By completing a session at Forest Lake Camp, a camper will receive a Recognition Stick with their name, Color War team color, the year they began attending and a ‘notch’ for completing their first summer, all engraved in the stick.
Beyond these standard engraved items, each Recognition Stick is individualized with additional notches for each year attended and burned images to reflect the camper’s individual accomplishments over their years at FLC.
“Burns” are carved into the stick for activities where campers have had a significant achievement. Examples are an archery target with an arrow for particular achievement in archery or a climber with rope and a cliff for climbing success.
Campers also have special images on their sticks for particular camp-wide awards such as a star for camper of the week, a quadrant of sports for most athletic, a flaming torch for Spirit of FLC, or a flag painted with the correct color for Color War captains. Recognition sticks are cherished treasures that often elicit tears of joy at our awards ceremonies each Summer. Campers return every year with their Recognition Sticks so that new accomplishments and awards will continue to show their accomplishments, and their entire FLC experience will be documented as a visual wood-burned diary for years to come.
