CTT: bonfire

I trust your holiday long weekend was a good one. We had an absolutely beautiful day, which ended with a bonfire and some all-camp singing. I have enclosed a couple of pictures, which can not begin to do justice to the gorgeous sunset over the lake and the magical moonrise over Cascade. In a couple of days there will be some video footage of our singing posted on my blog. I am going to be off campus this week visiting with camp and school alumni, and so postings will be intermittent.

CTT: chores

Happy July 4th. Twice a day children do barn chores, and at 5:00 PM everyone is involved in work jobs. It has been a very soggy day, although the weather takes a turn for the better tomorrow. The campers and counselors in the garden are transplanting lettuce. As a somewhat related aside, if you did not see the important story in the New York Times magazine six weeks ago, "The Case for Working With Your Hands," I have enclosed a link so that you may access it. Several of us on campus are reading the book from which the article was excerpted.

Hock

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?_r=1&hpw

CTT: a soggy day

We had some sunny moments, however it was a pretty soggy day, yet camper spirits were high. Eating in the junior camp dining room for lunch, we had my all-time favorite dessert of the year ... Independence Day Dessert! A red-white-blue strawberry and blueberry shortcake. The pictures were all from Juice and Crackers, the afternoon snack on the Lake Hill. Enjoy this long weekend.

CTT: swim lessons

Enjoy these pictures from morning council. Campers had just learned which daily swim group lessons they were in, with formal instruction starting today. Later this evening I will post some video footage (on Hock's blog) from a senior camp day-hike up Snow Mountain. This morning, shortly after council, eight campers and two counselors left for Keene Valley to hike up this wonderful modest peak. While not a 46er, it offers a superb walk along Deer Brook as well as a good vantage point from the summit.

NCS: hello from Hock

I hope all is well and that your children are having a great start to their summer vacation. Camp Treetops has begun and we are full with over 160 campers. As you can see, or more likely, as your NCSer can see, the site work has finished. Roads have been relocated, the traffic round-about installed, infrastructure buried, shrubs and trees landscaped, and grass is growing. Tomorrow the administrative team, contractors, and architects meet to talk about the logistics surrounding the digging of the foundation for the new student residence which will begin during the third week in August. It is all very exciting.

Enjoy the summer.

CTT: lunch preparations

Camp (and school) have long prided themselves on the tasty, nutritious, and appealing meals that we serve. Long before there was an organic, localvore, or slow food movement, Treetops and our founders were committed to those concepts. We use as much fresh produce from our gardens as possible. (We use only organic practices.) Most of our beef is pasture raised from the local Kilcoyne Farms. We raise chickens, turkey, and pork for the table. Your children learn what it means for food to go from farm to fork, and we believe that education enables them to be better adult stewards of their local, regional, and global environments.