Category: Overnight Summer Camp

Thanks for being the Best Summer Camp!

Posted on by Jami

The second session of summer camp in 2022 could not have been as successful without our CIT2’s! They did an outstanding job planning activities, putting campers to bed, and keeping traditions alive! These campers have always been excited about visiting the best summer camp in West Virginia and some of them wanted to say a thank you to camp for all their years as campers. Be prepared you might shed some tears!

Tessy Schreyer

Being a camper at Camp Tall Timbers has made my summers incredible. There are many things I love about this camp, but one thing I appreciate the most are the people I have met here. Everyone is open to making new friends, and you really have the chance to get to know all types of amazing people. I have definitely met some of the funniest and most creative people here. A group I am especially grateful for is my tent group. Living with these girls and getting to know them has given me a set of amazing friendships. I have known most of these girls for years and have had the pleasure of getting closer and closer with them each summer. I surely will not forget all the late night talks and laughs we have had. I am thankful for all the experiences I have had at Camp Tall Timbers.

Chase Lissak

My 6 years at camp were some of the best times of my life. It helped me interact with so many people from different walks of life that I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet anywhere else. I learned how to be more independent and spend some time away from home. I appreciate and have so much respect for the counselors who helped make each year so fun and memorable. I will miss all of it so much but I’m so glad I took the time out of each summer to go. I believe I would not be the same person I am today if it wasn’t for camp and I’m so grateful for it.

Sammy Lemar

The biggest thank you to Camp Tall Timbers for shaping some of the most amazing friendships and for introducing me to the girls who are basically my sisters. Thank you for giving me a place to be myself with no judgment. Thank you for giving me a community of support that I know will be there forever. And finally, thank you for the memories and the laughs that I will never forget.

Lawson Sipple

I appreciate camp because I enjoy seeing all of my friends come back and making new ones. I have been going to camp for five years now, and will hopefully be coming back as a counselor. I have never been bored at camp, and Emma and Glenn do a great job running camp and try their best to make sure everyone is safe and always having fun.

Sydney Seiler

This camp makes my entire year better and I can’t imagine not coming back as a camper next year. They say that this camp allows you to get “away from the everyday” and they couldn’t be more right. When I’m here, all my everyday worries, anxieties, and fears suddenly disappear and it’s amazing. I’m trying to soak up the last few days I have here and I’m really going to miss the pure joy I feel every day at this camp. 

Becca Adlin

Camp Tall Timbers has taught me so many special things, not only that have helped me here but also in the real world. As a camper, I have met the greatest people and learned a lot about myself. There is so much I will miss about camp, but most of all I will miss spending every day with my best friends. 

Silvana Yunda

I never understood how people could get so close to each other by just being together for three weeks each year, and I used to think that I would never have a friendship like the ones in movies. Until I came to camp for a second year, and realized that is all about trusting each other and being yourself no matter what. And like these, I understood that I have created a family because even though I don’t know everyone for long everyone has made me feel like part of the best community. The worst part of getting the best friends possible here, is saying goodbye, and not knowing when you’re going to see them again, but I just know that we are forever. 

Bruno Becker

Going to summer camp has been the most important part of my summer for four years now and I’m definitely going to miss it a ton. Meeting people and living with them forms a strong bond between you, and some of the friends I’ve made at camp will continue to be my friends for the rest of our lives. Thank you to Camp Tall Timbers for providing me with the opportunity to make these wonderful friendships, to the counselors for being role models that I still look up to, and most importantly all of the amazing people I’ve met at camp. 

Read about the fun our campers have had this year at Camp Tall Timbers summer camp, when the camp went to the wild west!

Summer Camp Adventure, oh-my!

Posted on by Jami

Pirate, Cowboy, Alien, Ninja Day: The Sequel: The Robots Strike Back!

Adventure awaits at summer camp and this past Saturday was no exception.  Activities included Pirate, Cowboy, Alien, Ninja Day: The Sequel: The Robots Strike Back!

Last year was the 100th Pirate-Cowboy-Alien-Ninja Olympics, yet the robots were unhappy because they were not invited to participate and therefore, decided to launch an attack on the Olympic council headquarters demanding a place in the 2494 games! Therefore, the pirates, cowboys, aliens, and ninjas had to defend their sacred games against the robots! A summer camp adventure indeed!

