Some folks are first term, some are second, but all will be staff this coming season. Once again we have an amazing return rate for our counseling staff, with only one fellow never having been to Highlands before. I am very excited for the summer to get here, and with guys like this leading the way, it is bound to be another magical season at Camp Highlands.

Our Counselors-in-Training are:

Tom Kuntz, Cooper Kupferberg, Alex Martinson, Alec Winter, Ed Linquist, Tom Frankenthal, Marshall Sheetz, Mario Velazquez, Pablo Oria, Austin Sennott, Alonso Cano, Santiago Castro, Tom Lubenow, Logan Means and Kevin Miner. 

Our Assistant Counselors are:

David Dean, Joshua Ericksen, Colin O’Brien, Ben Conrad, Chris Dahlman, Nate Henderson, Sam Escamilla, Andrew Barber and Drew Halverstadt.

And our stellar counseling staff are:

Ross Freeland, Ian Astle, Kent Overbey, Matt Schaible, RJ Bruce, Evan O’Brien, John Gallagher, Pat Gallagher, Alec Grassi, Don Kuntz, Tommy Popalisky, Teddy Popalisky, George Swartz, Dan Cleveland, Chris Nyweide, YoQuarius Tucker, Will Faber, Nick Katzmarek, Shaun Trenholm, Jim Ott, Loren Shinn, Shane Hoerbert, Jim DiDominico, Gordy Rahr and Noah Thacker.

And how lucky are we that we also have returning this summer:

Lois Craig, Steve Ronkowski, Kayla Stelzel, Jill Ragsdale, Kent and Peggy Taylor, Jill Wright, Jani Freeland, Dana Barton, Byron and Nanette Shinn and Craig Ericksen.

Joining us for the first time this summer, we have:

Jackie Nettles (babysitter), Becky DiDomenico (crafts!) and Kathleen O’Donnell (lodge).

What a great staff! As campers continue to enroll, don’t be surprised to find new names added to the list. In the meantime, I am so thrilled that these great people will be joining us for our upcoming season at Camp Highlands. 

See you soon!

Andy Bachmann

P.S. Watch for a new camper list this week, too!

RJ carrying a trunk into his Cubbie cabin (Kurt Bokern pictured on the left)

RJ is from Northbrook, IL, a suburb of Chicago. At camp he is a counselor in the Cub division and teaches Drama. He also organizes and directs “Stunt Night” at the end of each term. In the off season, RJ is an actor and singer in Chicago as well as a freelance music director and vocal coach. His greatest ambition in life is to become a CHOF (Camp Highlands Old Friend, the loving term we have for our older counselors).

We had a couple questions for RJ.

How long have you been coming to CH?
I started coming to camp when I was 10 and only missed one summer so…12 years.

If you could trade places with any person for a week, famous or not, living or dead, real or fictional – with whom would it be?
If I could trade places with anyone, it would have to be Nathan Lane. He is by far one of the greatest comedic actors alive and to be able to do what he does would be incredible. Plus, he has worked on Stage, Screen and TV. How awesome is that?

Passions, obsessions, pre-occupations?
Reading, singing, riding my bike, eating, Shakespeare, Sondheim, teaching and of course Camp Highlands! 

Favorite album, book or TV show?
NCIS, hands down! Best ensemble show on TV.

Something that surprised you about CH?
Something that surprised me about camp was how easy it is for all of us to pick up right where we left off at the beginning of each summer. It always feels like we never left.

Favorite meal at CH?
I could never pick just one so my tied top-two are Sunday Turkey Dinner and Lasagna!

Not everyone knows…
Not everyone knows I’ve never been outside the continental United States. I have however seen Canada, from Isle Royal!

My favorite CH memory is…
My favorite CH memory is getting on the sea plane at the end of my Isle Royal trip my last summer as a camper. Knowing that I had just finished a trip that I never thought I could do was a pretty amazing feeling. Also, the Monkey Business performance after the banquet my first year on Senior Row.

