Hey Island Lake Families! Wow, 1 more full day left in this session before our first changeover day on Thursday. I cannot believe how fast session 1 has flown by! For those of you with children coming home on Thursday, I hope they have only amazing ILC experiences to share with you.

Last night’s younger children’s play, “Oklahoma”, was a huge success! Wow, we have some talented children at this camp. Their acting skills, with their southern accents, entertained the audience throughout the show. Those little ones truly sang, acted, and danced their hearts out. I hope you enjoy the photos posted on our website.

Yesterday our 5^th & 6^th grade boys played in a 1-day soccer tournament against several other camps in Wayne County and we came in 2^nd place! We’re so proud of our boys for doing so well!

Today in sports, we hosted an 8^th & 9^th grade boys’ volleyball tournament here at Island Lake. Lots of other camps attended and played all day long. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls went out of camp to play in a basketball tournament and they said they had an absolute blast. A few of our avid golfers went out on a trip to a nearby golf course. Our future generation of Tiger Woods’ are working hard, both here at camp at our driving range, as well as out on a local golf course in the area.

Our skateboard and rollerblade kids competed in our Skatepark Competition today which we host for our campers at the end of each session. Campers of all levels competed in rollerblading and skateboarding to show off their mad skills they developed over the course of the past 2½ weeks.

Today’s special feature is HORESEBACK RIDING!

Tonight’s evening activity is our highly anticipated Circus Show, followed by ETB (early to bed). Woohoo! A good night’s rest for our campers! But anyway, back to the show,…I’m excited to see all that our campers have learned throughout the session under the big top tonight.   I’ll deliver to you a full report on the Circus Show tomorrow. Until then, ILC U THERE!

Wow, we can’t believe that session 1 is drawing to an end in a few days. Didn’t camp just begin? Time sure does fly when you’re having fun. And fun is indeed what’s being had here at Island Lake. There’s tons of spirit here at camp, both from our beloved Bunk Cup as well as in the dining room cheering during the meals. Every day something new and exciting occurs and we LOVE it!

Last night’s Dance Show and Magic Show were both AMAZING! Our kids did such a fabulous job performing on stage. The girls were so graceful and danced beautifully to well choreographed numbers. Our magicians came in all ages and sizes, both boys and girls, and never ceased to amaze the audience with their abracadabra skills. It was an entertaining night in the ILC theater.

Today in sports our 8^th & 9^th grade boys played soccer out of camp. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls played lacrosse out of camp this morning, as well. The 6^th & 7^th grade girls soccer team played here at home this morning. Lastly our 5^th & 6^th grade boys played soccer out of camp this afternoon. It’s always an added bonus that we won several of these games! Woohoo!

All session our tennis program has been running an ILC Open where the kids of all levels play on a bracket and the winners advance until we finally reach a winner in all skill levels. The ILC Open is still going on. Today we also hosted an ILC Open here at camp for our archery kids.

Tonight we have a pioneering overnight for our campers who take it as a major and have learned how to orienteer, pitch a tent, cook, and camp under the stars. They’ll be heading to Tent City, which is about a mile hike from our ropes course area on camp.

So as to not sound like we’re only all about sports, our theater campers are busy rehearsing and preparing for their upcoming performances. Tonight we have our younger camper show, “Oklahoma”. We know this is going to be fantastic, as our theater director and tech director are amazing. Their staff creates wonderful sets, costumes, and lighting design.

Tomorrow night is our always anticipated and never a disappointment, fantastic, unbelievable, greatest show on earth,…the Island Lake Circus Show! It always amazes us what these children can learn to do in only a couple of weeks’ time and rehearsal. Even after 30 years, I’m still in awe by our circus shows.

Wednesday afternoon we will have our big session 1 Rock Concert. Wednesday night is our older camper performance of “Zombie Prom.” Lots to look forward to over the course of these next several days during our performance week here at ILC.

Today’s special feature is CIRCUS. Tonight is “Oklahoma, “ which I’ll be sure to tell you all about tomorrow. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Happy Pajamas Day! We hosted our first official theme day today and lots of our campers sported their pajamas and onesies. Below are several photos I took at lunch to showcase our campers in their bedtime best.

It was a good day to wear long pj pants around camp because the temps didn’t warm up past the upper 60’s. Quite strange how the temps shot down like this in July but hey, it beats crazy heat and humidity that many of you are probably experiencing close to NYC and the NY metro area this summer. Tomorrow it’ll warm up close to 80 degrees once again here in the 18462. But back to today, we also experienced some on and off rain throughout the afternoon hours, but it wasn’t heavy nor did it last too long.

