By Joe Crain
The abnormally hot summer continued through the month of July here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. We endured temperature reading in the upper 80s and lower 90s for the first two weeks of July, a month that normally sees an average temp around 80 degrees. And with the humidity levels reaching into what the weather forecaster’s called the “oppressive” level our heat index was often in the triple digits! Unfortunately, the high humidity made the cooler temps in the night of upper 50s and lower 60s seem rather irrelevant and we spent a lot of nights trying to sleep uncovered and with every fan in the house roaring at the high setting. Thankfully the heat wave that got its start back in mid-June finally broke on July 20th and the temps have finally returned closer to the normal pattern of 80 degree days and upper 50 degree nights with moderate to low humidity levels that we cold blooded northlanders enjoy. The really good news on the weather front is that the month has finally brought badly needed rain to the region and we have dropped out of the severe drought category and are now only in a moderate drought. You may recall from last month’s report that we only had ½ inch of the normal nearly 4-inch average rain fall in the month of June! The rain came by the bucketful in mid-July with one big storm that dumped from 4 ½ to 6 ¾ inches on Lake Nebagamon! The next storm that came our way dumped 2 inches of rain and then the following week we had a 1 ¼ inch rain storm. Needless to say I had to spend a few days’ on Camp’s big blue tractor grading the gravel roads on the hilly grounds of camp back into shape.
We have been doing our best to take advantage of this strange non-ending off season at camp by taking on some projects that we never seem to have enough time to get to in a normal off season. The Lower Diamond is getting a major grass overhaul. The grass of this heavily used gaming field has always had a “bad” patch that refused to grow grass on a strip from what would be the pitcher’s mound into what is often home plate. Additionally, with the big renovation of tennis courts #1 & #2 a few years back all of the heavy machinery used did some major damage to the field that has never completely recovered. With some soil testing and advice from a local college extension program, we tilled up the problem zone from the backstop all the way down through the volley ball court. We had 34 yards of good quality top soil trucked in and laid down what the extension agent called “starter” fertilizer along with a generous amount of grass seed topped of with some moisture retaining straw for cover. Adam Fornear has been diligently watering the field each day as needed and things are starting to green up nicely! You may be wondering about how the field endured the “big” rain we had – well Fornear was on top of his game and though the ground was ready for planting he held off when the forecast called for rain that week and we didn’t lose any seed to the big storm. The storm did reveal some low spots in the top soil that we spread and he was able to address those areas and got the seed planted without major disruption. The Lower Diamond is greening up nicely and with this summer’s lack of heavy foot traffic we are hopeful that by the start of next year’s camp season the lower diamond will have a deeply rooted and dense crop of grass.
Some of the other projects we have gotten going this month include a major repair to “The Horvath House” front porch, and a complete paint job of the exterior, and a lot of painting in the Infirmary, “The Waldorf Castoria”. We’ve also been hard at work all month replacing rotted rail road ties around the Big House and along the side of the road down to the bike shack, to further help with erosion control around The Hill. Hopefully, the new ties will help keep the Hill as, well, a hill! We also got a major project underway for the Biking project, a new skills track that I will describe in more detail in next month’s Arrowhead!
Until then, keep your chin up and get out and enjoy your local parks, lakes and recreation areas. Hoping you all are staying safe and healthy, it’s Caretaker Joe at Camp.
Fornear and Briggs, strawmen!