Camp Timanous is a summer camp in Raymond, Maine. It offers a traditionalGary Paul Nabhan (1995), The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places, Beacon Press, p. 123 program of land and water activities, aimed at developing "Body, Mind, and Spirit". Camp Timanous is both a progenitorCharlie E. Hartsoe, M. Douglas Sanders, & Meredith Bridgers, ed. (2009), Profiles in Leadership: Robert W. Crawford Recreation and Park Hall of Fame, Sagamore Publishing, p. 62 of the Maine sleepaway camping traditionABC News, Nightline, July 7, 2007. and industryNancy L. Ross (March 10. 1994), "Camp Connections; Building Character -- and Networks", The Washington Post and is one of the oldest continually operating summer camps in America. In a typical summer, some 40,000 children participate in youth summer programs, mostly at one of Maine's 200 licensed summer camps, such as Camp Timanous.Beth Quimby (June 24, 2007), "Family weeks have a faithful following", The Maine Sunday Telegram

History Timanous was founded in 1887 in Connecticut by American physical fitness education pioneer Luther Halsey Gulick (1865–1918), who also founded the Camp Fire Girls in 1910 and was instrumental in the development of the YMCA, basketball, and volleyball. In 1920, Gulick moved the boys' camp to the current Raymond, Maine, location on Panther Pond, a large offshoot of Sebago Lake.

The name "Timanous" derives from the Indian name Gulick was known by, meaning "Guiding Spirit".Margaret R. O'Leary, Dennis S. O'Leary (2011), "Adventures at Wohelo Camp: Summer Of 1928", iUniverse In 1907, Gulick founded a sister camp, Wohelo, with which Timanous interacts through dances, swim meets and various races.

John and Martha Suitor purchased the camp from the Gulick family and began operating it in 1942.Martha Rist Suitor; Obituary, Burlington Free Press (February 17, 2011) In the early 1980s, the Suitors' two sons, Jack and David, became directors. Camp Timanous was owned and operated by David and Linda Suitor, who became active directors in 1983. In 2018, camp transitioned to a nonprofit organization governed by the Board of Trustees, owned by the Timanous Foundation. Also that year, Garth Altenburg was hired as the director of the camp. Garth is supported by Consulting Directors Dave and Linda Suitor, who ran Timanous for over three decades.

Staff, campers, and counselors have a very high return rate. In 2006, 93% of the 50 counseling staff were former campers, averaging over 10 years at camp (12 were teachers). There is no indoor plumbing nor electricity in living quarters at Timanous.

Facilities and campus Intended for boys aged 7 to 15, the summer is divided into two three-and-a-half-week-long sessions, and many campers choose to attend both. It is on of land abutting Panther Pond in Raymond, Maine. There are typically around 125 campers at camp at any given point in the summer.

Campers live in one of the 10 wooden cabins (otherwise known as "bunks"), a large tent or a waterside structure called "The Nest".

Program

Sports and activities At the outset, the Timanous daily program served as a model for Gulick to originate and test ideas later implemented in the Camp Fire program, helping form the traditional notions of American camping. In a typical day at today's camp, campers participate in both instructional and recreational activity; options include baseball, tennis, soccer, running, sailing, canoeing and boating, water skiing, handicrafts, woodshop, riflery, climbing wall and archery.John Richardson, "A Camping Tradition; New generations of Owners and Campers Sustain a 100-Year-Old Industry," August 11, 1996. Portland Press Herald.David Suitor and Jake Congleton (2010), "The Timanous Story". J.S. McCarthy Printers, Augusta, Maine, USA.

Camping trips and camp events

Sharing a common heritage although under different ownership today, Timanous and Wohelo have a long history of interacting all summer long. The camps hold dances and swim meets, as well as organize a "brother-sister day", during which Wohelo and Timanous campers with siblings at the opposite camp will spend a couple of hours together.

Watersports On the morning of the final day of the summer, the camp is again split into the two green and gray teams, and the campers participate in Watersports Day, a final competition between the two colors, with events including war canoe, kayak and swim races.

Culture

The commitment to "Body, Mind, and Spirit" remains best identified with the Timanous "T", a triangular emblem. Each corner of the triangle represents one of the three ideals that Camp Timanous is based around.

Notable alumni

Peter Gammons,Peter Gammons (May 14, 1972), The Boston Globe sports writer and ESPN personality Porter J. Goss, former Director of the CIA Luther H. Gulick, camping, basketball, volleyball and physical education innovator Karl N. Llewellyn, scholar and proponent of American legal realism Samuel Pickering,Samuel Pickering, Jr. (1997). Living to Prowl p. 168. Athens: University of Georgia Press. . author and professor

References

External links Timanous' website