Summer 2015 is approaching and we are busy planning for another incredible camp season. There is a great deal of information in the folder you recently received that is relevant to preparing your child for a successful camp experience. Please take some time to read through our literature thoroughly. We encourage you to use our online system instead of paper forms to submit your profile and transportation information. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of filling out the profile and medical forms in a detailed, timely manner. These forms are due back in our winter office by May 1. They provide us with important information about your child so that our staff can have thorough, accurate knowledge about each camper in order to provide him/her with a safe and successful summer. The medical form is not available to fill out online as original signatures are required. We also need your transportation information by May 1 in order to finalize our bus numbers.

If you have not already done so, go to islandlake.com and click on “CampMinder Login”.  You will be prompted to enter your email address and password. If this is your first time using the CampMinder system, just click on “First Time Users – Create Account.”

FORMS: All forms are due back in our winter office by May 1.

PROFILE FORM– Please give attention to the profile form, as it provides valuable information for us in assuring your child a successful camp experience.

TRANSPORTATION FORM– All campers must take the bus to and from camp. The bus ride begins and ends the camp experience. We must have your form in order to finalize the number of buses for each location. We will assign your camper a bus if the form is not received by May 1. (Please call us if you need to make special arrangements.) If your child is flying to camp, a letter with more details is enclosed in your folder.

MEDICAL FORM– We must have a current complete medical form on file for each camper. If your child requires out-of-camp treatment, the hospitals will not treat any child without a medical form. The medical form must be completely filled out by the parent and the doctor. Be sure to include:

1) Parent signature

2) Doctor signature

3) Photo copy of insurance card (front & back)

4) Credit card information for out of camp medical expenses

OPEN HOUSE: Since many new Island Lake families would like to see the camp prior to opening day, we are hosting an Open House on Saturday, June 13. All new campers and their families are invited to attend. This is a great way for first-time campers to feel comfortable with their decision and we strongly encourage you to join us. The day will begin at 11:00 am and will continue until approximately 3:00 pm. There will be tours as well as a buffet lunch. After lunch, we will have games and activities for the campers and a question and answer session for the parents. The day will start promptly at 11:00 am so please be on time. Also, please remember that pets are not permitted in camp.

CLOTHING CATALOG: Enclosed is a pamphlet from an outside company featuring Island Lake clothing. Remember, Island Lake is not a uniform camp and you are not required to purchase any camp clothing. All campers will receive an Island Lake t-shirt upon their arrival at camp and all other clothing is optional.

Feel free to call if you have any questions. We are always available to you.

Happy March! As we sit here in our winter office with tons of snow outside our windows, it feels as though summer 2014 is a distant, yet fond, memory. However, our summer 2015 countdown has kicked into gear and lucky for us, summer, and for that matter camp, will approach before we know it.

All summer 2015 families will receive your annual Island Lake folder any day now. This folder contains TONS of information to prepare you and your children for this summer. There are forms enclosed that we request you return to us promptly. The Profile Form helps us guide your children when they choose their activities and put together their schedules. The Medical Form must be completed by both, a parent and a physician, as required by Pennsylvania law. 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. If you misplace any of your forms, they will be available for download here on our website. You can access them by clicking on ‘Forms & Mailings’ to you left-hand side of this page. There will also be information in the folder instructing you how to fill out the transportation and profile forms on-line.

A reminder to our summer ‘14 and ’15 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 2015 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. Please 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 “ILC Families”, “Forms & Mailings” and then print the “2015 Enrollment Form”.

To all current Island Lake families, we look forward to an amazing summer 2015 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!

Doesn’t camp look pretty right now?  And all of you in the northeast thought you had it bad with the snow this past month, huh?  It has accumulated all the way up to the top of the bushes in front of the dining room here.  Pretty wild, huh?  Sure hope it melts by June!  (Ha!)  Enjoy!

Sydney Birkhahn & Camryn Heyman spent a fun weekend together recently.  They did lots of eating, as seen in the first photo.  In the second photo the girls were polishing off their pioneering skills to hopefully run the program at camp someday!  (Sorry Tim O.!)

While overseas in Tel Aviv, Israel, Ethan & Chase Mundell ran into Jacob Harelick at the airport.  See, ILC friendships are truly those that will last a lifetime throughout the globe!  You will run into camp friends where you least expect it at the most random of times and places in life,…and that rocks!

