin Shefferman tallied 25 individual goals on his own. Having been on the opposing team, I can assure you there was no stopping the man. He just caught fire early and kept scoring.

Some groups, such as the young ladies in girls’ tents, opted to have a very non-competitive night and watched a movie. There was also a dance party for Cabin A and a lighthearted softball game for Cabin Five.

All in all, Cabin Night is one of our favorite nights at camp. We get to do some awesome activities with our cabin mates and it is always a good time.

Today, we are all loading up on the buses and trucking to Cacapon for our first out of camp trip of the session! There is an almost electric buzz around camp as we prepare for the adventure. This trip is always a favorite for the campers and the games we play there are always a ton of fun. And due to the small heat wave we’ve been experiencing, the cool water should prove to be extra refreshing.

Well, I have to go dig out my swim trunks and get ready for a day sure to be full of chicken fights and sand burials. I can’t wait! Check back tomorrow for details from the trip.

Once the dust from the bus died down, it didn’t take long for Camp Tall Timbers’ trademark zaniness to ensure that we had really slipped into our loud, obnoxious and nonsensical piece of summer peace.

Almost as soon as they got off the bus, Brandon Kagen and Ethan McCann went piece-for-piece in a pizza eating competition. The two Buffalo Village representatives each downed a very respectable five pieces while their cohort Ryan Kalata got experimental and topped his pizza with spaghetti.

The youngest boys in camp also got off to a solid start in archery thanks to Zach LaPorte and Will Todd sinking bull’s eyes on their first day at the range.

The first few days have been big for some other campers, as well. Garrett caught his first fish as a camper, which is a HUGE accomplishment considering I have been trying for two years and have never, ever caught one. Maybe the kids just have all the skill…

Down in the pool, many of the campers have discovered a new hero in the form of rookie counselor Kyle Moore, who just happens to be ripped like a professional wrestler. He teamed up with all of the campers present at a free swim and together they defeated the rest of the counselors in an intense game of water polo. I have a sneaking suspicion Kyle will be highly sought after when the Color War Tug-o-War comes around.

Another crazy phenomenon that happens around here is Dippies, which is when a group of clinically insane campers and counselors wake up in the morning and run down to the pool to swim a lap. The Dippies crowd has had a great turnout so far, but we’ll see if my Sleepies crew catches up once we really get into the full swing of camp.

So, thankfully, camp is back in full swing. There has been a loomster, a group of devoted Dippers has formed and children are already getting experimental with their food. Clue was a smash last night (Cabin 5 found out that Lindsay Heiman/ Ms. Scarlett was the killer), tonight is our first cabin night and tomorrow is Cacapon.

It’s just so good to be here, and of course we are all loving camp life with all of our camp family.

Around lunchtime Sunday, a group of camp counselors in purple shirts emblazoned with the Camp Tall Timbers name waited nervously under the pavilion outside of the mess hall. Inside the cafeteria, the kitchen staff was hurrying to prepare their first massive meal in almost a year. The soccer nets were hung, the tents were rigid and the new putting green was ready for action. These were the final moments before we all escaped the everyday grind and began the next installment of the best days of our lives.

Then there was the sound of a large diesel engine in the distance and the crunch of approaching bus tires over gravel. The bus from Baltimore had arrived! Soon after the van from Tyson’s Corner and Rockville pulled in and finally, after all these months of waiting and the terrible snowstorms of this past winter, the first session of Camp Tall Timbers 2010 was under way!

If you’ve never been there, I have to try to explain to you how magical the first few hours of camp are. For those of us returning to CTT, the anticipation to see campers and counselors for the first time in what seems like forever is almost unbearable. It is very exciting to see familiar faces like Brandon Kagen, Miller Friedman, Hayley Sanders and Sydney LaPorte running around on these fields again, eager to recapture the magic of previous years. There are new faces as well, like Zach LaPorte and Caiomhe Ni Dhroighneain. They are quickly adopted into the camp lifestyle and soon understand the importance of things such as the summer’s first loomster, which Jakeabel was able to snag, and the excitement over being the first person to finish their class schedule (the honor went to Jennifer Heiman).

There is already a buzz in the air concerning Color War, Murder Mystery Night, an upcoming trip to a skating rink and attending a Winchester Royals game. It took the campers no time to man the tetherball courts and begin trying to hit a baseball to the art shack. And it didn’t take long to recapture the magic we were forced to put on hold at the end of last summer.

As we all were at the opening campfire singing John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’, I couldn’t help but think of how perfectly that song  sums up the magic and the almost irresistible pull of Camp Tall Timbers. As we work our way towards a life-size game of Clue tonight and a trip to Cacapon on Thursday, it is hard to argue with the idea that our little slice of West Virginia is almost heaven, and that these country roads surrounding camp have indeed brought us home.

In just a few short hours, the campers, counselors and administrators of Camp Tall Timbers will dress in their best and begin filing into the dining hall for one last dinner together – the always bittersweet session-ending banquet.

The food will be good, as it always is. The campers will look presentable to outsiders for the first time in quite awhile thanks to their fancy clothes, and the conversation will almost certainly bounce around, touching on all of the fun activities, laughs and memories that have been made at CTT this year. From the opening campfire, to Monte Carlo Night, to skating night and to the murder mystery we solved this morning I expect everyone will be bubbling just thinking of this last session.

Later tonight, we will sit as a group around a special campfire and reminisce – not only of the special activities I’ve already mentioned, but of everyday occurrences. We could think about something learned in lacrosse class, possibly a play made in a CTT baseball game, maybe even something memorable from bunk time. We will look back on water fights, Pirate Day, bowling night and mealtime shenanigans with fond smiles.

One thing I know for certain is that tonight, after the packing is done, the thinking starts. You think about the activities, about the counselors, about your friends and about the rest of the CTT family. You think about how you will miss camp in the next 11 and a half months and how you dread boarding that bus in the morning. I know we all long to see our families, but we always hate to leave this place.

During the closing campfire tonight there will undoubtedly be a lot of smiles, a lot of laughs, a lot of introspective looking back and almost certainly a few tears. Even though we can make like a Cubs fan and remember there is always next year, this one was special. This is the one we will remember most vividly for the next year and therefore, these are the CTT memories that will be emblazoned in the front of that special section of our brain where we store our Tall Timbers memories until next time rolls around.

Tomorrow morning, there will be a breakfast and then it will be time to say our goodbyes. We will say goodbye to our friends, to our bunkmates, to the counselors and most importantly to this small sect of land we call our home away from home. This is the place we come to get away from everyday, and tomorrow we will head back into everyday.

On the way to the bowling alley last night, several counselors kidded that we have become institutionalized by CTT. I fear this may be true for both campers and counselors so don’t be surprised when your child doesn’t leave the breakfast table because he or she is waiting for announcements to begin. If they slam an empty pitcher on the table, don’t blame them – that one’s on us. Because we are responsible for some annoying habits like these, hopefully your camper will bring home some good things as well.

Hopefully, your child will want to be outdoors and active. Hopefully, they will want to spend time with their friends because they have learned every moment is precious (you figure that out when you only have a few weeks together). And hopefully, they will live every minute to its fullest, and seize each and every day – because that is what life here is all about. We wake up every day with the attitude that we can make today better than the day before and hopefully this is something your kids can now exhibit as well.

All in all, we have had a great summer at CTT and everyone involved is sad to see August 15^th preparing to pop up on the calendar. That day may end this summer for CTT, but it doesn’t end what CTT stands for. We still have our friends, our health and our fondest memories of good times here. Every day of the summer stands as an unforgettable one, and I know that as soon as the dust from the outgoing buses settles we are already looking forward to those same buses dropping off kids for 2010.

