Towering Pines Blog

Even though February is the shortest month, it’s the time of year we pause to recognize the people, places, and experiences we love most. One of the things that shows up with a heart attached, every single time, is camp. Camps across the country recognize how they are loved by campers, staff, families, and alumni with “I Heart Camp” Day, February 1, a moment to reflect on what makes camp special. Not with chocolate or flowers, but with photos. LOTS of them.

I heart camp.

There are so many things I love about Towering Pines. There are the promos that the CITs do at Saturday evening assembly for special events. They come up with the most incredible ideas, wear the craziest costumes and get everyone psyched up for the next day! I absolutely love hearing the counselors give “shout outs” to campers for all of their amazing accomplishments and watching everyone cheer and clap. It gives me a warm grateful feeling every time.

Listening to the waves lapping on the docks as the air is filled with laughter at the waterfront, sunsets on Nokomis, and watching the bald eagle fly over during morning assembly are all things I love about camp. Of course, I also love taco bar, Asian bowls and Drinka’s famous congo bars. My list of what I LOVE about camp could truly go on and on; thinking about it is making me super excited for the upcoming summer!

I also keep coming back to three pretty simple words when I think about this place.

Kids heart camp.

We have written many blogs about youth development, leadership development, time away from screens, living and playing in nature, group living dynamics and our core values.  All part of why we do what we do.

But underneath every framework and philosophy is this basic fact that you probably already know:

Kids love camp.

Not “kids benefit from camp” or “camp is good for kids.”  It’s the talk-about-it-all-year long and count down the days until next summer kind of LOVE!

We heart camp.

And the Camp Woodland/Towering Pines  team spends tons of hours thinking about every little detail of camp. Don’t believe me? Ask Jonathan about programming activities for “Imagine This in ‘2-6” and about hiring the absolute best staff, or Julian and Pipè about the awesome activities for Olympics and celebrating the World Cup, or Angie about getting the many pieces in place for 6 weeks of fun in the Northwoods of Wisconsin!

Those hours matter. The thought, time, and care matter. But sometimes in trying to explain camp, it sounds more complicated than it is. It’s actually super simple. Camp has the just-right mix of stuff (this is a technical camp term) that makes kids (and staff) want to come back year after year.

Friendships, activities, attention, time, care, sports, arts, laughter, nature, songs, mentors. And underneath all of that is the simplest thing of all.

Kids especially heart camp.

Staff heart camp.

We all heart camp.

Happy “I Heart Camp” Day (week, month, and YEAR)!

Inspiration: KE newsletter/blog