Opening Day 2018! World Premiere of CTT’s 2018 Summer Song!

Today! It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for! We’ve dreamt of it since last August, and it was even better than imagined. Opening Day 2018!

There’s magic in that drive down the winding road into Timber Tops; we leave the stress of the world outside and breathe the crisp mountain air in. It’s especially magical when we’ve been away for 10 months. And also when it’s been raining all morning and then the clouds part, the sun comes out, and birds start chirping just in time for those first buses to arrive. See! The magic of camp! Returning campers ran out of cars and off buses and leapt into each others arms, and new campers were greeted by enthusiastic faces of friendly counselors and new friends, ready and eager to help them find their way to the dining hall for our first pizza (regular pizza, veggie pizza, white pizza, red pizza, gluten free pizza, diary free pizza) lunch of the summer! For the first time ever, we unpacked all of our 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in advance, so bunks were colorful and welcoming from the moment of arrival. An added bonus of unpacking juniors in advance was extra time for bunk bonding, get-to-know-yous, and ice breaker fun (with s’mores!) on the shores of Lake Selma! We should also mention that every camper was given a health screening and lice check (by professional lice company Lice Be Gone) and that seniors chose their first schedule of the summer. Juniors, after their lake escapades, had an all-important, top-secret junior meeting to get to know key players and learn the ins and outs of junior life at CTT, including many super-important songs!

Speaking of songs, tonight, after a delicious barbecue dinner (of bbq chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, zucchini kugel, pasta salad, spinach strawberry salad, and quinoa salad) we headed down to the Timber Theater for the traditional first-night staff show! It’s so much fun watching counselors from different activity areas perform for us and introduce themselves, and the girls especially love cheering on their own bunk counselors, many of whom they’ve just met! It’s amazing how fast each bunk starts to feel like a little family here. Parents: make sure you check your email for an e-blast from us with your camper’s bunk information!

A highlight of the staff show every summer is the announcement of the Song of the Summer! Every year, we rewrite a song to reflect Timber Tops life! It’s the song we use to signal the start of lineup each day, and we choreograph a dance the whole camp participates in during lineup every morning and every evening (don’t fear, non-dancers: it’s a fun-for-all, goofy, campy dance). In a way, it becomes the summer’s anthem, and its reveal is THE MOST anticipated moment of the first day, since both the song and dance become such a big part of our routine here. So, at tonight’s staff show it was finally revealed…

This year’s song of the summer is a rewritten, Timber Tops version of “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman! We think it’s our best anthem ever, and the girls went crazy! We think they agree!

After the show is over and we sing the Timber Tops Alma Mater, campers will make their way back to their bunks, their home away from home for the next seven (or 3.5!) weeks. Though they may look like ordinary wooden cabins from the outside, inside each lies that CTT magic, the story of summer 2018 just waiting to be written. The best is yet to come.

Thanks for reading, and make sure to check back tomorrow night for tales of our first full day at camp!

PS. Listen to the song below or download the MP3 file here!

Here are the lyrics:

We set off down the winding road
Greeley, PA, we say ,you’ll always be our summer home
At camp we celebrate all that we are

Timber Tops, th’world stops
We love each other as we are

‘Cause In our hearts throughout the winter months We know that there’s a place for us
And it’s Camp Timber Tops

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I’m gonna think of you, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am free
I am who I’m meant to be, this is me
Look out when summer comes
When I’m marching on to the beat I drum
I’m not scared to be seen
I’m myself at CTT, this is me

Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh

From Oak to CAs summers seem to fly

When I’m with you, I’m most true, summer sisters by my side
We are singing and swimming and
Reaching for the sun (we are camp sisters)
Yeah, that’s what we’ve become (yeah, that’s what we’ve become)

‘Cause In our hearts throughout the winter months

We know there’s a place for us
And it’s Camp Timber Tops

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I’m gonna think of you, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am free
I am who I’m meant to be, this is me
Look out when summer comes
When I’m marching on to the beat I drum
I’m not scared to be seen
I’m myself at CTT, this is me

Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh

This is me

and I know that I always have your love
(Oh-oh-oh-oh) ’cause there’s nothing I’m not worthy of
(Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh)

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I’m gonna think of you, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am free
I am who I’m meant to be, this is me

Look out when summer comes (look out when summer comes)
When I’m marching on to the beat I drum (marching on, marching on)
I’m not scared to be seen
I’m myself at CTT, this is me

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I’m gonna think of you, gonna drown them out
I am brave I am free this is me

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