This is my first year at CTT, and lord willing it won’t be my last. Personally, I have had the best summer of my life and I feel very privileged to be able to chronicle it every day. I hope you all enjoyed reading my little tidbits of information and I hope I can be here next year to bring it to you again. I have met some incredible kids, made some great friends and shared a million and one fantastic moments with my CTT family.  I can attest that this place is special, and I want everyone to know the smiles you see on campers’ faces in the photo section are real.

Since I have the forum to do so, I want to thank everyone that made it possible for me to be here and bring you, the CTT families, closer into the fold of life at camp. I know I’ll be choking back tears tomorrow when we all say goodbye, but they will be bittersweet. Bitter because I feel like I’m leaving my life for the last two months behind on a dirt road in the West Virginia countryside, but sweet because I know I made some great friends who will last a lifetime. That really seems to be the word that sums up the end of camp – bittersweet.

So all that being said, I’d like to say thanks to everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed it, because I enjoyed bringing it to you. If you are ever passing through south side Virginia look me up and we’ll sit for awhile. Otherwise, thanks again.

I know I can’t wait for next year. I’m ready for first session 2010 to begin right now. But unfortunately, we’ll just have to wait. So goodbye for now, and I’ll talk to you in June.

Until last night, I never realized the wide range of talents that the campers at CTT possess. There are the normal skills, such as playing guitar or singing, but at the same time there are some people here who can do the most bizarre things you’ve ever seen in your life. Regardless of whether the person has a flair for the common or the outlandish, everything was on display last night at the CTT Talent Show.

There are a lot of talented musicians here and they relish nights like last night so that they can display their skills in front of the camp. Gerald Wrona rocked out the solo to Green Day’s ‘When I Come Around.’ Jason Gersh belted out a new original tune that he has been writing for six months. It was called ‘Bones’ and he received a standing ovation from the audience.

Ethan Polk-Trauman and cabin three took the stage to perform his original CTT song, which is a bouncing, catchy number that talks about the good friends we make at CTT and the good times we have with them.

The last musical display of the evening came from the counselors of A & B and Jacqui. They took it upon themselves to show their lack of singing talent by butchering ‘Love Story,’ which is normally sung by Taylor Swift (and it should stay that way). Luckily before it got too embarrassing they were joined on-stage by at least half the camp, and I believe most of the people left in the audience were singing along as well. It was a fun rendition of one of the most popular songs at camp, despite the very rough counselor-only intro.

Despite the heart-warming musical numbers, everyone in camp was grossed out at least twice by two of the most bizarre talents this camp has ever seen. The first of these was the weird talent displayed by cabin five.

The boys who refer to them as the BCC 5 (Best Cabin in Camp) gathered before the show and realized that none of them really have a ton of talent that they wanted to display. They certainly didn’t have a cabin-wide skill, per se, but there was one thing they all can do.

So here is cabin five, standing in front of the camp holding water bottles. They then pick them up to their nose and begin to drink the water through their nose. To prove it, they spit it out of their mouths and into the trashcan. They didn’t win, but everyone was grossed out.

At the end of the night, the boy’s tent group was named the winner of the boy’s cabin competition for their ability to freeze for long periods of time (specifically, the entire talent show). Cabin A won the girl’s competition for a cute little act where they asked each other if it was time, and then when it was they switched their posture.

So, from guitar playing, to bad singing, to milk shooting to leg switching, campers at CTT have proven they can do it all. It was a fun talent show to see, but tonight they will have to display a new set of skills if they want to come out on top at Bowling Night.

This is one I’ve been looking forward to. It doesn’t have the pain potential like skating night does, which is always a plus. Not to mention, I don’t have to listen to the A & B counselors butcher perfectly good songs. This is shaping up to be a good for Ol’ Tom.

But really, at CTT they are all good nights. I know I’m dreading Saturday, when we all go home and I think everyone else is as well. But today is a showcase of the Best of CTT, where kids will participate in a mash-up of the most fun activities we have had this summer and it should be a great day with a lot of variety. Tomorrow will be fun as well, but I can’t quite tell you what it is yet…

Regardless, we are having a great day here even though it is one of our last. We are trying to make it a memorable one, and with the people here there is no doubt in my mind it will be.

Good news everyone- I made it through skating night completely unharmed! No ice, no bruises, nothing! Most of the campers can say the same thing, not to mention the fact that we all had a blast last night when we trekked to the roller rink.

The DJ kept the vinyl spinning and the campers kept their wheels rolling all night. As usual the veteran campers proved themselves to be the best skaters. Stevie and Sam hardly hit the ground at all, the Schwartz brothers alternated between beating everyone at pool and impressing us with their roller skills and even Gerald showed some people up.

The young kids struggled a bit more, but they gave it a good try. With assistance from counselor Susan, the girls from cabin A stayed on the floor almost the entire night. I don’t think Kacey ever let go of Susan’s hand, but she was out there giving it everything she had. Some of the guys from the BV, like Mason, had a few hard falls but stayed up for most of the night.

All in all, skating night was a fun time for everyone. Most of us managed to stay upright for the majority of the night and we all had a great time grooving to the music.

With only a few more days left in the summer, we are all starting to prepare for those inevitable goodbyes. Despite this, there is still quite a lot of fun to be had in the summer. We still have the talent show, the banquet and I even hear rumblings about a bowling trip. So as is typical of the end of any session at CTT, we are all excited to get back and see our folks but dreading leaving High View. With so little time left, you can rest assured that those of us here at CTT will be living every minute to its fullest until we pack up and leave here Saturday.

If you’ll remember, last week I wrote about the battle between the various morning groups at CTT and their constant struggle to prove themselves the best. It all began with dippies, who are the crazies that jump into the pool first thing in the morning. They were then challenged by runnies, a group that likes to get up in the morning and go for a jog.

Despite the over-achievers’ persistence, the winning group with the most people has been and always will be sleepies, who are the folks who sleep through all the action and wait until the breakfast bell to begin the day.

I bring all this back to your attention because dippies scored a major advantage today over the other groups. While the runnies contingent was trotting and sleepies people were dozing, the dippers noticed a small ball of wet fur in the pool.

The ever-curious AM aquatic-lovers decided to investigate. They discovered a small chipmunk furiously trying to escape the pool, doggy paddling (chipmunky-paddling?) with all of his might to find an exit. The dippies crew saw that it would be near impossible for him to escape the chlorinated water, so they scooped him up, named him Bob, and returned him to his natural habitat.

Thanks to the kind hearts of the dippers, Bob the chipmunk can now live out the rest of his days in the area around the pool or anywhere else he decides to go at CTT (assuming he learns to avoid the pool itself).

Because of Bob’s misfortune, the dippies gang saved a life today. So they win the morning activities battle for Tuesday, at least.

Last night was Monte Carlo night, and the normal, everyday campers turned into George Clooney/Doyle Brunson-style gamblers for a night of gaming, betting, impromptu weddings and loud music. There were some blackjack tables, a poker table, a roulette wheel, a dice game and a few other things to occupy the boys and girls for the evening.

The boys who live in tents won the cabin competition, edging out cabin H by a mere two-dollar average. This was surely due to the fact the Schwartz brothers spent most of the night at the poker table and came away with a lot of big money. They proved themselves the best of the gamblers and took home the bragging rights.

