Counting My Blessings!

November and December are such busy months around here. We finish putting camp to bed, laying in supplies for the winter (it is tough to get hay delivered in the snow), attend the annual WAIC Conference(www.waic.org), and then you add in the holidays, school, and... Well, it's crazy! As if that wasn't enough, I start working for Northstar in November. I have managed the ticketing department there for many years. I just love the excitement, energy, and fun of ski season. But with the work around here, at Northstar, the holidays, and the driving back and forth, I sometimes forget to stop and smell the roses.

So, today, I am taking a moment to remember my favorite part of the day and sharing it with you: After homework time, and dinner time, and bath time, and reading time, and dinner dishes time, and pick up the toys time, when I walk in to each of my daughter's rooms, make sure they're tucked in and look at those beautiful sleeping angels. That's the moment, my very favorite one each and every day!

This moment here:


And this one, too:



Have a great day!

Veteran's Day 2009!

Craig, Ryleigh, Makenna and I headed down to Greenville at 11 am this morning for the Annual Veteran's Day parade. There are so many things I love about living in our small town. Today's parade was just another affirmation of many of those things. I believe the whole town came out for the Parade and Ceremony. The American Legion, the Boy Scouts, Greenville High School's band, the Quincy Elks Lodge, and of course our local Fire Departments were all represented. We sang the National Anthem, said the Pledge of Allegiance, and were able to express our gratitude to the brave men and women who have served and those who currently serve our country. We feel blessed and grateful for their and their families' sacrifices.

We hope you are enjoying this Veteran's Day!

Fall Fun and our Christmas Card Preview!

It has been a very busy Fall here at camp. We hosted several groups, including the AERC National Championship Endurance Ride. There were over 150 riders between the 2 days of the ride. Both the camp and ranch meadow were filled with horse trailers, horses, riders, and their crews! It was a wonderful event, and great exposure for our little town!

Lornie and Sutter have been busy with Greenville High School varsity volleyball. Lornie is coaching and Sutter is a starting setter. The team has had a very successful season and beat arch-rival Quincy last week! Sutter is also knee deep in the college application process. She and Lornie visited University of Oregon a few weeks ago and Sutter loved the campus. So far, the Ducks may be in the lead!

Ryleigh just finished Fall soccer season and is a busy 3rd grader. The rest of the Hoglands are enjoying the quiet of Fall. Craig is madly putting camp to bed now that group season is done, and Becky is starting back with Northstar a few days a week.

Here are a few more shots from our photo shoot this weekend.
Happy Fall!

Kenna loved the apples from the tree!

Our beautiful Sutter Butter!

Reasons why we love Coppercreek
FBI 2009 4th session
Maddie Milligan, Emma Shupper, Jackie Monetta,
Savannah Bocknik, Lizzie Goulder, Kara Fellows, Ella Hormel

1. Someone else does your laundry
2. You get ice cream if your cabin is clean
3. Waking up to music
4. We choose where to go for activities
5. Your cabin is your family and your counselor is your friend
6. You meet people you never knew who happen to live close
7. You’re given chance to leave camp for things like the lake or the fair
8. No one cares what you wear
9. You make friends from anywhere
10. You never get bored
11. No worries. No stress. No pressure
12. You’re friends with people you’d never be friends with at home
13. There’s something here for everyone
14. You can dance like no one’s watching even when people are watching
15. You feel like you’ve been friends for a lifetime, even if it’s only been a few weeks
16. There’s always someone to cheer you on when you think you’re about to give up, whether on high ropes or at boondoggle
17. The food is amazing
18. The counselors love it here as much as we do
19. You hear songs throughout the year that remind you of camp
20. All counselors are different: loud, funny, quiet, crazy, understanding, neat, messy, happy
21. You can wear your PJ’s to breakfast
22. You can learn from anyone-campers or counselors
23. The shirts become collector’s items
24. If you look on a map it’s a tiny little place, but it holds a MILLION MEMORIES

Barn News for Second Session

Wow! I can't believe we have already finished one week of Second Session. The barn has been hopping with lots of girls on "ponies". The jumping arena has full lessons every hour. Amy has been working on bending lines and cloverleaf patterns to crossrails. In our middle arena, girls are working on their posting trot, two point and in a few lessons, their first cross rails with Sarah. Ellie, Princess of the Small Arena, has the girls of Treehouse already trotting up the hill in two point.