Best thing about spending a summer at CH?
The best thing about spending a summer at CH is learning to step out of your comfort zone and try new and difficult things, all while knowing that everyone is rooting for you and will be there to support you no matter what.

Thanks RJ! See you in just a few weeks for our 109th camping season!

What do you need to do before camp starts?

• Your son needs a current physical (within the year). We need his shot record and physical, or for the physician to fill out the form in the packet.

• You need to photocopy your son’s insurance card, front and back.

• Decide on how your son will be traveling to camp. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to contact us!

• You’ll need to fill out the forms that you received in an email from Tracy, or that can be found here on the site. These must be completed by June 1 and mailed back to Camp Highlands, 1319 NW 30th St., Gainesville, FL 32605.

• Review how Bunk Notes and Bunk Replies work. It’s a great system for corresponding with your son over the summer. It is especially handy for international families. We even have the instructions in Spanish!

Camp Highlands Informational Gathering

Inquiring minds want to know! Mike answers parents' questions during the March Gathering.

Sunday, April 15, from 2 – 3 p.m. at R.J. Bruce’s home, 2330 Peachtree Lane, Northbrook, IL

We invite you to join us as we introduce new families to Camp Highlands during this informational get-together.

We will watch some videos from last year, Staffers (including Ross Freeland, Evan O’Brien, The Bachmanns, and some others) will answer any questions folks have about Camp, and we’ll catch up on all the latest CH news.

This is an easy way for you to introduce some of your friends to the world of Camp Highlands. We would love for you to invite them, or pass their name along so we can let them know about this chance to get the scoop on Highlands.

Help us spread the word about the magic of Camp Highlands. Even if you aren’t able to make it, it would be awesome if you’d post this event on your Facebook wall in case you have friends and family that might want to attend.

Please RSVP here or send us an email to confirm you’re coming.

Camper List (as of 3/28/12)

The website doesn’t lie. The days just keep ticking down until Camp starts. Check out who’s on this list. Is your name there? It should be!

We’ve been busy! We sent out the Dinglebat, the camp newsletter a week or so ago. Did you get yours? I always love to hear what everyone is up to. We also just hosted the first “Meet Camp Highlands” informational gathering at the Stanner’s house in Western Springs, IL. Are you interested in hosting a gathering to help spread the word about camp? Drop us a line and we can help make that happen. We had staff, campers and their parents, and  prospective campers and their parents. It was great fun to watch the movies together and talk about our favorite subject – CAMP! It was short and sweet, just an hour, but I can feel the momentum towards summer!

And now, for the current camper list…..Is your name on here?

