This past Saturday was our Open House here at Island Lake for new campers and their families and it was a FANTASTIC DAY for all!!! We had a great turn out with lots of excited new campers. They all met one another, meet our staff, they toured camp, and they play games together in the afternoon. We loved meeting our rookie Island Lakers and we are that much more pumped for June 24^th to arrive. We hope all of our campers are, as well.

With only 11 days until our opening day of camp (as of today, June 13^th), many of our staff are arriving for training in their specific departments. Circus, waterfront, ropes/pioneering, and horseback riding are amongst the departments that are already in training. All counselors and staff will be here by June 16^th for our staff orientation week.

We are sure many of our parents are now in full “camp mode” as you pack and prepare your children for their amazing ILC experience. Just a reminder that our packing list and equipment list are right here on our website under “Families” and “forms & mailings.” Any outstanding Medical Forms must be completed, signed, and returned to us ASAP, prior to your children’s arrival at camp.

By now you should have received your luggage tags and bus stop information packet. Place your children’s tags on each of their 2 duffel bags so we can transport them to their appropriate bunks upon arrival. All luggage goes to camp on the buses with our campers.

REMINDER: ALL BUS STOP DEPARTURES (other than Newark Airport) WILL BE AT 11AM! This is different from previous summers when the buses departed at 1pm. Please arrive at your assigned bus stop by 10:00-10:30am on June 24^th for a prompt departure at 11am.

Today you can start calling camp to set up your children’s phone appointments for summer. The phones are closed the first week of the session and then each child can call home once per session. See your Parent Handbook for more details. Once you have dates and times in mind, just give us a call here at camp at 570-798-2550.

If you have any last minute camp questions, feel free to call us any time. Until camp begins, our office is open daily until 5pm with a break for lunch from 12-12:45pm. Once camp begins we’re open daily until 9pm.

Enjoy some photos below from our Open House this past Saturday. Lots of new, excited, happy campers joining us this summer. We CANNOT WAIT for everyone to arrive for an amazing, fantastic, out of this world ILC summer! In 11 more days, ILCUTHERE!!!

Greetings from Starrucca, PA! Although it’s been a chilly and wet pre-camp thus far, we’re getting a lot done to make camp look beautiful for your children’s arrival in a few weeks. We’re looking forward to our Open House for our new camp families this upcoming Saturday. An email will be sent out to all parents of new campers later this week with more details.

Below are some photos of our pre-camp staff working yesterday and today. This morning they worked hard through some major rain to get the mountain biking pump track ready. Enjoy the photos and ILC Ur kids in 18 days!

We’re BAAAACCCKKKK!!!!! It was with heartfelt excitement that I drove down Island Lake Road and entered my home away from home yesterday. Although cold and rainy out, nothing can bring down the exhilaration associated with returning to ILC. 32 summers and it never gets old. The thrill and elation associated with pulling into camp feels the same as it did when I was a kid.

Our pre-camp staff have all arrived and are already working hard to make sure camp looks beautiful for this upcoming summer. We are so incredibly pumped for a fantastic summer 2017! The only thing missing,…our campers!!!

Now that we are here in Starrucca, the office is currently open Monday through Saturday from 8:30am-5:00pm with a lunch break from 12:00-12:45pm. Once camp begins the office will be open daily from 9am-9pm, 7 days a week.

Our packing list, equipment list, handbooks, policies, and in general, all important summer information can be found right here on our website under “Families” and then “Forms & Mailings.” Be sure to print them out and read all of them to make sure you are well prepared for summer.

As always, if you have any questions about packing or anything else related to camp, feel free to call us here at camp at 570-798-2550. As of today, only 25 more days until camp begins! ILC U HERE!!!

Summer 2017 is right around the corner! As of today, May 15^th, according to our Island Lake website and app we have only 40 more days until camp begins! Excitement is building as the thrill of summer approaches! We move our offices up to camp the last weekend of May so as of May 30^th, all correspondence should go directly to our summer address in Starrucca, PA.

By now, all new families enrolled for summer 2017 at Island Lake should have received our spring mailing. This entire mailing is available for all of our returning families here on our website under “Island Lake Families” and then “Forms & Mailings.”   In this mailing and online are our camper, parent, and activities handbooks, our medication policy, and our social media policy.

A couple of months ago we mailed an Open House flyer to all of our new Island Lake families. If your child is new to ILC this summer, please return the bottom portion of the Open House flyer to let us know if you will be joining us at camp on Saturday, June 10^th at 11am. We’re very excited to meet many of our new Island Lakers and their families that day.

