Camp Nebagamon

by Adam Kaplan

I arrived in Lake Nebagamon about a week later than usual this year, and I’ll be leaving for a week in Boise during what would normally be time spent at camp so that I can help celebrate my eldest child’s graduation from high school. While this has been a wrench thrown into my normal spring schedule, I am obviously very excited about it.  Milestones matter. Celebrating them is important.

As we head into the summer of 2018, that very thought is top of mind for so many of us who are connected to Camp Nebagamon. This is a milestone summer — the 90^th summer of this special boys camp in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Indeed, that is an impressive number. If my calculations are correct, it means that campers have passed more than 25,000 tripper swimming tests, there have been more than 15,000 cabin cookouts, and the camp kitchen has put out more than 5,000,000 meals! It means that this milestone is a moment to celebrate.

This was very much on my mind as I did my annual solitary walk around camp upon my arrival here for the camping season. It was a gorgeous day, and I found myself more moved than I can ever remember on one of these walkabouts as I could feel the presence of all of those that have called this place home. The shared experience that generations of the Camp Family have enjoyed was almost palpable.

I could feel the spirit of all 90 summers of camp as I entered the Rec Hall. How many hundreds of boys have sat at Swamper tables as nine-year-olds? How many high spirited counselors have taken that microphone to entertain and inform the camp about an upcoming event? How many times have hundreds of people at a time excitedly belted out “Drop A Nickel” in that expansive room?

Then I made my way to the Campcraft area, and I could feel the spirit of all 90 summers there, too. How many boys have learned to tie a knot, pitch a tent, and build a fire? How many have stood in that place and laid hands on an axe for the first time in their lives?

I could feel the spirit of all 90 summers as I stood at the Chuck Hirsch Shrine and gazed at that hallowed ground beneath those giant white pines. How many lessons have been learned at our Sunday Services? How many perspectives have been broadened through words of wisdom shared by one of our senior staff members? How many architectural careers have started with holes dug in the dirt by campers during those services?!

I could feel the spirit of all 90 summers as I headed to the Upper Diamond. How many runs have been tallied on that classic old school scoreboard that has been sitting up there for nearly half a century? How many goals have been scored on the soccer field?  How many tumbles down the sand dunes have resulted in new bits of sand being discovered in every bodily crevice for months to come?!

I could feel the spirit of all 90 summers as I wandered to the Council Fire Ring. I stood at the center of the ring and looked out at those benches. How many boys have been mesmerized by the beauty and cycles of the fires lit there? How many boys have found themselves moved and bettered through the lessons taught there? How many Keylogs have been shared from that very spot, expressing gratitude to those who made a difference in their lives? How many tears have been shed there on the last night of camp as boys clung to the last few hours that the brotherhood of Nebagamon would gift them that summer?

Ninety summers… Each one of them consisting of a unique collection of moments and achievements and summer-specific stories of the hundreds of people that formed a close-knit community for a handful of weeks. Each of us experiences camp in our own way, yet as I strolled through those 77 acres at the beginning of our 90th summer, I was profoundly aware of the experiences that all of us in the Camp Family share.

Here’s to 90 more!

Nine alumni recall nine decades, one memory at a time

Chuck Cohen, 1934: In my first summer at Camp Nebagamon, I was seven years old. I have never forgotten hearing the bugler sound “Reville” each morning and especially “Taps” in the evening. It was at Nebagamon that I first learned the joys of camping out, which became a lifelong passion. My first canoe trip was on the Eau Claire Lakes. Unforgettable memories include sleeping outdoors, looking up at the stars, cooking meals over an open fire, and the wonderful aroma of pine trees. This is where I caught my first walleye and where I was introduced to fly fishing.

I also learned the pleasure of horseback riding on the range. In particular, I recall a covered wagon trip to a nearby lake. After eating steaks in the evening, we sat around the campfire and sang cowboy songs. My favorite was “Zebra Dunn”—the saga of a “tenderfoot from town” who approached a bunch of cowboys and “talked about ol’ Shakespeare while he downed his pork and beans.” But then he tamed the wild horse, Zebra Dunn, showing those cowpokes what he was made of. I still occasionally sing that song and heed its message. “One thing, a sure thing, I learned since I was born: Every educated fellow ain’t a plum greenhorn.”

All of this brings to mind a line from another favorite song—one that all camp alumni know: “And the memories of you that will live all year through—Thank you, Camp Nebagamon.”

