Camp Nebagamon

Remember when tickets for that concert that you were so excited to attend went on sale?  Remember dialing that phone number over and over again in the desperate hope that you would connect?  Or clicking on that link repeatedly praying that you would get through?  That is nothing compared to what my life was like…

First things first…I wanted to let you know that all of our COVID tests from the first round of in-camp testing came in negative yesterday.  We have cleared our first hurdle in the race toward PHASE TWO! We will test again tomorrow, and provided that all of those tests are negative we can shift into…

Greetings from a BRAND NEW SESSION OF CAMP!!! Often times as parents are registering for camp for the first time, they will ask me to describe the differences between the two sessions so that they can make a more informed decision about which session to select for their son. Typically, I will describe the first…

Changeover is a great two day period here at camp.  Having a camp with only 65 or so kids in it (we had three different changeover wilderness trips that about thirty kids took advantage of) allows us to do some things that we normally would not be able to do because of our numbers.  We…

Yesterday was our final Cruiser Day of the first session. As usual, our staff did an amazing job of planning creative days for the boys. The Swampers toga’d Greek Gods Day, the Loggers beasted Cryptid Day (Bigfoot, Yeti, the Loch Ness monster and other fantastic beasts), the Axemen explored a remote beach on the other…

Greetings from Camp! Last night was our first cabin cookout. On Monday nights, cabin groups head into the woods to designated cookout sites to cook their dinners over an open fire. Due to an uncooperative Mother Nature, we were forced to cancel our first two cabin cookouts….so this was the first!  Now when we talk…

Without a doubt the most circled day on the Nebaga-calendar of a first four week camper is Paul Bunyan Day.  (Now, in all honesty, for me the most circled day is Rueben Day in the Rec Hall, but that is because I have a legitimate Reuben problem.  But that is a discussion for another Update….or…

Generally in these updates, I try to give a broad view of the happenings in camp over the past few days.  I tend to write about things that everyone has been experiencing rather than just the experiences of small groups of campers. (An exception being the recounting of my super fun trip to the ER…

As a camp director, I know that one of my most critical tasks is to establish a predictable routine for the campers. One of the main ways to help kids become adjusted to being away from home is to provide them with a stable and predictable situation. They need to know what to expect and…

Last night, at the end of a very long day, one of my counselors said to me “You know Kaplan, generally speaking, when I go through a day here at camp, I usually have lots of thoughts and suggestions about what could be done better…But, I think we have pretty much perfected the art of…