I am preparing myself for pain tonight because we are jumping on the buses and going skating. The kids look forward to this night for the entire session even if my knees and elbows dread it. It will be a fun night though because the people at the rink always play some sweet music for us. The food is cheap, there is a pool table and not to mention we will be hanging out with all of our best friends.
Come to think of it, I’m looking forward to this evening too, despite the fact that I may have to spend the evening at Winchester Memorial…

Sunday’s evening activity may have been one of the more fun, interesting, original and outright disturbing things to ever take place at CTT. The event was known as Granny’s Candy, it was something completely new and unheard of at this camp and it produced some interesting characters.

The premise of the night was that the camp was split into groups and they had to find hidden counselors, who gave them balloons that represented candy. The idea of the night was to collect as many balloons as possible and the group with the most at the end of the night would be the winner.

It sounds simple enough, but there were a few orange, obnoxious wildcards. When the campers collected balloons and thought they were in the clear, it turns out that in reality they were far from safe. At any given time, a squad of oompa-loompas (Flip-Flop, Ethan and Collin) could jump out and pop their balloons! Evidently, the three guys got extremely into their roles (they were disturbingly good at hunting children and popping balloons) and had a lot of successful raids and the children and their ‘candy.’ Some of the smaller children were frightened at first, but then realized they had to fight to protect their prizes!

At the end of the day, the group led by Zach was able to corral and save the most balloons. They came out the winners and proved they were the most adept at avoiding the oompa-loompas.

Tonight is the ever-popular Monte Carlo Night! The campers will dress in their best and try to become true high rollers in a bevy of casino games. The cabin that gathers the most currency will be crowned the highest rollers at CTT! It should be a great night, and with skating tomorrow and some other big things in the works for the last week, summer is anything but over here at CTT…

Yesterday started out like any other Saturday at CTT- late wake-up, Sweet Saturday breakfast, a nice service planned by cabin H. Then there was a commotion from the back row of the congregation. Some pirates had shown up and were stealing benches!

The sea bandits continued to pilfer seats until almost everyone was standing. At that point their leader, Captain Submo Pete (Jason Gersh), explained that today was Pirate Day! This would be a day of fun games and pirate-themed activities where cheating, swindling and stealing were encouraged.The campers were split into four teams, assigned colors and the games began.

The first assignment for each team was to pick a team name and a captain. The captain could be mutinied against at meals and a new leader could be chosen from the other counselors on the team. The Red Hot Chili Pirates were led by Mighty Bill Young initially, then Flip-Flop (the counselor) took over. Rachel/Medusa was the captain for the Blue Kleptomaniacs and I was the captain for the White One-Eyed Buccaneers. The black team had a revolving stable of leaders, starting the day with Albert, then Nicole took over and they finished the day with Krista at the helm.

The first activity of the day was a treasure hunt. Each team was given clues as to where they could find the treasure and they went on their way to find stuff. But alas, treachery was afoot even in the opening event of Pirate Day.

The black team began searching for the treasure supposedly with the entire team trying to help. See, when a team found a clue they had to perfectly draw it, to the minor details, on a notepad. After the hunt was over the black team discovered that none of their drawings were correct! At a loss for an answer, they continued on to the next game, which was a piratey version of ‘Red Light, Green Light.’

The black team failed to capture the red team’s gold a single time during the game, setting them back. All morning it seemed as if they’d just had some bad luck. But at the lunch the cause for their ill fortunes was revealed.

When the teams adjourned to their cabins to change into their team colors, just minutes after the assignments were made, Nathaniel Schwartz pulled on some black clothes and began to do the activities with the black team. The problem was that Nathaniel had been assigned to the red team.

Acting as a spy he deliberately sabotaged the black team in the early events. It was one of the more daring movements of the day and put the red team in a good position early on.

In the afternoon, there was some pillaging of the empty cabin D, some water balloon launching and some life-sized Battleship using the racquetball court and water balloons. After the games, the teams headed down to the lake for a canoe relay, which the black team won by only sending four people by canoe as the rest of the team walked around the lake. A special mention should go to Bryan Kirks of the blue team, however, because he rowed everyone on his team to the destination by making several trips.

During the evening, there was a good ol’ fashioned pirate contest to determine the best marauder at CTT. The teams sent one representative each to be judged in different areas. The criteria took into account the best pirate lingo, best pirate dress, best pirate back story and many other piratey categories. There were a few stand-outs from this section of the evening. Stevie and James put on a very lively sword-fighting pirate dance, Gerald showed his skill in the belching competition and Simon proved that the White Bucs were actually behind a lot of the biggest events in history.

After the skits, songs, speeches and belching the Red Hot Chili Pirates were declared the winners. It was a long, fun day at camp and everyone had a great time being an outlaw of the high seas, if only for a few hours. The campers and counselors danced the night away at the pirate social and that was the end of the marauding bands at CTT.

Even though Pirate Day was awesome, there will be many more big things coming up here in the next week. There is Monte Carlo night, a trip to the skating rink and much, much more. It is definitely sad that summer is coming to an end, but I think we are all looking forward to all the big things we have left to do before we leave CTT.

Thursday was one of the biggest days of the session for all of us here at CTT. We broke a record, went to Cacapon and came up with some very interesting sand designs and castles.

During dinner Wednesday, Dean announced that he and a group of campers would be attempting to set a new CTT record at free swim the following day. He was gathering a group of campers, counselors, admins and anyone else to try and get as many water balloons in the air as possible. Dean and Krista began gathering and tying balloons during second period and had several buckets full when free swim came around. Cabin A & B contributed some to the cause, and Jesse Alloy donated dozens of balloons. There was a flurry of activity around cabin three and four as the participants filled and tied every balloon they could get their hands on.

Then it was time. Everyone from Kevin Trow, to A-Tom, to Gerald to Breanna and most of cabin A picked up handfuls of water balloons and waited for Dean’s count. On three, we all threw the balloons high into the air and watched them fall. In all, 207 balloons were in the air at the same time. Of course, they all smashed into the ground at the same time, soaking everyone in close proximity.
When it was over, Dean and his crew set a pretty high benchmark for future campers to meet. 207 water balloons is a whole lot, and getting them all in the air at the same time is a feat that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

In the afternoon, the crew headed off to our first trip of the session – to spend a big day at beautiful Cacapon. There was a lot of swimming and fun in the sun, and the whole day was capped off with some sand competitions.

In the sand castle building contest, Team Braveheart (led by Adam Fiergang) was crowned the winner for demonstrating their architectural prowess. In the cabin contest, cabins three and G came out on top, despite efforts by some (such as cabins one and five) to win by burying their counselors.

Tonight, the campers will have to trade in their swim trunks and sandy shoes for bad hair and cheesy suits because this is Game Show Night! The campers will participate in games based on several of our favorite game shows and it should be a fun night with some fun people.

It promises to be a good time, but I’ve come to realize something midway through third session. Every night is good night at CTT, whether you are at Cacapon, playing games, hanging with your cabin or skating – they are all special.

Sometimes, you just have to sit back and think what a great place this is to spend a summer.

Here at CTT, every Wednesday night is set aside for an evening of cabin bonding. Each cabin splits off from the rest of the camp and goes to a certain area of the camp for a night of activities, fun and friendship with the people we are closest with.

As I was in the gym playing dodgeball last night with cabin five, I heard some music coming from outside. I stepped out onto the gym mats to discover cabin B, who were making posters for their activity. That set off a chain of thoughts in my mind that made me realize the huge difference between cabin night activities on the girl’s side and the boy’s side.

I’ll start with the contrast between my evening with cabin five and what we saw of cabin B. The difference becomes apparent as soon as one walks into either area. One big contrast was the music, and each side tried to play theirs louder than the other. The boys were sweating profusely, dodging balls and beaming them at other kids. They were entranced with the battle/sport, and caught up in hard rocking tunes like “Freebird” and the entire AC/DC catalog. It was intense, manly, competitive and spirited.