1930 covered wagon trip

Joe Hirschhorn, 1942: My favorite moment at camp? It wasn’t when I performed in the Follies, which was overseen by the now legendary John Kander. Nor was it when I was chosen to be on the 1944 Big Trip. The train from Chicago to Hawthorne… covered wagon trips… the Boat House… all memorable. But most memorable moment? It happened on a beautiful June day in 1942. That’s when I found the Goat Badge.

For those of you too young to remember—and that’s most all of you—during the second week of the summer, an all-camp election was held (after some actual campaigning), culminating in an evening convention and the announcement of the “Goat.” Usually a popular older camper, he became the most powerful person in camp. He could actually issue directives, which had to be obeyed—things like “Swamper 4 gets ice cream for dessert tonight.” The Goat Badge, a symbol of power, stayed with that person and cabin (Throck in 1942). But one of the rules stated this: The Badge had to be hidden—outside, with part of it exposed during all swim periods. And if someone found that Badge, the power was then transferred to the finder and the cabin. Well, on that June day in 1942, I found the Badge. My cabin (Axeman 2) was able to maintain control of it throughout the remainder of the summer. So while the Big Trip was special, the Badge was the ultimate ego trip.

1946 fire crew

Bob Benton, 1954: I suspect that very few Nebagamon alumni remember camp’s See America First Trips, the epic bus tours of the American West. However, I was very fortunate to have been a part of two of these—as a camper, then as a counselor. One night in particular stands out. We were in Crater Lake National Park, on a cool evening with no chance of rain, so we decided not to pitch our tents. Instead, we slept under the multitude of stars. I awoke during the night (I’m not sure why) and looked around me. That’s when I noticed a large black bear wandering through the site. It was headed directly for Chuck Long, who was sleeping soundly nearby. Terrified, all I could think was: Please, Chuck, don’t wake up now! Thankfully, he didn’t. The bear simply stepped over him and ambled into the woods. Sometimes prayers work!

On my second See America First Trip, two years later, we were in Oregon again, heading up a mountain while sitting on the front bench of the cook bus. As we slowly climbed the hill, keeping close to the inside, a huge logging truck sailed around the curve on the outside. It was at that exact moment that Chuck Long, again napping, woke up. His first sight was the grille of that oncoming truck. I remember his scream even now. The drivers were pros, and we simply passed each other. But if Chuck had to scream, that was the time to do it!

1954 See America First Trip

Bud Schram, 1961: After being a camper in the 50’s I was fortunate enough to become a counselor in the 60’s.  My counselors Ed Saltzstein, Ben Lerner, Ed Drolson, and Si Lazarus were outstanding role models, and to this day my former campers and I maintain friendships. The unforgettable moments are many—from the quirky (a Cruiser Day trip to Fitger’s Brewery in Duluth) and the clever (motivating tri-camp swimmers by offering pre-meet spun honey) to the enlightening (a Camp Council visit to Camp Bovey to see the Camp Nebagamon Scholarship Fund in action) and the inspiring (poetry readings and discussions after Sunday night Council Fires).

One memory that lingers is the early morning of July 21, 1961. At the crack of dawn, my co-counselor Bill Sternal and I woke our campers and made our way to what is now called Lorber Point, where recently retired Muggs and Janet were spending the summer in their trailer. It was there, on a little black-and-white TV, that we watched astronaut Gus Grissom become the second American launched into space. Nebagamon was where I was taught to rely on others while aiming high. Camp was the most important influence in my life, providing me the opportunity to grow as a human being. So it seems appropriate that, with our futures ahead of us, we were sitting amid an earthly paradise with the two people who made that opportunity possible as we watched a courageous man head toward the heavens.

1961 train arrival

Jon Colman, 1971:

During my first several years at camp, I spent most of my time where I felt most comfortable—the athletic fields. Only in my last summer did I feel ready to try tripping, and I joined most of my Throck cabin on my first Sawbill. Something clicked, and I took several more trips before our 1971 Big Trip, which proved to be the highlight of my camper experiences. When we reached Lac La Croix at dusk on Day 8, we stopped to make dinner. We campers started unloading the tents, but our counselors said, “No we’re not camping here.” They explained that we would eat dinner, gather our energy, then load back up and paddle the entire 25-mile length of Lac La Croix—by moonlight.