Our Barn Rats are very experienced this session and are quite good at keeping the horses moving in and out of lessons. The Rats get the horses out, tacked up, and connected with their rider at the beginning of lessons. At the end of each lesson, the Rats take each horse from the rider and "strip and flip" them as I say. They pull the saddle and bridle, sponge the horse off, fly spray them and then ride bareback back to their pen. That's the fun part!

Amy has taught a "how to longe a horse" lesson during her Specialty group and today she will continue on with bandaging. Sarah has Marissa and Laura working on their Level 4 ribbons for CHA and Ellie took the minis for their first spin this session. As always, Annie, our beautiful draft mare, is happily keeping our vaulters on board and looking forward to the Talent Show next Thursday night.

Pictures of all the riders will be up shortly on our website! Keep a look out!

Monday's Daily Schedule

7:30 MUSIC
7:45 WAKE UP
8:00 BREAKFAST
8:30 CABIN CLEAN-UP
9:00 CAMPFIRE
9:15 HORSES: LORNIE, Kate, Amy, Sarah, Ellie, Taehli, Molly, Lia
Nathan, Curtis, Chance, Kyle, Ryleigh, Taylor K,Claire
2-HOUR MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE: JORGE, Ryan
KAYAKING AT THE POOL: ADELAIDE, Karol, & Sarah F
CLIMBING WALL: Emily, Sophia,
RIFLERY: James, AJ
SMALL ANIMALS: Cindy
ARTS & CRAFTS: Ali, Chloe
SOCCER: Emma, Gina
NAMEBALL: Kevin, Monika

10:15 HORSES: The horse staff and Horses
Teal, Agnes, Grace, Michael S, Jennifer, Gretel, Cassidy, Laura,
Carly
MOUNTAIN BIKING CONTINUES
KAYAKING CONTINUES: ADELAIDE, Karol & Sarah F
CLIMBING WALL CONTINUES: Emily, Sophia, Taylor
WEIGHTS: AJ, Chloe
LACROSSE: Ali
ARCHERY: Cindy, Kevin
ARTS AND CRAFTS: Emma
ROLL CHECK: Monika, Gina
11:15 HORSES: The horse staff, including the JC helper
Andrea, Brianna, Salome, Taylor W, Mackenzie, Emily
Kayla, Mollie, Marissa, Gabby, Emma
KAYAKING CONTINUES: ADELAIDE, Karol, Sarah F
MOUNTAIN BIKING (ONE HOUR RIDE): JORGE, Sophia
BMX: Cindy, Emma
SLING SHOTS: James, Monika
ARTS AND CRAFTS: Ali, Chloe
CLIMBING WALL: Emily, Kevin, Taylor hangs out to help, too!
KICK BALL IN THE MEADOW: Gina, AJ
12:15 TABLESETTERS
12:30 LUNCH
1:00 REST HOUR
AFTERNOON LAKE: Lindsay, Ryan (Expedition or Buick)
Alcatraz!
1:30 LIFEGUARD FOR SWIM CHECKOUTS: Lucy
CITS & JCs to Pool go to pool for swim check outs
1:40 FBI, Alcatraz to Pool
1:50 Swamp, Treehouse to pool
2:00 Hotel Cali, Times Square
2:10 Club Med , Oasis, Graceland to pool
2:20 Battleship, Phules to pool
2:30 POOL: LUCY, Emma
CABIN AREA SUPERVISION: Karol
ARTS AND CRAFTS: Ali
CLAY: Sophia, Taehli
DECK FUN: James, Chloe, Molly
3:00 OPEN HOUSE SPECIALTY GROUP: LORNIE, Kate, Amy, Sarah, Ellie
CHA, SADDLECLUB, VAULTING, MINIS! Come Check It Out!
POOL: EMMA, Kevin
ART: Adelaide
CABIN AREA: James
FISHING AT THE POND: Cindy
BASKETBALL: Karol
DECK FUN: AJ, Sarah
CLAY: Emily, Lia
Roll: Taehli, Molly
4:00 RIDING EVALUATIONS: Riding Staff
Caitlin H, Jaycze, Alexandria, Dani, Chloe R, Ellen D, Evie,
Alexandra B
POOL: KEVIN, Ali
CLAY: Emily, Lia
CABIN AREA: Sophia
RIFLERY: Jorge, AJ
DRAMA: James
GOLF: Roger
SMALL ANIMALS: Adelaide
SWING DANCE: Cindy, Taylor
DECK FUN: Monika, Gina, Sarah
Mail Sorting and Delivery: Chloe, Sarah
5:00 FAMILY HOUR
Package Duty: Monika, Gina
5:45 TABLESETTERS
6:00 DINNER

