The Council Fire has been a Camp Nebagamon custom since the earliest days of the institution. For decades and decades, it has begun with “Our camp family has now assembled.” And it has concluded with that camp family singing around a fire fed by keylogs. So sitting around that blazing fire feels a bit like claiming a spot in history. Heck, Herb Hollinger once conducted a Council Fire… about lumberjacks.
But most traditions survive with some welcome tweaks over the years. There are, in fact, some elements of a Sunday Council Fire that have evolved or changed over time. For instance:
THE TOTEM POLE
The totem pole has stood guard over the Council Fire Ring since 1936, as evidenced by the date carved into it. In the summer of 1961, it was repainted—by Lumberjack 4 and counselor Chuck Long. But by 2017, after 81 years, it was rotting considerably. So in the winter of 2017-18, the totem pole was rebuilt entirely by longtime head caretaker Andy Mack, who remained as faithful to the original as possible. Only the date is different.
THE RING
Take a look at the two photos below—from 1939 and 1949. You’ll notice two things in particular. First, the totem pole towers over the saplings that surround the area. That scene has certainly changed. Second, it was—quite literally—a Council Fire Ring. Benches all the way around. By the 1960s, the current seating configurement was in place. But in the early days, watching a Council Fire was a bit like attending a theater-in-the-round. In fact, Sally Stein remembers why: It was a horseback riding ring.
THE ENTRANCE
The act of entering the Council Fire Ring—village by village, completely silent—is a long Nebagamon tradition (the photo below is from 1962). And it’s a special one. But we’ve found a couple of references to other kinds of entrances that were… unexpected. In 1995, staff member Axel Berger made an entrance into the Paul Bunyan Day Council Fire that saw him fly from a tree with the help of an almost-invisible guide wire. And then there is this excerpt from Keeping the Fires Burning by Nardie and Sally Stein: “In early years sometimes a flaming torch or an arrow was fastened to a string reaching from the Upper Diamond to the center of the Council Fire. It slid down the string, lighting the fire, which gave a dramatic, if slightly dangerous, opening to the evening’s program.”
THE KEYLOG BOX
Keylogs to conclude Council Fires have been around forever—organic thank-you notes that become symbols of a community keeping the fires burning. But alumni who haven’t set foot in the Council Fire Ring in four decades might not be familiar with the Keylog Box where campers and staff can pick up one of those logs as they approach the Council Fire Ring.
Specifically, it’s the Matt Cohen Memorial Keylog Box. In Keeping the Fires Burning, the Steins described its creation this way: “Matt Cohen, a camper in 1979 and 1980, was the son of former camper and staff member Mike Cohen and Kathy Byrne. Matt had an incurable heart condition. His parents knew his days were numbered, but wanted to pack what time he had left with joyful experiences. And so he came to camp for two summers. Between his second and what would have been his third summer, Matt died suddenly while playing soccer. The Keylog Box is how camp has memorialized him.”
There are larger memorials. There are more widely-known memorials. But a Keylog represents heartfelt gratitude to people who made a difference in someone’s life. And the Council Fire Ring is a sacred place that keeps memories alive over generations. So there may not be a more appropriate memorial.
So a Council Fire blends decades of tradition with attempts at profundity and performance innovation. Here, several alumni recall memories from their own Council Fires:
Ron Koretz (1984): I co-wrote a Council Fire with Adam Kaplan. Yes, that Adam Kaplan. The theme of our Council Fire was victimization,” he recalled. “This was a meaningful topic for us because it symbolized that we had grown up and no longer accepted that ‘boys will be boys.’ The final scene featured the bully going to a job interview with the CEO of a now large and successful company. The CEO was, you guessed it, the guy who had been bullied as a kid. Suffice it to say the bully did not get the job!”
Michael Weinberg (1971): “My” Council Fire, on July 10, 1971, was really “our” Council Fire, as it was jointly written by several senior counselors, including me. The theme of our collaborative effort was Friendship. We opened with a recording of Carole King singing “You’ve Got a Friend”, after which, to get things going, I read a poem about friendship by A.P. Stanley. Friendship is such an integral part of the camp experience, and so emphasized throughout the season, that we had to work hard to avoid letting our message get hackneyed or cliched (and I hope we succeeded!). Highlights were a story told by Darryl Couts about a friendship between a camper and counselor that lapsed, until they were unexpectedly reunited during a frightening wartime flight; a reading by Ed Lewin of a letter from a son to his deceased dad about the son’s missed opportunities for friendship with his father when he was alive; and Ken Kanter’s recital of how the friendship of a counselor for a boy who was physically weak and introverted, and bullied by other campers, had brought the boy happiness in what was to be his last summer before dying of leukemia. Other participants in the Council Fire included Steve Lewin, Mike Stern, Dave Gibbs, Randy Hearsh and David Lapin. We closed with — what else? — “We Shall Keep The Friends We Found Here.”
Walt Fromm (2017): I wrote a council fire about passionately trying new things. It was really important to me at the time because I was about to depart on a nine-month study abroad program that moved throughout Asia with a group of people that I didn’t know all that well. Jumping into new things is a skill I learned at camp as a boy and is the reason I was able to study abroad in Asia on what would be the most amazing educational experience of my life. My camp experience definitely helped out when I was sharing a room with six people in 90-degree Mumbai and our air conditioner broke for four days.
Irl Scissors (1993): Adam Winick and I wrote a Council Fire about friendship. Camp is full of opportunities to challenge yourself honing skills in everything from tennis to canoeing, but one of its greatest assets is the friendships you make when you are there. Our skits relayed that friendships came in all shapes, sizes, ages and they last beyond camp, onto college, marriage, and eventually new generations.
Louis Levin (2014): In 2014 I was provided the opportunity to present a Council Fire for camp, and I presented on “Go Mode”, or, how to change your mindset to accomplish goals. Being 18 and a bit of a contrarian, I tried to break the mold of scripted Council fires and opted for more of a workshop on mindset change. I had campers pair up and talk to one another about highlights from their summer, and then share back observations of the physical changes in their posture, face, hands, when they discussed successes. It was incredibly fun having 200 campers telling each other stories about their best camp moments all around the Council Fire Ring to access their own Go Mode!
Of course, Council Fires are most inspirational when they affect others. So we asked Joey Laskin to recall a powerful one from his camp years:
The Council Fire that was the most memorable to me was written by Phil Yenawine. The theme was art, which at face value is a unique topic that was out of the box from what you typically see on Sunday evenings. What made it memorable was how he involved so many kids, who mostly were younger and were not your typical Council Fire “actors.” These kids all frequented the art shack, where Phil was a staple, and they were not the most outgoing and extroverted kids at camp. To see them have an opportunity to shine in front of the camp family and show off what they are passionate about… it was so inspiring. Much like art is enhanced by collaboration, this Council Fire was enhanced by a collaborative approach with a diverse and wide ranging set of “actors.”