Cabin B’s evening couldn’t have been more different. Compared to her brother Riley’s intense evening, Maddie St. Aubin (and the rest of her cabin) had a relatively stress-free night. The girls sprawled out on the gym mats, chatted lightly and made posters while listening to Miley Cyrus, Backstreet Boys, and any other bubblegum pop counselors Rachel and Kelly could find. They went back to their cabin relaxed and smiling, while cabin five went back with welts and bragging rights.

Regardless, I think both groups had a good time.

Every cabin on boy’s side played some kind of sport. The boys in the BV played basketball and hockey (and scored bunches of goals on Flip-Flop [the counselor] and CB). Cabin three went to riflery and played a game of shoot ‘em up poker, which is a game in which a deck of cards is taped to a piece of wood and players shoot the ones they want. Parker won with a full house.

Cabin four went to the upper fields and played Ultimate Frisbee. Ultimate Frisbee is such a staple around here it is hard to believe someone doesn’t know the rules, but camper Sam Greenberg had to learn them. He must have gotten the hang of it quickly because he made two fantastic diving catches during the game.

Boy’s tents did manly stuff as well. They went to the lake and went tubing before capping off the evening with a campfire.

Girl’s side cabin nights are much more chill. Cabin A went into the rec hall and played games all evening, cabin G went for a relaxing bike ride and cabin H spent the evening chilling and being creative in the art shack.

So you can see life on the boy’s side and the girl’s side differs greatly. From dodgeball and tubing to making posters and biking, each group at camp has some things they like to do that are completely different from the other side of camp.

All in all, cabin night is a great night of bonding that brings us closer to the people we live with, whether it be in a cabin or a tent. Last night was a good night for all of camp and we woke up looking forward to spending more time with our roomies.

All that being said, I still contend dodgeball is so much more fun than making posters…

Color War is this incredible phenomenon that is tough to put into words. The concept seems simple enough- the camp is split into two teams, blue vs. white. The two teams compete for two days in tests of athletic skill, artistic ability, general knowledge and overall spirit. But there is so much more to it than just a competition.

Anyone who has been at CTT for Color War knows this. They have competed on the fields, leaving their sweat and tears and everything in their body behind. They have screamed their heads off to the point that the day after the war ends camp is nearly silent. They could have been blue, or they could have been white, but they have definitely been through two extremely intense days that take everything CTT is about, cram it into a few hours and make hundreds of lasting memories.

In only my first year at CTT, I can tell you that Color War is my favorite thing we do here. Like the kids, all of the counselors put everything they have into it. It is such a powerful thing to be a part of, what with all the people screaming and shouting with everything they have for their team, I can’t imagine anything else like this anywhere else in the world.

I was lucky enough to be chosen as a general for the White Pegasus during the second session. To have all of these people stand behind and fight for a common goal, to whip people into frenzy with a few words, is something I’ve never experienced before. I want to try and bring you into the madness that is Color War from the vantage point of a general.

Three days before break-out…

I’m actually going to be a general. I knew I wanted to do this, but am I ready? I saw the pressure they were under first session. I’m scared. Mommy! Oh man, oh man, oh man…

Three minutes before break-out…

The blue generals, Flippy and Nicole, are here. Charlotte, my co-general for white is here. Evan Cook is here to help me break it on boy’s side. What if I slip? What if the kids don’t care? Oh man, oh man, oh man…

During the first team meeting…

I love this stuff! The kids are so into it! My voice hurts already, but I don’t care. Go white! W-H-I-T-E! Enrique the Super Spaniard is on my team! E-N-R-I-Q-U-E!

Hours later, thoughts from the Apache Relay…

Bummer. Jesse Alloy (blue) scored a bull’s eye rather quickly. Big lead for the bad guys.

Enrique just knocked the paint off of that golf ball. I’m legitimately worried about that ball circling the world and hitting me in the back of the head.

Alvaro just kicked five straight field goals. Easily. Why didn’t I know this during flag football? He would do this for the blue team.

White just made up a chunk of time! Look at Casey Dennison go on that canoe!

Sydney Sachs is a great hopper. She just hopped from the pavilion to the baseball field in like three seconds. Can she hop faster than I run?

Ethan Ebinger just rang the bell. Bluteus Maxximus wins the relay. But my guys aren’t quitting. They are running just like it was neck and neck. I love this team. Go white team go!

Heading into the final day…

I know we are behind, but we have some good things coming up. Erin, Camille and Emily have created a beautiful plaque, Ethan and Olivia have a solid speech and the skit and song are good too. We are still in this. Now we have to win some sports.

Two hours later…

Schnikies. We lost every sport but one. Do we still have a shot?

Heading into the final hour, where the plaques, skits, speeches and songs are presented and the winner is announced…

The judges say we are still in contention. The team believes we are still in. They are chanting, screaming, holding nothing back. These kids want to win. The colonels, Susan and Bill and Eva, are leading cheers and screaming their heads off because my voice is shot (and I’m jittery thanks to a mass consumption of NOS energy drinks). We are behind, no doubt about it. But we are here, united, a team in the truest sense and we are one hour from pulling this thing out. I’m on empty, but if these people have an hour left for me than I have one left for them!

“Go white team, go white team go!”

After the presentations, before the winner is announced. There were twenty minutes when the judges were deliberating and all we were running on was nerves…

These people are still chanting! I tried to talk to someone in a regular voice just now, and all that came out was a gurgle. The only way I can communicate verbally is with a raspy yell. All of these kids and all of these colonels are in the same boat and we are all here giving what little bit we have left. Everyone is drenched in sweat, covered in dirt and staving off exhaustion. It’s almost over…

The judges enter…

Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man.

After the winner is announced…

Well, we lost. Blue team is celebrating, and their generals, colonels and campers did a fantastic job and deserve it. Regardless, I’m proud to be here. I’m proud to be on the White Pegasus team. I want to cheer with this team; with everything I have, one more time regardless of the fact that I basically am without a voice right now.

Color War is an incredibly taxing way to end a session, but there is nothing else in the world I’d rather do. The competition is so fierce it is tough to believe that we all go to the same camp, but when it is over it is almost immediately forgotten and we all become one family again. It makes our relationships with each other stronger and teaches us how to be fiercely competitive but always respect our opponents. It displays our artistic ability, our spirit and it shows that we all have what it takes to buy into a cause with the tenacity to put everything we have into it.

It sums up what CTT is in a furious two-day marathon. It is the perfect culmination of a great summer, and I think everyone- whether they are blue, white, camper, counselor, admin or judge- looks forward to it for that reason. It is CTT, and we love it for that.

And hey, second sesh white team- we’ll get ‘em next year.

Here at CTT there is a certain sect of campers and counselors who I consider clinically insane. A lot of people agree with me about this group of crazies, and I think you will too when I tell you what they are in to.

These campers, led by Trow and CB, get up when the bell rings and sprint to the pool. Then, despite the chilly temperatures the West Virginia morning brings, they jump into the already-freezing swimming pool. This act of madness is known as dippies, and there is a strong following. Today, even Glenn and Emma joined in the ludicrous exercise.

For the entire summer, dippies has been the chief physical activity for campers in the morning. It stood unchallenged and confident, knowing there wouldn’t be anything to contend with their nonsense. It looked as if dippies was your thing if you wanted to be active in the morning.

Until today, anyway. In an act even more absurd than jumping in the pool in the early hours of the day, Krista and Staci have formed a group to participate in something known as runnies. This bunch of wackos woke up early and went running. They took Gerald and Simon along and plan to make this an every day thing!

