Hi Campers!

We hope that you are having a wonderful winter season! Camp is not that far off and we are starting to get very excited about the upcoming season. Our staff is almost complete, our school programs are booked and some of our sessions are filled for summer! If you are still waiting to register-please go online and do it today!

Your next mailing will contain information and reservation cards for the Luncheon on Sunday April 10. That mailing usually goes out in early to mid February. We have included some other news as you will see below. If you are a camper presently in Grade 7, 8, 9 or 10 please watch your mailbox for a special mailing regarding canoe tripping. That mailing will arrive in early spring. Please be sure to read it carefully and fax or mail the form if you wish to have a choice in the kind of canoe trip you would like to go on this summer!!! PLEASE note that all one month campers will have priority when it comes to placing campers on longer trips.

If you do not return it then you can still sign up at camp BUT first choice on trips will go to those that return their forms to us. These trip forms are for campers who wish to trip for 4 days or more.

We still have openings in some sessions and in Kindercamp so continue to do what you do best as Tanamakoon Ambassadors! We appreciate and value your loyalty and your help in sharing your camp with new campers!

Hugs to you all for a happy few months til we see you in April!
xo

• The Tripping Button on the home page will take you to a description of our canoe tripping program. A photo gallery is also available on this page so you can take a look at the great adventures that await you!
• The Parent Button is for time sensitive information. Please check that button for announcements and also for information links that parents may find helpful.
• All photo summer camp and Kindercamp galleries have been updated
• Adult program pages and galleries have been updated so be sure to pass those links on to parents and older friends!

The annual Spring Luncheon date has been set for Sunday, April 1st at SPIRALE's in Toronto! You and your families and all new campers are welcome to attend! You will get a chance to see a slide show of 2011 set to music, meet the new campers and staff and most importantly... get psyched for the summer ahead! Mark your calendars now and watch your mail in February for further information on tickets! Information regarding uniforms will also be part of that next mailing.

If you are interested in TAN for next summer then we would encourage you to register online NOW! We encourage you to visit the parent tab and to download helpful hints for new parents.

We also encourage you to attend our spring luncheon on April 1st. As new parents you will also receive information on our 2 open house dates in early June. New campers and their families may come to camp for a tour and BBQ. Watch for further updates on these dates. You may also just visit camp for a tour anytime after May 10th by call us up at camp after May 1st.

For you to see from the 2011 season! Just copy and paste the link into your URL address bar.
Here are some fun memories caught on You Tube this past season and our newest from this fall! August campers - the Be The Change video is now up too!
Enjoy the fall colour one - Algonquin is quite spectacular this time of year!

http://youtu.be/m96sUzh-Vco
http://youtu.be/BAgOyq6uccI
http://youtu.be/gSegvYbSuYk
http://youtu.be/Ff77W3rkSF8

If you did not order one but would like to - please call the office and we will process an order for you! Please note that the photos on the CD are NOT the same as the ones that will appear on the website galleries in November-nor are they the same as the Spring Luncheon Slide Show! We take over 5,000 photos a year so there is much to share!

We had very successful June and August Kindercamps! Be sure to pass on this great kinder starter program for all girls ages 4-6years (or until the END of grade 1-so infact they could be seven!)

There are a number of items that are available for Tan families to purchase! Call us at the office and we can give you more details and pricing on the items listed!

• Ken Danby print "Tanamakoon"
• Tanamakoon Italian Charms: Green Canoe, Tanamakoon Deer, gold TC
• The book "TANAMAKOON" - 176 page, full colour hard cover book. A beautiful keepsake for campers and staff of all ages!
• Tanamakoon beanies-a great way to wear Tan all winter long
• Various items of clothing including uniform items & hats!
• Tan Baby bibs-be sure to let us know if you have a new baby girl in your family! We would love to send them a gift of a Tanamakoon bib to help celebrate!
• TAN Mitts – a perfect gift for the holiday season. Wool mitts with fleece lining and our logo-flag the deer on the palm!
• TAN Scarf - a beautiful knitted scarf - 54 inches long plus a 3 inch fringe. Just in time for the holiday season!