The feeling of the fresh night air on our faces, the call of the loons in the distance and the vast serenity invigorated us. We were the only people on the lake, moving together as a group, with the sound of the paddles hitting the water and only the lights of the Indian Reservation to remind us that, yes, the rest of the world did indeed continue to go on. While it is often difficult to appreciate some experiences until they are over, I couldn’t help but take it all in in the moment. I can still recall with ease the feeling of accomplishment and the bond we felt as a group. Camp had helped to stretch me beyond my comfort zone and taught me to reach for more.

1978 canoeing trip

Brad Herzog, 1983: I well recall my first few Pow Wow Days as a Nebagamon camper, when I would marvel at the big chiefs. They were teenagers, for goodness sake, confident and vaguely heroic and ten feet tall and fully deserving of their lofty titles. Then I became one of them—a near-sighted, shallow-chested, self-doubting big chief—and it was like discovering that the great and terrible wizard was a bumbling oaf behind a curtain. We mighty Cherokees lost each and every one of our first thirteen preliminary events—a comedic montage of errant jumpshots, missed targets, and tipped canoes.

Heading into Pow Wow Day itself, we were so far behind that victory was virtually unattainable. So I borrowed a notion from the Bill Murray summer camp movie Meatballs, which had been released a few years earlier, and led a procession of faux Cherokees through the Rec Hall at lunchtime. We shouted, “It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter!” And, it may be coincidental, but afterward we suddenly started sinking shots, hitting bullseyes, and actually staying afloat. By the end of the day, we had finished in second place. But the memory that makes me smile is the refrain, echoing through the Rec Hall: “It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter!” And significantly, it didn’t.

1983 Pow Wow Day

Josh Gray, 1991: I used to compete in a lot of tennis tournaments at Nebagamon. Each was its own memorable experience. Sometimes we would travel on raucous van rides to exotic (it’s all relative) places like Eagle River or Bemidji to play against other camps. At other times, kids from camps like Menominee, Thunderbird, and North Star would make the trip to our home turf. They would pass through the front gate, glance up at Paul Bunyan, eat in the Rec Hall, complain about our egg water, and get a glimpse of what “roughing it” was like. At least, that was our point of view.

I remember playing against a camper from Menominee who beat me in an eight-game pro set, 8-6. I certainly hated losing, but with 25 years of distance and reflection, what I remember from that day is not the sting of the loss. Instead, I recall the joy of a support system of friends who sat on the grassy hill behind the tennis courts and cheered me on. When we walked off the court, a flock of Nebagamon campers and counselors greeted me with words of encouragement, high-fives, shoulder squeezes, and pats on the back. This was my summer family, showing me again what we all now know well:  None goes his way alone.

Andrew Schram, 1998

Joey Laskin, 2006: To me, a chubby kid hailing from Los Angeles, the wilderness always represented the great unknown—and my dreams of being away from the city. My appetite for the wild only ballooned at Camp Nebagamon year after year. One trip I kept hearing about—spoken of in reverent, mythical tones–was the Grand Portage, a nine-mile, nearly 3,000-rod portage from the Pigeon River to Fort Charlotte in Minnesota’s northeastern corner. During my last year as a camper, I mustered up the courage to try it, and it was a trip that will stay with me for the rest of my days.

The highlight amid the highlights came on day six. As camper Malcolm Kerr, trip leader Mike Freeman and I dragged our canoe down the shallow Pigeon River, we confronted something remarkable: a ten-foot-tall Bull Moose, gently lifting its head from the trickling creek to gaze upon our stunned faces. I was terrified, yet there was also an undeniable peace to be had in observing this magnificent beast as it grazed and then stomped its way back into the forest.

To this day, the Grand Portage was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. After completing the long, flat portage that gives the trip its name (bugs buzzing in the canoe that I was carrying over my head), my friends and I jumped into Lake Superior to let the water cool us off. I know I’ll never experience anything quite like it again.

Grant Rosskamm, 2015: It began as a rather typical Monday night, and for those of us who made up the Swamper staff our village meeting had just ended. As Swamper push David Sachs and I left the Wanegan, we happened to glance up through the trees and notice what we first thought was a light, wispy cloud cover. After taking another moment to examine the night sky, we were both suddenly taken aback as we realized that what we were actually looking at was the strongest display of the Northern Lights that either of us had ever witnessed at camp. After standing there for a moment, awestruck at what we were seeing, we both came to the same conclusion: We have to wake up the kids.