Below are photos of our campers looking all cute in their pajamy-jams and in their onesies at lunchtime today. Enjoy the pics!

Tonight’s evening activity is a double whammy. We have our ILC Magic Show combined with our Dance Show. We’re looking forward to kicking off our Performance Week tonight. Until tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

Happy Rookie Day! Today we had a handful of future Island Lakers come to camp and receive the royal ILC treatment by experiencing several activities and dining with us for lunch. These children made friends with other rookies, in addition to our current campers. Some rookies are younger siblings of our campers and some rookies are the first in their family to get a taste of what Island Lake has to offer. The first Rookie Day was today and our second one is next Saturday, July 16^th. If you or any of your friends are interested in having your young child experience ILC for a day in the life of a camper, just give us a call. We’d be happy to have your younger one join us here at camp for the day.

Although we didn’t have the best of weather today, our campers and rookies made the best out of what they were given. We woke up to misty rain and some fog, which stayed with us until lunch when a thunderstorm rolled through Starrucca. The rain stayed with us for a large portion of the day, but by snack break the skies cleared and the sun made its cameo appearance. We were able to end our Rookie Day with a pool party, which was a lot of fun for the kids. The rain unfortunately returned right as the pool party was ending so our rookies were able to have some fun in the sun while it lasted. (This weather forecast has been brought to you by Wendy B. Stravitz, your Island Lake meteorologist!!! Lol!!!)

This yucky weather got in the way of some special events that were supposed to take place today. We were going to send our water enthusiasts on a tubing trip down the Delaware River, but we’ll have to reschedule it for another day before this session ends. We also had to postpone some outdoor intercamp games, such as our 6^th & 7^th grade girls’ tennis, 6^th & 7^th grade boys lacrosse, and 8^th & 9^th grade boys hockey.

Last night our evening activity was a 2-parter. First we announced the winners of our annual ILC Session 1 Bunk Cup, followed by everyone’s favorite surprise evening activity,…Revival Night! As always, Revival was a hit. Here’s a run down of our Bunk Cup finalists. On the girls side, in 4^th place was girls bunk 8, 3^rd place was G21, and in 2^nd place was G24. The overall winner of Bunk Cup on the girls’ side was,…drum roll please,…GIRLS BUNK 20!!! Woohoo! Yay!

And now on the boys side, in 4^th place was B24, 3^rd place was B21, 2^nd place was B12, and the winner on the boys side was,…drum rolls,….BOYS BUNK 22! The overall big winner of bunk cup, for both the boys and the girls side was,…..BOYS BUNK 22!!! (Cheers from the croud!) B22 brought home the large gold bunk cup trophy, along with unlimited bragging rights for the rest of the summer. Go B22! We’re proud of you guys!!!

Today’s special feature is none other than our ROOKIE DAY! Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS! Due to the on and off rain all day, each group’s activity is still up in the air, weather pending. We’ll have to decide on each group’s evening activity shortly before it begins. I’ll try to fill you in on what each group does in tomorrow’s blog. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

Today we were back to our majors and minors once again. Yesterday’s Lazy Day was a nice break from our regular schedule but today we’re back to our regular routine. It’s been another warm day at camp with some mixed skies- clouds and sun on and off. No complaints about this summer’s weather since hardly any activities have been affected by rain. Woohoo!

Lots of sporting events went on here at camp and out of camp today. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls tennis team played extremely well and all won their matches here at home this morning. Our 6^th & 7^th grade girls lacrosse team also had a home game this morning. We had 2 soccer games this afternoon for 6^th & 7^th grade boys and 8^th & 9^th grade boys. It was another big day of sports for our Island Lakers.

Today we also have our once a session river trip. Our canoe and kayak campers spend the day going down the Delaware River and then camp out for the night at nearby camping grounds. I’m looking forward to receiving feedback tomorrow from these kids regarding how fun this trip was.

In Bunk Cup news, lots of bunks have been challenging one another to friendly competitions. Department heads and group leaders have been giving out bunk cup points for a variety of different activities. Our campers are still excited to be in this friendly camp-wide competition.

Evening activity tonight is everyone’s favorite, most anticipated secretive activity of the summer. No, it’s not Color War! Here’s a hint,…it takes place down at the waterfront. All parents of returning campers should know exactly what I’m talking about. Those of you new to ILC will for sure hear about this activity when your child returns home. Oh ok, I’ll tell you. Evening activity is Revival night!!! I can tell you now since emails were already printed and post-dinner phone calls have been made so the surprise cannot be ruined for the kids.

