Eating Smart, Eating Right.

A very welcome addition to this summer was Activate America. Our staff not only preached the message to "eat better and move more" but practiced it as well.



Once we taught some healthy fundamentals to the campers, we started tracking how well they are doing making healthier choices. We have a star chart posted in our dining hall and cabin groups earn stars for their collective group behaviors for these categories:
-Blue Star = group drinks at least 2-pitchers of water at every meal.
-Purple Star = majority of group eats at least 3-serving of dairy.
-Green Star = majority eats at least 3-servings of vegetables.
-Yellow Star = 3-servings of fruit.
-Orange Star = 3-servings of fiber.
-Red Star = exercise; at least 20-minutes of sustained cardio activity as a group. Mountain biking, 4-square, roofball, swimming, and aerobic dancing all count, as well as many other cabin group activities.



It's easy to say that we do those activities anyway, but this program has caused campers to think and to be a part of making healthier lifestyle choices, something that we hope will stay with them after camp.

Another Day, Another Memory...

Another great new tradition at Camp Timbers is our annual Volkslauf. Sometimes referred to as the "Volkslauffen," or sometimes more commonly known as the "schloff," volkslauf is actually German for "people's race," and that's just what it is. Started three years ago, the schloff is an annual triathlon, Camp Timbers style. The race consists of our competitors swimming the length of Piper Lake...



...then completing the seven mile bike ride around nearby Clear Lake...



and finishing the race with two laps around our own Piper Lake...



While our staff schloff is alive and well, it was noted by Rachel Lum (above picture left) that the schloff was not available to kids that may want to take part. Thanks to a lot of hard work on her part, for the last three sessions of summer camp that hope was a reality. After dinner on Thursday night, any camper that chose to take part in a camper schloff was given the chance. The camper schloff was of course a toned down version of our staff schloff: two laps in our swim section, a one and a half mile bike ride around Piper Lake, and finished off with a one mile run around our lake.



The camper schloffen was a welcome addition to 2007, and I'm sure there will be a lot of kids training during the winter to win it next year!

We're back!

Well, it is almost a full month after Camp Timbers 2007 ended, but that doesn't mean that this blog is done. You can still expect to see periodic posts here throughout the year, relevant to camp news and important information! So keep checking back. Today I would like to take the first of three looks back at some of the most fun activities that we did this past summer...


"Midnight Madness" - This past summer, our Assistant Director, Mike Hull, and our Male Village Chief, Mike Houlihan, came up with the idea of a "Midnight Madness." The concept was simple: after our late night mid-session staff meetings on Tuesday of every week, we would go back into camp for some after hours fun. Any kid that wanted to keep sleeping could do so while one of the cabin's counselors stayed with them, but any one else that wanted to go out would do just that. We had a late night game of basketball, jump roping, or just a chance to socialize with their friends after lights out!




After people are done playing with games, they can go and get ice cream!



By the end of the summer, Midnight Madness was viewed as one of the most fun additions to the 2007 summer camp session. All traditions must start somewhere, and I have a feeling that 2007 was the first year for a new Camp Timbers tradition.