To prepare for their battle against the robots they went through a series of training activities!

  • Pirate Training: Greasy Watermelon
    • Be the first team to get the greasy watermelon into the canoe!
  • Cowboy Training: Archery
    • Be the team to pop the most balloons on the targets!
  • Ninja Training: Climbing
    • Be the team with the most people to get up the climbing wall!
  • Alien Training: Code Cracking
    • Be the team to decipher the alien code in the quickest amount of time!
  • Robots Training: Maze
    • Be the team with the quickest time to find all 6 dodgeballs and move through the maze!
  • Gauntlet: Relay Race
    • Be the team to complete the relay in the fastest amount of time, which consisted of sliding down the slip-n-slide, grabbing a bucket of water, jumping over three benches, weaving through torches, throwing the bucket of water at your team leader to wash shaving cream off them, climbing under two benches, climbing across the balance beam, and returning the bucket!
  • Robothunt
    • Robots (CIT2’s) have invaded: you have 5 minutes to hide and don’t get found!

In the end, the robots short-circuited from the rain, and they were defeated. Yet, one team really outdid the others throughout training and the robot hunt and won: the Cowboys (Bruno, Sydney Seiler, Sammy Lemar, Charlie, Grayson, Jake, Archie, David, Ashton, Malcolm, Theo, Sammy Davis, Alexa, Kyra, Grace, Poppy, Chloe, and Adele)!

Stay tuned for more summer camp adventures with GMTT highlighting this fierce competition! 

Signing off with a Can-do Attitude 🙂

Jami Siegal

Want to learn more? Read about some of our other summer camp adventures!

CIT2’s host Monopoly Night!

Posted on by Jami

Friday night’s evening activity was a twist on the classic game Monopoly with our CIT2’s!

Our very own CIT2’s (Sammy, Tessy, Becca, Sydney, Silvana, Mikayla (Micky), Anna, Chase, Bruno, Alex, Lawson, and Ben) planned and ran this new activity and it was an immense success and will be continued in the future!

Once the bell rang, campers were sorted into seven teams consisting of a monopoly piece: top hat, thimble, car, dog, battleship, iron, and shoe.

These pieces then moved around to different properties to partake in activities and if they were the best team overall they gained money. Another way to gain, or potentially lose, money was by being stopped by cops. They gave teams challenges to complete, such as running around the baseball bases or art shack in a particular amount of time, and if the team completed these tasks they were able to gain a chance card! However, if they were unable to complete the task they would be sent to jail and not be allowed to participate in the next station.

Properties and their Activities:

  • Reading Railroad: Red Light, Green Light
  • Boardwalk: Basketball shots from the edge of the pool
  • Marvin Gardens: Pictionary
  • Baltic Ave: Recreate the Monopoly board by memory
  • St. James Place: Trivia
  • Pacific Ave: Frisbee Golf
  • Free Parking: Name that Tune

Once all of the pieces stopped at each property they were able to pick a box in order of the team with the highest amount of money to lowest. Yet, there was a twist! Some boxes held punishments instead of prizes. These boxes consisted of dippies, cleaning a cabin, cleaning all of the tables in the dining hall, pieing the CIT2’s in the face, pushing the CIT2’s into the pool, CIT2’s serving the team lunch, and pieing admin in the face!

As the session progresses we look forward to seeing all that these CIT2’s are capable of!

Signing off with a Can Do Attitude 🙂

Jami Siegal

PS. Hear directly from our campers about how they feel about summer camp!

Jived Through the Genres!

Posted on by Jami

Tuesday night we jived through the genres for our evening activity!

Each cabin/tent group was assigned a specific music genre during lunch and was tasked with creating a skit/dance including music from their specific genre, during rest hour, free swim, and after dinner.

Once the bell rang each cabin/tent group was able to perform for the camp and the judges, who were special guests: Big Time Rush! Carlos was the crowd’s favorite judge reacting to each performance with taps on his helmet, each time it was longer than one before cheering roared through the gym!

