Without question, an era came to an end at Timber Lake with the passing of long-time Director of Fine Arts, Necia Marko, who died on Thursday, the 29th of December. Although unable to return to camp last summer, Necia spent 43 summers at Timber Lake, missing only one other due to the birth of her fourth son, Ari. All four of her sons grew up at camp and two of her grandchildren as well. She came to Timber Lake in 1967 as the sister of its Director and co-founder, Sy Lebenger. It wasn’t long before she became a presence in her own right.
Necia was Timber Lake’s Grand Diva. She was not only proficient in the fine arts – of which she could do them all – but she was a work of fine art herself. Expressive, bold, flamboyant, dynamic, creative and entertaining, she was not easy to miss, but will be much missed by all who came to know her.
For thousands of years, art has been a way for artists to capture a moment in time, expressing thoughts and feelings. From the days of Picasso, Michelangelo and Da Vinci, art has certainly changed over the years.
One might ask why is Timber Lake blogging about Da Vinci? Well, over the last 50 years, TLC has seen some incredible artists. From the legendary Necia Marko and Jimmy Charmatz up to the more recent Sokol sisters (Peri & Emily) and Nyla Brittle, there have been many artists that have graced TLC with their presence over the years.
There are so many different ways for our TLC artists to express their artistic creativity – we have each team’s Olympic plaques hanging in the canteen, the individual bunk plaques which are showcased in the Boys’ and Girls’ HCs and bunks, and of course the Marathon plaques in the Dining Hall, and the Marathon Murals which are prominently displayed in the Rec Hall, and Timber Dome.
We wanted to give all of this tremendous artwork a chance to shine and be seen outside of the camp season, so each week we’ll be posting artwork from a different year at camp on our Facebook Page! Make sure you check out the weekly posts and tag yourself & your friends on your teams and in your bunks!
Here’s a taste of some great artwork from Summer 2011!
Timber Lake’s own, Jay Rokeach (aka JayRo), has recently landed a job as the announcer for the NHL Florida Panthers, and we couldn’t be prouder. In fact, if you can’t hear us, we’ll shout a little louder!
JayRo started in the broadcasting industry when he was a teenager. As JayRo said, “If you know at an early age you aren’t going to be a great athlete but you love sports, you look for different avenues to get involved.” He was his High School basketball team’s manager and soon after he began announcing the games himself. He went on to the University of Miami and looked to get involved there as well. In typical JayRo fashion, when asked about which sport he approached first when he wanted to help out, he said “Basketball. They went to Hawaii and had a great road schedule. Couldn’t pass that up!” Although the basketball team already had people in place, JayRo landed his first gig as the school’s Baseball PA announcer in 1968. Soon after, he got promoted as the PA announcer of the school’s basketball, football, and volleyball teams. (more…)
As I am sure you have seen, Hurricane Irene inflicted significant damage to Phoenicia, New York and the area surrounding camp (see photos and video below). Phoenicia, home to camp favorites such as Sweet Sues, the Sportsman’s, Brio’s, Ricciardella’s, Al’s Restaurant and the like, has been a part of the fabric of Timber Lake since before I started attending back in 1967. The people of Phoenicia make up our employees, our contractors, repairmen and friends. They are hard working people who love the camp and have grown with us over the years.
Fortunately, Timber Lake suffered no significant damage. On top of a mountain, surrounded by mountains, we have weathered storms like Irene relatively well over the years. Our losses are in the hundreds of dollars. Phoenicia’s are in the hundreds of thousands if not millions.
As good neighbors should, in times of unique hardship, Timber Lake Camp, through the Timber Lake Foundation, is establishing the PHOENICIA RELIEF FUND to help our local community rebuild. The Fund will open with a $100,000 donation from Mindy, myself and Timber Lake Camp. Anyone interested in helping is invited to make a tax deductible donation to the Timber Lake Foundation, a 501(C)(3) Corporation. ALL DONATIONS WILL BE ADDITIONAL to the $100,000 already committed by the Camp.
You can send donations made payable to: THE TIMBER LAKE FOUNDATION. In the memo line, please note: PHOENICIA RELIEF FUND. Checks may be sent to our Glen Cove Office: 85 Crescent Beach Road, Glen Cove, NY 11542.
