Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,
Happy New Year, y’all! We hope it is off to a fantastic start, and brings you all much happiness and success!!
There are certain expressions that parents tell their kids that we all tend to pass down from generation to generation. I’m talking about things like how important it is to eat your vegetables, dress for the weather, how to treat others as we would want to be treated, all that jazz. When I was a kid, I’d say I paid attention to approximately 0% of that stuff coming from my parents. Now that I have kids of my own, however, this all takes on much more urgency, and naturally, it is ALL true and vital to successful growing up for my own kids. So, campers, as your camp director, let me share with you the really vital ones. Ready?
Here’s one that is indisputable, regardless of the physics. The older you get, the faster time goes. Want proof? Okay…it’s already 2011!! You can’t need more proof than that! It was waaaay less than a year ago that it became 2010, so something’s up. I think this phenomenon is directly related to the fact that pro athletes now look to me like they’re young enough to be in middle school. I remember when I was a kid, the guys playing high school baseball and football looked SO OLD! Some of them had moustaches! Now I watch the NFL and MLB and NHL, and it looks like some of those guys could be campers at camp. It’s freaky. This one is totally true, so when your parents tell you that the years only go by faster and faster, you ought to believe them. And then you should eat all your dinner…including the veggies.
December was a snowy one at camp. Our phenomenal caretaker GREG FUS has sent us some photos to help us see how beautiful it is up there this time of year. The highs have been hovering in the teens, so it sure likes nice in the pictures, but I think we’ll stick around Tucson. Actually, that hasn’t really happened that much. We had some fantastic reunions last month in Houston and Nashville, and we thank the Bronstons in Houston and the Jacobs’ in Nashville for their hospitality. I’d have said “warm hospitality”, and it was, but as usual, I brought some wintery weather into Nashville, including several inches of snow on the day of the reunion. Very unusual down there, and also very pretty. We have some fun reunions coming up this month in Dallas and Milwaukee…..I can’t wait!
It was a busy December, and we’re planning on an even busier January. We’re right on target to exceed last summer’s overall enrollment, and we’re really pleased with how many first-year kids are joining us so far. Welcome aboard to the following “Old-Timers” who re-enrolled last month: ETHAN GLASBERG of Glencoe, IL; ARI MAZZA of Highland Park, IL; IAN SETZER of Orlando, FL; MATT MOSSLER of Carmel, IN; JACK ELOWE of Northbrook, IL; JORDAN ALLEN of Evanston, IL; ASA and ELIAH HIKEN and CHAD KAMEN of Prospect, KY; DREW SCHWARTZ of Wheeling, IL; IZZY MCKENZIE of St. Louis, MO; ELIOT and MILES PADZENSKY of Deerfield, IL; and GARRETT GLOVER, BRANDON GOMEL, and HOLDEN ROSENTHAL of Bellaire, TX.
Welcome aboard to the following new campers who will join us this month: EZRA and GABRIEL WALLON of Chicago, IL; SAM PALEY of Deerfield, IL; AVI HIKEN of Prospect, KY; ZACHARY ZLEPPER of St. Louis, MO; ROY WALKER of Evanston, IL; CHARLIE DEER of Highland Park, IL; JAKE MELTZER of Bellaire, TX; and DUSTY EPSTEIN, JACK HAYES, and BRANDON TUCKER of Northbrook, IL. Glad to have you all with us!