Davis Altorfer

Reed Altorfer

Erik Anderson

Jack Armstrong

Mac Astle

Judah Bachmann

Lukas Bachmann

Jacob Bachmann

Kyle Bachmann

Zach Baldwin

Caleb Banholzer

Garrick Bender

Marshall Bessey

Hayden Bingham

Andy Brown

Conor Bulkeley-Krane

Jack Burney

Emmett Burnside

Cole Butzlaff

Bryce Butzlaff

Parker Carlson

Antonio Carrera

Antonio Carrera

Taylor Chadwick

Charles Chapman

Mike Clarke

Zach Coffman

Charlie Convery

Patrick Dahlman

Nathan Dahlman

Jeffrey “J.D.” Davis

Martin de Guerre

Erik Dehkes

Jack Denison

Tyler DiDomenico

Tyler DiDomenico

Ashton DiDonato

Ben English

Nick Esbeck

Campbell Esbeck

Seth Fox

Brad Gall

Otis Grove

Ty Hallene

Charlie Hallene

Evan Hammans

Gavin Hanson

Logan Harper

Nate Harris

Walker Harrison

David Hodges

William Hough

Kirien Katzmarek

Sylvan Katzmarek

William Kendall

Zach Klein

Kyle Knox

Andrew Krafft

Jack Kralovec

Max Lauster

Conor Lavin

Johnathan Lavin

Graham Letkeman

Jack Leuba

Max Lewis

Jack Lewis

Drew Lezon

Nate Lezon

Camin Long

Tom Lynch

John Milner

Carter Moore

Nick Morgan

Diondre Morris

Mykel Nayeri

Brock O’Neill

Patricio Palomino

Jack Parker

Sam Pfeifer

Adam Pfeifer

Ben Phalen

Campbell Phalen

Graeme Phillips

Ian Pratt

Nicolas Price

Mark Raasch

Ian Ragsdale

Charlie Rahr

Leo Ramirez

Santiago Ramirez

Jackson Rench

Andres Rodrigues

Augustin Rodriguez Corcuera

Eduardo Rodriguez Corcuera

Liam Roeth

Connor Sanda

Tom Sarver

George Schmidt

Louis Shaw

AJ Sorkin

AJ Sorkin

Charlie Stearns

Carter Steinhagen

Jake Stewart

Clayton Stewart

Tom Stott

Kent Taylor

Trey Taylor

Wyatt Verlen

Jimbo Vermillion

Griffin Wasz

Mason Werner

Carson Williams

Roger Williams

Ethan Williams

Lucas Winter

Evan Winter

Tristan Worthington

Casey Zinser

Johnny Zokovitch

You’ll see last year’s camp videos, meet Mike and Sharon Bachmann, and get a real flavor for who we are – very important when choosing a camp. AND, we have swag! We’ll be raffling off t-shirts and a free store account worth $75.

And for those folks who’ve already experienced the Highlands magic – this is your chance to tell your friends and families! They’ve heard the mythical stories of Cubbie overnights, paddling the pristine waters of the the North Woods. They’ve seen the pictures of all the awesome friends you’ve made. They’ve heard about Lois’ meatloaf…. So now, invite them to find out more. They will thank you for it!

For more details and to RSVP, check out the event on Facebook, or just email us. See you there!

So take a look guys, and see if you recognize any names on this list. We have a handful of boys that were unable to come last summer, but are re-joining us this year. Awesome! It really only takes one summer away from CH to realize how awesome camp is! Is your name on this list???

In the name of continuing this great tradition, Mike Bachmann is the resident photographer, and has been so for the last few decades. He’s got a great eye and knack for the portrait. Take a look a the “Faces of 2011″ gallery to see what I’m talking about. I am so inspired by all those faces that I made them the cover of the CaHiBo this year. It’s a great metaphor for what it takes to make a special summer at Highlands. I’d say it was the BEST summer in current memory. And instead of picking one photo or a few photos to try and capture that magic, we show each face, since each child brings their own special something to Camp. (disclaimer: We really tried our best to get every boy on there. We hope we got it right…?)

And now, we are posting several hundreds of photos to the gallery on the website. Please email us for a password (for the safety of our campers, we don’t make the galleries public). A couple of my favorites are Mike B. with the intertube on the scooter, Matt Schaible in a cowboy hat with Stella and Evelyn from the “Texas Round Up” day, and a handful of great shots of *my* guys, Judah and Andy. Do you have a favorite? Let us know!

Thinking ahead to 2012….will your face make the CaHiBo this year? We sure hope so! Until next time, fare thee well!    –Tracy B.

Can you believe that www.camphighlands.com is 12 years old? In that time we’ve have four websites. Climb into our time machine as we take a look at the past websites…

P.S. Online enrollment will be enabled in the next month. For now, download the enrollment form and email it to us. You can automatically fill it out in Acrobat, too. Give us a ring if you’d like to pay by credit card.

What will you be up to over the holidays? The Bachmann crew always gets together down in Florida. Tim, Carol and Lukas Bachmann fly in from Boulder, Laura Bachmann Cubillos and Jose, Mateo and Esperanza come in from Park City, UT, Mike and Sharon drive down from Chicago and Andy, Tracy, Judah, Stella and Remy come down from Gainesville, FL. We hang out on the beach and just enjoy being together.

The CAHIBO will be in your hot little hands around the end of December. This year, we will be posting ALL the photos we took over the summer to the gallery. Keep your eyes peeled for that!