Today’s special feature is a wide variety of the evening activities that took place last night. The pictures came out so cute that I just had to post some of them here on the blog. Enjoy, have a great Friday night (it is Friday, right? Hard to keep track here at camp!), and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Hey Island Lake families! It’s hard to believe we’re already 1½ weeks into summer. Time sure flies when we’re having fun! All of us here at ILC hope you’re enjoying all of our social media updates so you can feel as if you are part of the excitement at camp this summer. As a reminder, you can find us on the following websites:

1. Daily blogs here on our website
2. Daily tweets on Twitter (twitter.com/IslandLakeCamp)
3. Short videos on our Facebook page (facebook.com/IslandLakeCamp)
4. And of course, our daily photos and weekly videos through your CampMinder account.

Today was Lazy Day so our campers slept in and we had a big brunch at 10:30am. Groups 1&2 (our 6^th grade and younger campers) went to see “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” which they appeared to have enjoyed. Groups 3&4 (7^th grade and up) went to the bowling alley where they bowled, bumper bowled, and ran around playing arcade games. They, too, had a great time.

Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS! Here’s a breakdown of what everyone is doing: Boys Group 1- they’re putting on an Ugly Fashion Show with girls group 1. I, personally, am looking forward to attending this evening activity to see what creative outfits these kids come up with: Boys Group 2- Cupcake Wars: Boys Group 3- pool party with girls group 3: Boys Group 4- they having an Egg Hunt, Island Lake style.

On the girls side, Girls Group 1- Ugly Fashion Show with boys group 1: Girls Group 2- Minute 2 Win It (just like the tv game show): Girls Group 3- Pool Party with boys group 3: Girls Group 4- Great Imposter game. This consists of each bunk bringing a laundry bag of items to the location where the activity takes place. The group leader will give them the name(s) of a famous person (or people) or hey, even people here at camp, and then each bunk has to pull items out of their laundry bag to dress up like those people and put on a skit to go along with it.

Today we experienced a mish mosh of weather here at camp. We had sun, we had clouds, we had rain, we had more sun,…the sky just couldn’t make up its mind so it kept us on our toes.

Since today was lazy day, I don’t have any special feature photos to post. I promise to be back with more on tomorrow’s blog. We’ll also post pictures from the movies and bowling alley tomorrow on our CampMinder photo page marked with today’s date. Stay tuned and until then, ILCUTHERE!

It was another beautiful day in Starrucca, PA today. We’ve been extremely lucky with the weather so far this summer. The weather gods have been listening to our sweet prayers and are blessing us with warm temps and beautiful skies.

Last night’s Island Lake Idol was a huge success. A camper from each group sang their heart out and you will be shocked to hear who our winner was. It was a little girl from girls group 1! Her name is Alexa W. and she was absolutely AMAZING! She sang so beautifully well that she could seriously be a contender on America’s Got Talent or American Idol for children! The entire camp was in awe by how this strong yet beautiful voice could come from such a young adorable camper in girls bunk 1. At the end of the competition, all of our campers voted and Alexa truly earned her 1^st place trophy. I hope her parents are reading this blog, as they should be so proud of their daughter.

Here at camp today our 8^th and 9^th grade boys lacrosse team played at home against another camp and we won! Go Island Lakers! Our 6^th & 7^th grade boys basketball team played out of camp this afternoon and our 6^th & 7^th grade girls tennis team played out of camp, as well.

Tonight’s evening activity is GROUPS! Here’s a breakdown of what everyone is doing: Boys Group 1- campfire: Boys Group 2- egg hunt (similar to an Easter egg hunt, yet with a camp-oriented twist): Boys Group 3- lower group (7^th graders) will play Gaga; upper group (8^th graders) will watch Beaverhead, an original movie about Island Lake. It was written & directed by our campers and staff many years ago and it has become an ILC tradition to finally be old enough to watch it: Boys Group 4- dodgeball: Girls Group 1- pool party: Girls Group 2- egg hunt (with boys group 2): Girls Group 3- lower group (7^th graders) will have a campfire; upper group (8^th graders) will watch Beaverhead with the boys: Girls Group 4- Minute 2 Win It (just like the tv game show)

Today’s special feature is TENNIS! Enjoy the photos below of some of our tennis all-stars during their majors and minors.