Girl’s Side:

  • Cabin B: Hiphop
  • Cabin G: EDM
  • GT Group 1: Alternative
  • GT Group 2: Metal
  • GT Group 3: Showtunes

Boy’s Side: 

  • Cabins 1 & 2: Pop
  • Cabin 3: Rock
  • Cabin 7: Country
  • Cabin 8: RnB
  • BT: Classical

It was an ambitious competition ending with Cabin 7 (Hugh, Jacob, Heath, Zach, Ryan, and David), taking home their second skit win of the session, Cabin 3 (Alexander, Thomas, Kai, Jonathan, and Ashton) in second place, and Girls Tents Group 1 (Kyra, Shawnie, Morgan, Skylar, Serena, Maura, and Grace) in third! These kids worked hard, jived through the genres, and had a laughing good time! All of us here at Camp Tall Timbers are proud of all their hard work and their commitment to fun! 

Be on the lookout for a GMTT of this jiving night coming soon! 

Signing off with a Can Do Attitude 🙂

Jami Siegal

PS. We’re having so much fun here every week during summer camp! Read about some of our favorite activities! There are many reasons why Camp Tall Timbers is the best summer camp in West Virginia, click the learn to learn a few of them today! We’ve jived through the genres this week, what will we do next? Stay tuned to find out!

We’re ‘Fired Up’ For Second Session!

Posted on by Jami

As we sadly said goodbye to our first session campers, we happily welcomed our second session campers here at your favorite Summer Camp in West Virginia – Camp Tall Timbers!

Second Session 2022: July 11, 2022

The three week session has an abundance of returning campers who were extremely excited to see each other, and some new faces who have quickly acclimated to camp life and have already made new friends! 

After a bustling morning of camper arrivals we had a yummy lunch and unpacked and then moved on to our introductory camp activities. The weather was sunny so we were able to have campers swim, play tennis, do challenge games, archery, and meet the nurse all while bonding with their cabin/tent mates.

Our evening activity was the famous welcome campfire at the lake where we all sang camp songs, learned the friends song and CTT hug, and made skits to introduce ourselves. Each skit had to include a random object given to them and use it not for its intended use and everyone’s names. It was a close competition but boys’ tents won (Quinn, Adam, Carter, Chase, Bruno, Alex, Lawson, Grayson, Charlie, Frederick, Graham, and Ben), followed by cabin 7 for second (Hugh, Jacob, Heath, Zach, Ryan, David), and Cabin B for third (Rachel, Abigail, Adele, Chloe, Guinevere, and Juliana). This fun night was concluded by each cabin/tent group making s’mores!

Keep a look out for a ‘Good Morning Tall Timbers’ later this week for video footage of this night! 

Signing off with a Can-do Attitude 🙂

Jami Siegal    

Up Next! Jiving through the genres with your favorite summer camp in West Virginia! We’re having more fun, sharing more laughs and enjoying more summer moments at Camp Tall Timbers. Be sure to visit our camp registration page to get enrolled for our upcoming camp summer camp!

Avenger’s Day!

Posted on by Jami

On Saturday we had Avenger’s Day here at Camp Tall Timbers – the premier summer camp for teenagers- where Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, and Thor had to prove themselves worthy to take over the vacancy for director of the Avengers, after the passing of Nick Fury, by collecting all six infinity stones in their respective trials: space, time, mind, soul, reality, and power.

Space Stone

The first trial being a canoe race at the lake. 

Time Stone

Campers competed in a relay race where they had to spin ten times around a baseball bat, run through cones, jump over and go under a bench, and finish by running up a soapy slip n slide. 

Soul Stone

Campers had to dive into the pool two at a time and find pennies at the bottom of the pool without being tapped with a kickboard by the hulk. 

Mind Stone

Campers could gain points by guessing the name and artist after listening to just a few seconds of the song, during name that tune. 

Power Stone

Campers were challenged by smashing a frozen t-shirt and thawing it enough for one camper to wear it before the other teams.

Reality Stone

Each team picked four teammates to create a comic strip of how their Avenger became the director of the avengers, which they presented to the camp before the S.H.I.E.L.D. Ball.

To end this super day we had a S.H.I.E.L.D. Ball where campers dressed up and danced to celebrate Captain America becoming the new director for the avengers. 

A GMTT will be out later this week to showcase how spectacular this Saturday activity was!

Signing off with a Can do Attitude 🙂

Jami Siegal

Ps. Camp Tall Timbers is the premier summer camp for teenagers in the DC area. Read about some of the other fun we’ve been having this summer! Be sure to register for summer camp today to ensure you’re kids have the best summer ever!

Welcome Back to your Home Away from Home- outdoor summer camp!