With summer right around the corner, many of you have probably started your camp shopping. If you’re really organized then hey, perhaps you’ve even begun the packing process! Be sure to refer to your Suggested Items for Camp (packing list) and Suggested Equipment List to assist you with this big ol’ fun task. Don’t forget, all camp forms can be retrieved any time right here on our website under “Island Lake Families” and then “forms and mailings.” Remember to label all items of clothing and equipment, too.

If you’d like to purchase Island Lake clothing and camp gear, you can do so by going to the Bunkline website. There’s a direct link from our website and here it is for your convenience: http://www.bunkline.com/category-s/125.htm. You can always find this link under “Island Lake Families” and then “Camp Store.” Remember, Island Lake is not a uniform camp so all ILC clothing is optional. We will also give every camper an Island Lake t-shirt when they arrive at camp.

At the “Camp Store” we also have customized Island Lake Islides that you can order for your child. Just click the link for more info about them at the store. We started working with Label Daddy this year, as well. They make great name labels for all of your children’s clothing and equipment. Here is a direct link to the Camp Store: https://www.islandlake.com/current-camp-families/camp-store.php

Parents, we highly recommend that you read all literature that we mail to you and post on our website at the forms & mailings link. Many answers to your questions can be found there. Our handbooks, packing lists, variety of forms posted on our website, and monthly newsletters provide a great deal of important information that will help prepare you and your children for a fantastic summer 2017. If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact us at our winter office until May 26^th and at our summer office as of May 30^th.

We are looking forward to the most amazing, fantastic, spectacular, wonderful, awesome, unbelievable, exciting, memorable summer ever at Island Lake! ILC U THERE!!!

Hi Island Lake families! With summer approaching quickly, you’re probably starting your Island Lake shopping for your children. We’re excited to tell you that we recently partnered up with ISlide, a company who creates customized slides (flip flops). Some of you may have seen them on Shark Tank earlier this season. You can go online and order your children customized Island Lake slides with your last name printed on them so you don’t even need to label them for summer.  Here’s a direct link for your convenience:

https://www.islideusa.com/products/island-lake-camp

Please see below to view a sample of the ISlides. They’re offered in black, navy blue, and red in a variety of sizes. They look amazing and seem to be very comfortable so we’re excited for our own pair!  ILCUTHERE!

Last week, Island Lake was hit hard by winter storm Stella for 2 full days. She left our favorite land of Starrucca with over 30 inches of snow! Don’t worry, it will for sure all melt away soon enough; well before our campers arrive at the end of June. In the meantime, enjoy these wild photos of Island Lake.    ILCUTHERE!

Hey teenagers and Island Lake parents! Are you ready for another exciting 2^nd session trip? That’s right, this summer our adventures take us to Cleveland, Ohio & the surrounding areas!

There are only 3 requirements for you to join us on this 4 day/3 night trip: 1. You must be entering 9th grade or higher (CIT’s included). 2. You must be registered for 2nd session. 3. You must be prepared to have tons of fun!

We recently sent out a mailing to all families with campers entering 9th grade and older. That mailing included a trip enrollment form along with other important details.

If you are not currently registered for the 2nd session but would like to go on the trip, parents, please contact us to add the session. Keep in mind that there’s limited space on this teen trip and many families sign their children up as soon as they receive the mailing.

Some highlights of this awesome trip to Cleveland include the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cedar Point Amusement Park, Cleveland Indians Baseball Game, Dinner Cruise on Lake Erie, Football Hall of Fame, Great Lakes Science Center, and Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park.

We are looking forward to a fantastic trip to the Cleveland area and we hope you can all join us!

Happy March! Our summer 2017 countdown has kicked into gear and lucky for us, summer, and for that matter camp, will approach before we know it. 115 more days as of March 1^st! Wow, we’re almost at the double-digit mark!

Any day now all summer 2017 families should receive a letter regarding forms, a Medical Form, as well as your monthly newsletter. Both a parent and a physician, as required by Pennsylvania law, must complete the Medical Form. On our website we have TONS of information to prepare you and your children for this summer. There are forms online that we request you fill out promptly via your CampMinder account. The Profile Form helps us guide your children when they choose their activities and put together their schedules. The Transportation Form lets us know which bus your children will be taking to camp. If we do not receive the Transportation Form in our office by May 1st, we will have to assign a bus to your children. In June, we will send you detailed information on the bus locations, along with luggage tags that you will use to mark your children’s bags. You can access all of our other forms on our website at islandlake.com and then clicking “Island Lake Families,” and “Forms & Mailings.”

