Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,
They don't call 'em the "Great North Woods" for nothing! It is soooo good to be back home. Camp looks absolutely beautiful, even though the trees have not really leafed out yet. BILL MILLER, our cook-extraordinaire, the 2 dogs, and I arrived in camp on May 12th after a grueling drive from Tucson. We were followed a day later by our Associate Director, MICHAEL BREEN. When we arrived, it still looked like winter up here. It was fairly warm, but there were no buds or anything on the trees and bushes. Since that time we've had a heat wave, a cold front, and now we're warming up again, so we've seen a lot of interesting weather. The trees are almost fully green, and the fields - oh, wait till you see the fields! Lush green grass awaits you all, and they have not looked this good in years. And speaking of looking good, Lake Towanda has made a comeback reminiscent of the Dallas Mavericks. For about 8 years, drought had taken its toll on our quiet lake, and the water levels dropped progressively. This year, it is back, and not too far from its historic high water marks. The lake is healthy and happy, and so are we! We just hosted our lake association meeting in the Lodge, and you could just feel the joy in the room with the water level so much higher. Skiers, sailors, fisherman, boaters, and swimmers....you're in for one heck of a great summer!
Back on land, the new climbing surface on the 70' tower is finished, and it is a dramatic transformation. The slide show attached to this posting shows how the whole process evolved. The technology is cool,
Progress is slow on our batting cage, but it is moving forward. We're awaiting the arrival of the pitching machine, the electricity to run the pitching machine, and the fencing and netting for the cage. It is early June now, and we're a little nervous, but it should all be ready to roll by the time our 1st session kiddies roll into camp.
And speaking of kiddies rolling into camp, our first camper of the summer arrived in camp on May 27th...just a tad early. It was fun to have ALEXANDER ZLOTNIK in camp for an hour or so to have a look around with his parents and siblings. They were driving through the area, so they stopped in and Alexander was the first camper to lay eyes on all the stuff going on around here. Just a few days later, JUSTIN & RYAN GALOWICH came by for their annual May visit to the North Woods. We really love it when we get camper previews!
YO PARENTS: A few things for you to note this month: TRAVEL INFO:
1. Travel information for 1st Session/Full Season campers was mailed out at the end of May. If your son is flying en route to camp, he should have 2 baggage tags (one card stock, one plastic) for each of his two bags. If your son is riding the bus from Chicago, Milwaukee, or your meeting the Minneapolis buses, you should have 1 card stock baggage tag for both duffels. If we sent you the wrong stuff, please let us know right away.
2. If your camper is flying from Houston, we will have a staff member meet you at the airport the morning of your flight. Please get to the Delta ticket counter no less than 90 minutes before your flight and meet RYAN EISENMAN there. He will accompany the group to Minneapolis on the way to camp, and back to Houston at the end of 1st session.
3. If your camper is flying to camp, and you choose to ship his duffels to camp (via Fed Ex Ground), please be sure we have the bags at least 3 days prior to his arrival (we prefer a week), and ship to our physical address:
Camper’s Name
Camp Timberlane
11400 Airport Rd.
Woodruff, WI. 54568
SUMMERTIME COMMUNICATION: 
1. If you have something important to share with us, please pick up the phone and call us. We do have email here, but we are not as vigilant about monitoring it during the summer as we are during the "off-season." If we had 160 kids running around our winter office, we'd be less vigilant then too. So please don't rely on email for pressing or time-sensitive communications with us.
2. During the camp season, if you do call camp, please try to do so during normal business hours. Our phones are manned from 9 AM - 6 PM every day. We do eat 3 delicious meals each day, so during those times, the phones are not manned. We have voice mail, so if there is something urgent, we will be able to respond quickly.
3. We are the ultimate "mom and pop" operation. That means that if you call our camp line after hours, the phone will ring at our house...right next to my head. If you have an emergency, please call and don't worry about the hour. Otherwise, please refer to point 1 above, and try to call during regular hours. Thanks.
4. If your contact information has changed, or will change during the summer, WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT! If you are traveling while your campers are having their fun times with us, we think that's great. But if it means we cannot reach you via home or mobile phone, please send us an email with your travel dates, and whatever contingent contact information you might have. THIS IS HUGELY IMPORTANT. Thanks.