All prices include taxes. First price is pick up in Oakville. Second is with shipping to Canada. USA/Inter - see below for shipping.

Mitts - (Adult L ONLY) $20.00 $28.50 shipped
Scarf - $32.00 $ 40.00 shipped
Mitts & Scarf Combo - $45.20 $ 54.00 shipped

US/INTER with SHIPPING (at par)
Mitts - $ 33.50
Scarf - $ 45.50
Mitts & Scarf Combo - $ 58.70

CHEQUES are the ONLY way you can pay. PLEASE make payable to Camp Tanamakoon and send to:
297 Lakeshore Rd E
Oakville. Ont
L6J 1J3

PLEASE make sure your mailing address is clearly included with your order!
NO PHONE ORDERS...SORRY!

Thank you to those of you that continue to refer new campers to Tan! We all know that Tanamakoon is the best summer camp for girls but some people may not know that! YOU are definitely the best ambassadors since you know first hand how much fun a summer in Algonquin Park can be! Please feel free to pass the news on!
If you bring a new friend to Tan and if they put your name first on the back of their application where it says: "how did you hear about camp" then we will be sending you soon the "I "TAN" charm for your Italian Charm bracelet! This charm cannot be purchased and is not retroactive.

You will have noticed an icon our homepage that refers to Tanamakoon being Bullfrogpowered! Read on and find out why Tanamakoon is helping to lead the way environmentally in today's world! You'll be hearing and seeing lots more this summer about our newest environmental actions and programs! Stay tuned for more updates!

"We believe in fostering a sense of responsibility for our natural heritage among our campers, and that means we need to model that in our own day-to-day activities. Our decision to support clean, renewable power by becoming a bullfrogpowered organization aligns with our overall commitment to operating in an environmentally responsible manner." (Kim Smith)

Now entering its 87th season of operation, Camp Tanamakoon is a renowned summer camp for girls. Located on its own lake in Algonquin Park and accessible only by water, the camp has welcomed four generations of girls from all over the world to share adventures and build lifelong memories. In addition to its popular summer program, Camp Tanamakoon also operates an Outdoor Ed Program in the spring and fall for grade seven and eight students, as well as a seniors program, a Kindercamp for four to six year olds, and an in-depth art instruction program. Over the course of the summer, more than 1100 school children, 750 summer campers, 50 Seniors, 120 kindercampers and 20 artists visit the camp.

Camp Tanamakoon demonstrates a strong commitment to the environment and to educating campers on protecting and promoting environmental stewardship. The camp has implemented state-of-the art environmental practices including installing waterless, pollution-free composting toilets and an on-site sewage treatment system, constructing a solar-powered building, and using solar thermal systems to preheat the water at the camp shower house and its new commercial kitchen.

Thank you campers for your participation in Earthhour

Make every hour Earth Hour

Don't stop at Earth Hour - live The Good Life! The Good Life is WWF-Canada's new campaign that helps Canadians track the actions they are taking for the planet so you can actually see how your actions add up to help fight climate change. http://thegoodlife.wwf.ca/Home.cfm

Sarah Vingoe Reflects on the Benefit of All-Girl Summer Camps

Thank you Camp Tanamakoon!

At the young age of 6 my mother and father sent me to camp for 2 weeks. They packed me up and shipped me off. It was scary and exhilarating all at the same time. In the end, Camp Tanamakoon was one of the very best gifts they ever gave me.

I was a very clingy kid. I would not leave my mothers side. I would hang off of her like an ornament. I could only imagine the annoyance and grief this caused my poor fun mom. She tried everything to curt tail the cling that was little ole moi. She would accompany me to play dates and then try to tip toe off once she knew I was knee deep in funÉshe would slowly and slyly try and sneak her way out the door but I was too smart and coy for that. I always caught her and would run to her side and ask "mommy, where are you going?" She would smile and simply say "Dolly you are having such fun, I thought I would leave you to it... "Before the words could even escape her mouth I would announce, "I am coming with you". This little game went on for quite sometime or at least until I attended camp.

