Greetings from camp,
One of my absolute favorite aspects of this place is the diversity of interests that our kids hold, and the ability of our staff to be creative and cater to these. This amazing variance was on full display last night during our Special Interest (SI) evening activity. Special Interest is a program in which our normal project areas (tennis, swimming, sailing etc.) offer abnormal activities.
For example, instead of the normal fare of traditional camp sports, our athletics program turned the beach area into a small soccer pitch for a 2v2 beach soccer tournament. A tournament that saw one of our previously homesick kids score a huge goal and hear his name chanted repeatedly by the throng of fans. Our nature and climbing programs combined to challenge the boys to use only natural items to create protection for a raw egg that would be dropped from the top of the climbing wall. Unsurprisingly, the dramatic majority of these eggs wound up scrambled, but there were a few genius contraptions (and incredibly hard shelled eggs) that survived the 50 foot drop. Archery and our cooking program, MOCA, combined (yeah I was scared too!!) in a shoot for your ingredients, smoothie event. When I visited the activity, even after a good 10 minutes, none of the boys had been able to hit the target at all. After I delivered some gentle ribbing about this, one of the boys cleared it up for me, “Adam, this is a bunch of MOCA guys trying to shoot archery!!” And then, one of the seasoned archers in the group, an older boy, took it upon himself to coach everyone how to hit the targets and the smoothies were delivered! There was Incan knot tying at CNOC, bumper paddleboarding, hydro dipping at the Artshop, cycling tricks on the Barbie bike we have at camp, a water balloon shoot at target shooting, pirate map making down at sailing, and a waterskiing Olympics. All of our program areas came up with creative and unique offerings for the boys to try.
Now, before I delve into why this is such a wonderful thing for the kids here at camp, I just need to take a minute to praise our amazing staff. All of these guys are trained to teach the skills in their program areas and are really good at it. But on SI nights, we ask them to let that go and come up with something different, creative, zany. For some, this is a bit outside of their comfort zones but, as with all things, the staff at Nebagamon have incredible commitment. I was genuinely moved to witness a dozen staff members sprinting around camp to acquire all of the special things they needed to make their event work. They had to make dozens of water balloons, procure smoothie ingredients, collect the proper pirate map making tools, and just so many other little details that had to be managed to execute their visions for the night. And of course….they made it happen. They always make it happen. Then, when the bell rang and it was time to start the commitment and excitement of the staff was incredible last night. EVERYONE was just so excited to make a special night for the campers. Just one example of this was down at rowing. To be clear, it was a pretty chilly night here, so I had my doubts when rowing offered a rowboat pail filling contest in which you had to scoop up water to fill up your friends’ rowboat until it swamped. To be clear, rowboats are built NOT to swamp, so tons and tons of water is required! Unsurprisingly, only three kids showed up for the activity on a 55 degree night. But the rowing guy was all in. The four of them (the three boys and the counselor) spent almost a full hour dousing each other and laughing their tails off and yes, eventually were able to accomplish the task…actually swamping those rowboats! To be sure…three kids on a cold night doing an impossible task might be tough to make fun. UNLESS, you have a spectacular counselor committed to doing just that. We have that staff member…and 120 others just like him.
OK…back to the kids. With all of these varied offerings, it should come as no surprise that campers were spread out all over camp enjoying all of the different activities. I love the fact that a boy that comes here is given the opportunity to pursue whatever it is that tickles his fancy on a Special Interest evening. There is no social stigma associated with any activity, and what is valued most is figuring out what it is that you are interested in and pursuing it, and, oh yeah, whatever sounds fun!
This is a particularly special gift for these boys given their ages. The majority of them are at that tricky middle school age. As most of us remember, those middle school years are among the most socially challenging. (Warning: Adam is about to go on a tangent…Though, in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that my middle school years were my social salad days. I was actually considered kinda cool from 5th-8th grades…it didn’t last. It was also when I still entertained the possibility that I would not have to sit in the front row of every group photo I would ever be in…like all the other short guys! That didn’t last either. In fact, I purchased camp 21 years ago, in part to ensure I would always be able to sit in the THIRD row in the staff photo since that is where the administrators sit. Otherwise, I can assure you, it would have been cross-legged in the front row to this day!) It is an age when doing what is prescribed by a social “in” crowd takes on huge importance. It is an age when one of the things to be most avoided is standing out from one’s peers in any way. It is an age of conformity and denying one’s own individual interests in order to fit in. Sometimes, as the Borg say, resistance is futile. (Yes, one of your son’s camp directors is a Trekkie.)
It is different here. This is a place where we expect that you won’t follow the crowd. This is a place where we expect you to follow your interests, your passions, and your curiosities. It is a place where trying something new and out of the norm is not only acceptable, but encouraged and celebrated. In fact, last Sunday, Steph addressed this exact topic in her Sunday Service based on the classic book, The Story of Ferdinand, emphasizing the importance of being yourself.
And so it was that the “hippest” 14-year-old enjoyed drawing a pirate map with charcoal, and the most timid 6th grader screamed his lungs out at the soccer pitch. And 11-15-year-olds totally gave themselves to performing tricks on a goofy Barbie bike that happens to be here. In their “other” world, this stuff might not have been considered the “in” thing to do. But here…indulging in something different, that just tickles your fancy, is the absolute pinnacle of coolness.
All is well in the North Woods….