YO OLD GUYS: A few little reminders for you too:
1. If you are qualified for any of our bigger trips, including the Boundary Waters, the Quetico, the Sand River, the 6 or 9 Day Isle Royale, the LSPPBP, or the Apostle Islands Sea Kayak trips, you can pre-register for these. We have several guys already signed up, and that's great! If you are a first-year camper and you are finishing with 6th grade or older, while it is possible to get out on one of these trips, it is a bit unlikely. Please feel free to call us if you want to talk about it or have any questions.
2. If we have assigned you a new camper to be your camp Little Brother, we hope and expect that you have contacted him already. If you have not yet done that, please do it today. Thanks very much.
That's really all the news we have for now. If we're going to be ready on June 20th (and we will!), we have lots to do outside, so we're going to post this baby online, and head out. Starting later this month, we will begin posting Director's Journals online every other day or so to keep you apprised of all of the events at camp. Stay healthy, everyone! We can't wait to see you smiling faces, and that's gonna happen really, really soon!! BRING ON THE SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh...one more thing.... 
"Around the Campfire" is a Camp for All Kids event being planned for this coming September, and it's gonna be huge! This is a multi-camp, mega social that will take place at Banner Day Camp in Chicago, and will include our camp, Camp Birch Trail, Chippewa Ranch Camp, Camp Kamaji, and North Star Camp. Think of hundreds of camp folks all together having a great time. And perhaps the greatest part of this event is the concert that will take place that evening. We will have a private show with PETER YARROW! Okay, most of you campers are probably thinking "Peter who?" But we more seasoned music lovers know him to be the Peter of Peter, Paul & Mary. Calm down, parents, calm down. It is exciting, of course, and we can't wait for that. Kids, Peter, Paul & Mary are the original artists who wrote and performed songs like "Puff, the Magic Dragon," “Right Field,” "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (written by John Denver), “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (written by Pete Seeger), and much, much more. They were among the earliest "rockers" back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and their music is still loved world-wide. Peter is a great guy, a great musician, and a great supporter of summer camping. It's going to be a night to remember.
As you might imagine, since this is a Camp for All Kids event, it is designed to be a major fund-raiser so we can continue this vital program that enables well-deserving kids from under served communities to attend the 5 camps involved. So very soon you will receive an email from us detailing how everyone can help...campers, parents, staff, camp alumni, friends, relatives, acquaintances, you name it. We're excited about the event, and about the opportunity to keep Camp for All Kids vital and sustained. Stay tuned..... 
BRAVO TO OUR JUNE BIRTHDAY BOYS & GIRLS! Warm up those singing pipes! In-person Bravos from here on out!! Jordan Fine - 6/2/1995, Hayden Turk - 6/3/1997, Chris Stevens - 6/5/1988, Myer Galis - 6/9/1998, Marylynne Allen - 6/10/1989, Ricky Jacobson - 6/10/1996, Grant Kibel - 6/12/2001, Austen Draper - 6/13/1987, Josh Spaeth - 6/14/1999, Justin Galowich - 6/15/1996, Ryan Hearst - 6/15/2000, Marshall Strawbridge - 6/16/1999, Sasha Salk - 6/18/1998, Ari Asarch - 6/20/1998, Zack Schreier - 6/20/1998, Roy Walker - 6/20/1999, Mike Cohen - 6/23/19??, Eli Selz - 6/23/1999, Parker Dawson - 6/24/1999, Max Kaplan - 6/24/1994, Josh Kayne - 6/24/1994, Diego Rodriguez - 6/24/1998, Drew Mitchell - 6/26/1997, Adam Cortes-Ferrie - 6/27/1999, Asa Saperstein - 6/27/2001, Alex Freedman - 6/28/1999, Avi Hiken - 6/28/2001, Tyler Newmark - 6/28/2001, Joey Rosenblum - 6/28/2001, Spence Litow - 6/29/1999, Miles Padzensky - 6/29/1998, David Wine - 6/29/2001.
See y'all soon!
Benches up,