Sara Binday recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah with just about everyone from her bunk last summer.  Mazel tov to you, Sara!  We’re sure your camp friends made your day extra special and fun!

Front row:  Julia B, Sara B, Sami B, Zoe F;  Back row:  Rachel B, Gabby G, Gillian B, Nora D, Julia S, Rebecca P, Alison G, Ryan P

Sam Kasmin recently spent some time with Jason Kaufman and with Trey & Dustin Stabinski in sunny Florida. It’s really nice that Sam travels to see his camp friends throughout the winter months.  We hope you had a blast with your bunkmates and their families, Sam!

Everybody up, everybody up, up, up!  Rise and Shine!  It’s a beautiful day in Starrucca, PA!  The birds are singing, the sun is shining, the grass is growing.  Everybody out of bed.  Breakfast, in 10 minutes,…see you there!

Now that we’ve gotten your attention,…although it’s only February and the Northeast has been pounded with tons of snow and cold temps these past couple of months, camp is constantly on the brain for all of us in the Island Lake offices.  We love hearing from all of our campers and staff, whether it’s via email or social media.  Trip and Dustin are in the midst of their college recruitment tour, seeing lots of previous staff and hiring new fantastic counselors for this upcoming summer.

No time better than the present to send us your thoughts about your Island Lake experiences.  We’d love to hear from our campers and staff, returning and new, with information that we can post here on our blog.  Why not take a few moments to sit down and email us in your warm, cozy homes, whether it’s shout outs to your friends, memories of previous summers, poems about your camp experience, or anything else camp related?

Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane,…remember opening day when you first arrived at camp, jumped off of your bus, and ran into the arms of your counselors and friends?  Watching you all scream in happiness as you embraced your special Island Lake friends is a familiar experience we love to reminisce. Evening activities (did somebody say “Revival Night”?), Lazy Days, special events such as Tribals, 4^th of July, and everybody’s favorite, COLOR WAR,…oh so many memories, we can’t even begin to list them all.

But you can!  We’d love to hear from you so you can tell us what you love so much about Island Lake.  Is it the camp directors that you love so much?  (Haha- sorry, I couldn’t resist!)  What camp memories are you daydreaming about while you’re in class?  How often do you look through your camp photos from last summer?  How much time do you spend on the ILC Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest pages?  How many online group messages do you have going with all of your camp friends?  Have you gotten together with fellow ILC’ers this winter?  What are you looking forward to most this upcoming summer?

We want to hear what YOU have to say!  Email us at wendy@islandlake.com or info@islandlake.com and we’ll post your messages here on our blog as well as in our Island Laker newsletter.  Until then, only 137 days our Island Lake family will be together once again!  ILC U THERE!!!

This summer we will be celebrating 30 fantastic, amazing, superb, extraordinary, life changing, memorable years at Island Lake Camp!  What better way to celebrate than to host a reunion right here on our very own grounds in Starrucca, PA!  We will entertain this fun-filled weekend at no cost with lots of your favorite activities, our delicious camp food, and special events (Did somebody say “Revival night”???)

We are so pumped to host a reunion at camp for alumni over the age of 21 once the regular camp season has ended.  Please be sure to email Wendy at wendy@islandlake.com if you can join us for the reunion.  She must have your email address in order to send you updated info as the reunion approaches.  Here are the details for this special weekend:

Who:  All Island Lake Alumni over the age of 21.  Alumni’s children are welcome, as are husbands/wives.

Where:  Island Lake Camp/50 Island Lake Rd./Starrucca, PA/18462

When:  Friday, August 21st- Sunday, August 23rd, 2015  (Try to arrive in the afternoon by dinner time.  We will serve meals up through breakfast on Sunday.)

Cost:  No charge.  You just need to provide your own transportation to/from camp and bring your own linens.

RSVP:  Email Wendy at wendy@islandlake.com to RSVP.  Saying you’re attending on our Facebook events page is not an official RSVP and you will not be added to our list.  Please email Wendy directly.

We would love to see all of our alumni at the reunion to celebrate this special milestone with us.  ILCUTHERE!

