It is with great pride and excitement that we enter our 60th summer of operation! After an epic sun filled season in 2011, we are already counting down the days until we can gather again for another summer.

Just some of the memories created last summer include trips to Isle Royale National Park and Grand Marais Pictured Rocks. Even the shorter overnight experiences provided a great taste of living in the outdoors and memories to last a lifetime. 1st Session highlights included a Thunder Falls Water Park Day Trip and a Traverse City beach afternoon ending with Lucky Jacks!

Tanuga Palooza once again was a huge hit, and the Harry Potter "all day" was the most popular new program.

In camp, accomplishments could be found everywhere, as campers acquired new skills both on the waterfront and dry land. This was evident throughout the season. The eagle dropped many feathers to deserving campers, and medallions were worn proudly at summers end. Once again, Tanuga provided a staff that nurtured the campers every step of the way, ensuring that each day was meaningful and productive.

After 60 years, Tanuga will continue its commitment to the "Back to the Basics" philosophy. The core values in 2012 will again revolve around Camp tradition, learning skills, building self-reliance, quality staffing, and overnight camping. Today's camper may be different, but never has there been a more appropriate time to experience the value of new friendships, the feeling of learning a new skill, and acquiring life skills on how to live and make decisions with fellow campers.

The Mini Session has proven to be an excellent option to expose new younger campers to the Tanuga Magic. We proudly welcomed first time families from Colorado, Arizona, Florida, and Illinois!

Equally exciting are all the returning campers and staff from summers past, and the new staff members that will be part of the Tanuga family. Many events are on the calendar for the 16-week season ahead. Another outstanding family weekend, a bat-mitzvah, corporate programs, various school and community groups just to name a few. Stay tuned!

Our website, Facebook page and Twitter will keep you updated, and continue to keep all of the Tanuga family members closer together for years to come. So as the winter months come and go, think summer everyone. The count down is on, and the magic is upon us. We'll see you at Tanuga in 2012.

60 years of Magic... Can you feel it?