History/Alumni

Timbertop Camp – A Wisconsin Summer Camp for Youth with Learning Disabilities / Differences. Timbertop is an overnight camp designed for boys and girls that have been identified by their School District as needing extra help for a special learning need. Specific disabilities may include: OHI, ADHD, ADD, LD and SLD. Youth receiving support services such as Leveled Learning Intervention (LLI), Reading Support and Title 1, are also eligible.

Timbertop Camp was founded in 1967 through the Association for Services for Learning Disabilities, a non-profit corporation which sponsors camp for children with Learning Disabilities.
Timeline 1967:
Earle Brooks’ nephew Mark Allen, kept saying to Rhoda’s husband, “Uncle Earle, there just isn’t any camp for me”. He seemed to know that it would be hard for him to blend in with a fast-paced, often confusing group of kids. He had a hard time making and keeping friends, so he knew he needed socialization skills and possibly academic achievement help as well. So, three couples formed an association to sponsor the camp and named it “Timbertop”. That first summer it was held at Camp Asbury Acres, near Almond, Wisconsin, for four consecutive weeks. Open to children with learning disabilities, about 40 campers ages 9-14 for a month. Camp continued there for 12 years.

Camp was not held from 1979-1982. Earle and Rhoda Brooks went to South America with their family of four kids to co-direct the Peace Corps in Chile.

Timbertop Camp moved to Central Wisconsin Environmental Station (CWES) in 1983 when Mary Duritsa was director of CWES. She met Rhoda when she and Earle worked as faculty at University of Northern Iowa and Mary was manager of a nature center there. She invited Timbertop to be re-instated at CWES when she became director at CWES. Due to lack of time on camp calendar and staff needs, the camp session was modified to two weeks. The campers slept in log cabins scattered through the woods and loved swimming and boating in clear beautiful Sunset Lake. There were 36-40 campers. Pete Matthai was waterfront director at CWES in 1992 – then became Summer Program Director in 1993. Nancy Reuter began her tenure at Timbertop Camp at CWES in 1993.

Timbertop continued to be held at CWES until 1999 until it was moved to Camp Glacier Hollow in 2000, sponsored by the Stevens Point Area YMCA, directed by “Timber” Pete Matthai and Summer Camp Director “Gecko” Tiffany Praeger.

In 2021 Timbertop became a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization run by a volunteer Board of Directors and dedicated to serving youth with Learning Disabilities. It also moved to the Wisconsin Lion’s Camp, in Rosholt, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Lions Camp mission, staffing and facility perfectly fits with Timbertop Camp.

Timbertop combines traditional camp activities with extra reading practice and special group activities that focus on dealing with learning differences in a structured daily setting. We are dedicated to providing a safe, fun and small group environment, which develops the spirit, mind and body of each individual. Camp is a special place where youth and teens learn about the environment, develop positive values, make meaningful friendships, build positive peer relationships, learn new skills and increase self-confidence. In our community of caring adults Timbertop summer camp helps kids grow and find themselves.

WSAW TIMBERTOP CAMP NEWS STORY

Adam’s Timbertop Camp Experience

Stevens Point Journal – Community Accent Article 1996