I feel both of these groups are crazy. I am a staunch proponent of the only group that makes sense – sleepies. We basically lay in bed, like normal people do, until breakfast. But hey, it is their call. I just know that sleepies has the biggest contingency of campers and therefore is the best.

After dippies/runnies/sleepies, a lot of neat things happen around camp. For example the boys in the BV all learned how to shoot a bow and arrow yesterday. Mary started the day not knowing how to cast a fishing pole, and ended the day by not only catching her first lifetime fish, but hauled in a second one as well.

But not everything that can be accomplished at CTT can be done on the athletic fields. For some reason, a group of counselors take a lot of pride in what they do in the dining hall. A while ago, Jason Gersh was hungry and ate six chicken patties for dinner, setting a new camp record and something chicken sandwich enthusiasts could shoot for in the future.

One of the enthusiasts, Flip-Flop (the counselor), sat at the table (wearing flip-flops, the shoes) yesterday with nothing but a pile of chicken patties and a dream. He started wolfing down patties when dinner started and didn’t stop until dinner was well over. He didn’t have much fanfare, but Jason and I stuck around to see him attempt the record.

And I’m glad I did. Flippy chomped down seven patties to claim the new record. Jason had to announce the record today at breakfast, and now the whole camp is aware of Flip’s new record of gluttony.

And those are the big headlines from the first day of the third session. A new group of morning crazies, a rookie fisherman turned into a master angler and a counselor proved himself a chicken patty hog. With all of this going on during only the first real day of the session, who knows what else the next two weeks could have in store?

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Things got really hectic, as they always do, towards the end of second session and I have been on the go since the last post.

The big thing that kept me on the run, which is the same reason I now sound like Charlie Sheen, was Color War. This time around the White Pegasus, led by Charlotte and I, took on Flip-Flop (the counselor, who encouraged his team to avoid flip-flop, the shoe) and Nicole’s Bluteus Maxximus. After days of screaming, intense competition and shows of sportsmanship by both teams the blue team came out on top. There are so many things to talk about regarding the culmination of the biggest two days in camp that I don’t feel writing an abbreviated version does it justice. So for all you second session people who may still be tracking the blog, I will be posting a Color War blog in the next few days so please check it out when I get the chance to write it.

The day after Color War is a generally sad day around CTT. You know it marks the end of the session and it is almost time to hop on that bus and head back to real life. It was sad seeing so many people we’ve come to know so well leave for the final time. I watched the Dennison triplets board a bus and knew I would have to wait for almost another year to start another water balloon battle. I saw Evan and Joel Cook ride away and knew it would be a terribly long wait until we got to play ‘Find the Cooks’ again. Seeing someone like Hayley Sanders, who started out being terribly homesick early in the first session before becoming a great camper who always wears a big smile, leave us until next June can be an emotional moment.

And the campers felt it, too. There was no shortage of sad glances as they left this place, but you could tell they were eager to get home and see their families and outside friends as well. But watching these people leave after having such a great time, some with tears streaking down their faces, makes everyone proud to be a part of it. It just wouldn’t be the same if we weren’t sad when it was over. We all learn so much here and have such a good time that you have to hate to see it end. This place becomes a part of us even though we are only here for three short weeks. Of the 365 days in a year, we all look ahead to the 20-some odd days we spend here and regard them as some of the best times of the year.

Trust me, you can’t find that just anywhere.

But, in typical CTT fashion, you can’t mope for too long because there are more good times to be had and even more memories to be made. Almost as soon as the dust from the bus tires settled down on Saturday, a long line of cars carrying third session campers began trickling their way into camp. New faces and names like Bryan Kirks and Aaron Walsh showed up, not to mention a whole new slew of cute kids in the BV and cabin A. Some people, like Collin, came back and some people (such as Ethan Polk-Trauman and Vito Parr) never left.

The third session is an all new kind of animal, ripe with fast paced activities and people trying to pack the CTT experience into two weeks where it normally takes three. There are some great activities planned, a decent trips and a LOT of good people. And as I always say, the people make this place special. And I for one can’t wait to jump into the swing of third session and have more laughs with the people I know.

Last night the campers and counselors of CTT herded into the rec hall to take in the camp play Happily Never After, which was directed by Aram and starred Rachel Beiser, Collin and many other talented young thespians that roam around camp.

After the play, there was an improv show that featured 23 of our favorite funny people, including Jakeable, Miller, Theresa Brecker and many others. The whole camp laughed at the troupe’s antics, when they finished everyone was ready to head off to bed and get a good night’s sleep. But since we are here at camp and every plan is prone to quick and immediate changes, the camper’s anticipated sleeping had to be put off because dozens of white sheet clad ghosts came flying into the room and herded everyone up the hill. It was time for GHOST COURT!

Judge Bean presided over the hearings and almost every kid at CTT was handed down a judgment. One of the first groups to get hit were the boys from the Buffalo Village.

The BV guys have had a few problems with each other so far this session. There hasn’t been anything serious but there is definitely a lot of bickering back and forth. Judge Bean decided to do something about it. For all of their fighting, they now have to gather as a group outside of the mess hall before meals, gather in a group hug and sing the ‘Friends’ song. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to seeing that today at lunch.

It is widely talked about among the counselors at CTT that counselors Susan and Breanna got very luck with their cabin assignment. Cabin B is seemingly the perfect cabin. The only challenge with the cabin is learning to tell the Dennison triplets apart (a task that I sometimes struggle with). Well today, that task just got a lot tougher.

Athena Lewis is another great kid who resides in cabin B. She spends a lot of time with the Dennisons, so today she became one. She has been sentenced to dress like the Dennison trio and act like them all day. So cabin B really got hammered – a great kid has to act like three other great kids.

But the action doesn’t stop there for cabin B. In what should be one of the more interesting punishments to watch, the tent boys were convicted of trying too hard with the ladies. Because of their constant swooning, they now have to ask a girl from cabin A or B to a lunch date and act like perfect gentlemen. I can’t wait to see Enrique the Super Spaniard on a date with little Sydney Sachs…

There were many more judgments passed out, but I don’t have time to write about them all. Ask your kids if they were singled out by the Ghost Court and Judge Bean. It’s all in good fun, and I’ll bet their punishment was fun to carry out. GC is something all the campers and counselors look forward to, and last night’s didn’t disappoint.

It is one of the big things that happen towards the end of every session, but not the biggest. You all know what it is and I can tell you that the generals have been picked, the teams have been made and the activities are planned. All we have to do is get lucky enough to avoid the rain, and we will be in business…

Imagine a world where everything is based on candy. In some places, chocolate flows from fountains and free morsels are given away at every turn. In other areas, free Twizzlers are handed to anyone who desires them and giant candy bars walk around hugging people. The only thing missing are tiny orange men who sing ominous songs. I have dreamed of such a paradise, and yesterday the CTT crew found it.

We boarded the buses early and took off for Hersheypark in Hershey, Pa. We all received our first free candy, a pack of multi-colored Twizzlers, before we got into the park. The children excitedly looked around at each other as if they couldn’t believe their luck. Several children got in line for more freebies, and several counselors quietly groaned because with all of these free sweets the kids were bound to be extremely wound up the entire day.

The children all split up with their assigned groups and went to enjoy their day at the park. Some groups, like the one that was with Adam Gersh, made a direct line for the biggest and most dangerous looking roller coasters. Other groups, like David Cohen and his crew, stopped to buy candy as soon as they walked into Hersheypark. I know this because of the white goo in my backpack right now.

