It was a crisp and beautiful morning that accompanied revile as the campers and staff woke up for the first day of camp. We were greeted at the Tuck by a hearty breakfast consisting of eggs, hashbrowns, and biscuits and gravy along with our standard additions of yogurt, fruit, and a grits bar. After your friendly neighborhood camp director led us in our Morning Yell, now it was time for chapel where we sang some camp classics, got to dust off the camp hymn, and heard a true story from John that relates to answering the question of “Who is God?” As we at camp finished cleaning our cabins and were heading to our activities, our first  two trips of the summer headed out the gate on their way to some major fun and adventure.

Our whitewater rafting trip headed to section nine of the French Broad for some big wave trains and big smiles. The rafters were: William F, Adams H, Peter K, Carson B, Christopher C, Sam H, Jackson T, Nathan W, Teddy P, David D, Alexander S, Luke H

Additionally, our fly fishermen headed to south mountain in search of the perfect rainbow trout. Those guys were: Ashton M, McKean K, Gus T, Wyatt F, Kieran S, Zach W

The boys had an amazing time on these trips and a few highlights are that Carson B rode the bull on the biggest rapids Section 9 of the French Broad River has to offer and that Ashton M found a crawfish in a bottle.

Back at camp Tropical Tuesday was in full swing as many campers and staff rocked their favorite Hawaiian shirts during morning activities. In archery Stephen J shot a grouping that counts towards his silver bar and before we knew it the lunch bell was ringing! And a true camp classic it was today – tacos in a bag were served up by Timberlakes finest as our senior staff and directors waited tables for the entire dining hall. An impressive feat that made lunch quite an experience.

Once our bellies were full of tacos in bag form, it was time to see how we all did on cabin inspection this morning. It was quite a clean day with all cabins achieving an 7 or higher and Stompers Knob setting the bar early with a winning score of 9.5 and securing rights to the first plate of dessert after dinner this evening. Finally it was time for the most important announcement of the day – who had been victorious in Sock War last night. Following a thunderous drum roll, our Sultan of Fun Emeritus, Winston Horn, yells into the microphone, “THE BLACK BEARS.” A great start to the summer if you don the tribal colors of black and white. Once the black bears sang their tribal fight song and hymn, we had a brief intermission for the best time, rest time and then onto free time! Junior and intermediate cabin areas got to enjoy a free swim as the clouds broke just in time to give us some sunshine for the remainder of the afternoon.

Once activities were wrapped up for the day, we all headed to the chapel for our session 1A camp picture in which we are all immortalized once framed and hung in the Tuck. Dinner was a camp favorite – fried chicken with mash potatoes, green beans, gravy, and apple turnovers for dessert.

Following dinner, tribal leadership elections were held and a big congratulations are in order for our newest Chiefs, Elders, and Lookouts

Black Bear: Chief – David F, Elder – Tucker L, Lookouts – Sam S & Hez G

Golden Eagles: Chief – Stephen J, Elder – Wes H, Lookouts – Walker S & Andrew C

These young men have an incredible opportunity to lead their respective tribes towards the goal of winning the banner! Their first chance to do so is in the Age of Empires. A game in which the goal is to capture and guard as many bases as possible. These bases are manned by our incredible staff that also choose a theme for the bases ranging from pirates at the Maaaark to the Blue Man Group getting groovy at the beach. We love keeping it fun and interesting here at Camp Timberlake!

With an amazing first day of camp coming to a close with too many highlights to fit into just one blog post, we are all so excited to see the nonstop fun continue all summer long! Camp is back in action and better than ever!

Until tomorrow,

Parker Collins

CIT Director

Mountain Biker extraordinaire

Former Greybeard Counselor

Proud Black Bear