Towering Pines Blog
Thanks, Mom (and Dad)!
I am the oldest sibling out of 4, and one of the many things we have in common is that we all went to Camp Towering Pines or Woodland. This post is not just about my siblings, but it is about my whole family. We have always remained close after we had to move to a different country, abandoning our lives to start a new one with no family but Mom, Dad and my brothers and sister around. Our extended family stayed behind and our relationships, while still close, inevitably became harder to sustain.
The only thing that everyone in my immediate family, except my Dad, had in common is that we were camp people. That is correct, my Mother was also a Woodland camper when she was young, heading to this summer paradise in the middle of the Northwoods for 5 years. I consider it pretty hard to believe that a family from Venezuela, currently living in Mexico, is part of a camp family more than 2,000 miles away in Eagle River, Wisconsin. These are the sort of situations that are only created by places as magical as TP or Woodland.
For my Dad it was always difficult to understand why all his kids were so eager for the summer to come to be able to escape to a place miles away where they claimed to have, “SOOOO much fun!” It wasn´t until my youngest sister, Adri, went to camp her first summer that my parents were finally able to go up to camp for a visit. At the time I was already a TP counselor and vividly remember giving my Dad a tour around this special piece of land he had heard so much about but had never actually seen.
I took him to see my cabin first, then we walked around the woods, went to the riflery range, walked through the athletic field, played some tennis, visited the horses, saw all the animals in our zoo, then stopped by Clear Lake and checked out the cabins there. We visited my brother at the crafts hall, walked through the assmebly area and admired the swimming section and the beautiful lake filled with sailboats. Dad even got a chance to shoot a bow and arrow for the first time. Near the end of the tour he turned to my mom and me, and said something I will never forget, “Now I understand why you are all so excited about this place, it is great!” He had only been at TP for about two hours and could already comprehend what all this meant to his family, his camp-loving family.
Unfortunately for my Dad, he willl never get a chance to experience what going to summer camp as a kid is all about. At least after his visit to TP, he knows that he gave his children the opportunity of a lifetime by making sacrifices in order to send them to Towering Pines and Woodland. After having the opportunity to fully live this camp experience, a truly rewarding experience for me, my siblings and my Mom, I always recommend that parents send their kids to summer camp. If they ever happen to ask where, my answer has always been the same since 2003, the year I was first introduced to what I can only describe as the best place on earth. These are the feelings that a loving, fun and entertaining summer camp in the middle of a paradise evoke in a certain family that has been attending for two generations so far and definetely more to come.
Eduardo Silva