Hey teenagers, are you ready for another exciting 3rd session trip? That’s right, this summer our adventure takes us to Boston!

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 up (CIT’s included). 2. You must be registered for 3rd 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 up. That mailing included a trip enrollment form along with other important details.

If you are not currently registered for the 3rd session but would like to go on the trip, please have your parents 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.

Looking forward to a fantastic trip to Boston and Martha’s Vineyard!

Now that 2015 is here, many of you are starting to think about camp and your children’s travel plans.  In order to facilitate a smooth travel day, we’d like all flying campers to arrive and depart from NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT within the same time frame, 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:  wendy@islandlake.com or 954-688-9527.  Upon booking your children’s flights, please e-mail Wendy a copy of their tickets.

All South Florida campers should fly from Fort Lauderdale to Newark together on the same JetBlue flights.  We have not yet decided whether we will have an adult escort the children on Opening Day (June 27^th), but we will let you know once a decision is finalized.  If your children are flying to camp on a changeover day (July 16^th or August 4^th), there will be no escort to fly with them so please book your children as unaccompanied minor if under the age of 15.  On dates of travel with no escort, our staff will meet your children at the arrival gate at Newark Airport.  We will have staff names for you closer to the date of travel.  Same details apply for return flights from Newark to Fort Lauderdale.

More airport details will follow in the spring.  For now, we’d like you to book your children’s flights before the rates increase and the seats fill.  The Florida flights are as follows:

TO CAMP:  Ft. Lauderdale to Newark  Jet Blue Flight #306  Depart 9:35am & arrive 12:30pm        FROM CAMP:  Newark to Ft. Lauderdale  Jet Blue Flight #505  Depart 1:30pm & arrive 4:22pm

UNACCOMPANIED MINOR:  When booking flights, please make any necessary “unaccompanied minor” arrangements for children under the age limit specific to each airline.  Children who fly as unaccompanied minors are permitted to be escorted by an Island Lake staff member from their gate upon arrival and to their departure gate for their return trip.  We will provide a staff member’s name for you 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.

Please send Wendy a copy of your child’s itinerary once you have booked the flights and unaccompanied minor reservations.  You can reach Wendy at wendy@islandlake.com or  954-688-9527.  In June, we will send additional information along with Island Lake t-shirts for your children to wear on the plane to camp.  We look forward to making the travel days as smooth as possible.  Thank you!

We’re excited to tell all of our camp parents that this summer we will be working with Bunkline Outfitter for all of your camper clothing needs.  Remember, Island Lake is not a uniform camp so anything you’d like to purchase is completely optional.  Bunkline will start their road show at the end of February in New York with details below.  We will also remind you of their road show in your February Island Laker newsletter.  We will include a pamphlet about Bunkline in your winter folder and then you will be able to go directly to their website at www.bunkline.com.  We will let you know once you can order directly from their website.  The following are their road show details:

BUNKLINE OUTFITTERS  800-435-6888

Come to the show to receive FREE SHIPPING on orders placed at the show only.
SATURDAY, FEB 28, 2015 WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK
HYATT HOUSE hyatthousewhiteplains.com
101 Corporate Park Drive 914-251-9700
White Plains, NY 10604
9 AM – 4 PM

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2015 LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK
HOMEWOOD SUITES BY HILTON homewoodsuites3.hilton.com
CARLE PLACE-GARDEN CITY 516-747-0230
40 Westbury Avenue
Carle Place, NY 11514
9 AM – 4 PM

SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2015 PARSIPPANY/WHIPPANY, NEW JERSEY
HYATT HOUSE HYATThouseWhippany.com
1 Ridgedale Avenue North 973-775.3064
Whippany, New Jersey 07981
9 AM – 4 PM

Come and try on your camp clothing – see how it fits
– feel the material. Make getting ready for camp FUN!
We request you to make an appointment. If you don’t have an appointment you will
have to wait until we can help you. Appointments come first. Don’t wait to make
your appointment as the times fill up quickly.
• It may be easier to try on clothes if your camper wears a tank top and shorts or
leggings under their clothes
• Do not bring sick children or parents.
• In case of bad weather or unforeseen problems please call the hotel. We will notify
anyone who has an appointment as we will have your phone number. If you do not
have an appointment please call the hotel to confirm the show.