Celebrating our 85th summer with 85 stories! Season 2 Teaser OUT NOW!
Camp is on my mind, and it’s likely on yours if you’re reading this. I’m looking at my 5th summer as director, my 18thsummer doing something with Timberlake, and Timberlake’s 85th summer. Another way to think about my tenue is to pull a line I use in my interviews – I’ve been around so long my former campers have worked for me, and now their former campers have worked for me as well. I’m not old but I am “camp seasoned,” the equivalent of a proud camp grandpa at this point. I absolutely have to avoid using the phrase “back when I was a counselor” when I feel it bubbling up within me, especially when considering back when I was a counselor there was no internet at all for staff at Timberlake, Pine Marten and Bobcats cabins didn’t exist, and we still had “in” and “out” doors in our main lodge. Camp seasoned indeed.
Camp is on my mind when I think about Timberlake through my time and through its 85 years. I see my role as Director as a caretaker of an institution, keeping it healthy and growing, fixing the broken bits and ensuring its vitality and sustainability. It’s mindboggling to think about how many folks have come through Timberlake all these years. I think about it especially when I’m in the Silent Meeting circle. While I know not every person who has been through Timberlake thinks of it as fondly as I do, I do know for many people it’s had a profound influence on who they are today. It’s a place where once you leave you never fully leave. It’s a place where when you come back after that long gap it feels almost like you stepped back in time. It’s a place where after being separated from a camp friend for so long, the moment you pick back up it’s like you didn’t say good-bye that last day. It’s a place of profound, amazing, complicated impact.
For Timberlake, I am declaring this the Year of Impact. It’s a big statement and feels both audacious and sincere – two of the three key Timberlake outcomes (along with interdependence). As we seek to recognize this momentous milestone of 85 summers of magic, we’ll be collecting and featuring 85 stories on our podcast, YouTube channel, Instagram, and TikTok. Do you have a magical memory from camp you’d like to share? And idea for how we can celebrate the 85th? Or curious to get involved this summer? Let me know: jarod@farmandwilderness.org
Finally, Season 2 of the podcast is starting soon! The Teaser trailer is out and then we’ll be mostly weekly after that. This season we’ll be diving deep into impact and hear from more F&W staff about their work, from campers and families about how camp impact them, and a bit of what it takes to make the camp magic happen. Can be found wherever you get your podcasts!