Hi Island Lake families! It was an amazing 3 days of Color War and the grey Villains took home the win by only 99 points. Last night’s Sing was exciting for everyone. Great songs, funny skits, and fantastic plaques were enough to make each team proud. The whole camp later sang the camp alma mater while the scores were tallied up and many kids were in tears. It was a fierce 3 days of friendly competition. Friendships were further created, bonds were strengthened, and the love everyone had for one another filled the room with joy.   Although one team had to win Color War, the memories over the course of the 3 days are what will stay with everyone for a long time to come.

Our regular schedule of majors and minors resumed once again today.   The sun is shining strong and the temperatures are warm in the 80’s (but nothing like the heat wave you are all experiencing right now).

Our dancers went out of camp today for a Dance Competition over at another Wayne County camp. Our 7^th grade boys basketball team played in a game this morning. Our 8^th & 9^th grade boys and girls had tennis tournaments out of camp today, as well. Our girls won their tournament and have now advanced to the Wayne County tennis finals. You go girls!

Tonight’s evening activity is Groups. Here’s the rundown: BOYS: Group 1- kong pong, Group 2- campfire, Group 3- pool party, & Group 4- gaga. GIRLS: Group 1- scavenger hunt, Group 2- capture the flag, Group 3- pool party, Group 4- cupcake wars.

Today’s special feature is SKATEPARK. Tomorrow is Lazy Day, so the kids are all excited for LTB tonight. I’ll fill you in on our Lazy Day out of camp trips tomorrow. Until then, ILC U THERE!

The VILLAINS!!!  The Villains beat the Heroes by 99 points.  What a close Color War!  Now we’re back to our regular schedule of majors and minors today.  More to come later!

Today is the 3^rd and final day of Color War. It’s been a fierce but friendly 3 days of competition between the Heroes and the Villains. Last night’s Rope Burn was close up until the very end. The staff built strong fires and it was neck in neck until the grey Villains rope burned a few minutes sooner than the blue Heroes. With Rope Burn points and daily decorum points calculated, this morning at breakfast the Heroes were still in the lead. However, the lead was only by 11 points so it’s still either team’s game to win.

This morning we had team meetings and then went into the last day of sports. Here’s a list of the sports the kids played in different groups: dodgeball, tchoukball, gaga, soccer, basketball, softball, touch football, water basketball, and SCB (snatch club basketball which is a combo of soccer, kickball, basketball, and steal the bacon). The overall winner of the sports this morning was the blue Heroes, and by just a hair. As of lunch the blue team was ahead by only 23 points. Is this a close Color War or what?

After lunch we had team meetings and then our big Apache Relay. The apache takes several hours and involves a few hundred campers on each team. They run all over camp and tag in each department to do multiple events before tagging to then run to a different department to perform more events. The apache is a big camp tradition and involves lots of fun tasks such as eating saltine crackers and whistling Yankee Doodle Dandy, running around the baseball field bases backwards, singing the camp alma mater over the PA system, etc. Our staff has some difficult tasks too, such as doing 100 push-ups or hitting a baseball over the fence on the ballfield. The apache finally ends with everyone on the gym bleachers watching a camper from each team make a half court basketball shot. Jackson Stone broke the Island Lake record today when he made the half court shot in his first try. He beat his own record from last summer when he made it in 2 shots. Go Jackson!

In the end, the Villains beat the Heroes by about 5-10 minutes in the apache. The Villains made an overall comeback and they are currently in the lead by 77 points. Today’s special feature is the APACHE RELAY! To see more photos from today just check out our daily summer photos via CampMinder

Color War closes tonight with our annual Sing. Each team is judged for their creative entrance into the theater. They then take turns performing a March/Fight song, a Comedy song, a Skit, an Alma Mater song, and then they present their team’s Plaque. The entire night is bittersweet and somber as Color War comes to an end. Everyone hugs, some cry, and while the final scores are tallied we play the camp Alma Mater so everyone can come together and sing.

And finally, once the scores are all tallied up, Trip, who is in charge of Color War, stands on the theater stage and announces the winner of the Sing and of Color War overall. The winning team will jump up and scream and go crazy with excitement. The other team will be sad for a moment but they’ll quickly get over it by the time they head to canteen (Lol!). Since this blog is being posted prior to Sing, tomorrow I will post the winner for all of you. Until then, ILC U THERE!

Happy 2^nd day of Color War! Last night’s Five Period Basketball tournament was exciting for everyone who played and watched. The night started out with each team’s entrances into the gym. All groups (and counselors) had an opportunity to have players compete for a period of hoops. The final score was 30 to 20 in favor of the grey Villains.