I quickly ran back to my cabin, flipped on the lights, and roused my confused and groggy 4th graders. I led them by flashlight to the Upper Diamond, while excitedly assuring them that they would never forget what they were about to see. Once we reached the field, the sleepy look on the faces of my campers was quickly replaced by that of pure wonder. We all stood there in silence as we marveled at the curtains of silver light dancing effortlessly through the sky. It wasn’t long before almost the entire camp joined us to watch the show. But getting to share that experience with my campers is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

1. by Brad Herzog

1. “Nebagamon” is derived from a Chippewa Indian term for “hunting deer from the lake by fire.”
2. Lake Nebagamon (the lake) covers 986 acres and has a maximum depth of 56 feet. Lake Nebagamon (the village) covers 14.34 square miles.
3. The Big House was built in 1898 to be the home of John Philip Weyerhaeuser. Four years later, the family built a 36-square-foot replica on the lake that served as a Boathouse (lower floor) and schoolhouse (upper floor).
4. The Boathouse was dismantled in 1944, some of its time being used to construct Voyageur in 1953.
5. Muggs Lorber always cited 1907 as the year in which Nebagamon was really launched. That’s when, at the age of five, he took his first camping trip with his family.
6. Muggs was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball) at Indiana University from 1922-24, and was named an honorable mention All-American quarterback as a senior. At 5-foot-6 and 175 pounds, he ranked seventh in the Big Ten in scoring.
7. During several college summers, Muggs was a counselor at Camp Kawaga in Wisconsin, where he established a wilderness tripping program.
8. Muggs and Janet Lorber purchased camp’s property from the Patrick-Duluth Woolen Mills on July 5, 1928. That same year, President Calvin Coolidge established the “Summer White House” at Central High School in Superior. Muggs and Janet earned money by running a tourist camp.
9. The Lorbers’ lawyer for the purchase was David Sher—father, grandfather, and great-grandfather to future Nebagamon campers.
10. There were 47 campers and 15 counselors in 1929, Camp Nebagamon’s first summer. Tuition that first summer: $350. Four years later, during the depths of the Depression, it was $275.

11. Two songs from camp’s original summer, introduced by Bob Basch from Toledo, are still mainstays of the camp songbook: “Drop a Nickel” and “The Billboard Song.”
12. The first camp Follies were staged on the front porch of the Big House in 1929.
13. The first camp doctor, Jerome Levy, doubled as a cabin counselor.
14. The biggest fish ever caught by a camper? Bob Misch’s 24-pound northern pike at Alton Lake in the Boundary Waters in 1931. The second biggest fish? Roger Goldman’s 23-pound northern pike a quarter-century later.
15. “Throck” is short for Throckmorton Manor, which was originally in the location of the current infirmary. The original infirmary was a room in the Big House.
16. The current Swamper jop was originally built as a playhouse for the Weyerhaeuser children. And the word is an homage to first-year camper Jerrold Berman from Joplin, Missouri, who supposedly missed a departure train while indisposed.
17. “Thanks for the Pines” was written by the parents of 1931 camper Donald Kahn—words by Gus Kahn (who also wrote lyrics for such classics as “Dream a Little Dream of Me” and “Makin’ Whoopee”) and music by Grace Kahn.
18. Covered wagon trips began in 1932. Eight years later, the horses “ran home,” leaving campers and wagon stranded 18 miles away.
19. Back when Nebagamon had a horseback riding program, one of the attempted activities was polo… using a potato.
20. The Rec Hall was built in 1932. The porches arrived in 1935 (Axeman) and 1938 (Lumberjack).