PARENTS’ IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2011:
| March | Travel information for boys flying to camp will be sent to you. Tickets should be purchased as soon after as possible. |
| March 1st | 2nd Deposits due. You will receive an invoice next month, and you can pay by check or online with your credit card. |
| May 1st | Order your clothing from CLOZ if you’d like to have them in time for camp! |
| May 15th | Balance payment is due. You will receive an invoice in mid-April for this. |
| May 15th | Lots of paper work is due to our office. This includes medical forms, camper info forms, etc. All of these forms are accessible from your Parent Keylog page. Don’t worry, we’ll send you abundant reminders. |
| June 20th | 1st Session Begins. Hooooooooraaaaaay! |
| July 16th | 1st Session Ends |
| July 17th | 2nd Session Begins. Woooo Hooooo! |
| July 16th - 17th | Visiting Weekend |
| August 12th | 2nd Session Ends....bummer! |
| August 13th | Time to sign up for the summer of 2012!! |
YO STAFF: If you’re on winter break right now, we know you have a little extra time on your hands, right? So, if you have not already sent us your contract, wouldn’t this be an excellent time to do that?
STAFF IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2011:
| February 1st | SCs, Trippers, Activity Specialists, Nurses, and Steering Committee must have their contracts into us by this date to guarantee their spot this summer. |
| March 1st | Kitchen and Maintenance Staff must have their contracts into us by this date to guarantee their spot this summer. |
| May 27th | WFR Course Begins |
| June 1st | Lifeguard Training Course Begins |
| June 4th | Trip Leader Training Begins |
| June 4th | Kitchen and Maintenance Staff Start |
| June 7th | Boat Driver Training Course Begins |
| June 6th | Steering Committee Starts |
| June 8th | Rock Climbing Wall Instructor Course Begins |
| June 10th | CPR Challenge and Re-Certification Course |
| June 11th | LGT Challenge and Re-Certification Course |
| June 11th | 1st Year Staff Training Begins |
| June 13th | All-Staff Training Begins |
| June 20th | The Campers Arrive!! Yeeeeehaaaaaa! |
| August 12th | The Campers Depart…..bummer! |
| August 13th | Last Day for all Staff Except Kitchen & Maintenance Staff |
| August 15th | Last Day for Kitchen and Maintenance Staff |
Wait till you have a look at this awesome list of returning staff members! And we’re just getting started!! This is going to be one of those amazing summers with so much tradition and experience represented in our staff. First of all, say hi to this fantastic group of Junior Counselors….all guys who have grown up with us at camp:
| DAVID ARTZI | This will be David’s 7th summer at camp. He is 17 years old, and is a junior at Sabino HS in Tucson, AZ. David is on the school wrestling team, and he also has a job at our favorite dessert place, Frost, a gelato store. |
| LUCAS BESLOW | Lucas will be 17 years old this summer, and is from Bannockburn, IL where he is a junior at Deerfield HS. This will be his 9th summer at camp. |
| RYAN ELIAS | Summer number 10 coming up for Ryan, who will be 18 years old this summer, and is a senior at Glenbrook North HS in Northbrook, IL. |
| DAVID FINE | David is 18 years old, and is a senior at Deerfield HS in Deerfield, IL. This will be his 9th summer at camp. |
| ZACK FRIEDENBERG | This will be Zack’s 8th summer at camp. He is 17 years old and is a junior at University School in Nasvhille, TN. He is on his school’s golf team and also in the rock climbing club. |
| JAKE GORDON | Jake will be 18 years old this summer, and he is a senior at Glenbrook North HS in Northbrook, IL. This will be his 7th summer at camp where he will again head up our Guitar program. In addition to music, Jake is into theater and will be performing in in the production of "Spelling Bee" at the Illinois Theatrefest this month. |
| JORDAN HENRY | Summer number 10 on deck for Jordan! He is 18 years old and is a senior at Clayton HS in St. Louis, MO. where he is captain of the wrestling team. |
| MAX KAPLAN | Max is from Houston, TX and is a junior at Emery Weiner. He will be 17 this summer, and it is his 9th summer coming up! |
| JOSH KAYNE | This will be Josh’s 7th summer at Timberlane. He is a junior at Deerfield HS in Deerfield, IL, and he has a job at a bike shop called Deerfield Cyclery. Josh also played for his school’s hockey team. He will be 17 years old this summer. |