At the end of each day, decorum points are handed out to the teams for cheering, dressing up, banners, sportsmanship, etc. With the decorum points tallied up with all of yesterday’s friendly competitions, as of this morning the leading team with 55 more points was the blue Heroes.

This morning we had the Track & Field competition and Tug O’ War on the upper ball fields. The Track & Field events were for a variety of groups in each of the following categories: softball toss, sprint, baton relay, medley relay (run, bear crawl, crab walk, back pedal, & cartwheel), long jump, progressive relay, off-road run, and punt, pass, & kick. Each group then competed against one another in a big Tug O’ War. The winner of the Track Meet was the blue Heroes and the winner of Tug O’ War was also the blue heroes.

Another activity that runs throughout Color war is the “Find the Hatchet” event. The hatchet is hidden somewhere in camp and campers (who must be accompanied by a counselor) search camp high and low throughout looking for it. Clues are given out one per day and are quite difficult to solve. Once the hatchet is found then the clues make sense. This morning the Heroes found the hatchet. So I guess you know who is in the lead at lunch today!

After lunch we had rest hour and then team meetings. After the meetings was snack break and then Battle of the Bands. This battle was an enjoyable event to watch. Our campers (& staff) played a variety of instruments and each group had a separate battle against one another. Following Battle of the Band was today’s Sports.

Tonight’s evening activity is Rope Burn. The entire camp will head to the rope burn pitch down by the waterski lake. Our campers will cheer our staff on as they build fires under highly hung ropes in attempt to see who can burn the rope in half first. Tomorrow I will reveal the winner of Rope Burn as well as the winner thus far in Color War. Until then, we’ll keep the Color War spirit alive and of course, ILC U THERE!

With Visiting Day behind us, Island Lake is all about Color War for these next 3 days. Heroes vs. Villains has proven to be a great theme thus far with both teams making fantastic use of their team names. Campers and staff are all about Color War right now and the energy is running high.

This morning we had team meetings and then sports for all of the age groups. With lots of energy and excitement for Color War the kids played the following: steal the bacon, dodgeball, gaga, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, softball, touch football, water basketball, hockey, volleyball, and chopped (cooking). The winner of the sports was the grey Villains (by 2 points!).

This sunny afternoon we hosted the Swim Meet down by the swimming pool and the lake. A variety of groups participated in the following on the lake: canoe relay, kayak relay, standup paddle board, peddle boat relay, log rolling, freestyle relay, medley relay, kickboard relay, freestyle relay, sweat suit relay, greased watermelon, & swim to the island and back.

Here’s a list of activities that took place in the swimming pool: penny fetch, water basketball, medley relay, kickboard relay, paddleboard relay, & freestyle relay.

After the swim meet ended we had a snack break at the bunks and then team meetings. After the meetings and before dinner we then had the game Unique. It’s a trivia game in the theater and it’s done group by group The kids come up to the stage and stand before podiums with lights. When a camper knows the answer to a trivia question, whether it be related to the CW teams or camp, they flip a light switch and then answer.

Because of the risk of rain this evening, we’re holding off on Rope Burn until tomorrow night. In its place we’ll have a Five period Basketball tournament which will be played in the gym, group by group. Before basketball, the team in the lead by 123 points,….the blue Heroes!

Below are some photos from the Swim Meet earlier today. For more Color War photos, please view our daily summer photos through CampMinder. Until more Color War scoop tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

We hope you all had a WONDERFUL Visiting Day today here at ILC! Lots of parents, grandparents, siblings, and more were here to spend the day with their campers. It was a fantastic experience for everyone who joined us today.

Our annual post-Visiting Day water fight was a huge success. It was especially great because guess what happened? Yup, you guessed it! WE BROKE COLOR WAR!!!!! After the 3^rd gun shot the kids all screamed, dropped their waterguns, and ran to the gym to catch flyers with the team names and list of who is on each team. Ready for this year’s teams? It’s HEROES VS. VILLAINS! This is going to be an awesome 3 days ahead of us. More info to come tomorrow once Color War officially begins.

Tonight’s evening activity is Squeaky Clean! They’re a rock and roll band who performs here at camp every summer on the night of Visiting Day. Squeaky Clean covers classic rock and roll oldies but goodies such as “Stop In the Name of Love”. We’re excited to sing and dance along with them tonight in the gym. Canteen will be closed after evening activity since there is soooooo much junk food in the bunks right now, but curfews are regular time.

