Our Island Lake Camp Reunion this past Saturday at Sportime USA was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!   Thanks to our campers, their parents, and our staff, as all of you made this day special for everyone involved.  Our kids had a fantastic few hours with their camp friends running around playing games, going on rides, and plain ol’ hanging out with one another, catching up on the past few months.  The screams of joy as friends embraced one another was as heartwarming as ever.  There is nothing like the friendships that are created at ILC.

Keep an eye out for our reunion photos which will be posted on our website and on our ILC app real soon.  They’re already on our Official Island Lake Camp Facebook Page, as well.  Below is just a glance at some of the photos you can find on our social media.

Thank you, again, to all who made Saturday’s reunion so very special for everyone involved. Now the countdown to summer 2015 officially kicks into gear,..213 days!

Happy holidays to all and until we reunite at camp once again, ILC U THERE!

It’s never too late to send us pics from previous holidays!   Darien Gyselen just shared with us this picture of herself with her little sister, our future Island Laker.  Are they cute or what?

We hope lots of our campers sported their Island Lake t-shirts at school today.  Maddie Weiss and Barbara Gilman participated in the fun.  Thanks for sharing your photo with us, girls!  See ya at the reunion on Saturday!

We are pleased to present you with our West Coast Teen Tour/Camp Experience for CIT’s who are those campers entering 11^th and 12^th grade.  There is no additional charge for the Experience.  Campers can choose to attend for two sessions with the Experience or three sessions with the Experience at our current rates, $9000 or $10,850.  Those who are already registered and would like to take this option should contact us to discuss.  The Experience is limited to fifty campers.  The campers will arrive at camp on June 27^th as usual, leave on July 2^nd for the west coast and return on July 23^rd, prior to Visiting Day.  They will then stay until the end of second session or continue through the third.

The price includes airfare, attractions, admissions, transportation, and some meals.  The campers will need spending money for some meals and souvenirs.

We hope that your campers will be joining us for this amazing opportunity to have camp and a teen tour with their best friends all in the same summer!  We are so excited for this new opportunity for our Island Lakers!

Highlights of this trip include:  Travel to San Francisco, tour Stanford University, tour Hearst Castle, volunteer work on 3 separate occasions throughout the trip, tour Cal-Poly Tech, Pismo Beach, travel to LA, tour UCLA, Dodgers Game, Universal Studios, California Science Center, Natural History Museum, Venice Beach, travel to San Diego, San Diego Zoo, Seaworld, travel to Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Zion National Park (& volunteer one day), Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon (& volunteer one day), travel to Sedona AZ, tour Arizona State University, and much, much more!

All of us at Island Lake would to take a moment to thank our staff members for making Island Lake Camp the most spectacular place on earth.  Camp is a huge melting pot of nationalities and demographics, ranging from our young campers to our adult staff.  Working together in this small microcosm of society, our staff members have created a special home to so many throughout the past few decades.  You, our counselors, are the ones who work incredibly hard to provide children with the summers of their lives.  Ranging from bunk counselors to department heads to support staff, group leaders, and head counselors, you all work effectively together to hone children’s skills in a wide variety of activities.  With our top notch facilities and our highly professional staff members, we are able to introduce children to activities and have them succeed in ways we never thought possible.  Ranging from our circus program to our sports department to our theater, horseback riding, skatepark, waterfront, magic, tennis, cooking, pioneering, and more, anything is possible for our children, and this is because of you.

It is because of our amazing staff that Island Lake has become a home away from home for so many year in and year out.  You have created a community for campers to develop unique friendships and create memories that will truly last a lifetime.   We acknowledge all of the hard work and dedication that our staff put into their jobs for two months out of the year and we would just like to thank you all for your dedication and commitment to Island Lake.

We would love to hear from our staff, as well as our campers.  Please email us at info@islandlake.com or wendy@islandlake.com and we will post your messages on our blog.  Thank you all again for making Summer 2014 the best one yet!  ILC U THERE!

We hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween on Friday night.  We received pictures of some of our campers all decked out in their costumes so we’re excited to post them for all of you to view.  Here ya go:

Emily Talkow, Paige Wasserman, Hayley Rayman, Sophia Danielle-Grenier, Lauren Mensch, and Amy Grunther were in 2 separate groups and ran into each other while trick-or-treating in NJ.  What a “treat” they had, hanging out together that night!

Emma and Pumpkinhead (whoops, we mean Jason) Podell look fantastic, whether they’re in their Halloween costume or on the stage in costume!

Who’s behind that fantastic costume you may be asking yourself?  Why it’s Aidan Levy!  If he’s this creative on Halloween, we bet he’ll do some creative stuff at camp next summer.

