Residents at Bass Lake eagerly awaited signs of the eagles’ return. Eagles will oftentimes return to the same nest if it was a successful rearing location. Spring of 2000 has again seen the return of the eagle. On my morning runs I gaze up into the treetops and usually catch a glimpse of the gorgeous white head of the mother eagle. Often times I also see a young chick. Some reports indicate there are two chicks.

Campers that arrive the opening day of camp may catch a glimpse of the birds. Unfortunately, as soon as the young are strong enough to fly, they will head north, hopefully to return next spring.

“Swim Call” probably came under the most criticism. Hanging out at the lake for an open swim session isn’t what the campers are looking for. A long-term vision is to build a really nice deck down on the waterfront. This would make this a more desirable and comfortable place to just sit and enjoy the lake. In the meantime, it looks like we will cut down the number of campers going down to the lake and have some races and games at the waterfront for those that do go down. The rest of the campers will stay up in camp during this time and be involved in regular activities, with particular emphasis on volleyball tournaments.

Food is the other item that comes under constant attack. We continue to add equipment, make the menu more fun, and staff stronger. I truly believe our camp food is excellent for a camp. But I will not rest until campers all come home saying Skylake has food as good as “Mom’s”.

We have hired a cook who has 17 years of quality restaurant experience as our dinner cook. LaDonna returns for her fourth year as our Breakfast/Lunch cook, and our relief cook has many years of camp cooking experience. We have also hired 11 kitchen assistants this summer. Last year there were only 9. This will allow us to do more “hands on” work. We are looking to toast hamburger buns as an example of what some added man power and another high capacity toaster can accomplish.

The most popular dessert definitely appears to be ChocoTacos. That will definitely be a weekly item. We will also be doing other ice cream treats like Klondike bars and Frozen Milky Ways.

Some of the great comments received from the campers were:

• Of course I am returning to Skylake! Why? Because I am hooked to the Skylake Magic.

• I really love Skylake, it was the best thing that I’ve ever done, I wish it was a school.

• Please don’t change a thing about camp, Skylake is pretty close to perfection.

• Thank you so much for allowing me to be introduced to Skylake, I will never forget the life long friends I have made and the life changing experiences I have had there.

• Try to have more contests and for the winner a free day on the pontoon boat.

• Skylake is awesome.

Skylake is no different than any other place. Comments ranged from the good, the bad, and the ugly. We appreciate all of the comments and will continue to work to find the balance so that the magic continues.

So this year we will work to make sure the soda machine never runs out of soda, make swim call more fun, make better use of shower hour for campers looking for something to do, keep a closer eye on Seniors and

CILTS, have a third ski boat running, and lots more.
However, even though there were some requests, we won’t be building a swimming pool, putting lights in the cabins, or sleeping later.

The Federal Building will have approximately 90 campers boarding. There will be three buses that will begin boarding at 8:30 a.m. with departure at 9:00 a.m.

The Northern California buses will also be boarding at 8:30 a.m. and departing at 9:00 a.m. There will be one bus from the Emeryville location and one bus from Palo Alto.

Please remember that the Emeryville location is now at the Powell Street boat launch, approximately 1-mile west of I-80. Please be sure to call us at camp if you have any questions.

Campers that are returning home on July 8, are all scheduled to arrive at 5 P.M.

Arrival and Departure times for later in the summer will be posted as part of our daily notices on our website.

The buses do not stop on the way to camp. Campers should pack a bag lunch and a cold drink. Skylake staff will be on board all the buses.

Yours’ truly will be attending a 5 hour performance of Parsifal Saturday night but will be at the Emeryville location bright and early, although probably a little bleary eyed. I will be the only staff member there with gray hair so I will be easy to spot, please come up and say hello.

Boy’s Camp is full for sessions A and B, has maybe 5 openings in C and still has almost 15 openings for D. We continue to enroll three or four campers a week, so those will fill quickly.

Thank you again for such strong support.

Jeffrey Portnoy
Owner/Director