Posted on by Jami

Camp Tall Timbers is back for the season and we’re kicking off your favorite outdoor summer camp with all sorts of fun and engaging activities for campers of all ages!

First Session 2022: June 26th, 2022

We’ve been waiting for you all year and we are so glad you are finally here!

Hi CTT family my name is Jami Siegal and this is my 10th year at camp! I’m a marketing major at the University of Pittsburgh so I will be keeping all you updated on our summer endeavors through blogging and our social media pages!

Today we welcomed our first wave of Tall Timbers campers after an extremely successful week of hosting Camp Oasis with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation!

After parent drop off and lunch we rotated cabins through a series of activities to introduce campers to the pool, tennis courts, infirmary, and the arts of challenge and archery. However, rain quickly rolled in and those activities changed to arts and crafts, gaga ball, and tennis in the gym. 

During free swim campers finished packing since the weather was not in our favor and then that was followed by a fan favorite dinner of pasta and pizza! Then everyone headed down to the lake for a campfire. We began by singing campfire songs and learning the famous CTT hug and friends song. This was then followed by every cabin having to create a skit including their names and a random object such as a horse shoe, cone, racket, lacrosse stick, etc. Yet, these objects could not be used for their intended use. In the end, it was a tie between Cabin 1 and A and the night ended by toasting marshmallows and eating our delicious smores!

Keep a look out for a ‘Good Morning Tall Timbers’ later this week for video footage of the amazing skits and fire!

Although amid rain we are having an amazing first session so far!

Signing off with a Can do Attitude 🙂

Jami Siegal    

PS. Camp Tall Timbers is so proud to continue to serve the community year after year with the very best outdoor summer camp in the Washington DC & Virginia area. With all sorts of fun and engaging activities for campers of all ages Camp Tall Timbers is your #1 choice for outdoor summer camp every year! Want to read more about the fun we’re having? Check out this blog!

Giving the Gift of Camp at Camp Tall Timbers

Posted on by Glenn Smith

 

From Christmas to Kwanzaa, Hanukkah to New Years, and birthdays scattered throughout, the winter months always bring with them the gift giving season. If any of these special occasions have you searching for the perfect gift for your child, consider giving the gift of camp at Camp Tall Timbers this summer! We’re sure the gift of camp is going to bring a smile to your child’s face because the best gifts really aren’t objects at all— they’re experiences. It’s not just us saying it; there’s a significant amount of scientific research backing up the fact that humans form richer, stronger memories tied to adventures and experiences compared to memories attributed to material objects. 

A Gift that Keeps on Giving

For starters material goods break and wither over time, while the memories and friendships made at camp can last a lifetime. With that being the case, the gift of camp truly is a gift that keeps on giving for your child. What’s most exciting is that this isn’t just a one-off gift, it’s the beginning of something much greater than that. The aforementioned scientific research conducted by Thomas Gilovich with the Cornell Department of Psychology, concludes that people may think about future experiences in more abstract ways, which actually makes them seem more significant and more gratifying. As we enter the height of the harsh winter months, we think it is especially important to give your child something great to look forward to. What better way to beat the cold than to daydream of warm days out on the lake or horseback riding in the summer sunshine!

An Experience Entirely Unique to your Child 

Some of Gilovich’s earlier studies show that another reason that experiences are a better purchase for attaining happiness is that people are less likely to compare their experience to someone else’s. Looking at it from a different angle helps to demonstrate why this is the case. Would you rather have a higher salary that is lower than that of your peers, or a lower salary that is higher than your peers? Though this is a fairly subjective question, researchers found that the large majority of people would choose to have a lower salary that is higher in comparison to their peers. This is because of the way humans are hardwired to think. We are predisposed to compare our material possessions to others in order to determine our own relative worth or value. For kids, it can be the same story with Holiday presents. Kids are very likely to compare their gifts to others, with material gifts like bikes or new game systems constantly being flaunted for superiority. Conversely, researchers found the opposite was true for experiences with most people opting to take more vacation time even if it was lower than what their peers received. This shows that experiences can’t be compared from one person to another and thus actually have more innate value. Your child’s camp experience will be completely unique to them. It will carry its own value that is so special to them that it cannot possibly be diminished through the usual tactic of comparisons that happens with material gifts. 