21. Muggs Lorber held down three different winter jobs to make ends meet during the Great Depression.
22. In 1934, there were three men named Pete on the staff. They were known as Big Pete, Little Pete, and Re-Pete.
23. The totem pole at the Council Fire Ring was built in 1935 and re-painted in 1961 by counselor Chuck Long and campers in Lumberjack 4.
24. Chuck Hirsch was a camper who was diagnosed with leukemia and chose to spend his last summer, in 1936, at camp. His shrine was dedicated a year later. Matt Cohen, memorialized by the Keylog Box, was a camper who succumbed to a heart condition after the 1980 summer.
25. In 1937, the first Paul Bunyan statue was carved by Ta Gabrielson, a sculptor from Superior. That same year, Chief A.K. Agikamik paid his first visit to 54849.
26. In 1939, Muggs and Janet turned down a request from a pro football team to train at camp.
27. In the middle of the night on May 24, 1939, a large fire in Lake Nebagamon burned down half the businesses in the village.
28. Over its first dozen summers, Camp Nebagamon operated without a village system. Cabins were instead identified by tree names.
29. Thirty-two campers and staff attended “Winter Camp”—tobogganing, skiing, skating, daily snowball fights—from Dec. 22-28, 1940.
30. The all-camp birthday tradition began in 1942 when all campers’ birthdays were celebrated at once due to a wartime sugar shortage.
31. In 1943, campers and counselors arrived via six different trains on three different railroads on two different days. The last year in which campers arrived by train: 1968.
32. Five Nebagamon alumni—Dave Wohl, Dick Marx, Dick Mayer, Bruce Cohen, and Ben Goodman—were killed in action during World War II. Four alumni—Ed Shifrin, Bill Gingold, Rickey Eisenstadt, and Chuck Edison—were prisoners of war during the conflict and eventually returned home safely.
33. During camp’s first few decades, Cruiser Day actually took place on Tuesday. Cabin cookouts were originally on Fridays.
34. The tomahawks awarded to each winning Pow Wow Day big chief for more than three decades were crafted by Nardie Stein, using the skills he learned at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico in 1945.
35. Camp’s original set of canoes, used to run the Brule rapids, were made out of canvas. Aluminum canoes arrived in 1946.
36. The first See America First trip, featuring older ex-campers in a multi-state trek through the West, took place in 1947. The fifth and last one visited 14 western states and traveled 7,000 miles in 1958.
37. Three names for camp transporation vehicles over the years? The Vomit Comet, Urping Urma, and the Maroon Loon.
38. The first second-generation campers, in 1950, were Bill Tucker (son of Joe), David Scharff (son of Nick), and Lou Siegel (son of Norman). The original plaques honoring them were carved by Orval Craig.
39. Camp’s cookout boxes date back to 1951, as does the camp social. The first girls’ camp to participate? Camp Chickagami.
40. Orienteering and air riflery became official projects in the same year—1952.
41. The Fatigue Squad was once a grounds cleanup crew featuring campers who had three or more pieces of clothing in the lost-and-found box.
42. In 1953, Maggie Rolfe (Janet Lorber’s mother) found 200 four-leaf clovers and distributed them around camp. Her last year as official Camp Grandma was 1969.
43. A “name the new infirmary” contest in 1953 was won by Ronnie Borod, who came up with “Waldorf Castoria.”
44. The same year (1954) that motor boating briefly emerged as a project for older campers, there was a ham radio program set up on the second floor of the craftshop.
45. Nardie Stein’s first job at Nebagamon, in 1955: Senior counselor, Swamper 1.
46. There were three additions to Nebagamon in 1957—the OBR program, skishing, and four-square, which Nardie discovered during a winter trip to Cincinnati.
47. The year 1959 marked the beginning of mock range wars between archery and air riflery, started by good friends Al Goldman and Bud Herzog.
48. When Nardie and Sally took over as full-time camp directors in 1960, they were ages 29 and 26, respectively.
49. The Little House was constructed in 1961 and named by Jane Stein.
50. Not only did Andy Rinde lend his name to “Rinde ball” at Nebagamon, he also nicknamed the old wash basin in the Axeman-LJ jop the “bird bath.”
51. The first Nebaga-person to join the Peace Corps was Joe Froehlich in 1961.
52. In 1961, the campers and counselors in Swamper 7 caught 396 finish during a trip to Boney Lake.
53. The first cabin plaques were created in 1962. Afternoon project periods began in 1963.
54. Camp’s 1964 mock Republican Nominating Convention nominated… William Scranton for president.
55. In 1964, Marilyn Gordon became camp’s first female trip staff hire, running the younger-boy outpost with her husband Gil. Five years later, Freida Weisner directed the craftshop, becoming the first full-time female project staff person.