7:00 EVENING ACTIVITIES
TEEN SOCIAL AT LYNNE”S POND: Steve, Lucy, Lindsay
CITs & JCs
CANOEING: Roger, Emma, Karol
FISHING AT ROUND VALLEY: Cindy, Ali
MOUNTAIN BIKING: Jorge, James
SOCCER: Sophia, Kevin, Ryan
CHARADES: Emily
9:00 CABINS
9:30 LIGHTS OUT

Barn News

Another lovely day at the barn. The campers are settling into lessons and the horses are taking care of business. A few notable moments- Chloe, Daniela, Emma G., Marissa, Laura, Carly, Gabby and Jayne all began canter work. The small arena campers reviewed their information from yesterday and will learn their two point position so they can begin trotting in a couple of days. The middle arena lessons focused on perfecting their position at the trot and in two point. The sounds of "heels down", "outside rein will straighten the horse's shoulder", "easy on Tulip's mouth", "thumbs up", "Hank loves pets!" rang out all morning while the Barn Rats kept the barn running by tacking up, cleaning the corral and doing barn chores.

Very exciting stuff!

Our first specialty groups met today. Ellie and the Saddle Club girls; Emma G., Ryleigh, Teal, Salome, and Grace, drew all over Phinney learning the parts of the horse. They finished with giving her a bath and making her pretty, white coat shine. Sarah took the mini drivers out for some ground driving lessons with Jiggy and Beauty. The campers who took part were Evie, Cassidy, Daniela, Chloe, Ellen, and Kyle.

Wow! It is already 10:00 pm and I still need to go close the alley gates, the barn door and check on the horses. Good night!

AERC National Championship Ride to Take Place at Coppercreek Camp!!!!

We are honored to be chosen as the host site for this year's American Endurance Ride Conference National Championships on September 11th and 13th. Hundreds of riders will come to Coppercreek Camp, set up their campsites in our meadows and ride either 50 or 100 miles on their highly conditioned and trained horses. We have been hosting endurance rides for years. The past riders have loved our facility so much, they asked us to please host the National Championships. We just heard the ride received FEI approval making it an international level ride as well.
For more details, please follow this link to the AERC website ride details.

http://www.doublejoy.com/erol/Calendar/RideDetails.asp?rideID=4616

First day at the barn!

We had a great first day at the barn. The instructors were very patient, fun and got the campers moving. The horses were well behaved, especially having 40 campers invade their world! (...well Daisy had to have her 10 minutes of running, bucking and throwing fits in the round pen before she could behave in the cross ties.) Our wonderful JC's, Molly, Lia and Taehli helped Ellie all morning in our small arena with our beginner camper riders.

Campers in the small arena learned how to lead their horse, mount, hold the reins properly, basic position and weave in and out of cones. Everyone in the large arena received a refresher on all of the above, emergency procedures and then did some trot work. Some even went right into finessing their two point. Out in the jump arena with Amy, Laura and Carly worked on walk, trot, canter, straightening exercises with their horses and waiting patiently for the loose horse, Patience, to be returned to her pen (she got out during pen cleaning...it is never boring at the equestrian center!). Emma and Marissa worked on trotting, bending, and working a figure 8 over poles.

We have to give a shout out to Evie and Alexandria who climbed on a horse for their first time ever! One more shout out to Agnes, who bravely mounted Felix for her lesson even though she was a little afraid. Nobody fell off, everyone had smiles on their faces and the riding staff breathed a sigh of relief.

We had our "specialty group open house" this afternoon where we highlighted the Mighty Minis, Vaulting, CHA Ribbon work, Saddle Club and Barn Rats. The campers will sign up tonight for which ones they want to be in. We watched JJ play with the huge, green ball which is bigger than him and took Jada and Willow for a walk.

A few campers missed their riding evaluations on opening day, so they did this today at 4:00 and they will start their lessons tomorrow.

Phew!