Tonight is LTB, Late To Bed. Our campers will have an extra 30 minutes added onto their curfew since tomorrow is Lazy Day. The camp will sleep in tomorrow morning and have a big brunch at 10:30am. We will have an optional breakfast for those early birds who would like a little something to eat at 8am. Tomorrow, groups 1&2 will go to the movies and groups 3&4 will go bowling for their Lazy Day trips. I’ll give you more details on all of this in tomorrow’s blog. Until then, ILCUTHERE!

We hope you all had a great 4^th of July! Our holiday was pretty fantastic here at Island Lake. Ending the night with the firework show was an awe-inspiring topper to an amazing, spirited, fun-filled day. Check out yesterday’s daily photos to see how much fun our campers had.

Today was a busy day for many of our Island Lakers. We had our 1^st session trip to Cooperstown, NY for campers interested in the Baseball Hall of Fame. We took a busload of children there to learn about the history of baseball, learn about its players, and our campers participated in some interactive games.

We also took some children on a climbing trip to Prompton State Park in Honesdale, PA. At the park they repelled, took a top rope climb, and crawled to the top of a tunnel, all while belaying safely. Our climbing campers had a great time on this trip.

Our athletes participated in lots of sports tournaments yesterday and today, as well. I’ll list both days’ sporting events since I didn’t have the opportunity to post yesterday’s games in the blog due to all that went on for the 4^th of July. Today our 8^th & 9^th grade girls went out of camp to participate in a volleyball tournament. Our 7^th grade boys are heading out of camp to participate in a tennis tournament this evening. Yesterday our 8^th & 9^th grade boys played in a tennis tournament out of camp. Our 8^th & 9^th grade girls played basketball at another camp along with our 8^th & 9^th grade boys’ baseball team. Lastly, our 4^th & 5^th grade girls played in a soccer match out of camp yesterday. Now that camp is in full swing, lots of sporting events are happening on a daily basis.

Our mountain biking department is hosting a new event for all of our Island Lakers called “Triathlon Tuesday.” Groups 3 & 4 had the opportunity to compete against one another during the minor this morning and groups 1 & 2 competed this afternoon. If we have a great turnout then we’ll continue to offer this exciting event on a weekly basis throughout the summer.

A couple of days ago our all-star archers competed in an ILC Shootout. This event took place during the minors and was the boys vs. the girls. They competed to see which team (boys or girls) could earn the highest score by combining each camper’s points with the shots that they made. The boys won the competition overall. Two MVP’s were announced at the completion of the event. The boys’ MVP was Griffin B. and the girls’ MVP was Sophia E.

Tonight’s evening activity is the ILC Idol Finale! A champion will be chosen from the top performers of each group on both, the boys’ side and the girls’ side. We’ll know later tonight who the new 2016 ILC Idol champion will be. After evening activity tonight we have ETB, Early to Bed. I can’t tell you how excited I am for our campers to go in early and get a good night’s sleep tonight (Ok, I won’t lie,…I’m also excited to get a good night’s sleep myself!).

Today’s special feature is THEATER! This session the younger kids are performing “Oklahoma” and the older kids are doing “Zombie Prom.” These photos are from rehearsal, as well as a couple of kids working back stage. Enjoy and until tomorrow, ILCUTHERE!

Happy 4^th of July! I hope you’re all enjoying your holiday as much as we are here at Island Lake. Our campers have really gotten into the patriotic holiday spirit as they are all decked out in their red, white, and blue clothing and accessories. They look amazing! You’ll have the opportunity to see for yourselves in today’s daily photos, as well as below in this blog.

To add to all the glory that this holiday brings, the weather today was absolutely beautiful! We had mostly sunny skies with temps in the upper 70’s, which is perfect for our cookout for dinner.   Tonight we will be in the upper 60’s to low 70’s for our fireworks extravaganza. We make the 4^th of July very special for our campers and staff here at Island Lake. I’ll list for you all that this day entails. Let’s start from the beginning,…

At breakfast this morning we started our 4^th of July with Matt’s annual speech about how the U.S. beat the Brits to become our own nation and how now we are all very good friends. Our British staff stood at the front of the dining room to sing their national anthem. The rest of us then sang the Star Spangled Banner followed by the chant, “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!”

Next highlight- MUSIC LUNCH! I played the part of “DJ Wendy” and I spun tunes in the dining room and the kids had an amazing time singing and dancing to the pop music. Everyone joined in on the fun and didn’t want to leave for their next activity. You can view photos and a video of our music lunch here in this blog. There will be lots of additional Music Lunch pictures in our daily summer photos today, as well.

Next highlight- COOKOUT for dinner tonight! Burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, watermelon, red, white, and blue cupcakes, and more will be devoured at dinner. Our campers enjoy dining outdoors for our cookouts.

