Tyler Hill Camp
| Tyler Hill Camp | |
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| Tyler Hill Camp Maple Leaf Logo | |
| Location | Tyler Hill, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 41°41′47″N 75°08′19″W / 41.696268°N 75.138572°WCoordinates: 41°41′47″N 75°08′19″W / 41.696268°N 75.138572°W |
| Opening date | 1955 |
| Website | http://www.tylerhillcamp.com |
Tyler Hill Camp is a summer camp in Pennsylvania, U.S. It was developed on the grounds of the Wayne County Country Club in the 1950s and is located in the Pocono Mountains region of Wayne County.
Tyler Hill Camp was founded in 1955 by Bill Heft and Joe Bernstein. They purchased the Wayne Country Club, which they transformed into Tyler Hill Camp in 1956. A third partner, Bob Weinberger, sold his share to Heft and Bernstein after a few seasons. It makes part of The TLC Family of Camps, which feature five of the most recognized and respected camps on the East Coast: Timber Lake,Tyler Hill, Timber Lake West, North Shore Day Camp and Hampton Country Day Camp.
Facilities
Located on 226 acres (0.91 km2), Tyler Hill Camp features two lakes (Silver and Laurel) for boating, and waterskiing, 12 tennis courts, 4 softball/baseball fields, 7 basketball courts (1 mini court), 1 regulation roller hockey rink (1 smaller one) and an on-site 9-hole golf course.
History
The first major addition to camp in the 1990s was an swimming pool in 1992. The pool was built where a hard-top volleyball court once stood down by Silver Lake. The same year, former Boys Bunk 1 and 2 was converted into a movie theater, featuring a projection screen, seats from the then recently renovated Callicoon movie theater.
During the summer of 1995, a new regulation roller hockey rink was built. The following summer, a new basketball court was built right next to the hockey rink. Both the hockey rink and basketball court were covered in 1997, completing the Tylerdome. The dome featured high ceilings and was open on all sides, allowing for cool breezes throughout the hot summer days, but shelter from the intense sun and offered an alternative location for rainy day activities.
In 2002, a wrap-around porch was added to the canteen and the following year, the interior was renovated, adding wood paneling throughout the perimeter of the building. Two new boys and girls bunks were also added added due to the increasing camp enrollment, allowing for more space in the latter bunks. In the early part of the decade, the main and secondary roads that lined the campus were paved, followed by the addition of new foot paths in 2006.
During the winter of 2002 & 2003, the Social Hall suffered extensive roof damage after a sizable amount of snowfall. The building was irreparable, so plans were drawn up to construct a new, larger building. The foundation was laid in 2003 and the building was officially completed for the 2004 summer season. The building features a state-of-the-art sound booth in the back of the building, with costume rooms, larger bathrooms and a dance room and weight room off to either sides. The building received another facelift in the fall of 2006, when hard wood flooring was placed throughout the building.
For the summer of 2006, the Arts and Crafts building received a much needed renovation. Also the former Cooking Shack (formerly the Nature Shack) was taken down and a patio was put on the foundation to make a cooking and seating area for breakfast and lunch. Cooking was moved into the Arts & Crafts pavilion overlooking the breakfast and lunch area. In the fall of 2006, construction began on a new Gymnastics pavilion overlooking Silver Lake. This pavilion replaced the existing gymnastics facility.
In 2006, Andy Siegel and his wife Wendy assumed the position as Director/Owners of Tyler Hill Camp, along with Justin Mayer as Assistant Director and Bette Jane Weisenthal as Associate Director of Girls Camp.
In 2009, the popular movie theater was changed back into bunks (23 and 24) due to the enrollment of 35 new campers. A new movie theater was constructed behind boys bunks 5 and 6.
Shortly after the summer of 2009, Justin Mayer, the Assistant Director, left his position at Tyler Hill Camp for the Director position at Timber Lake West Camp.
In 2010, the camp Health Center received a major renovation, including an extension to accommodate additional campers and a wrap-around porch.
After the summer of 2010, the Head of the Waterfront, Nick ("Swim") Williams was announced as the new Assistant Director of Tyler Hill Camp. The position of Head of Waterfront would be filled by one of the lifeguards, Luke O'Connor.
Prior to the summer of 2011, the Horse Stables were converted into the new Campitheatre, which is an outdoor stage and benches set behind the Tyler Dome on Silver Lake.
Jay Jacobs the CEO of the Timber Lake Camps, which owns Tyler Hill Camp has entered a deal with Hess to hydrofrack on the camp.
Color War
An end of the summer competition where the entire camp is split into 2 teams, Blue & White, led by counselor leaders known as "officers". Lasting between 5 and 6 days, points are earned through athletic activities, sportsmanship, boating and swimming relays, all culminating with a singing competition. A hatchet is hidden in a well disguised location, with clues released twice a day, leading to the hatchet's general vicinity. Many of the clues are riddles or anagrams.
Color War breakouts
Starting in 1991, a celebrity was brought to camp to break out the Color War competition. The celebrities and things that have appeared for a Color War breakout are as follows:
- 1991: Jason Priestly, star of Beverly Hills, 90210
- 1992: Nitro & Ice, stars of American Gladiators
- 1993: Charles Barkley
- 1994: Hakeem Olajuwon
- 1995: Matthew Perry, star from the hit TV show Friends
- 1996: Two fake Tom Cruises
- 1997: Supermodel Tyra Banks and model Antonio Sabato Jr.
- 1998: Wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
- 1999: Shaquille O'Neil
- 2000: Justin Timberlake, popular lead singer from the band Nsync
- 2001: Carson Daly, host of MTV's TRL
- 2002: Tobey Maguire, star of the Spider-Man films
- 2003: Clay Aiken, American Idol runner up, and boy-band O-Town
- 2004: Paris Hilton and pro-skater Chad Muska
- 2005: Fergie, singer from the band The Black Eyed Peas
- 2006: Two skydivers came flying down from the sky and landed on the baseball fields. This was the first non-celebrity breakout in years.
- 2007: The "Megasaurus," a giant transformer, crushed a car that had been floating around camp for the past few weeks
- 2008: Fireworks blew and the whole camp rushed to the basketball courts to see a Blackhawk helicopter fly over then land in camp
- 2009: A weird sea monster was sighted in Loral Lake early in the morning and everybody rushed to the lake to see it then a plane flew over camp
- 2010: A green shed was placed on boy's camp near the dining hall and the former assistant director, Justin Mayer, dressed as Buzz Lightyear jumped out
- 2011: Medieval Times came to camp and had a jousting match, at which point four head staff members dressed in space suits rolled up on an old cart and set up the color war theme of Medieval Times (blue) and Year 3000 (white)
- 2012: Broke out at Michael Davidowitz and Deanna Kennedy's "camp wedding"
- 2013: Ron Dagan, his son Adam and a guy named Tameer played a concert at the Camp-a-Theater after the Air Elite Dunkers put on a show for the camp by the basketball courts
Notable Alumni
- Bruce Beck – WNBC-TV Sports Anchor
- Randy Marber – New York Supreme Court Justice
- Irene Rosenfeld – CEO of Kraft Foods Inc.
External links
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