56. The only camp parent hauled before A.K. Agikamik? Hubert Kiersky in 1965. Nine years later, camp mother Judy Scharff appeared as the chief of the Yo Yo Islands.
57. Camp’s first nature museum was known as “Skunk Hollow.”
58. The current waterfront shack is the former Axeman 5, moved in 1965.
59. Several Nebaga-buildings were moved from elsewhere, including the Pioneer Post (found in a farm north of Highway 2), the bike shack (formerly a hot dog stand across from the Lawn Beach Inn, moved in 1966), the Axeman Push Shack, and the Jail.
60. The artshop? It dates back to 1940 at camp, having earlier stood in an area called The Barrens along Highway 27.
61. The current Lumberjack Point Five was originally two Logger cabins divided by a partition.
62. Beloved counselor Bill Eoff was the only Nebagamon staff member lost during the Vietnam war.
63. The 400-pound white rabbit that sits in front of the Little House was a gift for six-year-old Jessie Stein, crafted from the leftover concrete used to build the Paul Bunyan statue in 1969.
64. The heads of the original two Pauls are saved in display cases on one wall of the Herb Hollinger Museum, which was originally a log cabin in Brule, Wisconsin.
65. Camp’s longest-serving caretaker (so far) was not actually Herb Hollinger. It was Bob Johnson, from 1960-1993.
66. The Upper Diamond scoreboard replaced a chalkboard in 1969.
67. In 1971, one year after Nebagamon alumni William Goldman won an Academy Award for writing “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid,” his brother James won a best adapted screenplay Oscar for “The Lion in Winter.” The Goldmans also collaborated with alumnus and there-time Tony Award-winner John Kander on a musical, A Family Affair. One of the songs was called “Summer is Over.”
68. Nebagamon’s four-week camper option began in 1974, with one grade per year added thereafter.
69. Jim Mendelsohn became Nebagamon’s first third-generation staff member in 1974.
70. The indoor cooking program, then known as Bachelor Survival, was originally suggested and led by Connie Couts.
71. The participants of the 1975 Camp Scandia trip traveled to Lapland, Finland, and experienced a snow storm in July.
72. In 1976, soon after she starred in “King Kong,” Cloquet, Minnesota native Jessica Lange bought a home on Lake Nebagamon.
73. The scale model of the Weyerhaeuser railroad train on display in the Big House was built by John Altshool in 1979.
74. In 1981, The Keeper was donated to camp in memory of fisherman and Nebagamon alumnus Gil Gordon. Two years later, Lorber Point was renamed in honor of the late Muggs and Janet Lorber. The gazebo and pavilion were designed by alumnus Pat Ackerman.
75. In the 1980s, “cubbies” were installed in cabins, marking the end of the footlocker era.
76. Jane Stein and Euan Kerr were married at Lorber Point in 1985—30 years after Sally Lorber and Nardie Stein tight the knot in the Big House living room.
77. Among the staff members in 1986 were campcraft director Roger Wallenstein and his soon-to-be wife, Judy Weiss, who served as quartermaster.
78. Nebagamon’s first promotional video appeared in 1986, written by Jessie Stein.
79. In 1987, Hide Harashima was Nebagamon’s first Japanese camper and Chris Little, son of Alan Little, became the first second-generation counselor from England
80. In 1991, goal posts on the Upper Diamond, dating back about a half-century, were replaced by wooden soccer goals.
81. Kim Swenson became Nebagamon’s first female associate director in 1994.
82. In 1995, Axel Berger made an entrance into the Paul Bunyan Day Council Fire flying from a tree—with the help of an almost-invisible guide wire.
83. Muggs Lorber was a 1997 honoree in the St. Louis Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
84. CampNebagamon.com went live in February 1999, the same year that Joe Crain began his “Caretaker Joe at Camp” column for The Arrowhead.
85. In 2000, wilderness trip leaders began to carry satellite phones.
86. In 2001, associate director Adam Braude arrived for the finals of the horse ‘n’ goggle tournament on horseback.
87. Ben Edmunds used birch bark to write out a Sunday Service in the summer of 2003.
88. The Y.A.K.D.M award for most clever announcements actually stands for “You Are King of the Diarrhetic Mouths.”
89. In 2017, 39 years after the first winter Nebagamon reunions in California and 33 years after the first Mexico City reunion, Adam Kaplan traveled across the Pacific for the first-ever reunion in China.
90. This first three languages on the “THIS SHALL BE A PLACE OF WELCOME FOR ALL” sign were Danish, French, and Spanish. A later one—“LLA ROF EMOCLEW FO ECALP A EB LLAHS SIHT”—was added by mischievous staff members (one of whom wound up becoming a camp director).