Next highlight- CANTEEN will follow rest hour and then as the sun sets, we’ll put on a short ROCK CONCERT on girls campus for all of our campers and counselors to enjoy. We’ll also send off some SKY LANTERNS into the air, which always makes the camp “Oooooohh” and “Aaaaaaahh”.

Next highlight- our huge FIREWORK extravaganza! We pride ourselves in having a fantastic firework show. Our neighbors on the lake even come outdoors to enjoy watching because it’s so entertaining. Our campers all sit together on the hill to enjoy this traditional Island Lake event. We’re looking forward to another great show.

Today’s feature,…patriotic campers at MUSIC LUNCH! Have a wonderful 4^th of July and until tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

Today was another beautiful day in Starrucca, PA! I have a surprise for you later in this blog, but first things first, details on today’s intercamp games. We hosted 2 Wayne County tournament games here at ILC this morning. Our 8^th & 9^th grade boys played in a basketball game and our 4^th & 5^th grade boys placed in a soccer match. We’re engaging a variety of our athletes of all ages to now play in a variety of sports against nearby camps.

At lunch today we were treated to a special “magic lunch”. Our magic department brings a large illusion trick into the dining room for our up and coming magicians to perform for all of their peers. Let’s just say, today’s trick had something to do with beheading and a guillotine.

Tonight’s evening activity is our big 1^st session SOCIAL! An outside DJ comes to camp to spin some tunes in the gym and get our campers up and boogying all night long. Ok, perhaps they don’t call it “boogying”, but ya know what I mean. Our girls love to get dressed up and do their hair and make up for the socials. You should see how cute our little girls look! On the boys side, if we’re lucky they’ll shower, comb their hair, and put on a clean shirt. Our campers are literally going to put on their Sunday best!

And now for my big surprise,…I brought G24, our oldest girls, here into my office so they could blog for you!!! These campers have grown up with us here at Island Lake and some of them have been campers for what is now their 9^th summer. They’ve earned their spot in the oldest girls bunk and they take great pride in being this summer’s Girls Bunk 24. With that said, here they are:

8 days, 11 hours, 3 minutes and 32 seconds and we can tell this is already going to be the summer of our lives. Camp is our home. Growing up here over the years have been the most amazing experiences of our lives. We love camp so much and when we are not here, we’re longing to be back at 50 Island Lake Road. Almost every summer we can remember has been spent at camp, we can’t imagine a summer without it. Not a day goes by throughout the year when we are not thinking about camp. Knowing throughout the year that we always have a place to go, where the people are absolutely amazing, where your bunk turns into your brother/sisters not just for the summer but, for a lifetime. Now that I’m in the oldest bunk, I know what it means to be an Island Laker. Camp has taught me to be kind, loyal, supportive, and respectful. The place, the people, the memories and everything in between has changed me forever. Island Lake will always have a piece of our hearts.

“From my first summer on the bus, looking up at all the oldest campers seeing how excited and how in love they had fallen with Island Lake made my curiosity reach to a new level. You wonder how can someone ever be so excited and amazed by coming to a camp. Well I have to admit, I have to admit, I have fallen madly and deeply for Island lake.” –Zoey Korogodsky

“Island Lake is such a wonderful camp and has given me an amazing five years. I am so sad that it’s already close to the end, but I’m so over the top grateful to have gone to Island Lake. Thank you to everyone for giving me a great experience.” –Lacie Foreht

“For the past nine years when someone asks me what my favorite memory is, I say Island Lake” –Alix Goldman

“Camp has taught me so much, especially to not be messy” –Ellie DeGeorges

“At home, every one of my conversations revolve around camp.” –Ryan Bell

“I can’t believe 7 years have gone by and every summer has been better than the last” –Audrey Flammang

“Dear ILC, I love you. Thank you for the best summers of my life” –Issi deCastro

Immediately after typing this blog, the girls had a fun, happy-go-lucky photo shoot out back behind my office. They are seriously the most respectful, sweet, fun, kind, genuine, bubbly, warm-hearted group of girls we’ve had here at Island Lake and I’m proud to have watched them grow up at camp with us.

I hope you enjoyed reading all that our Girls Bunk 24 had to say about their lives and experiences at ILC. Tomorrow, the 4^th of July, is going to be SO MUCH FUN here at camp! From music lunch to a dinner cookout to a huge firework display, I may be biased but I have to say, our camp celebrates the 4^th of July like no other! You’ll just have to wait to hear all about it. Until then, ILCUTHERE!!!!!