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 90th 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!