Staff Intros Part 3

James Gorman from Ireland
Im James and i come from Belfast in Northern Ireland, this will be my second year at camp and im so excited for it to start. i enjoy most outdoor sport, climbing, running, soccer and wakeboarding because of camp.I love to travel and have been all over the globe sometimes living in different countries. I also work in a mental health hospital as an activity coordinator, and i love it. I do alot of other things as youll find out at camp. My last year at camp was one ill never forget thats why i had to return this year.

David Steven, Maintenance Staff
Hello im David Steven from Manchester, England home of the best football (Soccer) team in europe Manchester United hahah. This will be my first time to camp and America i am currently studying Computer Games Design at Staffordshire University but changing to broadcasting technology when i return.I have an Interest in outdoor activities and would love the oportunity to try out wakeboarding when available i am keen on learning different cultures and to travel.I will be on maintenance at camp and look foward to meeting you all!

Ellie Snape, Riding Instructor
My name is Eloise Snape, but everyone knows me as Ellie. I'm from a little town called Grimsby in England, but am currently living in Leeds with 4 of my friends whilst studying for my degree. I study Business and Human Resource Management at Leeds Metropolitan University. I will be part of the riding department at camp. I have been riding since the age of 6, and competing in showjumping competitions from a young age.I love horses and all animals. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my friends and showjumping. At camp I will be looking forward to trying and taking part in different sports and meeting new people. This will be my first year at camp and was only placed a couple of days ago, so am unsure what to expect!I'm looking forward to meeting you all!

Kevin Reyes, Counselor

My name is Kevin, and I am currently studying at CSU Sacramento. I am a liberal studies major, which basically is teacher prep for elementary school. I'll admit its taken me a little bit longer than I had hoped to get to where I am, but I am a firm believer in the journey is worth more than the destination. I'll be a junior in the fall.
I grew up near Monterey Bay, specifically in Salinas. When I was growing up, I spent alot of my time on a bike riding around the town, out on the agriculture fields and between my friends houses. I was active in sports playing baseball through elementary school volleyball in middle school. And in high school played volleyball, basketballand football.
That was then, this however is the now, I have recently taken up to break dancing with the Beats Rhyme and Culture club on campus. I am one of thee few "Poppers" of the club. Aslo within the club, I guess the technical position I haave taken is Web Master. Which reminds me I need to work on the events calendar for the club, but anyways. Also, because of my major, I am allowed a concentration in just about any field, and I have chosen to do mine in music. Interestingly enough, over the past year I have taught myself basic Ukulele chords on the Soprano Ukulele, and currently am working on learning the baritone Ukulele. Which is basically a guitar without the two lowest strings.

CERTIFIED HORSEMANSHIP ASSOCIATION CLINIC

Last week, Coppercreek hosted their 13th CHA clinic certifying all of their riding staff as well as staff from other camps. The clinic goes over 5 days and the instructors have to demonstrate their knowledge of horsemanship, riding ability and teaching ability to two clincians. Each instructor must teach 4 lessons of varying levels to the class. After each lesson, they are critiqued for safety, effectiveness, and fun. The clinic can be stressful and challenging but raises the standard in group riding programs, making camp riding lessons worthwhile. This year, our clinicians were MJ Misailidis and Coppercreek's own, Lornie Allen. MJ runs a training barn in Ceres where she teaches riding lessons in eventing and dressage. We love to have MJ as our CHA clinician as she is very knowledgeable but never forgets riding your horse should be enjoyable and made as safe as possible. Graduating after 5 days, were 4 of Coppercreek's new instructors as well as Riding Directors from Gold Arrow and Tom Sawyer Camps.

Staff Intros Part 2

Staff began arriving yesterday for the Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) Clinic and Lifeguarding class.  After weeks of beautiful weather, it is also raining and thunder-storming (of course)!  I love the irony that is summer camp :)!

Here are some more bios for you:

Kate Hagan:

   My name is Kate Hagan. I am a Junior at Oregon State University, studying English. I grew up in northern California and moved up Washington state at age 13. My family and I grew up attending Coppercreek's family camp, horsemanship and traditional camp. I have ridden horses all my life and competed in 3 day evening and hunter/jumper shows since age 12. I have also grown up swimming and currently just finished up my third competitive season swimming distance freestyle for Oregon State's women's swim team. 

   I am so excited to meet everyone and look forward to a GREAT summer! 

