Generations at Tyler Hill: Heidi & Matthew

My name is Heidi and I live in Livingston, NJ with my wife Michele, kids Matthew, Drew & Dylan (all three kids THC legends in the making of course!) and our Labradoodle puppy Stella.

I was the youngest of three kids and was almost 7, when I was on a bus to my new home in Tyler Hill, PA. I was in bunk three my first summer. I ended up going to camp for 12 years (from bunk three to counselor). I loved every breathing second of camp. From the smell of breakfast coming out of the dining hall, to the water in the lake, to every rock and blade of grass. The spirit of camp was insurmountable.

Singing and cheering every camp song was infectious. The icing on the cake was the unbelievable friendships that I made and still have to this very day. There is nothing like a camp friend. You live with these people day in and out for 8 weeks. We all still get together now and it’s like we never stepped out of camp. It’s awesome.

I loved the sports at camp and Color War. I tell my son Matthew all the time that the softball fields by the social hall are where legends are made. There was no better feeling than hitting a home run, scoring a goal or basket during Color War. I was always anchor for the tug-o-war and that moment of having your whole Color War team and the officers of your team yelling your name, made you want to pull that rope so hard that it gave me such confidence that I felt I could move mountains!

My experience at camp gave me confidence, made me respect myself because I saw how others respected me, it gave me room to grow as a person and learn how to adapt to others, it always gave me that “safe” feeling because Tyler Hill people understand Tyler Hill people. It is a home like no other and if you had a bad year at school, you knew once those busses pulled in at camp, it was a clean slate.

Being able to send my son Matthew (and my other two soon enough!) to Tyler Hill is truly a dream come true for me. When I was inducted into the Hall of Fame and Matthew and I stood on the stage at the camp-i-theater singing the alma mater, it easily could have been one of the top three moments in my life.  I can’t wait for my other two kids to start their Tyler Hill experience. Three kids all at The Hill? Life just doesn’t get better than that!

We took a few moments to talk to Heidi’s son (and current camper!) Matthew:
I was blown away when I first saw camp on Rookie Day. When I saw the Tyler Dome and met Andy, Wendy, Michael and Bette, that was it – I knew I was a THC lifer!

I love everything about Tyler Hill! Everything from the Laz Bowl, Franko’s breakfast, the Food Court, fishing and Color War. I think it’s awesome knowing my mom went to THC also. I like that my mom knows a lot of the staff at camp. It makes me feel like she’s with me over the summer.

My friendships at camp are different because we all share this amazing camp and experience together. So only they can truly understand the awesomeness of Tyler Hill. It’s a bond like no other.

When people ask me what I want to be when I grow up – it’s easy, I tell them I want to be just like Michael Davidowitz and work at Tyler Hill! 🙂