Camp Nebagamon

By Adam Kaplan

As you all probably know by now, Stephanie and I transferred the ownership of Camp into a not-for-profit structure last fall. This means that while Stephanie and I remain the directors of camp, we are now employees of a Board of Directors.

We are aware that for many of you, this structural change is a bit unnerving as you wonder what the makeup of the board will be and what changes may be in store for our beloved Camp Nebagamon. I figured that it was appropriate to spell some of this out for my vast readership (yeah…that means the one mom in upstate New York and my daughter, Josie…. the sum total of dedicated readers!).

As far as the makeup of the board goes, one of the principles that we have always held sacred at Camp is this: Whenever we make any decision, the first priority is always the children. The first thing we always do is ask ourselves how does any change/decision affect the kids. And does it improve their camp experience? We decided to codify this philosophy when assembling the first Board of Directors. With this in mind, we are very proud to share that our board is made up entirely of campers. After all, who knows better the ins and outs of summer camp life than the kids who live it every summer. The new board consists of three Swamper-aged campers (2^nd-4^th graders), three Logger-aged campers (5^th and 6^th graders), one Axeman-aged camper (7^th grade…you may notice that the 13-year-olds are proportionally under represented, but, I mean come on, they are 13-year-olds…do we really want them running the show?!), three Lumberjack-aged campers (8^th– 10^th graders), and one member of our junior counseling staff (just to add some sagacity and maturity to the board…you know, to keep them in line). We are extremely excited about this vanguard approach to camping and confident that other child-centered institutions will follow suit.

The first-ever board meeting was held last week. Truth be told, we had a really hard time scheduling it around travel soccer practices, after school karate classes, homework, and early bedtimes…but we finally figured out a time that worked for everyone. I am proud to say that our board is amazing, and the campers are really taking seriously their role as caretakers of Nebagamon. They are focused on keeping the things that make camp great and instituting some thoughtful changes that they tell us have been missing due to the old folks running the place for the nearly a century.

I’d like to outline some of these changes to allay any fears you might have about unwise decisions:

• Letter Writing Policy: As you know, it is our policy that kids should write home at least twice a week. As a way to incentivize this, we have always attached a candy bar “carrot” to the execution of the letter home.
  • The board understood that letters home were important and elected to increase the number of mandatory letters home to 5 per week…with the same candy bar reward upon completion.
  • The board did note that the writing of these letters home was extraordinarily cumbersome. They also noted that parents have consistently been disappointed about the quality of these letters, which often consist of just a few words: “They are making me write this letter…I’m fine.” (Yeah…the kids are fond of ellipses, too). In an effort to offer parents more details, the board has adopted a policy in which the kids will use CHAT GPT for the letters home.
  • In order to make these CHAT GPT letters authentic, we will input the personality profiles that parents fill out, as well as current grammar and spelling grades into a computer so that the CHAT GPT bot can accurately represent each child in their letters home. Additionally, the counselors will input the activities each child has been attending. This should result in some AMAZING letters home chock full of details, spelling errors, and personality quirks. It will feel just like the real thing…. with some meat on the bones. It will also free up time for the campers to play more Magic: The Gathering…. something that the board felt like was getting squeezed out by the onerous task of having to write home.

• Tripping: The board noted the inequality of Big Trips only being offered to the oldest campers at Nebagamon and wanted to rectify this situation.
  • Starting this summer, we will offer 8-day Big Trips to all Swampers, Loggers and Axemen. The board did note that this might be a long time for our younger campers to be in the woods and a tremendous amount of work for them. Consequently, our younger boy Big Trip itinerary consists of 5 days at Disney World (staying at Fort Wilderness….you know, to honor our passion for the outdoors), and three days swimming with dolphins (because as our Axeman board member put it, “Swimming with dolphins is the coolest!”)

• Meals: Starting this summer, in order to simplify the kitchen management and to a create predictable environment for the kids (something that our prudent neophyte board members know is crucial to becoming comfortable at camp), all meals will be pizza based. Now don’t worry, we are not going to be serving traditional pizza at every meal, the board chose to make the pizzas appropriate to each meal:
  • Breakfast Pizza
    • These will consist of various sugared cereals ground up to make a crust, bound together by a caramel paste and topped with berries and sweetened yogurt (you know, to keep it healthy). While we tried to encourage the board to add in some other proteins and eggs to these breakfast pizzas, a stalwart holdout board member in the 3^rd grade insisted that “eggs are so gross” and vetoed the idea.
  • Lunch Pizza
    • These pizzas will be on a three-day rotation of cheeseburger pizzas, chicken tender pizzas and grilled cheese pizzas.
  • Dinner Pizza
    • Traditional pizzas with traditional toppings…with no olives or mushrooms of course…vile.

• Dessert: Although we tried to remind the board that any changes in the dessert category should be considered under the MEALS heading, the board insisted that desserts were deserving of their own category.
  • Henceforth, we will eliminate the current every other meal fruit dessert (the board was very concerned about the sustainability of raiding nature for our own gratification every single day). So all meals will conclude with a sweet dessert.
  • The board was also concerned with the kitchen staff having to keep track of too many recipes, so they decided that they would narrow down the dessert menu to Brownie Glop, S’More Pie, and Brownie Glop (yes, I know I wrote that twice…but the board insisted I present it this way and after all I am just an employee).

As you can see, there is absolutely nothing to fear when it comes to the new “back of the house” structure to Camp Nebagamon. We have innovatively created a structure that will not only preserve the things that make Nebagamon so special, but also our dedication to a child centered approach and respect for the intellect and wisdom of our campers. All of this has really moved Camp Nebagamon forward into a glorious new era. Fear not camp family!

And also…..Happy April Fools Day!

Henry Kramer, Oren Korczak, Sam Shapira, Jake Goldstein, Joshua Duarte