Emily Westphal:

I'm from Gaylord, Michigan. I just finished all of my courses at Northern Michigan University majoring in Art and Design Education. My concentration within that major is Photography. I will be stepping out of the college classroom and into the elementary classroom as I prepare to student teach this fall in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I am set to graduate this December. 

At NMU, I worked with Housing and Residence Life as a community adviser (similar to an RA) and was avid in a program called the Superior Edge. My free time was taken up by rock climbing, hiking, snowshoeing, and photography. California will be a completely new experience for me. I am new to CopperCreek, and the area. 

I am anxious to meet all of you, and explore CopperCreek!!

~Em 

Signe Larson:

This will be my first summer at  Coppercreek. I'll be lifeguarding mostly. I grew up in Portland,  Oregon and I'm a junior at Oregon State University. My major is New  Media Communications, focusing on sports broadcasting and marketing.

I'm currently the captain or the OSU women's swim team. That takes up most of my time but when  I do get some free time I love camping,  hiking, surfing, skiing, riding 4x4s anything outdoors!

I'm way excited for this summer and can't wait to meet you all!

-Signe

Staff Intros Part 1

Hello Everyone!  

It's been a while since I posted.  Makenna turned one, and camp has been very busy in the time I was away!  As part of our welcome to our new and returning staff, we send around an e-mail and ask the staff to introduce themselves to one another.  I thought you all might like to meet them as well.  

I will post a few intros each day for the next week or so.

Ryan McDowell

My name is Ryan McDowell and I was born and raised in the beautiful Indian valley where Coppercreek is set.  In high school I had the pleasure of watching over the infamous Ryleigh Hogland for a summer at coppercreek, but this will be my first year as a counselor.

Right now I live in San Luis Obispo Ca where I attend Cal Poly as a communication studies major and psychology minor.  After graduating I plan to go to law school potentially to be an attorney. 

I am on the Cal Poly water ski team and enjoy spending time out on the lake skiing and wake boarding, I got the opportunity this year to travel around the western united states competing in inter-collegiate tournaments.  

Other sports I spend much of my time playing are basketball and football with some downhill skateboarding dashed in. I am a big music enthusiast and love to sing, play guitar and saxophone.  I look forward to working with all of you this summer.

Amy Lewis

My name is Amy Lewis, an I am a senior Biology major at UC Davis. I am hoping to go to physical therapy school when I graduate.

I grew up in Newport Beach and enjoy sailing, surfing and most other beach activities. Outside of the beach I spend a lot of my time at the barn. I am captain of the UC Davis Equestrian team and my horse Lucky lives up at school with me (and occupies most of my time). I am also a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, play IM soccer, and enjoy running.

I am super excited to spend my first summer at camp and look forward to meeting everyone!

Adelaide Baber

Hey Everyone,

 My name is Adelaide Baber and I will be a sophomore in the Fall at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Ca where I am majoring in Sports Management with double minor in Business Administration and Communications. At school I am very involved in several clubs on campus, a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and also enjoy running half-marathons with my mom throughout the year.

 I grew up in the Sacramento valley in a small town called Colusa . Growing up I spent the majority of my time with 4-H, riding horses, showing dogs, wakeboarding, and playing sports. I attended Coppercreek for 8 summers and took part in Traditional Camp, Horsemastership, Trek, CIT and JC programs. During my summer off from Coppercreek, I was a summer camp counselor for a non-profit leadership organization called the California Association of Student Councils (CASC).

I am extremely excited for my first summer on staff! See everyone in a few weeks!

<3>

I hope you are all as excited about camp as we are!

Becky

Check out the ACA's new Public Service Announcement

Because of Camp.... Boy, there are so many things I could say to answer this question. Camp has made me a better Mom, friend, teacher, sister. Camp has enhanced my life and my children's lives in so many ways.

How would you finish the sentence? I'd love to hear from you!

Willow takes her first walk in the big world!

Jada's Baby Arrives!

Welcome to Coppercreek's Newest Addition! She doesn't have a name yet, and we are taking suggestions! This beautiful little girl arrived yesterday afternoon about 2 pm. Lornie checked on Jada yesterday around noon, saw no signs of impending labor, so came down to do a couple of hours in the camp office. When she went back through the barn, this little baby was born and already trying to stand up. Jada had done it all on her own, without any help, despite the fact that Lornie had spent many sleepless nights watching the monitor and waiting for her. Oh, well, the most important thing is that baby and Mommy are both healthy and happy! We can't wait for you all to meet her!