See, Paul Holtz decided he wanted to spend a few dollars on a giant Cookies ‘n’ Cream bar. Since the bar was roughly the size of Paul, of course he couldn’t finish it. I tried to be a good samaritan and hold on to it for him. Then I forgot about it, and of course it melted all over everything in my bag. But it wasn’t all bad- his melted white chocolate oozed all over my wild berry Twizzlers. It sounds gross, but in reality Hershey should really think of adding white chocolate-covered wild berry Twizzlers to their product line. Paul and I would be happy to split any royalties.

Taylor Dennison has had a few big days. At Hershey, she rode this monstrous, intimidating and scary-looking orange contraption known as Fahrenheit for the first time ever. She remarked that is was like her against gravity due to a near vertical drop. Today, she joined an archery class and scored her first lifetime bullseye within 20 minutes. This girl is on a roll, and I’m glad she is on white team for Color War because with momentum like this it would be tough to beat her!

Her sister Reese bought a Reese’s pillow. It must be really cool to have your name on a delicious candy and be able to buy cool things with your name on it.

One of my favorite things about amusement parks is the chance (no matter how small) to win a giant, ostentatious prize. Last session the CTT bunch made off with some giant monkeys and teddy bears from King’s Dominion, but this time the prize was less conventional. After passing a stand and seeing his ideal prize, Joel Cook became determined to become the proud owner of a five foot long banana.

After spend eight dollars, Joel just wasn’t lucky enough to throw a softball into a milk can. But one kind player was skilled enough to win one. He asked Joel what he wanted, and gave Joel his giant anthropomorphic stuffed fruit. Thanks to the kindness of a stranger, Joel Cook is now the proud owner of a giant banana.

Overall, it was another big day for the second session CTT bunch. As we boarded the buses to go home there was a neat mix of sadness because the day was over and joy to be back on an air-conditioned bus en route to a bed. That is one of the neat things about being here – you never want the days to end, but you still can’t wait for tomorrow.

The sky turned darker and darker, thunder rolled in the distance and a hundred or so people craned their eyes to the sky- all of them hopeful the storm would go away. After a day of fun in the sun, Beach Day was cruising along perfectly and just as the teams were setting up for the grand finale, the Samoan Relay, the menacing clouds and ominous rumbling prevailed and a quick, furious rain shower drenched everything at CTT.

The campers high-tailed it to the gym and we all scrambled to think of activities to replace the relay. It may seem that with a theme such as Beach Day the day was ruined. But remember- this is CTT. Even when it rains, we can have a good time.

The day began under a sunny sky. Four teams were chosen, each with CITs serving as captains. The Red King Crabs were led by Enrique the Super Spaniard and Kenna Hinton, the Green Sea Turtles had the pleasure of having Ethan Ebinger and Molly Shay running the show, Erin U. and Collin were at the helm for the Orange and Yellow Sunny D and the Blue Crabs dutifully followed Dana Marks and A.J. The teams decked out in their colors, swimsuits and carried beach towels to a day of activities that included boat building, Frisbee and crab soccer.

The boat-building contest was a fun one to watch. The team was given an assortment of random objects to build a boat with. The only requirement was that it had to carry half of cinderblock.

All the teams worked diligently on their boats for the time they were allowed. Despite the hard work, some just worked better than others.

For example, the red team’s design floated, but not upright. As soon as Enrique put it in the water, it tipped to the side and stayed there.

The yellow team’s design didn’t do much better. It began taking on water as soon as Conti put it on the lake. It didn’t take long for it to become completely submerged.

The blue and green team put forth the best concepts. The Sea Turtles put the brick in a bucket and sealed it. They then tied the bucket to the back of another vessel they made out of a crate and they both stayed afloat for a good while. Even with a good idea such as this, they still couldn’t quite top the blue team.

The Blue Crabs utilized empty soda cans and made pontoons out of them. Their star-shaped vessel easily supported the block and almost took on no water. They won the competition by half a point over the Turtles, and after a winner was decided the distant thunder became a giant obstacle in our plans.

As I mentioned, the rain certainly fell. Although everyone was looking forward to the canceled Samoan Relay, a few games of step tag in the gym had everyone right back in the spirit. After the Sea Turtles won, the teams split up and two of them headed to the rec hall for some games with Dean and Adam. The other two stuck around in the gym for that old rainy day standby- dodgeball.

After the dodging, ducking, dipping, diving and dodging, it was time for the Luau social. We set up speakers and blasted Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Hootie and the Blowfish (yeah, for the first time ever I got to pick a song) and many more of the camper’s favorite tunes. Katie was good enough to set up the stage lights to create a club atmosphere and we all danced the night away.

So, despite the rain Saturday turned into a great day at CTT. We missed out on the relay race, but Mike says that last night’s social is one of the best he has ever been to. Today is a normal day, but tomorrow is one everyone here is waiting for. Tomorrow we board the buses and head north to Hershey Park for a day of roller coasters and water slides.

But Hershey isn’t the biggest thing looming in the horizon. I don’t want to give it away, but I will give you a clue as to what the biggest event of the year is- Let’s go WHITE!

As the third and final week of session two looms ahead of us, I thought it would be neat to look back at the first two weeks and talk about some of the highlights that haven’t made it into the daily blog. They certainly deserved to be in the blog and receive recognition, but if every feat was covered I would be posting a novel every day and I’m sure you would all get fired because you would have to spend all day reading this instead of working.

So in order to give these campers their proper recognition and bragging rights (as well as making sure you all keep your jobs), we will have a little catch-up session.

First off, I’d like to address the lack of coverage of the flag football league. It is my fault. My Red Bulls have had a rough session and it conjures bad memories to talk about it. But, since we got our first win the other day over the Orange Crush I feel it is time to talk about the play of the year so far.

J-Man was at center for the Crush in the aforementioned game against the Bulls. In our league the center isn’t allowed to go out for passes, which makes this play all the more spectacular.

On fourth down, the Crush quarterback dropped back and tried to find a receiver over the middle. Bulls defensive back Evan Cook drew a bead on it and attempted to knock the pass down. He made solid contact and sent the ball back in the quarterback’s direction. The batted ball popped high into the air and right into the arms of an unsuspecting J-Man.

Since a defensive player smacked the ball into his hands the center was allowed to run with it. He took off around the left end and made a line for the first down cone. Several Bulls stood in the 15-yard stretch to the cone, but J-Man wove, ducked, dodged, juked and powered his way past the cone for the first down. It was without question the best play of the season so far.

A certain sect of campers and counselors are extremely dedicated to a special type of madness known as Dippies. This is a group of people who jump out of bed as soon as the 8 a.m. bell rings and sprint to the pool for an early morning swim. There are certain people who do it everyday, but they always seem to be lobbying for more females to join them.

Well, today they got them. In what was probably the highest turnout of females at Dippies in a long time, the entire population of cabin G reported to the pool this morning. This was a big deal for the usual Dippers, but the girls said this was a one-time thing (much to the disappointment of Chris Brown and Trow).

And a few more highlights, although briefly-

– Stephanie and Masha climbed the wall for the first time this week. Word has it they were scared senseless and Steph screamed most of the way up, but they did it.

– Javier swam the length of the entire pool under water without stopping to take a breath.

– Dozens have people have caught and named fish, the last being Miguel who christened his new friend as Jack.

– Counselor Noah caught a sock. At the lake. With a fishing pole.

– A-Tom invented a game. And won the game.

And finally-

-Enrique the Super Spaniard did something incredibly athletic.

The problem with choosing what to include in the blog is tricky. Everyday, all of these kids are doing great things and having the time of their lives. With over 100 campers, I do the best I can to give you just an inkling of what they all experience when they come here. Even if I don’t mention everyone by name, just know that when I speak about this camp being a home for all of us and the people being our CTT family I am talking about them as well.

