“Sometimes you’re the bug, and sometimes you’re the windscreen. That’s just the way it is.”
And so ends another summer folks. But what a summer it was. We had to go some to beat last year, but every year just seems to get better and better. Let us start with the record number of boys in the second session. We love a full camp, and second session was full. You can do so much more with more people. More Twilight League teams; a more competitive Green and White; far more choice when it came to the Kawaga competition. More people simply means more fun. I’d love to see those numbers again in 2025.
We also had much more rain this summer than we usually have. More rain meant greener grass, and that’s always good. Surprisingly enough, though, the rain never really prevented us from doing anything we’d planned to do. It had the good grace to fall at opportune moments (like in the middle of the night), so we could get on with playing, which is what we like to do.
It’s hard to know exactly what the highpoint of the summer was. I guess that is different for everyone. I always enjoy the Sing, which this year was exceptional. The boys always seem to come through with something special on the night, even though I know that most of them do not enjoy the Sing as much as they enjoy playing sports. The Green team won that one, (just) only to fall short in the Relay the following day. And what a Relay it was. It was nip and tuck all the way to the ballon-up-the-hill, but it was here that the problems started for both teams. They really struggled to get that water balloon moving. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many balloons dropped and broken. But, eventually, the Whites took control and smashed their balloon on the flagpole, to win both the Relay and the competition overall. Green and White: always a highpoint in the summer for me.
That other competition (against Kawaga) was also right up there in terms of excitement. Going into the 16a softball game on the Bob Bender Senior diamond, things were tied up and very close in all the remaining games. However, midway through the game word got out that Kawaga had got the required number of victories for overall success. That did not deter our boys, though, as they stayed focused and saw the game out with yet another win. It was close: 37-36. This was an object lesson in how every point matters; in how every missed shot matters; in how every tackle matters; in how every intercepted pass matters. We’ll come back stronger and wiser next summer.
The big news at the end of this summer is the start of work on the new shower house. As I write this Word tonight, I can tell you that the lower walls and base are in, and the pipes that will form the drainage and water supply are all sticking out of the ground just waiting to be attached to something meaningful. This will hopefully happen before September is out, and then the guys can get to work on the inside so that everything will be ready for June next year. A Northwoods winter stands in the way of things before then, but if the walls and roof are on, then all will be well.
Let me finish this final blog with a BIG thankyou to you parents who continue to support all the good work we do here at camp. Without you and your sons there would be no camp. I make this point often, and it needs to be made. Camp is not the buildings or Jason or all the people who have come before us: camp is the people – the campers – who come here every year. They are the ones who breathe live into this old place. Without them there simply would not be a camp for me to write and enthuse about. We also have a fine staff who mentor and coach the boys. They come from all over the world, and it is thanks to their hard work and dedication that we have been as successful as we have this summer. There are many (thousands) of camps across America to which you could send your son(s). They (the camps) come in all shapes and sizes, each with their own distinctive character. I cannot say a bad word about any of them, for they all have a part to play in educating tomorrow’s adults. And that is what we are (all) really trying to do here. Yes, we play sports and do lots of goofy camp-stuff, and I’d love the boys to improve their throwing and kicking and swimming and running skills. But interwoven with all that is the most important thing we can do; namely getting the boys to do the right thing in the right way, the Menominee Way. If the boys can leave here with a greater understanding of how to interact with one another, with a greater understanding of what it takes to win (and how to handle defeat), with a greater ability to sit and listen and with a greater appreciation of nature and each other, then we will have done our job. If you detect even a small difference in the way your boys are now behaving and acting (positively, I hope), then maybe, just maybe, we have gone some way in repaying the faith that you have shown us by sending your boys to “…..the best camp in the Northwoods…” And if that is the case, then all is well, so safely rest.
Goodnight everybody.
As ever…WOODY!
