Happy Saturday Timberlake family!

Today was another full and fantastic day here at Camp Timberlake. After the big fireworks show last night, the boys enjoyed an extra 30 minutes of shut eye and arose at 7:30 to the sound of the reveille bugle sounding across the lake. For breakfast we munched on waffle sticks and bacon, unless of course, you were feeling the grit bar, yogurt bar or some cereal and milk. In chapel we sang some classic hits and then heard a great story from Garrett S about how Jesus takes the punishment we deserve for us. 

Morning activities were in full swing and it was really cool to see the guys progressing in their skills. Patrick H, Michael B and Peyton H earned their bronze bars in swimming. Up in Basketball, Bryson A made 15 free throws in a row and Hayes C earned his gold bar! Down at the climbing tower, William E and Briggs L finished the requirements to earn their bronze bars. 

Midway through the morning, all of the campers who have sisters over at Merri-Mac loaded up in the vans and headed over to Black Mountain for the third session sibling day. They guys had a great time hanging out with their sisters, free swimming and enjoying a picnic lunch together. Back at Timberlake our lunch was also a big hit as we enjoyed broccoli and cheddar soup, ham and cheese croissants with all the fixings and one of my personal favorites, pretzel nuggets. Lunch also brought with it the all important announcement of the morning’s cabin cleanup inspections. There were a lot of clean cabins today but the cleanest of all was Stomper’s Knob with perfect 10! 

After lunch the boys enjoyed some well earned rest time before sprinting down to the beach to select their favorite trading post combination (my vote is a blue gatorade and hershey’s cookies and cream bar). There was also a highly anticipated disc golf matchup in free time between Ethan W and Matthew A. The 9 hole competition ended in a tie so they will have to come back to settle things tomorrow. Additionally, I pulled out my connect four set and set up a challenge for all the boys at the beach to see if anybody had the strategy and brains to defeat me. Lots of guys gave it a shot but it was Teddy A who was up to the task and humbled yours truly with a big win. 

The siblings arrived back from Merri-Mac and we rolled into a big afternoon of activities. Everybody, that is, except for Greybeard, who got to enjoy a very special cabin trip. The Greybeard men (Matthew A, Cian M, Geo P-C, Oliver G, Bay J, Eli V and Ryan H) drove to Montreat and hiked up Lookout trail together to a beautiful cliff top view. After enjoying a big dinner out, the headed downtown to watch our local minor league baseball team, the Asheville Tourists, take on the Rome Emperors. When the game was called off due to poor field conditions (come on Asheville!) the guys showed the great attitudes that have made them strong leaders all session long and pivoted to a fun round of putt putt. 

Back at Timberlake the activities were rolling on! Oliver M got his gold in pickleball. Chase S sent the big drop in Mountain Biking as did Stephen G. In riflery Johnny R was able to log two challenging standing gold groupings.

For dinner we enjoyed pulled pork BBQ and southern style mac and cheese before the sultan announced the activities for the evening. Junior and Intermediate camp headed off for a big game of Sock War on an alternate game map and senior camp got to have cabin night!

At cabin night Big Piney and Little Piney renewed their friendly rivalry with the latest rendition of the Piney games before enjoying some s’mores all together. Stomper’s Knob hit the lake for a free swim and Little Slaty went flying down the largest slip n slide east of the Mississippi. Big slaty headed to the Tuck for a big card game tournament complete with LOTS of starbursts and a good time was had by all! 

As the sun sets here at camp it’s hard to believe we fit all of that into just one day! Thank so much for sharing your sons with us this summer and tune back in tomorrow to hear all about a very special Sunday

Until next time,

John

Friendly Neighborhood Camp Director

Connect Four Strategist

Proud Golden Eagle