Good evening blog readers! I hope everyone is having as great a day as we are having here at Timberlake. Today was a very special day here at Camp Timberlake, as we did not follow our typical daily schedule, and instead had our session 3 Tribapalooza!  We started our day by sleeping in until 7:30 am, so we could be extra well rested for the day ahead. I know you might be thinking that we wasted our morning away by sleeping until such a late hour, but fear not, we still had plenty of time for some awesome morning activities and some great trips.

After we woke up, we went through our typical morning routine of breakfast, chapel, and cabin cleanup. But after that, instead of 1st period we went into some Tribapalooza festivities. First all of our Greybeard and Big Slaty campers had their names drawn in the Reaping for the Camp Timberlake Hunger Games. The participants gathered around the cornucopia at the beach for the beginning of the Hunger Games, and once the games began they dispersed around the arena that covered all of camp. It was a hard fought battle that lasted throughout the day, and in the end Grant S. from the cabin of Greybeard emerged victorious. Meanwhile,  the rest of the campers began the first tribal game of Tribapalooza, Great Escape. The two tribes fought hard, and the Golden Eagles managed to pull together a clutch victory that will be huge for the tribe going forward.

While all of this was going on we had some campers out on some awesome adventures off camp property. On our rafting trip led by Jackson (me), Scottie, and Henry, the greatest raft guides in the history of Timberlake and maybe even the history of whitewater rafting, we conquered the gnarly rapids of the Pigeon River in Tennessee. If I could use one word to describe this rafting trip, it would be hydroelectric. Kai J, Gates O, Pierce S, Powers T, Russell M, Titus W, Ford C, Robert R, Turner B, Cason D, Ryder S, and Cole G. were all on this whitewater rafting expedition, and they did a spectacular job of paddling, such a good job that we made it all the way down the river without anybody going for an unexpected swim, which according to the campers means CG has to shave her head (not sure if that’s gonna happen). We also had an overnight backpacking/bouldering trip that left yesterday and came back today. Tommy F, Steele G, Simeon T, Will M, Steven G, and Liam T. were on that trip which went to the Linville Gorge, and I must say I am pretty jealous because the Linville Gorge is absolutely awesome.

In the afternoon the campers back on property continued the tribal battles of tribapalooza, with junior and intermediate campers competing in the classic game of sock war and senior campers playing battle ball. The winner of those games is still a mystery, so stay tuned until tomorrow for the results of those games. We then gathered at the Tuck for dinner, and after dinner we headed out to the council ring for our Little Chief ceremony.

At Little Chief we recognize some of the many accomplishments that campers can achieve here at Timberlake. The first of those recognitions is commendations for excelling in cabin life. The commendations from the counselors and campers for each cabin are as follows: 

Huckleberry: Counselor- George S. Camper- William B. 

Finch’s Landing: Counselor- Colin G. Camper- Smith O

Further Up: Counselor- Russell M, Gage S, John Grady M Camper- Liles F, Gage S, Rigby K

Further In: Counselor- Davis O, Kai J Camper- Luca M, Bennett B

Tiger Tooth: Counselor- DJ B, Cole T, Arav S Camper– Ryder S, Turner B, Cason D

Hawksbill: Counselor-Michael B, Cyrus P Camper- Michael B, Kent K

Turtleback: Counselor- Henry T, Sims R Camper- Cash K, Tyler R

Little Piney: Counselor- Stephen G, David L Camper- Liam T, Tommy F

Big Piney: Counselor- Nolan O, Liam B Camper- David T, Matthew H

Stompers Knob: Counselor- Wilson F, Matthew R Camper- Nick Q, Chris J

Little Slaty: Counselor- Jack S,Reid S Camper- David T, Kyle G

Big Slaty: Counselor- Radford W Camper- Oliver G

Greybeard:Counselor- Declan Q, Wes D Camper- Declan Q, Jack P

We also recognize promotions campers get on their path to Little Chief. The promotions for tonight are as follows:

Scout: Gehrig C, Matty C, Tripp L, Herrick M, Ari P, Todd MP, Sam R, Robert R, George S, Powers T, Malachi W

Guide: Michael B, Henry D, SJ G, Kai J, Rigby K, Cash K, Alex M, Luca M, Simms R, Gage S, Henry T

Pioneer: Tyler R

Tracker: Henry B, Liam B, Steele G, Kyle G, Mcginn M, Will N, Nolan O, Matthew R

Hunter: Tommy F, Steele G, Jonah N

Warrior: Wes D, Wilson F

Pathfinder: Declan Q, Radford W

Alrighty, that was a lot of names and a lot of writing so I’m going to end things there. I hope everyone has an awesome night!

Yours truly, 

Jackson Dreier

Whitewater Rafting Legend

Big Slaty Counselor