Goooooood Morning, Camp Timberlake!

Today is a neeeewwwww day!

After soaking up an extra glorious hour of sleep this morning, we headed straight for the undeniably best breakfast at camp: cinnamon rolls and bagels with cream cheese. This legendary breakfast was followed by a unique Sunday morning chapel featuring an extra song and having each of our counselors pray over their cabin’s prayer requests.

Once chapel wrapped up, it was a full sprint back to the cabins to kick off cabin cleanup (LET’S GET A 10, TOMAHAWK!) and to snap our cabin photos in our pristine, green Sunday shirts.

The wilderness was calling for us today, so several groups immediately packed their gear and headed out on adventures across these Great Smoky Mountains:

Shredding the Trails: Owen M., Fox S., Oliver F., Gus T., Ellis T., Charles T., Duke A., and Jayse B. all embarked on an overnight mountain biking trip to Rocky Knob to truly test their shredding skills.

Visiting Dace Nation: Lawson M., Andrew B., Bobby D., Covington I., and Reid M. headed out to the river for an intense Dacing (fly fishing) trip

Backpacking the Wilderness: Later in the afternoon, some intermediate campers launched an epic overnight backpacking trip featuring Garrett L., Harley T., Angelo G., Everett T., Jude V., Grayson S., Owen L., Edison Z., and Owen B.

Bullseye Bound: Last, but certainly not least, a group of brave, daring, and sharp campers marched over to our sister camp, Merri Mac, to represent Timberlake in the annual Archery Tournament. Those brave men included Tucker L., Stephen J., Harrison C., Peter K., Reed P., Adams H., David F., and Kenny C. (Let’s bring home the gold, boys!)

On Sundays, we don’t follow our regular schedule so campers get to choose their own adventure! After cabin cleanup, campers flocked to the beach for sandcastle building contests, hit the courts for basketball and pickleball free play, built epic forts, and cast some lines fishing on our beautiful Lake Newcomb.

Another massive draw this morning was our legendary and highly prestigious Disc Golf tournament, Sunday at the Masters. And the winners were: Andrew S, Eli F and Sam Henry W!

After a morning packed with that much fun, we headed back to the Tuck for a great meal of pulled pork, baked beans and salad. When the cabin inspection scores were announced it was Little Slaty and Greybeard who came out on top, with both cabins scoring a spick and span 9.5. We also announced the winner of last night’s senior camp tribal game, Ultimate Basketball. And the winner was….The Golden Eagles!

After lunch we had a special surprise for our campers, ice cream sundaes! Ice cream sundaes on a Sunday were followed by the absolute BEST hour of the day, REST HOUR! Sunday has many great parts, but a full rest hour easily makes the top three.

Once we were all rested up, we launched into another long free period. I, of course, posted up down by the lake for Trading Post and an elite, full-camp free swim. Pickleball tournaments and basketball were also a major draw for the guys who wanted to put their athleticism to the ultimate test. The pickleball winners were Eli F and Sam Henry W (big day for those boys!) and the basketball winners were Wills W and Owen G. Congrats!

After free time, we all trekked up to the Mark for another legendary Sunday tradition: the cookout. We feasted on hot dogs, cheeseburgers, chips, watermelon, cookies, and the truly underrated side of kale pasta salad.

With full stomachs, we headed back down to the chapel for Vespers. The legendary (and musically unmatched) Black Mountain Oysters played us some absolute sing-along bangers, and we were treated to hilarious camper and staff skits. After the performances, a few chapel songs, and a true story to close out the day, Junior and Intermediate camps headed back to the cabins to get ready for bed.

Senior camp, however, wasn’t quite done. They geared up for 2 legendary games to continue the fierce, high stakes battle for the Session 1 banner! Lower cul-de-sac played tribal basketball and upper cul-de-sac played tribal soccer. Who will reign victorious you might ask? All will be revealed on the closing day ceremony. 

All in all, today was another amazing, action-packed, yet restful Sunday here at Camp Timberlake. We cannot wait for another amazing week of the 1B session to begin! I also want to give a huge shoutout and say Happy Father’s Day to all of the great Dads out there, from all of us here at Timberlake.

Until Next Time, Timberlake!

Trevor Francis 

Tomahawk Counselor 

Waterfront Director 

Admiral of the Free Swim

Lamb Gyros Enthusiast 

Proud Black Bear