by Adam Kaplan
One thing I’m always struck by is the way Camp Nebagamon alumni react to photos of camp out of season. Fall leaves scattered along the path to the Waterfront. The Big House covered in snow. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a surprise, as if we need to be reminded that, oh yeah, our beloved summer camp is not just a summer entity. It actually still exists in October and January and April. It’s part of a year-round world. And that world – the Village of Lake Nebagamon — is the theme of this edition of The Keylog.
When Muggs and Janet Lorber purchased the future site of Camp Nebagamon from the Patrick-Duluth Woolen Mills on July 5, 1928, it met their criteria for a perfect setting. As Muggs later explained, “Some of the requirements were: A flowing lake (inlet and outlet); a gradual, sloping sandy beach; good drainage; purity of lake and drinking water supply; sufficient flat area for playgrounds; acceptable summer mean average temperatures of air and water; transportation to and from metropolitan areas, nearness to food supply; proximity to national and state parks; community acceptance; nearness to hospitals and doctors, etc.” But the two most important words may be “community acceptance.” Camp’s relationship to the surrounding village is vital to its vitality, in ways both big and small.
Every July 4th, the campers and staff craft a float (often with a Paul Bunyan flair) for the town’s tiny Independence Day parade and proudly participate in the procession. But the camp family also cheers from the sidelines — not only for the campers that walk past, but also for the rest of the townsfolk who ride by. It’s our way of saying, Hey, we’re in this together. Before the campers ooh and aah at evening fireworks, they get a sense of the kind of local pride that sustains so many of the tiniest dots on the American map.
A couple of days later every summer, a large Camp Nebagamon contingent enters the Dragin’ Tail Run/Walk, a five-mile jaunt around town with proceeds benefitting the Lake Nebagamon Volunteer Fire Department. Some take it seriously. Others do it with a wink and a grin and a canoe on their shoulders. But either way, the camp family is running (or walking) in step with the town family. Ask some campers and staff to show you their Nebagamon swag from recent years, and about half of the collection will consist of Dragin’ Tail T-shirts.
Of course, there is also the walk to Dairy Queen, which has become as much a part of camp tradition as Big Trip plaques, Candy Line, and a visitor from the Yo-Yo Islands. Imagine a Cruiser Day without it. You can’t. (Just like the DQ’s owners surely can’t imagine summer business without hundreds of hungry campers).
That route into town takes us past lodging owned not only by Camp Nebagamon, but also past a beautiful house owned by former directors Sally and Nardie Stein, who still spend most of their summers on the shores of Lake Nebagamon. So yes, that walk to the DQ takes us through the camp “gate,” but it’s not a stark exit from one place and entrance into another. Instead, camp seems to morph seamlessly into the village. And that well describes the relationship.
We share a special place, just like we share the lake itself. We’re all stewards of something rather glorious. So this Keylog celebrates that – in the form of a fascinating and funny examination of the village’s history, a pictorial account of a DQ adventure, and an essay about what it’s like to live in Lake Nebagamon year-round.
After all, how often is it that a simple zip code always elicits a smile?