| DAVID LANGEBARTEL | David is 17 years old and is a junior at Catalina Foothills HS in Tucson. This summer will be his 6th at camp. |
| SCOTT MAYER | Scott will be 18 years old this summer, and is a Senior at Glenbrook North HS in Northbrook, IL. He is getting ready to play tennis for his school this spring. It is summer number 6 coming up for Scott, |
| JOEY PAWLAN | This will be Joey’s 10th summer at camp!! He is 18 years old and he’s a Senior at Glenbrook North HS in Northbrook, IL. We are so proud to tell you that Joey took 1st place in a belly flop contest while on vacation in Nueva Vallarta, Mexico. Keep up the great work! |
| BEN PERCIFIELD | Ben is 17 years old and is a junior at New Trier HS in Wilmette, IL. This will be Ben’s 8th summer at camp. This past fall, Ben had the chance to visit China for 9 days where he honed his Chinese language skills. |
| JEREMY TUBBS | Jeremy will be 18 years old this summer, and he is a senior at Clayton HS in St. Louis, MO. This will be Jeremy’s 9th summer at camp. |
| DANNY ZAGA | Danny is 17 years old, and is a junior at Milken Community HS in Los Angeles, CA, where he plays basketball and volleyball. This will be Danny’s 9th summer at camp. |
Welcome back to the following “old-timers” who return to camp in various positions:
| KATHY LEVERTON | Kathy is back for her 6th summer, and 3rd as our Waterfront Director. She comes to us from Cape Town, South Africa, where she has completed a mountain guiding course and works as a climbing instructor at a climbing gym and she is working with outdoor school camps. Kathy is 26 years old. |
| JOSH MC GRATH | Josh is 19 years old, and is from Phoenix, AZ. It is his 10th summer at camp coming up! He is a freshman at Duke University in Durham, NC., where he is majoring in Engineering and playing Ultimate Frisbee. Josh will be a cabin counselor, and will be co-head of our huge Waterskiing program. |
| DEBBIE PURCELL | Debbie is back for her 9th summer at camp. She lives in Aurora, CO where she has multiple jobs, including working with elementary school kids with special needs, and at Young Chef’s Academy teaching kids how to cook. Debbie will again help out in the office, and handle our daily runs into town. She’s been enjoying the mountains of Colorado, doing some snow shoeing, but she really can’t wait for camp! |
| VICKI SETZER | Vicki is back for her 2nd summer at camp. She lives in Orlando, FL, where she is a school nurse at Dr. Phillips Elementary school (Home of the Flying Eagles!). She again joins us as one of our camp nurses. |
| COLBY SHARLIN | Summer number 10 coming up for Colby! He is 19 years old and is a freshman at the University of Illinois, studying Biology. Colby will be a cabin counselor, and will help out at Swimming, Waterskiing, and the Ropes Course. |
| JORDY SHARLIN | After a summer away, Jordy is back for his 12th summer at camp. He is 21 years old, and is a junior at the University of Illinois studying Molecular and Cellular Biology. Jordy will be the co-director of the PA program, and will help out with Weight Training and Waterskiing. He tells us: “I just recently got back from a skiing trip in Utah (Park City) and saw Ross Sinar at the airport! And recently I have been actively training to re-claim my Casino Night Arm Wrestling Championship Belt from the one whose name cannot be spoken...BREEN!” |
| BRIAN STRAIN | Summer number 10 on deck for “Poppa” Strain. Brian will be 30 years old this summer, and he lives in Denver, CO. He works at an elementary school handling all of their technology needs and teaching computer class. He is also taking education classes and drives a Zamboni in the evenings. Brian will again be our Junior Village Director, and will head up our Fishing program. |
| KAYLA WANDSNIDER | Kayla is 21 years old and returns to us from her home town of Milwaukee, WI. She is currently a Junior at UW- Lacrosse, studying Biology, Spanish, and Environmental Studies. She is also planning to participate in the world-famous Birkebiner cross country ski race up in Hayward , WI this winter. This will be Kayla’s 2nd summer at camp, and she will again be a Trip Leader. |
| SCOTT WOLF | Summer number 10 is coming up for Scott! He is 19 years old, from Highland Park, IL, and is a freshman at Northwestern University, studying Theatre. At Northwestern, Scott is roommates with “old-timer” Noah Rawitz. Scott will be a cabin counselor, head up our Athletics program, and help out with Ropes Course and Fishing. |