Teddie Liederman looks adorbs in her snowman costume.  We hope she filled her umbrella with loads of great candy while trick-or-treating!

Attention all campers & counselors!  November 22nd is Camp T-shirt Day!  We want all of our Island Lakers to show off their ILC shirts at school that day.  If cold, hey, throw a long sleeve underneath it. We’d love to see pictures of our campers wearing their ILC shirts to school.  Be sure to send us pics to info@islandlake.com or wendy@islandlake.com so we can post them on our social media.  We’ll remind you again closer to the date.  ILC U THERE!

1 more month!  Yup, that’s right, we’re counting down the days and we have only 33 more days until our much anticipated Island Lake 2014 Camp Reunion takes place!  We are so excited to see many of our happy campers, along with local staff members.  We can’t wait for screams of excitement when friends embrace one another, seeing each other for the first time since saying goodbye at camp this past summer.

All of our Island Lakers, current and past, are welcome to join us on November 22^nd  at Sportime USA in Elmsford, NY.  Our reunion will take place from 10am- 1pm so don’t be late!  Campers will be given game cards to enjoy all that this indoor amusement center has to offer:  arcade games, laser tag, indoor bowling, rides, and more.

Come and be a part of the fun at Sportime USA in a few weeks.  We’ll take tons of photos and post them on our website so if you can’t make it, you can feel as if you were a part of the ILC reunion experience.

Looking forward to seeing many of you in 33 more days!  ILC U THERE!!!

INFORMATION & DIRECTIONS

Sportime USA:  November 22 • 10am – 1pm:  380 SAW MILL RIVER ROAD, ELMSFORD, NY

FROM WESTCHESTER COUNTY

Interstate 95, Hutchinson Parkway, Sprain Brook Parkway or 684 to:  287 West (toward Tappan Zee) to:  Exit 2 Elmsford Route 9A:  At bottom of ramp turn right onto Route 9A:  Follow Route 9A less then 1 mile on right side, Diagonally across from Sam’s Club

FROM ROCKLAND COUNTY

Tappan Zee Bridge to Exit 8A:  Follow to Rt. 119:  At exit ramp light turn left:  Proceed to next light and turn left onto Route 9A:  Follow Route 9A less then 1 mile on right side, Diagonally across from Sam’s Club

FROM CONNECTICUT

Interstate 95, Merritt Parkway or 684 to:  287 West (toward Tappan Zee) to:  Exit 2 Elmsford Route 9A:  At bottom of ramp turn right onto Route 9A:  Follow Route 9A less then 1 mile on right side, Diagonally across from Sam’s Club

FROM THE SOUTH

Saw Mill River Parkway to exit 21E (Elmsford Exit):  At stop sign turn right (get in left lane) to first traffic light:  Turn left on Route 9A (heading north):  Follow Route 9A less then 1 mile on right side, Diagonally across from Sam’s Club

We are so excited to report that we just received duplicate copies of our Island Lake 2014 video yearbook!  We will be mailing these DVD’s out ASAP to all of our campers from this past summer. Kids, keep an eye on your mailbox (regular snail mail mailbox that is, not your email’s inbox!)!  You should receive your copy of our awesome video yearbook within a week’s time.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we did on our final banquet night at camp this past summer.  Our video staff worked very hard to create these fantastic memories for you to treasure all winter long.

Message us on our Facebook page once you receive your video yearbook to let us know what you think about it.  We know you’re going to love it!

Looking forward to seeing you all at our November 22nd annual Island Lake reunion!  ILC U THERE!

Imagine having all of your camp friends with you in camp and on a teen tour in the same summer!  It’s the best of both worlds!

We have an exciting new idea brewing for the summer of 2015.  We are putting together a camp & teen tour combination for our CIT’s!  All CIT’s, which are those campers entering 11^th and 12^th grade will be eligible this summer.

Here’s how this is going to work:  CIT’s will arrive at the start of camp on June 27^th.  After a few days in camp, a bus will take them and some of our staff to the airport where they will fly out west to see national parks, cities, colleges, and other great stops.  There will also be some volunteer work involved so that the CIT’s will be able to use this for their college applications.  They will then return to camp in time for Visiting Day and will remain for the rest of second session.  Of course, the CIT’s are welcome to stay for 3^rd session and we will have our traditional teen trip during that time as well if they would like to go.

Details and prices will be sent to all those eligible in the coming months once the trip is fully planned.

In future years, this trip will be for first year CIT’s only but we don’t want those who were first year last summer to not have the opportunity to go.

Second year CIT’s will be encouraged to stay for 3^rd session so that they can be evaluated for a counselor position in 2016.

We would love to hear from you about this and get your feedback.  If you have any suggestions as to what you would like the children to see please let us know.  Feel free to reply to this email or call our office with your thoughts.