There are numbers of other organizations ready to assist our neighbors in other effected areas of the region. I am sure that everyone will do whatever they can in these difficult times for our larger summer community.
We had a such a great time visiting with all our old TLC friends who were able to make the trek up to Saddle Mountain this past weekend!
After they parked their cars and checked in, alumni watched from across the lake as two huge helicopters passed through the valley and high above, 3 skydivers began to descend upon the boys campus field with red smoke and green & white streamers – this could only mean one thing: Break Out!
As soon as Vampire White & Pirate Green began to chant their team names, the alumni were let in to camp for a day spent at their old summer home! The morning was spent catching up with bunkmates & counselors and touring around the facilities – the mighty Timber Dome, Tiger Stadium, our new Fitness Center, the Links at Saddle Mountain (our golf course) and more! Soon, it was time for lunch and everyone wandered up to the Dining Hall for hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, watermelon and all the other BBQ favorites! (more…)
This past weekend, the TLC Family of Camps took part in an awesome charity event at Columbia University – Camp Games for a Cause! Over 30 different camps in the tri-state area, represented by their camp staff, camp alumni and camp families participated in friendly competition while raising money for a wonderful cause – SCOPE. In this, it’s inaugural year, Camp Games for a Cause raised over $34,000 for SCOPE, helping to send under-privileged inner-city kids to summer camp!
We had about 25 young alumni & staff members from the TLC family show up to compete in some favorite camp games such as gaga, volleyball, dodgeball, and a dance competition where Ross Lazerowitz from Timber Lake posed as Justin Beiber! The day finished with a perennial camp favorite (and mass chaos!) – an Apache relay! Although there was a valiant effort by all, the TLC Family of Camps team came in 2nd place, but that just means that next year we will be going for the gold!
Do you remember the year 1985? Well, let me refresh your memory real quickly. In the year 1985, gas was only $1.09, the cost to go to a movie was just $2.75, Microsoft released the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0, and Ronald Reagan was President of the United States. But, we all know that for every true Timber Laker, the best memory of every year is the Marathon Breakout out each summer!So who remembers Marathon Breakout 1985? Wait for it…Here’s a clue: “Watcha gonna do when the Hulkster runs wild on YOU, Brotha?!” Alright time’s up! If you couldn’t figure the answer out from looking at the picture above or from the previous quote then you were probably born in the new Millennium. The answer is: The Mighty Hulk Hogan of course! (more…)
It is with a great deal of sadness that I report the news of the passing of Sy Lebenger. Sy was the Director of Timber Lake Camp since it was founded in 1962 through 1983. Sy was my camp director. He was 85.
Sy, along with his partner, Ralph Bannet, founded Timber Lake. He was a force to be reckoned with. In the early years, campers first set eyes on him as their bus to camp rounded the turn in the road at the bottom of the steep, then unpaved hill, that took them into camp. Sy, in a worn Timber Lake T-shirt, covered by a open denim jacket and jeans, scraggly straw hat on his head and the permanent scowl he wore on his face would meet every bus as it pulled up. Campers would transfer into open rack trucks for the last half mile into camp. (more…)
Because we have, with Morgan, visited TLC over the past few summers, she has not only heard but seen our history and the great things that are in store for her. For example, as we drove past Phoenicia, we told her about how we would always have a “knot” of excitement in our stomach when the bus made the right turn off of Route 28. We took her to the Mess Hall (sorry – that’s what we will always call it) and the Rec Hall to show her our Color War (sorry again – we are old school) plaques and murals and told her all about fake-outs, break-outs, Sing and the fun of those four days at the end of the summer. She has played on the boys’ basketball courts and been thrilled (okay – probably uninterested) by the stories of her Dad’s past (and exaggerated) glories!
Al Brown, our Head Chef since 1987, passed away on Christmas Eve. Mindy, Jessica, Jackie and I were having dinner with family friends at a restaurant in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, while on vacation when an email from a TLC alum brought me the news. I guess that it was only appropriate that I found out while eating a great dinner. Al had given us many of those.
Necia was Timber Lake’s Grand Diva. She was not only proficient in the fine arts – of which she could do them all – but she was a work of fine art herself. Expressive, bold, flamboyant, dynamic, creative and entertaining, she was not easy to miss, but will be much missed by all who came to know her.