Still No Baby....

We are still waiting for Jada. The poor thing is as big as a house and as uncomfortable as all get out! We feel terrible for her. She quite literally waddles around her pen. Ryleigh has been taking her for a walk every evening in the hopes a little exercise will make the baby come faster. It hasn't worked yet! It is a cold, rainy, yucky spring day, but the good news is that it means Craig can burn pine needles and get some outside work done while it's cool. The warm Spring and Summer weather will be here soon. Becky is just about finished with her Northstar job. The resort is only open for one more week, then it will really be time to get serious in the camp office and get all of the spring mailings together. OH, Amy is coming to visit next week. We are all very excited to see her.
Hope you are having a lovely day! Send good thoughts Jada's way...
Becky

Home Visits!

Hello All,
We just completed the last of our home slideshow visits/reunions and we couldn't have enjoyed them more. It was so much fun for us to be able to see some of our campers in their home environments and visit with them and their parents. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to the Cohen-Levinson family, the Milligan family and the Hill family who graciously opened their homes to us. We are so grateful!

PS No foal yet. We are still watching and waiting........

BARN NEWS! FOAL WATCH 2009

We are on foal watch... Jada, one of our miniature mares, is due to give birth any day now. She is bred to Jiggy, our "dalmation" mini driving stallion, and we are very excited to meet this little guy/girl. The video cam is set up in Lornie's bedroom and about every hour, she rolls over to check out Jada's situation. When miniature horses are born, they aren't much larger than baby goats and they are cute, cute, cute!

Nikki, our Swedish warmblood mare, is due May 12th so we have a bit of time for her baby. She is getting quite large though and looks beautiful.

We had a scare a couple of weeks ago when Jiggy colicked during a bad snow storm. Lornie and Sutter rushed him to the vet an hour and half away. We didn't have our horse trailer so we folded up the back seat in our Dodge truck, pushed a hay bale next to the door and up went Jiggy. Fortunately, he has ridden in all kinds of strange vehicles for shows and didn't think anything of riding behind my driver's seat. We made a strange sight! He underwent colic surgery that night and after several days of touch and go (he had trouble with the anesthesia), Jiggy is home and doing well. What a relief! He just returned from having his stomach staples pulled. He has to have stall rest for 90 days but should be ready to pull carts by summer time!

Daisy's Winter Fun!

Daisy, one of our lesson ponies has had the pleasure of spending this late winter/early spring with Laura S! Laura was looking for a pony to do some jumping shows on and she had ridden Daisy all last winter. Daisy was excited to leave the land of snow and ice for green grass and fun with Laura! Laura's family even bought her some new clothes as you can see from the attached photo. She is a very stylin' pony and is loving her winter job! Campers, don't worry, Daisy will be back to Coppercreek in June.

Only 86 more days until 1st Session.

Oh, also, no new baby yet. We are still watching, waiting, watching, waiting, watching, and waiting!

February News

• Enrollment Update
• Help in Tough Economic Times
• The Return of Horse Camp
• One-Week Session Options

I know it's hard to believe, but in just 3 ½ months, we will open for our 45th summer of adventures! It seems like winter has just begun (maybe because winter has just begunJ), but we are starting to gear up and get serious about Summer 2009!

Enrollment Update: If you haven't yet enrolled your camper for this summer, here is an enrollment update. We are full for CITs in 3rd and 4th session. Both TREK and Junior TREK programs (2nd & 3rd sessions) are nearly full. For Traditional Camp, we have room in all sessions and age g roups, but things are getting very tight in 2nd and 3rd sessions in the 11, 12, 13 & 14 year old cabins for both boys and girls. If you haven't yet enrolled your camper, please give us a call. We still have "wiggle room", but now is definitely the time to make your decision about next summer!

Help in Tough Economic Times: We know the economy has hit some of our camp families hard. What a d ifficult time for our country! If your family is struggling to fit camp into the budget for this summer, please call us. We have received some generous donations to our scholarship fund, and we may be able to help offset the costs of tuition.

The Return of Horse Camp: Back by popular demand, we have added our 5-day horse camp to this summer's schedule for those campers who can't get enough horses in Traditional camp. This camp will be offered June 14th to 19th and will only be open to 25 campers. The price for this Equestrian experience is $1195.

