Towering Pines Blog

A BIG thank you to our camp families for taking the time respond to our end-of-season survey and giving valuable feedback about the recent summer so that we can continue to improve as we make plans for 2025. Our theme this summer was “Open New Doors in ’24.”  From the comments we received from parents about the transformations noticed at home after spending time at camp, it is obvious that your camper(s) opened the doors wide this summer!

PARENT PERSPECTIVE – OPEN NEW DOORS

Because our survey responses come together for both Woodland and Towering Pines, and many camp families have children at both, they are co-mingled here:

More confident, more knowledgeable in skill areas, learned a lot about friendship; I love that they are outside and active all summer. Making friends and learning problem solving.

They are both taking more ownership and responsibility around the house and they have more confidence in all that they do.

Our son’s independence and maturity is so impressive! I also love that camp affords the opportunity to develop new skills and try new things in a fun, safe, supportive environment.

They love camp – we’ve heard new stories every day they’ve been home. Their confidence grows every summer & they are building incredible friendships. Excellent staff, wide selection of activities to choose from; they feel comfortable & happy at camp.

We loved how well they were taken care of, how they returned so happy and with great friends and memories.

We felt that he grew, he is more patient, and happier overall.

Always comes back to courtesy and kindness and more confidence in themselves.

More mature, happier, more open ** more maturity ** more confident ** more independent, they return very happy; it’s their happy place ** confidence, conflict resolution ** self confidence and overall more open and happy

PARENT PERSPECTIVE – SHARE WITH OTHERS

I shared the TP website with a co-worker and said I feel 100% safe & happy with my daughters at CW and feel their son would love the experience at TP.

A wonderful community ** smaller camps, family run, tight community ** so many opportunities available to the children **  wonderful family run camp without a competitive focus that other camps have ** character building and leadership opportunities along with being outside and NO ELECTRONICS ** 

The camp leadership really knows what they’re doing, the kids love it, and they come home as better, more independent, confident, and capable people.

CAMPER PERSPECTIVE

Towards the end of camp, each camper had the opportunity to share her thoughts on what “opening new doors in ’24” looked like (All campers whose forms we received are included here.).

Cabin 4:  Huron

Pato:  It was cool; Chester:  Awesome; Miles:  Happy; Lorenzo:  Fun and happy; Diego: Fun and very exciting;  JP:  Fun because it was exciting and because Huron was my cabin; Ercole:  Trying new things; Guy:  Trying knee boarding for the first time and getting up for a little bit

Cabin 5:  Mohawk

Alvaro:  It was fun; Warner:  FUN; Pablo:  It looked like the lake while I ski.; Will:  Me getting to 30-yards and being really happy!

Cabin 6:  Cheyenne

Forrest:  Fun; Chase:  Fun; Javi:  A new year for new friends; Manolo:  A new life; Emi:  New places to explore; Tommy:  He drew a very nice door (wink); Charlie:  Fun, fun, fun, more fun and cool; Andres: It was very good!

Cabin 7:  Iroquois 

Andres:  Skiing and fun; Reid:  It was good, but I think last year was better. (Each summer brings its different experiences.); Diego:  Exciting, beautiful and happy; Bosco:  Like an incredible experience with my friends and counselors; JP:  It was really fun and full of memories.; Ro:  An incredible experience that I would like to repeat a lot of times; Jacob:  Really fun; Miguel:  One of my favorite summers

Cabin 8:  Winnebago

Artur:  To do new things that I haven’t yet; Sebas:  Trying new things and being with people I love; Emeric:  Trying new things and getting stronger; Dylan:  Trying something new in ’22 but in ’24 ; ) Ro:  Fun; Henry:  Trying new things and hanging with friends; Conor:  Starting new activities that I haven’t tried before; Lucas:  Trying new things and activities.  Aiden:  New opportunities to try new things

Cabin 11:  Seneca

William L.:  It was the most chill year I’ve ever had at camp.; Alex:  Like a sunshine; Lucio:  Fun;  Alvaro:  Picture of a sailboat (Pretty sure this means a summer filled with sailing!) ; )

Cabin 12:  Apache

Josemi:  Getting to know new people and making new friends.  I had a lot of fun.  Patricio:   It was a new opportunity to know new people and know better the ones that I knew before.; Julian:  sad face (Perhaps sad to leave camp!!) Eli:  Sleeping like a bag of rocks! (LOL); Salvador:  Like making friends that I don’t have and getting more opportunities for different things; Sammy:  A very beautiful drawing of a door!

When I first read the boys’ responses and perspectives, my initial reaction was “Why didn’t they write more?”  “Where are their long detailed replies about what opening new doors in ’24 meant to them?”  As I was typing the campers’ answers in this blog, I had an “aha” moment of my own.   The boys are so busy truly living the camp experience that many (not all) of them don’t want to take the time to stop and write about it They are trying to be present in the moment (even during quiet hour) because they know all too well how quickly our time at camp goes by.  It doesn’t mean that they aren’t reflective or thinking about all of the adventures they’ve had, but rather they are continuing to look forward to opening more new doors.  They are spending quality time with their friends knowing that there will soon come a time when they’ll have to say “so long” and “see ya soon.”

Their replies sent a very important message to me and were a meaningful reminder about why camp is so valuable.  Camp provides opportunities to engage in experiences as they’re happening as well as encouraging us to pause to truly breathe in the beauty of the environment surrounding us.  We hope that the confidence your son(s) gained while at camp continues to challenge them to open new doors as they embark upon this school year. Of course, we’ll be looking forward to seeing all of the growth and hearing about these adventures next summer!

If you haven’t yet registered your children for camp for 2025, now is a great time to reserve spot! If you know of any families who might benefit from the camp experience, we are always grateful for your willingness to share your experiences with them as well.

Register here:  https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com

Angie Ziller

• Camp Mom at TP
• Leadership Staff at TP/Office Manager
• Marketing TP/Woodland
• Leadership Team TP/Woodland
• Assistant Waterfront Director at Woodland
• Counselor at Woodland
• “Building in our hearts fond memories, Towering Pines for you.”