Today was the last full day of summer and we made sure to squeeze out every last drop of fun!

We started with a delicious breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, donut holes, cereal, yogurt, granola and a grit bar. Afterwards we headed up to the chapel to sing a few of our favorite songs and hear a true story reminding us of the importance of Jesus’ resurrection. Cabin cleanup was especially exciting this morning as the competition for the golden plunger came to a close. Each session, we keep careful record of the scores each cabin receives each day, and the cabin with the highest cumulative score earns not only the prestigious trophy, the golden plunger, but also a pizza party to enjoy later tonight. This session we have had a particularly tight race, with 4 cabins all within a point of each other in the total score. The guys gave it their all this morning!

After cabin cleanup we had a hiking trip to Babel Tower. Babel Tower is a beautiful swimming hole located in Linville Gorge. The campers hiked down into the gorge and got to swim in the pool, slide down a natural rockslide and even jump off a rock into the water. It’s one of the most popular trips and with good reason. The guys that went today were: Cole S, John W, Geo P-C, Zach M, Andrew St J, Chris J, and David C.

Meanwhile here on property, the highlight of the morning was the 3rd session Adventure Race! The Adventure Race is an optional three hour challenge that takes place all over camp property. Campers compete in teams of four to finish a challenge course that takes them all over camp and tests their mental and physical skills. Today’s course included building a raft and paddling across the lake, completing a fitness challenge (the “Murph”), a marksmanship challenge in archery and riflery, a map and compass orienteering challenge in our woods and a build challenge in Legos. Our brave competitors were:  Edwin K, Liam B, Franklin P, Bennett J, Thomas M, Declan Q, Quinn S, Drew H, Matthew A, Kaito T, Oliver G, Radford W, Duncan S, Turner B, Reid S and Declan L. All the teams did an amazing job, but the winning crew was>>>

At lunch we chowed down on pizza, pineapple and veggie soup. Once the meal was concluded we announced the winner of this session’s Golden Plunger. And the cleanest cabin was…Little Piney! Congrats guys! We also announced the winner of last night’s tribal game, commando. And the winner was…the Golden Eagles! It has been a back and forth banner competition this summer and it will be really exciting to see who takes home the crown tomorrow at our closing ceremony. 

After lunch we had another trip leave property for a shorter afternoon trip. Declan Q, Quinn S, Drew H, Boone K, Thomas M, Davis O, EJ B, Matthew H, Frank S and Turner B made the short drive to lake James for an afternoon of canoeing. It was a picture perfect day today and it’s hard to think of a better way to spend the afternoon. 

Dinner was a delicious spread of country fried steak, dinner rolls, potatoes and peas. 

After dinner we headed up to the council ring for our Little Chief and final campfire ceremony. At Little Chief recognized bars in activities, counselor and camper commendations as well as promotions in the Little Chief system Little Chief is designed to foster servant leadership and encourage our guys to develop courage, humility, grit and empathy. Some of the guys we recognized tonight were:

Huckleberry

Counselor commendation: Eddie K

Camper commendation: George S

Finch’s Landing

Counselor commendation: Tyler T, William H

Camper commendation: Ari P, Rigby K

Further Up

Counselor commendation: Powers T, John Grady M

Camper Commendation: Luca M, Gage S

Further In

Counselor commendation J Tag A, Michael B

Camper commendation: Alex M, Watts G

Hawksbill

Counselor commendation: Malachi W, Tyler R

Camper commendation: Nick VS, Harry K

Turtleback

Counselor commendation: Steele G, Tommy F

Camper commendation : Rivers G, Jimmy T

Little Piney

Counselor commendation: Bennett J, Edwin K, Nolan O

Campers commendation: Bennet J Edwin K, Trace S

Big Piney

Counselor commendation: Reid S, Matthew H

Camper commendation: Frank S, David C

Little Slaty

Counselor commendation: Geo P-C, Theo T

Camper commendation: Bay J, Declan L, Kaito T

Big Slaty 

Counselor commendation: Quinn S, Drew H

Camper commendation: Thomas M, Davis O

Greybeard

Counselor commendation: Oliver M

Camper commendation: Duncan S

Little Chief Promotions

Scout: J Tag A, Watts G, Rivers G, John Grady M

Guide: Ford C, Cole G, Mac G, William H, Harry K, Tyler R

Pioneer: Nick VS

Ranger: Tommy F

Tracker: Matthew H, Drew H, Edwin K, Declan L, Kaito T

Hunter: Bennett J, Duncan S

Warrior: Oliver G

After the Little Chief portion of the ceremony we moved into our final campfire where we spent some time reminiscing about what a great session of camp we’ve shared here at Timberlake. Counselors shared fun stories and old jokes and our Greybeard campers got up in front of the whole camp to speak on what their Timberlake experience has meant to them. To wrap it all up we all added a stick to the campfire, symbolizing the part of ourselves we leave behind here at camp until we can all return next summer. We closed with a rousing rendition of our camp hymn. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. 

Great Camping!

John

Director, Camp Timberlake

Proud Golden Eagle