 Offseason Home: Moab, Utah Years at Camp: 18 Describe one of your favorite memories as a camper. When I was a Mallard having never heard of Twilight League, all of the sudden the doors to the Barn busted open and counselors came in doing these hilarious skits. Slow Campers Everywhere, The Love Seat, The Wasp, Lost on a Mountain in Maine, Bad Robot. All those skits are burned into my memory, I was in awe. It was magical. How about a favorite memory as a counselor? One of my most meaningful moments–it was junior year, so 2012—and Sandy pulled me, Evan, Aiden and Tommy aside one Sunday after the staff meeting and told us we were doing a good job. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that that small conversation changed my life. It made me really want to come back the next year, and I don't think it would be too far off to say that it plays a small role in why I'm still here. It’s funny because this happens at camp all the time. You might be discouraged or distracted, and someone you look up to comes over and just says, “Great work,” and it sticks with you forever. What qualities make for a successful Granddaddy Gorilla? (laughs) I'm probably not the best person to ask. When Nick reads out what cabins find you, I’m one of the guys who is, “Pat Hayes…everybody!!!” In recent years, fewer people have found me, and the only thing I’ve done differently is inconveniently place myself in a spot people don’t want to walk. One time I went into Red River and got under the mud and put some leaves over my face. It was uncomfortable for about 30 minutes. I only got found by two cabins and one was because someone stepped on me.  Speedy Pat down at the swim docks for the T-Relays Where do you spend most of the day around camp? I’ve been on instructional swim every morning since 2011. The afternoons tend to be a little more diverse. I'll get a period of water skiing in or I’ll run a campcraft period. If a camping trip is going out, I’ll often spend the afternoon packing. When I’m not doing these things, I’m down in Crows. You mentioned packing for trips–you've been a trip leader for many years. Do you have a favorite trip? A trip that just feels like a home run every time is the Falcons and Loons second half upper bunk line trip to Tumbledown Mountain. The hike is such a nice balance between hard and rewarding, but attainable. There's a lake at the top so you get to swim after the hike, and the campground is right on a beautiful lake, so you can take dips in the morning. What unusual skill has camp given you? Eyeballing the amount of water that needs to go into rice.  Pat with his fellow Crows Aidan Prior and Aidan Russell in 2010 What's the most fun you've had doing a Horse Race? Oh, man. Horse Races is consistently one of my favorite nights of the year. That's another thing. It's only gotten better the longer I’ve been at camp. It's magic when you're a camper, but watching the creativity that goes into everyone’s skits is truly magical. There was one year where I pretended to be a third grader running for class president and my name was Sammy Simmons. I gave a speech, and in that speech I got nervous and l had to sit down, and I had a whoopee cushion. But the whoopee cushion didn't really go off in the hall. I practiced it with Avery Paiste, and there was a moment where I was suspended in the air, sitting on it and it hadn't gone. And then the whole thing pops, and me and Avery were crying laughing. I think if that had happened the night of Horse Races–that's a hundred votes.  Pat as Sammy Simmons for Horse Races What's the state of the USS Pineman? Is she seaworthy? (laughs) Uh, it needs, uh, a little bit of fine tuning. One of the canoes takes on water pretty heavily…rapidly. You once gave a chapel about “not sweating the small stuff.” Why do you think that's so important? There's a lot of things in life that are worthy of our worry and worthy of our time. If you don’t let the small stuff capture your attention and energy, then you can bring that attention and energy to the “big stuff.” If I have a friend who is having trouble, that’s the “big stuff.” I want to be present and dedicate my energy there. But if I’m dwelling on a social interaction that didn't go well or spending all day running through an argument that I wish you won in 2009 or something like that, I’m not going to be as helpful as I could be. Why do you come back to camp? I'm still growing in friendships that I established a long time ago. The connections I've built with a lot of the other counselors that have continuously come back have only gotten stronger. Those friendships mean a lot to me, and they keep growing the more I keep coming back. And then, in recent years, education is where I want to put my energy. In all of the activities and hobbies and jobs I've picked up over the years, connecting with and facilitating a meaningful experience for young men is a skill set I've really honed. It's what I do in my work outside of camp. It's what I do in my work at camp, and it means a lot to me. You know, I loved Timanous so much as a camper and a lot of that was due to the counselors. I just want to pay some of that forward. And, I think camp in the early two thousands was a great place to be, like, a sporty bro. It wasn't always kind to less jock-y types. And I think camp right now is a great place no matter your interests & skills. I think there's a lot more grace right now, and if I can play a small role in helping diversify who gets to have a good time here, I think that's important too. Camp is an amazing place–it’s never been a perfect place–and I always want to make it better.