One-Week Session Options: We have added one-week options back into our summer schedule. Your camper can attend the first week of First Session (June 21 to June 27) or the first week of Fourth Session (August 2 to August 8).

We can't wait to hear from you!

Home Visits

Thank you to the Cohen-Levinson family for hosting our first Home Gathering of the year! Lornie traveled to LA this weekend for a camp fair and an afternoon visiting with former and future campers and their families. She had a terrific time and she loved the chance to see Tess and Mira, Ruby, Chris M, Danielle S and our new friend Evelyn on their home turf. They spent the afternoon watching our new slideshow DVD and visiting about camp. We have more slideshow reunions planned for February, March and April in the Bay Area, Las Vegas and Arizona. If you would like more specific information, please let us know!

ONLY 130 DAYS UNTIL CAMP BEGINS AGAIN!

Facebook, Old Photos & New Things at Camp

Hello Coppercreek Families and Friends,
I have to admit, I have become a Facebook junkie. It is terrible, but true! I joined a few months ago to see what all of the fuss was about. In those few months, I have re-connected to high school, college, and the best part, Coppercreek friends, old and new. I have been amazed and delighted to hear from and see photos of so many people who were part of Coppercreek over the years. Facebook even has Lornie and I pulling out the archived photos, scanning and uploading them. There are some true gems in the cardboard boxes. I put about 30 up today and there are more to come. The most special thing about re-connecting to all of these Coppercreekers has been hearing how much Coppercreek meant and still means to so many! The walk down Memory Lane has been fantastic. If you would like to see more photos, please feel free to join us on Facebook. We also have an alumni blog coppercreekalumni.blogspot.com, and/or you can join our alumni group from our website. We would love to hear from everyone!
Big Coppercreek hugs,
Becky

Guess who's coming back to Coppercreek!

Hello Everyone,
We are busy this week at camp! It is the time of year when all of the preparation (staff hiring, booking new campers, planning projects and programs, etc.) for next year really begins. The exciting news is that we are starting to hear from the staff who want to return next summer. So, first a disclaimer, we haven't heard from everyone yet, and some of these staff are "maybe"s, but here is the list: Quillan, Jorge, Dave, Kari, Lucy, Lindsay, Sophia, Sean, Katie, James, Maggie, Laura, Cindy & Jonny! You can't miss this summer!!
Happy Thursday.
Becky

January News from Coppercreek!

Happy New Year! We hope your holidays were spent with friends and family appreciating your blessings! We had a wonderful holiday season. After celebrating Christmas here at camp, Sutter and Ilana traveled with me to Truckee to spend the vacation working as ticket sellers at Northstar. It was fantastic. They got to live the "ski bum" life, and I had wonderful employees who I knew would be at work on time (since they stayed with me!). We all celebrated New Year's Eve on the mountain! Ryleigh, Craig, Lornie and Sutter skied. Taylor (a friend of Sutter & Ilana's) and Ilana snowboarded, Kenna and I hung out on the deck people watching and then we all watched the fireworks together at Northstar. I had the pleasure of bumping into Ryan Kirk on the mountain! It was great to see you, Ryan. I am really surprised we didn't see more of our campers. Please look me, Sutter or Ilana up if you ski Northstar. We would love to say hello.

Other happenings at Coppercreek:

Alumni Group

Our alumni group is growing by the day. We have almost 200 alumni registered so far. It has been such a pleasure for all of us to re-connect with so many of Coppercreek's former campers and staff. If you haven't had a chance to register yet, please visit www.coppercreek.com. We would love to get back in touch!

The Coppercreek Memorial Fund

We have recently established the Coppercreek Memorial Fund, a scholarship fund to give local children a chance to attend camp. For years, we have reached out to needy children in our community at our own cost. We would like to continue and grow the scholarship fund and are looking for help. If you or anyone you know might be interested, please give us a call or visit our website http://www.coppercreek.com/scholarship-donations.asp for more information.

Reunion Slide Shows

Lauren is putting together some Reunion Slide Shows. Her first one is scheduled for February 8th in the Los Angeles area. We are also looking for people who would like to host a slide show in Phoenix, Las Vegas, the Bay Area, and any other location, really! Please shoot Lornie an e-mail for more information. lornie@coppercreek.com!

So, there is the exciting news for now.

Happy Thursday!

Becky