| JAMES WOOD | James is returning to us from Thrapston in the United Kingdom for his 2nd summer at camp. He will be 21 years old this summer, and currently teaches gymnastics in different schools and at a gymnastics club. James will again be a cabin counselor, and will teach Gymnastics and Waterskiing, as well as other activities at camp. |
| HEATHER WRIGHT | Heather is 23 years old and is a graduate of Central Washington University with a degree in Theatre Technology and Design. She is currently an intern as a props artisan at Stone Soup Theatre, Annex Theatre, and Seattle Music Theatre in Seattle, WA. This will be her 2nd summer at camp where she will again head up our Arts & Crafts program. |
| AARON ZEMACH | Summer number 9 coming up for Aaron. He will be 19 years old this summer, is originally from Deerfield, IL., and is currently a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in Computer Science. He has been involved in Wash U’s improv group called “Suspicious of Whistlers,” where they make up 30 minute shows based on suggestions of a single word from the audience. Aaron will be a cabin counselor, and will help out with Ropes Course, Photography, Comedy Sportz, and he may even help us re-start a program at camp that hasn’t been seen in more than 25 years……… |
BEN REMIS and his family recently traveled from St. Louis to Arizona for winter break, and we were able to spend a little quality time in our favorite Mexican restaurant with them. That was a fun surprise! In Orlando, IAN SETZER is a patrol leader for his Scout den’s patrol, and went camping recently with his scout troop. BEN SCHACHTER is in Dallas, but while he was in Chicago over Thanksgiving visiting family, he bumped into MIKE BREEN at a hotdog joint in Northbrook. Ben was also in Houston in November and visited with a bunch of kids at GARRETT GLOVER’s house. In Houston, RYAN BRONSTON is playing club basketball on a team with BRANDON GOMEL, JONATHAN STEIN, and GARRETT GLOVER. Ryan also has the role of “Horton” in the JCC play, and he is his school’s student council president. He and his family moved into a new house that used to belong to Texan quarterback Matt Schaub. JONATHAN STEIN is playing golf as well as basketball, and seems to be on TV a lot at Houston Rockets games. GARRETT GLOVER is playing hoops and baseball. BEN ROBERTS is playing basketball and is on a travel soccer team. JEFFREY GOLD is playing basketball and was bracing for mid-term exams. Yikes! CAMREON CAVALIER is playing on a basketball team that was undefeated. GRANT ZUCKER is also playing basketball. JOSEPH KUPERMAN is playing basketball, watching a lot of football, and finally made it to his first camp reunion. Loved it! HARRISON ATLAS is playing basketball. HOLDEN ROSENTHAL is…wait for it….playing basketball. JONAH ROSENBERG is NOT playing basketball. He’s playing lacrosse and soccer. JOEY BURSTEN is playing soccer also. SAM SPIER is playing a lot of guitar and starting a band. BEN SPIER is playing soccer. GRAYSON SHEENA finished soccer season and now…he’s playing basketball. MICHAEL KAPLAN was playing fall baseball, and loved the socks he got for Hanukah. HAYDEN TURK is playing basketball and baseball and can’t wait for camp! JOSPEH FIELDS ran in a 5K race recently, finishing near the top 200 out of 10,000 runners. BRIAN BROCHSTEIN is having a great school year. He’s also playing golf. SAMMY DRAZNER and DAVID PAWLAN are from Chicago, and were in Houston for our reunion there! Awesome!! Sammy is wrestling at the 95lb weight class and playing volleyball. David is playing basketball. In Nashville, MATTHEW JACOBS loves his new braces! Okay, maybe not. He’s playing basketball after soccer season ended. He’ll be training with the high school soccer team this year, even though he’s in 8th grade. Amazing! TYLER JACOBS is playing indoor soccer and basketball. ALEX FREEDMAN was a linebacker on his tackle football team. He’s now in basketball season. JORDAN FISHEL has been going to Hebrew school, and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah last November. Congrats, Jordan!! JAKE SPRINTZ is busy with school, guitar, and tennis….not necessarily in that order. BRIAN GORDON is on his school’s bowling team and has been hanging out with friends. IAN JACOBS is getting ready for lacrosse season and is doing some acting and improv at school.