A reminder to our summer ‘16 and ’17 families, don’t forget to read our monthly newsletters. You can access them here on our website or at the start of every month in your mailbox in hard copy form. The newsletters provide important information for parents, as well as campers, including enrollment and availability updates.

Speaking of enrollment, if you haven’t yet registered your child for summer 2017 but plan to do so, please, please, please do not put it off any longer. We truly do not want to turn away any of our devoted campers and it’s very difficult for us when forced to do so every year. Don’t let that happen to your child. Some bunks are already full! It only takes a few minutes to fill out the registration form, we promise! If you don’t have one handy, click “Island Lake Families”, “Forms & Mailings” and then print the “2017 Enrollment Form”.

To all current Island Lake families, we look forward to an amazing summer 2017 with your children. To all prospective families, feel free to contact us if you have any questions after browsing our website: 800-869-6083 or 914-769-6060. And last but not least, to one and all…. ILC U THERE!

Hi Island Lake Families! It’s hard to believe that it’s that time of year already. “What time of year” you may be asking? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s time for our flying campers’ parents to start booking their flights to and from Island Lake this summer! The following is all of the info you need whether your child is flying domestically, from South Florida, or internationally.

In order to facilitate a smooth travel day for our campers, we’d like everyone to arrive at and depart from NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT within the same time frame. We ask that all children arrive and depart from Newark as close to 12 o’clock noon as possible. By keeping flights within these parameters we are able to ensure that our campers are at the airport for a minimal amount of time. Please contact Wendy prior to booking your children’s tickets to confirm flight times: 954-688-9527 or wendy@islandlake.com. Upon booking your children’s flights, e-mail Wendy a copy of your children’s tickets.

SOUTH FLORIDA FAMILIES– For South Florida families, we ask that you book your children on the same JetBlue flights so our Florida children can travel together. Once you book these flights, please forward a copy of the tickets to Wendy.

TO CAMP: JetBlue #306 Ft. Lauderdale to Newark 9:10am-12:05pm

FROM CAMP: JetBlue #305 Newark to Ft. Lauderdale 3:45pm- 6:47pm

INTERNATIONAL FAMILIES- We understand that children flying from international locations have limited flights to choose from. However, it is extremely important that you choose a flight that arrives at Newark airport as close to 12 o’clock noon as possible. We understand that it is a long day for your children, especially with the time change, so it is to their benefit to arrive at Newark early in the day so they can travel to camp with our other flying campers.

Regarding international return flights, we understand that the only departure times are usually in the evening hours. Please try to book your children to return as early in the evening as possible. We will provide staff and a camp vehicle to take those children with later flights to the airport separately from campers flying domestic earlier in the day.

FOR ALL FLYING CAMPERS- When booking flights, you will need to schedule “unaccompanied minor” arrangements for children under the age specific to each airline. An Island Lake staff member will escort children who fly as unaccompanied minors from their gate upon arrival and to their departure gate for their return trip. We will provide a staff member’s name and identification information for you to share with the airlines in June.   If your children are older and there are no unaccompanied minors on your children’s flight, our staff will meet those campers at the security checkpoint upon their arrival.

CAMP DATES

SESSION 1: Saturday, June 24- Saturday, July 22

SESSION 2: Saturday, July 22- Saturday, August 12

As a reminder, please contact Wendy to discuss your children’s arrival and departure flight times prior issuing your children’s tickets: wendy@islandlake.com. After booking your children’s flights, e-mail Wendy a copy of the ticket. Additional traveling day information will be sent to you in June, prior to the start of camp. If you have any questions with regards to your children’s travel to/from camp, please contact Wendy and she will be happy to help you further. We look forward to making your children’s travel days as smooth as possible.

At Island Lake, we have a no uniform policy.  We will give every camper an Island Lake t-shirt when they arrive at camp so they can wear it as they wish, as well as on out of camp trips and inter-camp sports games.  Many campers like to purchase and wear additional Island Lake clothing such as sweatshirts, shorts, and athletic clothing.  We work with Bunkline clothing outfitter to provide you with all of your ILC gear.  They also provide other necessities for camp such as bedding, bathroom needs, duffel bags, and many other accessories.  We recommend that you check out their website to see all that they offer:

Bunkline Clothing Outfitter

Below is a schedule for Bunkline’s road show this year.  If you’d like to take your children to visit them, try items on, and see all that they offer, check out their schedule to see when they’ll be in your area.  Happy shopping!