Pat as a Crow (front, second from the left) Pat as Head of Crows (front, furthest right)
Check out the latest edition of the Timanews!
These are special days. Despite the oppressive heat, energy levels are strong and each day brings a fun and unique activity. On Wednesday, we played the ever popular C-Flag. The scheduling of the game is always a surprise for the campers. On Friday, we played our own version of Hide-and-Seek, called Grandaddy Gorilla where the counselors go and hide and the campers seek them out for points. We followed this up with our second half talent show. Today, Saturday, was another hot one, but the special events kept things exciting, with our annual T-Hoops 3 on 3 competition this afternoon, followed by our annual Point Cookout with the traditional chicken, corn and buttered bread. On Sunday, we will have our final Chapel service of the summer to ground us in these final days, followed by our last Council Fire. It promises to be another great day at Timanous!   On Sunday, we celebrated our second annual World Culture Day. I hope you enjoy this summary from Senior Counselor Kellen Rooney.
Yesterday we had our annual culture day at Timanous which celebrates the many countries and cultures that make up our community at camp! This includes meals from different cuisines, language classes, and activities taught by campers to their peers and counselors. We started the day by walking into the barn and seeing the flags of all the different countries strung up in the rafters. From Japan to Germany, over a dozen countries were represented and celebrated. The three meals of the day were all inspired by non-American cuisine. This includes Latin-America burritos for lunch and a Chinese dinner including potstickers, eggrolls, and sesame beef. The campers loved the new foods served and I personally hope the eggrolls make their return sometime soon. A highlight of the afternoon was a "World Cup" soccer tournament where campers represented different countries and played teams mixed between lower and upper bunklines. It was a perfect, sunny day and we all can't wait for culture day next year here at camp. Here we are, five weeks into the camp season, and ten days into the second half. We are in a wonderful place. Our new campers are incredibly well acclimated to all elements of camp and are now going deeper into their understanding of what is possible here, from honing skills in sailing to working on a project at woodshop to the simple joys of outdoor life on a lake in Maine. And I must compliment our veteran campers as they are really showing our newest campers the Timanous way.
I am thrilled with their leadership, from modeling the correct attitude and mindset at events like Chapel and Council Fire, to taking time to be kind and friendly as we walk around camp. The weather this week has been much more comfortable than last weekend, as the evenings are cool for sleeping and the days just warm enough to make getting into the lake a very pleasant experience. Many of our older boys are exploring the natural beauty of Maine through our second-half camping trips. Last week we had one group summit Mt. Katahdin, while another enjoyed exploring Rangeley Lake State Park. This week, a group went to Mt. Blue State Park and hiked Tumbledown Mtn. The group returned today with stories of successful hiking and sleeping out under starry skies. Today at lunch, Consulting director Dave Suitor offered up another installment of his popular “History with Dave” announcements. He showed a wooden triangular frame with lots of bisecting sections. It almost looked like the lattice work of a window frame. Turns out it was a model of the bridge that campers used to use to walk over the Plains Rd. to our barn for meals. Yes, Timanous campers used to commute to meals across a bridge! Our barn is filled with amazing artifacts and history. We look forward to savoring the days ahead as they will fly by! |