With this phenomenon known as Color War looming on the horizon as well as a trip to Hershey Park, there are tons more memories to be made. Hopefully, I can do this place justice and give you a glimpse of the amazing place CTT is, and help you get to know the even more amazing people that inhabit this place.

Normally at CTT, we recognize the sound of a bell as notice that we need to wake-up, go to meals and switch activities. It is one of the constants in our lives that help can help us organize our schedule. Last night, at Carnival Night, the ringing bell meant something completely different.

At Carnival Night, the bell meant someone had just accomplished an incredible feat of strength. It meant that someone had just taken the giant rubber mallet (which was a little bit bigger than the girls of cabin B) and smashed the impact pad hard enough to send the, um, thingamajig high enough to hit the bell. A few of the senior campers such as Enrique, Tim and Javier were able to do it but a lot of the juniors struggled with it. That’s okay though, because despite numerous efforts admin Karina couldn’t make it happen either.

There were other activities at the carnival as well. There were juggling lessons, a dart game, face painting, a moon bounce and arm wrestling. All of the activities kept long lines until the end of the evening. But one line, arm wrestling, seemed to be incredibly grueling.

Conti and I were the counselors who wrestled the kids. When a kid won, we gave them a piece of candy. Well, after we met the likes of Noah Hayes, Casey Dennison, Stephanie and Olivia Seltzer all we had left was an empty box that could have been filled with what was left of our shattered confidence.

Before the carnival, there were some amazing things done elsewhere in camp. Conti announced at dinner that Sydney Sachs dunked a basketball without any help at all. This seemed a little suspicious, seeing as Sydney is seven years old and stands well under five feet tall. It was revealed later that the rim was only five feet off the ground, but regardless dunking the ball is still pretty cool. In the same period, J-Man saw his basketball fly over the wall during a game of Knockout. Instead of finding another ball, he took off and leapt over the wall headfirst in true Superman fashion.

Paul Holtz continued the pattern of gluttony at dinner last night when he successfully tackled a six-layer peanut butter sandwich.

And finally, in the vaunted tradition of the Choomster and the Loomster, CTT has new contest to determine who has the biggest of a certain object. Yesterday at dinner it was announced the Joel Cook is the first possessor of the Bruister, which is the biggest bruise in camp. No one is really sure how he got the massive bruise but it has earned him this distinct recognition and the envy of people who bruise easily. Despite the honor, we hope no one will be able to challenge him.

Today, the young campers will be heading out to Cacupon and the veterans will be going white water rafting. It should be a fun day for everyone will all of our best friends, and hopefully we will get into some good stuff so I can tell you about it tomorrow…

Do you remember the old opening credits for ABC’s Wide World of Sports? That old “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” spiel that had an endless reel of athletes behind it?

Well, last night it looked as if all of the athletes in the reel had called all of their jock friends and went roller-skating. It was skating night for the CTT bunch and our theme was sports, so everyone pulled on the jersey of their favorite player and donned the logos of the teams they support. There were Redskins fans, Yankee fans, LeBron James fans and even a Seattle Seahawks fan (namely, Emma – she sported a nice Shaun Alexander throwback jersey).

Skating night is always a big one at CTT. The veteran campers generally zoom around like professionals while the younger ones try to keep up. That is usually a sure-fire way to tell how long someone has been at camp, but last night there was an exception named Enrique.

Enrique comes to us from Spain and has been nicknamed the ‘Super Spaniard.’ He claims to be 16 years old, but due to his hulking size and staggering athletic ability I have a suspicion he might be somewhere closer to 26. He makes most of the counselors look small and generally dominates at any sport, regardless of whether or not he has ever played it before. For example – in one of his first golf lessons, he was able to chip the ball out of the sand and into a bucket. He was the first of the session and achieved the feat before the instructor, Ethan, could do so.

So no one was surprised when he, on his first trip to the skating rink, threw on some quad skates and was quickly doing tricks. He fell a few times, but from what I understand no one could believe this was his first time. I couldn’t help but be impressed with his quick mastering of the activity, even if I do believe he is pushing 30 years of age.

Also at the rink, Spanky challenged Dana Marks to a game of pool. Apparently, Dana is a pool hustler in her spare time because she destroyed him.

CTT offers dozens of different activities for the campers to participate in. There are normal sports, water sports, extreme sports, wilderness activities and much, much more. Despite all of this, we found out this morning that a new activity could be added to the list soon – agriculture.

Or gardening at least. For the entire summer, we have been tracking the CTT tomato plants growing outside the dining hall. We had almost given up hope, but then Emma stood at breakfast today and announced that she was holding the first ever “CTT toe-maht-toe.” With the help of a British-to-American translator, it was revealed that she was holding the first ever CTT tomato. Adam Gersh sang “You say tomato, I say toe-maht-toe” as the rest of us pondered a possible agricultural boom here at camp.

Regardless of whether or not that idea gets off the ground, the fact that we have successfully harvested a tomato is pretty cool. Hopefully there will be more to come. Maybe we could add eating our home-grown tomatoes to the long list of things we will take away and cherish from our time at CTT.

There wasn’t a muggle in sight last night at CTT. This was due to the fact, for one night at least, we were transformed into magical, spell casting, quidditch-playing beings who participated in wizarding activities during Harry Potter Night.

All of the campers and counselors were sorted out into the four houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They were then sent off to different games and competitions that would determine the house winner for the night. There was quidditch in the gym, wizard dueling in the rec hall, Harry Potter trivia at the pavilion and finally, to end the day there was a relay race (which didn’t actually have much of a wizarding theme at all, but seemed like it would be fun).

The most physical of the contests was quidditch. There were hoops attached to various high places around the gym and the goal was to throw various yellow balls through the hoop. A counselor guarded each hoop and the trick was to time your throw so the counselor couldn’t smack it down. Ethan Ebinger seemed to master this, because I know he scored around a dozen times in my hoop.

The knowledge these kids have of the world of Harry Potter is staggering. With almost no counselor help, the campers from each house were able to answer each of Aram’s questions. Aram, who is a hardcore Potter fan himself, had to give it up to the kids- they knew their stuff. They named each of the unforgivable curses, all of the Weasley brothers, the name of Hermione’s cat, knew the make of the flying car and tons of other minor details in the stories. I could only imagine if they were able to focus this same energy on clean-up time…

In the end, the house of Ravenclaw was named the winner. Even though they were battling the rain, all the houses brought a competitive spirit and showed excellent sportsmanship. It was a big night, but two campers deserve special mention for their devotion to the Potter world. Hayley Sanders and Collin dressed in their wizarding attire. Hayley was a convincing Hermione Granger while Collin, despite having Weasley-esque locks of red hair, donned a fake beard and came as Albus Dumbledore.

This morning, the Froot-Loop face-stuffing competition continued when Reece Dennison set the girl’s record at 40 pieces of cereal. I don’t have the official books in front of me, but I do believe that’s a new high for campers.

The forecast for tonight is pain. Well, for some of us. It is skating night. Those of you who read every day know that I almost sustained some serious injuries in our last go-round at the rink, so I’ll be wearing plenty of padding. It never ceases to amaze me how skilled the campers are. They just show up, put on some skates and zoom around effortlessly the entire night. Others, aka the counselors, usually show up and promptly crash. Several times. Hard.

So, those are the plans for today; pain for counselors, fun for campers and most importantly- cheap food and drink at the roller rink. I’ll be back tomorrow to let you know how it went, even if I’m blogging while buried in ice.

Last night, campers at CTT got the chance to live rough and show how handy they can be in the outdoors. After a night of sleeping under the stars and making our own fires and food, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Discovery Channel cameramen show up for our next adventure.

