Author: Lee Albrecht Biear

Our favorite time of year (during the winter) is almost here!!  February 1st (this Tuesday) is National I Heart Camp Day! Help us spread the word on the importance of summer camp. Remember all those funny pictures we took of you with the “I heart Camp ” Poster over the past summers? Well, this Tuesday Camp Woodland campers, parents, staff, and alumni are encouraged to post their favorite “I heart Camp” photo as their Facebook Profile.

Don’t have Facebook? Here are a few ideas to show the world (or just your friends) how much camp means to you!

• Instagram your photo! #Woodland4Girls #Iheartcamp
• Print it out and hang your favorite photo on your fridge
• Make it a screen saver on your computer
• Use one of our virtual backgrounds for zoom meetings

Click the link to retrieve your daughter’s photos: I heart Camp Woodland Photos Link

Need your son’s photo too? Click the link to your son’s (Towering Pines) photos: I heart TP Photos link

All you have to do is: 1- find your picture, 2- download it by clicking the download tab on the bottom right of the photo, 3-Post it this Tuesday, February 1!

Check out our archives of I Heart Camp Day. It is fun to see how we have grown!:

• 2020 – I Heart Camp Day 
• 2019 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2018 – I Heart Camp Day 
• 2017 – I Heart Camp Day 
• 2016 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2015 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2014 – I Heart Camp Day

The answer is always YES!  We are sooo excited about seeing everyone this summer!  But our favorite time of year (during the winter) is almost here!!  February 1st (this Monday) is National I Heart Camp Day! Help us spread the word on the importance of summer camp. Remember all those funny pictures we took of you with the “I heart Camp ” Poster over the past summers? Well, this Monday Camp Woodland campers, parents, staff, and alumni are encouraged to post their favorite “I heart Camp” photo as their Facebook Profile. Also, we took a lot of scenery photos with the poster ( Thanks Jackie!).  We encourage you to post your favorite spot at camp too!

Don’t have Facebook? Here are a few ideas to show the world (or just your friends) how much camp means to you!

• Instagram your photo! #Woodland4Girls #Iheartcamp
• Print it out and hang your favorite photo on your fridge
• Make it a screen saver on your computer
• Use one of our virtual backgrounds for online school

Click the link to retrieve your daughter’s photos: I heart Camp Woodland Photos Link

Need your son’s photo too? Click the link to your son’s (Towering Pines) photos: I heart TP Photos link

All you have to do is: 1- find your picture, 2- download it by clicking the download tab on the bottom right of the photo, 3-Post it this Monday, February 1!

Check out our archives of I Heart Camp Day. It is fun to see how we have grown!:

• 2019 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2018 – I Heart Camp Day 
• 2017 – I Heart Camp Day 
• 2016 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2015 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2014 – I Heart Camp Day

Created by Calla Craze

Thanksgiving is a joyous time of year to pause and take stock of everything in our lives for which we are truly grateful. Nothing beats quality time with family and friends; many of us have been fortunate to have more of that in 2020 than in other years. Of course, a big part of being together anytime, but especially at the holidays, centers around FOOD.

When asked to share a favorite Thanksgiving tradition at the 2020 Virtual Camp Reunion, many people highlighted cooking with their families and all the glorious food to be enjoyed.

• Aria and Alegra shared, “eating the turkey leg.”
• Izzi and Elena are looking forward to cooking with their moms.
• Mera is excited about eating rutabaga.
• Jackie can’t wait for mashed potatoes.
• JoAnne actually likes sauerkraut with her Thanksgiving meal (something she learned
  from her Dad). She really likes candy corn this time of year too!
• Kim has been known to serve up jelly beans, popcorn, pretzels and toast in honor of the
  feast Snoopy served for a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
• As a kid, Lee shared that she used to try to eat the plastic grapes in the cornucopia
  on her family table. Now she fusses over the centerpiece with “fancy” paper mache
  fruit!

As tough as this year has been, we are all very fortunate that there is still so much to be thankful for this holiday season. When asked, most shared being grateful for their family, friends, and pets this season. Some shared that they were thankful for the extra time to spend at home with their family while others were thankful for their “pod” at school, giving them a little social respite in the chaos. Of course, many people were also grateful for their health and the health of their loved ones.