Sharing the Gift of Camp at Camp Tall Timbers

Even though each child’s camp experience is entirely unique, it doesn’t mean that the gift of camp is something to consider exclusively for your child. For many with a strong sense of community, giving season goes beyond gifts just for family. Recommend the gift of camp to friends, neighbors, fellow PTA parents, and anyone else you know who can brighten their child’s life with the gift of camp.

Whether you plan on sharing the gift of camp with your own family or others close to you, Camp Tall Timbers is here to answer all of your questions along the way to ensure that every camper has the best experience possible. For questions, please contact us at (301) 874-0111 or email us at info@camptalltimbers.com so that we can help you provide memories to last a lifetime this holiday season. 

A Drive Away from the Everyday at Camp Tall Timbers Summer Camp

Posted on by Glenn Smith

 

Located in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia, Camp Tall Timbers summer camp provides a summer getaway where boys and girls ages 7-16 can come to unwind, enjoy the great outdoors, and make new friends along the way. Our camp experience promotes independence, socialization, skill-building, confidence, creativity, and self-discovery in a safe and nurturing environment. We are proud of the fact that families across the country entrust us to take care of their children and provide them with this experience. We work hard to have a national presence, but we are especially proud to have become a top summer destination for campers from Mid-Atlantic states. Exploring A drive away from the everyday, we wanted to take a look at a few of the benefits that families in the region stand to gain from sending their kids to a sleep away camp near home. 

Easy access grants peace of mind 

Camp Tall Timbers is a convenient drive from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, and Dulles Airport. Our convenient location makes camp a breeze to get to and that accessibility is a major benefit for our families on many levels. For starters, it cuts down on drive time making the trip to and from camp each year as easy as possible on our campers— with a scenic drive along the way to boot! We also find that our accessibility gives our campers and families the peace of mind to be able to enjoy a worry-free summer. One of the greatest benefits sleep away camp provides is the restored sense of independence that it instills in a young child being away from home. Becoming more independent is an extremely important part of every child’s life journey. As liberating as it is to be off on their own for the summer, it can be stressful for younger children at the same time. At Camp Tall Timbers, we provide our Mid-Atlantic campers with a taste of true independence without having them feel like they are completely out on their own. In the case of an emergency, campers and parents could still be together within a few hours drive— Not that we ever anticipate emergency situations, but then again who does. It is a fine line to tow, but the goal is to let the campers feel like they are off on their own in the camp bubble, while also knowing that there is a safety net to fall back on should an issue arise. Our central location gives Camp Tall Timbers the perfect happy medium of the two, so that parents and campers in the DMV and greater Mid-Atlantic region can enjoy their summers apart without worry. Our location is also great for the pocketbook compared to the travel costs some families run into when forced to use planes, trains, and buses to get their children to their final destination. Being a drive away saves money getting to and from camp at the bookends of each session, plus additional trips for family weekends or other parental visits. 

Friendships that last 

Camp Tall Timbers summer camp is also not just about any one camper; it is a social experience. Camp provides kids with chances to make new friendships that can last a lifetime, and we think those bonds are even stronger when we are able to pull campers from such similar areas around the Mid-Atlantic. Campers from the same areas arrive on day 1 already sharing common-ground, and these shared experiences make it easier to bond and form friendships. For some, it could be a love of the same sports team. For others, long days and weekend trips spent at their favorite destinations like Hershey Park or Shenandoah Valley. Even down to a shared love for cracking crabs and spending time out on the Chesapeake, we see every summer how these little connections can go a long way building social relationships between campers. 

We care about our campers, and we want their camp connections to be meaningful. The best friendships are the ones that carry on even after the sessions have ended, which is why it is such a big plus for our campers when they make friends who are from the same areas as they are. It allows them to be together year-round, linking up in the winter and spring months for fun events like camp reunions, weekend trips, and birthday parties. Even after their time at Camp Tall Timbers comes to an end, we still see our campers staying in touch and finding ways to meet up with other camp alums in their area.  

Nestled in the scenic heart of Hampshire County, Camp Tall Timbers provides our camp families with an accessible drive away from the everyday. If you are a parent in the Mid-Atlantic region looking for a sleepaway camp that near by, where your child can make lasting memories and lifelong friendships, look no further than Camp Tall Timbers. Visit our Summer Sessions page to learn more about our rates and dates for this upcoming summer.