We hope you all had a fantastic time here at ILC today. Until tomorrow when there will be lots of Color War scoop, ILC U THERE!

Happy almost Visiting Day! Holy cow, how did this time of the summer sneak up on us so fast? We’ve been preparing for this very special day for a long time now and we anticipate that it will be a fantastic day for all. Please peruse yesterday’s blog for more details about tomorrow’s festivities.

Today it was absolutely gorgeous out with temps in the low 70’s and lots of sunshine. Our 9^th grade girls tennis team played here at home against another Wayne County camp this morning. We won every single match (most of which were a wash by our kids). Go ILC girls tennis! Yesterday our 10^th & 11^th grade girls volleyball team played in a 1 day tournament at another camp. Out of 10 camps we came in 3^rd place. Way to go girls volleyball!

Lunch today was everyone’s favorite MUSIC LUNCH! The kids had so much fun singing and dancing around the dining room to pop tunes and Island Lake favorites. Music lunch is our special feature for today so you can see some photo highlights below.

Tonight’s evening activity is the amazing, fantastic, superb hypnotist, Brad Henderson! Our campers and staff will witness Brad hypnotize about 20 of our counselors on the theater stage. This is another one of our campers’ favorite evening activities. They get to watch their counselors embarrass themselves while doing hysterically funny things in front of the camp.

Until tomorrow, when we’ll see all of your smiling faces bright and early for our annual Island Lake Visiting Day, ILC U THERE!

Today was Lazy Day so our kids all went out of camp after our big mid-morning brunch. It was absolutely beautiful out and the perfect day for our 7^th grade and up to head to Nathaniel Cole Park where they had a beach for the kids to relax. We hosted our own barbeque cookout for dinner before they headed back to camp.  Our 6^th grade and younger campers went to the bowling alley in Binghamton. We had a cookout for dinner for them here at camp.

Saturday is approaching fast and with that comes our one and only annual Island Lake Visiting Day! (Cheers in the background,…woohoo,…yay!) We know you’re excited to come up to camp to live out your youth and we’re excited to have you join us and see your children. We’ll have lots of activities and exhibits going on all day, as well as a huge lunch buffet. If you prefer, you can take your children out of camp for the day.

I’m sure you plan to bring lots of food and junk to shower your children with affection, so please keep in mind that we discard all of the food 2 days later. Do not bring so much that your children have to throw away lots of great homemade brownies, cookies, bagged chips, chocolate, grandma’s secret recipes, etc. We truly hate to waste food, so don’t shlep too much up here.

Please refrain from bringing bottled water and drinks, too. We have well water here at camp that is just as good, or even better than, bottled water. Bottled drinks will also be discarded so save yourself the muscular strength of carrying these heavy items into camp.

Visiting Day hours are from 9:30-3:30. If you leave camp for the day, please bring your children back on time for our other annual big, huge, extravagant Water Fight! Parents are fair game if they’re still here for the water fight so just remember, quick and speedy goodbyes are easier on your children. We expect that some campers will be in tears so our staff will be around to help them through what’s usually just a short moment of sadness. The water fight is a great distraction to get children through their difficult goodbyes. Please just work with us and know your children are in great hands here at camp.

Today’s special feature is the COOKOUT for our 6^th grade and younger campers. Evening activity for tonight is GROUPS. Have a great night and until tomorrow, ILC U THERE!

Happy Wednesday everyone! Can you believe that Visiting Day is only 3 days away? Where did the summer go? It’s flying by way too fast. Guess that’s what happens when you’re having fun.

Speaking of fun, last night’s evening activity was amazing! We started the night in the circus building with Mo & Tal, our circus directors, putting on a show for the entire camp. About 10 minutes in, the music changed to Revival Night music, the henchmen ran into the circus building, and all of the campers screamed and immediately made a run for the waterfront. As always, Revival Night was a huge success and our campers enjoyed watching their friends repent for all of their previous sins. J

Last night was ETB, Early to Bed. We had our staff meeting during rest hour while our campers were SUPPOSED to be writing letters home to all of you moms and dads. No promises of course since you’ll be here in 3 days, but we hope they all wrote home to you. Tonight is LTB, Late to Bed, since tomorrow is our Lazy Day. I’ll fill you in on the Lazy Day activities tomorrow since we have a surprise in store for one of our age groups.

Today was our 2nd session tubing trip down the Delaware River. It was the perfect weather for a lazy river stroll with temperatures in the low 70’s and the sun shining strong. Our 8^th through 11^th grade mixed doubles tennis kids went to another camp for a big tournament today.