When the bell rang after second free swim, each cabin came to the pavilion and picked up tarps to sleep on and a crate of food. Then they spread out to all corners of the camp to begin a night of cabin togetherness, story telling and most importantly – roasted marshmallows. Everyone seems a little sleep-deprived, but we all learned a lot in regards to making fires (including how long a process it can be) and attempting to sleep comfortably with no shelter.

One camper, Dana Marks, decided that the fire was more important than the sleeping part. She built the fire for the girls’ tent group and was so proud of her handy work that she kept that same fire burning for 14 hours. Krista, the counselor for the group, remarked that Dana was up with the fire when they went to sleep and was still dancing around the flames when they woke up this morning.

The boys’ tent group decided to do a little something different with their fire. Using the water they were provided at the beginning of the evening, they brewed several different types of herbal teas. I’m not sure where they came across the stuff, but they listed a ton of ingredients. It sounds like a really relaxing way to spend an evening and I’m jealous.

A few days ago, I remarked at Jakeabel’s feat of being able to stuff 15 Froot-Loops in his mouth. That was his personal record, but today at breakfast cabin three decided to challenge him.

Eric Siegle first broke Jake’s record by shoving 24 pieces of cereal in his mouth. Not to be outdone, his counselor Albert blew everyone’s mind by stuffing his face with 50 loops, chewing and swallowing them all with any beverage.

This was only the second most astonishing feat of the day though. During lunch, Noah Hayes made and ate a six-layer peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For such a small guy, Noah took down the six-tiered monster in a short amount of time. It was truly a spectacle to witness.

That just about does it for all the breaking stories from CTT for today. Tonight, we will follow up Survivor Night with Harry Potter Night. I can’t wait to see what activities the planners have in store for us. Maybe some spell casting? Possibly some quidditch? Is there a sorting hat involved?

We are all waiting in anticipation of what should be another in a long string of memorable evenings at CTT.

Boy, a lot has happened since the last time I was able to post. We went to a baseball game, survived a rainy day, visited the wild west and witnessed an epic 20 minute dance-off between Ziggy and Chris Brown. With all of that action you can understand why I haven’t been able to post.

I have said before that the people at Camp Tall Timbers are what makes this place so special. A  perfect example of this was what went down on Friday.

We woke up and it was extremely warm. The heat before breakfast had most of us sweating profusely and preparing for a real scorcher. So imagine our surprise when we left breakfast under dark, threatening clouds. It seemed rain was imminent, and halfway through first period the skies opened.

After some scrambling by the admins and counselors, a plan was formulated. The younger kids went into the rec hall for a Chinese auction while the older campers had an egg drop in the gym.

I stuck with the young ones, and the Chinese auction was a blast. The judges, Karina and Jacqui, gave us 10 minutes to gather a pillow case full of random objects. Then, when the competition started, teams had three minutes to build a certain object out of what was in the pillow case. Campers built a wide array of objects and it was enjoyable to watch. We got to see Noah Hayes dress as a caterpillar and do the Worm, a picture frame with a moving picture of cabin three and cabin A rock out as a four-piece band when they were assigned to build a guitar. In the end, cabin three took the win but it was a blast all around.

In the afternoon, we had a camp-wide display of true skill and virtuosity in a talent show. Cabin one performed a poem in, as counselor Aram introduced it, the same vein as Allen Ginsberg and the beats. Cabin B showed us that they are good at many sports, but Taylor Dennison is the only one who can kick a soccer ball. The girl’s tents demonstrated a zeal for corny jokes and both the Spanish and French campers sang ‘Happy Birthday’ in their native tongue to Trow (who turned 19 and revealed that he is actually an egg throwing robot). There were many other talents and it was certainly a very fun afternoon.

As I said before, to have a good day when it rains is something that makes CTT special. It proves that all we really need to have a good time are the people around us- our CTT family.

Yesterday, we all jumped into a DeLorean and visited the 1870’s during Wild West Day. The day included events at riflery, archery; an Alka-Seltzer quick draw competition and a pie eating contest. When the day was done, the team known as the Northern Riders came away with the win. It was a fantastically planned day that everyone involved is raving over.

Luckily, our flux capacitor didn’t malfunction and today we are back in modern times. To celebrate, Jakeabel set a new personal record at breakfast by stuffing 15 Fruit Loops in his mouth.

Tonight, we will venture out with our cabins to different areas around camp and sleep under the stars. It should be a great night of bonding for campers and counselors alike. Hopefully it stays dry outside (knocking on wood at this very moment), but if it doesn’t I know we can still have a good time.

Whether we are in the cabins, in the woods, in the gym or rec hall during rainy days,incredibly hot ones and even if we get a rare July blizzard, all we need are the people. This camp is built, functions and revolves around the people that are here. It is a blast, and I am proud to be a part of it.

The chant bellowed through the dining hall as a few campers and counselors made their way to the head of the room carrying exceptionally large potato chips. Each of them looked eager to match their formidable crisp with the next and every one of them hoped to possess the largest chip of the day- or as we know it at CTT, the coveted Choomster. The search for the Choomster is one of our neatest little quirks. Both the boy’s and girl’s sides take great pride in bringing home the Choomster.
Yesterday the boy’s side took home the glory thanks to Jason Gersh’s baseball sized snack. He devoured it as the boy’s side followed up the “Choomster” cheer with chants of “Eat it!”

Outside camp, such a tradition might look a little crazy. But here at CTT such behavior is all in fun, commonplace and encouraged. The search for the Choomster is just one of the really neat things that make any amount of time at CTT special.

In another arena of crazy competitions, the boys down in the Buffalo Village and the girls of cabins A & B continued their rivalry during cabin night. Originally, the two groups were separated. A & B set up for a relaxing spa night on the wrestling mats outside the gym and were content to paint their nails and be girly until bedtime.

The BV had other plans. They were in the gym playing some incredibly intense games of dodgeball. The boys could hear the girl’s music outside and after some convincing and goading, A & B sent counselor Eva inside to challenge the boys to a few games. The action was just as heated as the water balloon fight the day before, but there was definitely a clear cut winner. The BV beat A & B seven straight times. But A & B won’t back down, so they challenged the boys to yet another water battle during second free swim. The boys answered the challenge with the help of Dean, who helped them freeze and kidnap counselor Kelly. The rivalry between the youngest kids in camp is in full swing and it may be the most exciting thing going on in camp. Details from the water battle will be posted soon…

Elsewhere, campers have been teaching the counselors a thing or two. On the basketball court, Alvaro defeated Adam Gersh in a game of one-on-one. At the archery range, Casey Dennison beat the archery counselor (who happened to be me) in a game of Knock-out. During the game, Casey hit her first bull’s eye. It was a big day for Casey at the range and one she will hopefully remember for a long time.

Yesterday marked the first ever Annual Mike Conti Gold Bag Walk. During second free swim Conti, CB and some counselors walked to the soccer fields and back. No one is sure why it was momentous or what charity it supported, but we do know they were very enthusiastic and that has to count for something.

During the same period, the Cook brothers, Evan and Joel, donned their camouflage suits and hid from a search party. After not being found at all last year, both Cooks were discovered in less than a minute. I’m not sure whether the Cooks were taking it easy on the rest of us or the search party’s finding skills have greatly improved, but we will all eagerly await the next time the Cooks try to escape the rest of the camp.

Tonight, we will be jumping on the buses and going to see the Winchester Royals in action. This is one of the activities everyone in camp looks forward to and it should prove to be a good time. What could be better than a baseball game with all of our friends and CTT family?