I remember my very first camp departure day like it was yesterday. I wore a cute and well-pressed camp uniform. (Camp Tanamakoon is a traditional all girls camp where both campers and counselors wear uniforms daily) I was decked out in a beige polo shirt with hunter green sweat pants and sweatshirt. I was a ball full of nerves but stood bravely in the Yorkdale Parking lot with my Dad, waiting for the bus to arrive to take me far far away to the unknown. My mom could not come for obvious reasons to me now but not at the time. If she had come I never would have ever gotten on that bus. The excuse that day was she had to tend to my little brother.

When the bus arrived I gave my Daddyo a big hug and hopped on. I remember looking out the window watching my Dad wave at me feverishly and crying my little green eyes out. Camp. I did not want to go to camp. My little brain was spinning in circles in my head. "WAIT!" I yelled, the counselor upfront looked at me and said "what is it?" "I forgot my sleeping bag". This began quite the little distracting adventure. The counselor came and grabbed me and took me off the bus where my Dad ran up with concern written all over his forehead. "What is it?" he asked. "I do not have a sleeping bag!!" I shouted with fear. His concerned forehead relaxed and he lifted me up and said "Of course you do. Your mother would never send you away to camp without a sleeping bag." He hugged me tight. I sobbed hard. Back on the bus the counselor and I went, and off the bus went to Camp Tanamakoon.

I am not sure my parents knew how special and important camp would become to me. Camp Tanamakoon changed me. It helped make me, me. At the end of that first summer I got off that bus a different little girl. Not only did I come home a little dirtier then when I first left, I came home with new friends, new memories, new strengths and a new confidence. I was no longer clingy. Obviously I did not know it then but I most definitely know it now, I found a second family.

The word "Tanamakoon" is a Native American word meaning "Hail fellow, well met", an appropriate name for a camp that creates long lasting friendships. Mary G. Hamilton, principal of Margaret Eaton School in Toronto, started Tanamakoon in 1925. Miss Hamilton chose the site where the camp stands on the shore of a sheltered bay of Tanamakoon Lake, then known as White's Lake in Beautiful Algonquin Park. Everything about Tanamakoon makes my heart smile. I can close my eyes and be there in an instant. Tanamakoon is what I would term heaven on earth.

I attended camp Tanamakoon for thirteen glorious summers of my life. I started as one of the youngest kids at camp and by the time I left I had been on staff for three summers and my last summer I was co-head of swimming, led a trip to Temagami in a war canoe for seven days and was honoured to be cabin A's (the oldest campers in camps) counselor.

At Tan, I learned many skills and lessons. Such skills included: canoeing, kayaking, archery, woodcraft, sailing and more. I learned leadership skills, team building skills, the importance of morals and values. But the most important thing I learned at Tan was the value and importance of a true friend. The friends I met at Tan are quite frankly the truest of true blue, life long friends. They are the type of friends whom love and support you no matter what. They are also the type of friends whom you do not need to speak to daily but you can go days, weeks, months...even years, and pick up right where you left off! These friends are magical. They are what you deem truly beautiful inside and out.

Last week I was reminded of how special and important my Camp Tanamakoon family is. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to attend camp and to have Tanamakoon as part of my life. Not only am I the farthest thing from shy but also I am so lucky to be part of this unique family. Tan taught me so many important lessons and values I still carry with me today. May this beautiful place remain forever and continue to bring other little girls what it brought me.

The Tanamakoon family is one that continues to grow year after year. It's funny and wonderous how Tan provides a common bond among any girl, young lady or women who has shared in its magic. With many years passed since I last attended camp I still meet and greet girls who shared the magic that is Tanamakoon. Some are individuals I have known from days past, some I am only meeting for the very first time. But as with all first impressions it is amazing to discover that a new found friend, colleague or associate went to Tan. You immediately share a common bond, an understanding and respect for one another.

Thank you Tanamakoon for everything you are and everything you have given me.

V.

"There is nothing quite as special as a friend of summer days, learning from each other in so many different ways...We are growing towards tomorrow, our past will keep us strong...The memories of Tanamakoon live on."