We had a special event at lunch today called Magic Lunch. Some of our magician campers performed a cool stage magic trick for everyone in the dining room at the end of the meal. I still can’t figure out how they did it,…it must be magic!

Today was the last full day of our teen tour out west. We’re excited for them to return to camp and share their amazing experiences with us. For their final day they visited Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Afterwards they enjoyed some retail therapy at the Scottsdale Fashion Square. Tonight they’re going to race their hearts out at K1 Speed in Phoenix, AZ. It’s an indoor go kart race track where the kids will do Grand Prix style racing with a podium ceremony and podium photos and awards at the end. They’ll spend their final night in a hotel in Tempe and then tomorrow they’ll fly out of Phoenix Airport to come back east.

Tonight’s evening activity is groups! Here’s a breakdown of what everyone is doing. GIRLS: Group 1- campfire, Group 2- mini carnival, Group 3- egg drop, Group 4- Mr. & Miss ILC with Boys Group 4. BOYS: Group 1- pool party, Group 2- campfire (separate fire pit from the girls), Group 3- kong pong, Group 4- Mr. & Miss ILC with the girls.

Today’s special feature is MAGIC LUNCH & MOUNTAIN BIKING! 3 more days until we see all of your smiling faces here at camp! Until then, ILC U THERE!

Hi Island Lake families! Yesterday’s Country Western theme day was a chock full of fun. The group leaders pretended there was a bandit named “Los Pantalones” and he was running around camp taking things from our staff. The staff had been announcing missing items at dining room announcements for a couple of days in preparation for this. They had wanted signs posted all over camp so the kids were seriously trying to find this masked bandit. Good thing they never did, otherwise we’d owe them 100 canteen tokens and LTB for a week!

Last night’s Hoedown was a fun-filled evening activity for our campers. Boy did they line dance, especially to the Cotton-Eyed Joe! The kids ate chili, searched for lollypops in the hay, got hitched at our marriage booth, played on a real tractor (it was parked, don’t worry), and counselors participated in a pie eating contest. Our Country Western Day was a hit!

Today was Tournament Tuesday and the Book of Records. Tournaments took place not only in Sports but also in Science and Cooking as it’s spreading all around camp. In sports we had some 3 on 3 basketball games, World Cup games, archery tournaments, fencing tournaments, martial arts challenges, mountain biking time trials, home run derby, kong pong, LAX skills challenge, hockey skills challenge, and even Quiditch!

In Cooking they had a “mystery box challenge”. In this competition our department head, Sanne, gave the kids 5 ingredients. Our campers had to work together in teams to incorporate these ingredients into one dish. They had 45 minutes to cook, clean, and prepare their dish for guest judges to taste and decide upon a winner.  I have to tell you, I was a guest judge in 1^st session and man oh man those kids can cook! In Science there was a chess tournament for Tournament Tuesday.

For the book of records kids competed in push ups, saying the ABC’s backwards, swimming times, singing the longest note, basketball spin, the loop run, fastest at tying shoes, verticle jump, soccer juggle, racket bounce, farthest throw, and more.

Today we hosted our annual Wayne County Volleyball Tournament for boys 11^th grade and under. About 6 other camps came to ILC to play one another in v-ball all morning into the afternoon.

In out of camp trips today, our Pioneering kids had their 2^nd session climbing trip to Prompton Park. The kids had the opportunity to hike, climb 30-40 foot boulders, and enjoy the great outdoors.

Our teen tour out west is drawing to an end in a couple of days. The feedback we’ve received so far is more than enthusiastic. The kids are having the greatest time of their lives. I didn’t think that was possible after spending time here at ILC but hey, camp friends together,…nothing better than that! Today the kids went on a Pink Jeep Tour. It was a scenic off-road adventure in red rock country. Great pics to come on our CampMinder photos. After the tour they went out to Jerome, the largest ghost town in America. Set on the side of Mingus Mountain, this mining town is propped on a 30 degree mountainside 2000 feet above the Verde Valley. There they also checked out the cute shops and took more great photos.

Today’s special feature is TOURNAMENT TUESDAY! Tonight’s evening activity is everybody’s favorite,….can you guess? Yup, that’s right,…Mo & Tal’s Circus Show! Ok, we’re going to start out the evening with our favorite circus directors who will be putting on a show for the camp.  About 5 minutes in, what’s going to happen?  You guessed it, Revival Night will surprisingly break out!  The kids have absolutely no idea either, which is going to be the icing on the cake.  More info to come tomorrow.  Until then, ILC U THERE!