Some of our Chicago area guys have been traveling a bit. RYAN ELIAS spent part of his winter break at a barefooting camp in Florida, and LUCAS BESLOW paid a visit to ZACK FRIEDENBERG in Nashville over the holidays. JOSH HALPER is playing guitar, in his school’s jazz band, and on the bowling team. He’ll play on the tennis team this spring. Tripper JOSH BOLING is in Cadwell, GA, and is an official college graduate! Congtats!! Congrats also to SAM KUSIN in Houston who recently earned his Eagle Scout. Also in Houston, Tripper RYAN EISENMAN has been applying to colleges, playing soccer, and running cross country. He spent winter break skiing in Colorado. JEREMY “JEMS” TODD was such a rock star counselor that he is now interviewing staff candidates for IEP in New Zealand, the agency that he came to camp through. CHRIS BARRON has been digging out of a massive snowfall in Glasgow. Meanwhile, he participated in a tryout for a high octane basketball team in Scotland, and is awaiting the results. In November, Chris played host to traveling camp folks KATHY LEVERTON, JUSTIN LOWRY, and JAMES WOOD. While there, James taught Justin how to powerkite, which he says was a very muddy experience, and got to watch a few of Chris’ basketball games. James also got to visit with MAX KAPLAN while Max was traveling in London. MICHAEL “SCRAGGY” SCRAGG spent a little time mountain biking in Canada after camp, and is now back home in Australia working and getting back into shape after eating all that “good American food.” He’s also training for Ironman Western Australia, which will take place next December.
BRAVO TO OUR JANUARY BIRTHDAY BOYS & GIRLS! Michael Natinsky - 1/3/1999, Cole Eckel - 1/4/1997, Adam Elias - 1/4/1989, Perry Oster - 1/4/1996, Aaron Zemach - 1/4/1992, David Glazer - 1/5/1999, Josh Mc Grath - 1/5/1992, Ian Setzer - 1/5/2000, Colby Sharlin - 1/5/1992, Charlie Tipton - 1/5/1996, Eliah Hiken - 1/8/1996, Matthew Jacobs - 1/8/1997, Debbie Purcell - 1/8/1969, Justin Zaslavsky - 1/8/1997, Peter Goldberg - 1/10/1985, Danny Levy - 1/11/1998, Will Coen - 1/12/2000, Sam Frishman - 1/12/2001, Zack Friedenberg - 1/13/1994, Alex Karmin - 1/14/1997, Gabriel Wallon - 1/17/2001, Michael Scragg - 1/18/1984, Jeremy Todd - 1/18/1987, Craig Hauptman - 1/20/1986, Jonah Kaplan - 1/20/1995, Thomas Murdoch - 1/23/1991, Ricky Romersi - 1/23/1999, Charlie Smoller - 1/23/2000, Lucas Beslow - 1/24/1994, Scott Mayer - 1/24/1993, Davante Grace - 1/26/1998, Drew Hyman - 1/26/1998, Aaron Dembsky - 1/29/1999, Sam Kahn - 1/30/1997, Eli Mitchell - 1/30/1999, Dan Newman - 1/31/1985.
We hope you all start the New Year off well, and we’ll write you again next month.
Benches up,