Even outside of the camp season, we are always appreciative of our wonderful staff and people who keep our favorite place running safely and smoothly. We would like to give a special shoutout to our nurses who work day and night to keep everyone happy and healthy, our kitchen staff who fuel us with delicious meals all summer long, and our maintenance staff who work tirelessly to keep our facilities safe and beautiful. All of these people play an integral role in our program and warm our hearts with all they do to contribute to our camp community.

Written by : Calla Craze and Will Dellinger

Today is all about honoring the hard-working Americans who shed blood, sweat, and tears to build our country and make it prosper. There are so many people out there who are under-appreciated in their work, but it truly takes all types to keep things running. To all you workers out there who hold society up with your physical and intellectual labor, we salute you!

It takes all types

In many ways, Camp is a microcosm of civilization. Just as it takes many forms of labor to keep the country going, it takes a diverse set of skills and workers to make camp run every summer. From maintenance to office work to cabin supervision, there’s always a ton to be taken care of every day. The contributions of our counselors and other staff to our community are not lost on us, and while we try to express our gratitude throughout the summer, we can never say it enough: Thank you for all you do!

Of course, every TP and Woodland counselor knows what it’s like to put in physical labor: each summer our staff puts in a ton of effort to get camp all set up for the arrival of our campers. There is what seems like a never ending list of tasks to keep our staff’s bodies moving for an entire week. We get to do crazy things like bring the boats down from the barn, heavy duty cleaning of EVERYTHING, and of course, even things like poster making. Ask our staff and they’ll tell you that this work is very satisfying, but by the time campers arrive we are definitely ready to switch gears and start exercising our brains as we become instructors, coaches, role models and leaders.

Work hard, Play hard!

Make no mistake— Being a camp counselor is hard work even if you aren’t up to your neck in the lake turning augers! It’s a lot of work to teach new skills to kids and keep the peace in a community of children and adults from all different parts of the world. However, it’s a kind of work that is rewarding by its very nature. So many of our staff come back year after year to watch their campers grow and to be a part of something bigger.

Working In and Out of Camp Season

There’s a lot of work that goes into making sure camp can happen every summer, especially from the Jordans and our wonderful office staff. This summer we took the opportunity to revamp the program and make general improvements to the property to make the best of our once-in-a-lifetime summer off of camp. As you’ve already heard, we put in a lot of hours to work on the business both in terms of the program and our facilities. A lot of these projects included good old fashioned manual labor!

One of our all time favorite rites of passage into the role of a counselor is the task of putting in the docks! Believe it or not, campers, those don’t actually stay in year round! The summer just didn’t feel right without seeing that beautiful pier reaching out towards the middle of the lake, so we took it upon ourselves to put them in anyway. Nothing like getting those huge wooden platforms set up in the water to remind us how much we appreciate everything our staff does every summer!

We all know this year has been a challenging one, but it has also given us the opportunity to grow and appreciate the people who help make the world go round in new ways. We appreciate you, staff, and look forward to working side by side with our favorite people again in summer 2021!

Our favorite time of year (during the winter) is almost here!!  February 1st (this Saturday) is National I Heart Camp Day! Help us spread the word on the importance of summer camp. Remember all those funny pictures we took of you with the “I heart Camp ” Poster? Well, this Saturday Camp Woodland campers, parents, staff, and alumni are encouraged to post their “I heart Camp” photo as their Facebook Profile. Don’t have Facebook?

Here are a few ideas to show the world (or just your friends) how much camp means to you!

• Instagram your photo! #Woodland4Girls #Iheartcamp
• Print it out and paste on your favorite school tablet
• Post it on your Pinterest Site
• Make it a screen saver on your computer

Click the link to retrieve your daughter’s photos: I heart Camp Woodland Photos Link

Need your son’s photo too? Click the link to your son’s (Towering Pines) photos: I heart TP Photos link

All you have to do is: 1- find your picture, 2- download it by clicking the download tab on the bottom right of the photo, 3-Post it this Saturday, Feburary 1!

Check out our archives of I Heart Camp Day. It is fun to see how we have grown!:

• 2019 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2018 – I Heart Camp Day 
• 2017 – I Heart Camp Day 
• 2016 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2015 – I Heart Camp Day
• 2014 – I Heart Camp Day

* We took these photos at the end of the summer. We apologize if your daughter could not be part of this project and hope to do the photos throughout the entire next summer! Make your own photo and post it!  We love to see your child’s creativity!