Towering Pines Blog

Weekly Camper Achievements for the week of July 23 through July 29, 2018

Chiefs of the Day

This week’s paragons of politeness include:

• Bernardo G-S
• Mitchell F
• Alex E
• Domenic G
• Bernardo H
• Jorge R
• Pablo R

Weekly Camp Special Event – hubba hubba!

Many thanks to our Camp Woodland sisters for hosting the Woodland Fair this past Sunday!

After the Clown Contest, the ladies offered several fun booths:

• Finger nail polish booth.
• Face painting.
• A silly-costume photo booth.
• Hand-churned chocolate ice cream.
• The Pony Express – offering typewritten notes to your crush.
• Bozo Buckets
• A Kissing (on the cheek) Booth – Va va voom!!
• Wedding Booth

Cabin Clean-Up

• Kudos and congrats to Cabin 6, the Men of Cheyenne, for “cleaning up” in this week’s competition! Enjoy that trip to Cathy’s Ice Cream.

Spoon Assassins

Campers Champion: Jorge R.

Yes, the man with the sneer (Jorge R / center) is the 2018 Last Camper Standing

• Special Mention: Mitchell F (left) and Pablo R (right)

Staff & CIT Champion: Aaron Z

Sure, he looks nice, but the man knows how to wield a spoon. Congrats Aaron (center)!

Special Mention: Marcos E (left) Marcos E (right).

SHOOTING SPORTS

Shooting Sports Director Dean H

A special shout-out to the 2018 Towering Pines shooting sports staff!

 In addition to success in the inter-camp competitions, the campers in archery and riflery have passed a lot of ranks this summer.  These ranks are a great measure of progress for the boys, and nicely reinforce the TP mantra, “Children build confidence by building skills.”

From left to right: Marcos E (riflery), Michael C (archery), Emiliano B (riflery), Bryan N (riflery), and James E (archery).

RIFLERY

The ranks below are listed from easiest to most difficult.

Sharpshooter (35 points prone)

• Henry S
• Daniel McH

Bar I (40 points prone)

• Thomas K

Bar II (30 points sitting)

• Thomas K

Bar III (35 points sitting)

• Jorge R

Bar 5 (30 points kneeling)

• Jorge R

Bar 9 (35 points standing)

• Ray Deo

Riflery High Scores (max of 50 points)

• Jorge R shot a 44 sitting.
• Ray Deo shot a 43 standing.
• Pablo E shot a 42 sitting.
• Pablo E shot a 46 sitting.

Riflery Competition

• Congratulations to the TP Riflery Team for their victory over our friendly rivals Red Arrow Camp. The TP team won rather handily, 533 to 452.
• High score for the competition was Ben K, with a 94 (out of a possible 100). Special mention to Domenic G for his score of 93.

Trap Competition

• In a separate competition, the TP Trap team defeated our friends at Red Arrow Camp by score of 54 to 47.

ARCHERY

The ranks below are listed from easiest to most difficult.

Blue Yeoman – 80 points at 30 yards

• Eli W

 Blue Bowman – 120 points at 30 yards

• Andres C
• Santiago C

 Red Yeoman – 80 points at 40 yards

• Bryce B

Red Bowman – 120 points at 40 yards

• Bryce B

Red Archer – 160 points at 40 yards

• Bryce B

Gold Yeoman – 80 points at 50 yards

• Bryce B

Gold Bowman – 120 points at 50 yards

Not here yet, but… Go Bryce!!!

Archery High Scores of the Week

• Bryce B shot a 36 at 40 yards.

Archery Competition

• The gentlemen of Towering Pines respectfully defeated our Woodland sisters in a 13 & Under archery competition, edging out the ladies by a score of 383 to 351.

 SOCCER

• Soccer Player of the Week – Nico R
• Soccer Most Improved – Bernardo H

Soccer Competition – 16 & Under

Coach Aaron (back left); Soccer Coach, Spoon Assassin, and small business owner in the off-season – truly “A Man of All Seasons“.

• In a thrilling overtime game, Red Arrow Camp narrowly defeated Towering Pines 4-3. Superb teamwork, coaching, and sportsmanship were displayed by both teams.

TRAIL BIKING

Trail Bike Rider of the Week

• Sebastian R (the first ever recipient at Towering Pines!)

FISHING*

Emeric holding a 28″ Northern Pike

• Emeric D caught – and the fish was measured twice to confirm the size – a 28” Northern Pike in Lake Nokomis!!
• Ryan G caught a 14” large mouth bass.
• Domenic G caught a 13” large mouth.
• Henry St caught a 10” large mouth bass.
• James W caught a 14” large mouth bass.
• Henry St. caught a 16” small mouth bass.
• Domenic G caught a 10” crappie (FYI, this is the first crappie to make the list in 2018 – nice work Dom!).

*All fish are either put into the camp aquarium for 24 hours (for education and bragging rights) or released immediately back into the lake.

SAILING

• Ethan J earned the rank of Seaman.

Sail Race

• Congratulations to Patricio L-H, Manuel MDC, and Ryan G for completing their first-ever sailing regatta.
• Skipper Thomas K, crewed by Patricio L-H and Ryan G, won a regatta this week. Skipper Manuel MDC and Crew Ethan J came in second.
• Skipper Patricio H-L and Crew Thomas K won a regatta this week. Skipper Manuel MDC, supported by Crew Ethan J, took second.

Dread Pirate Regatta

By skippering his crew to a victory in this week’s DPR…

“Patricio L-H will henceforth be known as…Captain Flying Duckman.”

SWIMMING

Level 5

• Luke N

Level 6 – the highest required level at TP. Completion of Level 6 means the camper no longer needs to take instructional swim.*

• James W

*Level 7 is offered at TP, for campers who wish to further improve their swimming knowledge and technique.

ZOO

Special Outing

Three staff in photo: (from left to right) Staff, Seth, and Eduardo

• The Zoo class took a trip to Camp Woodland this week to hike through the “Enchanted Forest.”
• It’s actually an “old growth forest” that has never been logged / harvested.
• Old growth forests are fully mature, and are also called “climax forests”.
• The size and spacing of the trees makes it feel like a forest on Jurassic Island!

CAMPFIRE

• This week’s campfire was hosted by The Auditor and his two Suave CITs

The Auditor and his Suave CITs were making sure that enough taxes were paid on TP Dollars being spent at the Woodland Fair.

Campfire Performance

• The Cabin 4 skit was a clever pantomime of a day at camp.

Emeric and Lucas reeling in some impressive fish!

Turning a Frog into a Princess Update

Nope, no princess yet… but not for lack of trying!

Weirdest Camper(s) of the Week

• These 3 young men are rightfully proud of their tattoos and painted nails – compliments of the Woodland Fair!

Chris W, Matt S, and Domenic G