Jim Nahlik is a physician in the St. Louis area, specializing primarily in family and emergency medicine. But before he was Dr. James Nahlik, he was Camp Nebagamon’s Brother Nature — from 1977 through 1980. Best we can tell, he was the original Nature Lore counselor to be known as such. After a long absence, Jim revisited Nebagamon as one of the attendees at the 90th Summer Reunion. The Keylog caught up with him for a Q&A:
What was it like returning to camp for the reunion last August?
It was so beautiful to be back. My wife had heard hundreds of stories about the people and the place, and she got to see it in all its perfection. Early in 2018, I had reconnected with Nardie Stein, and I got to take him to lunch along with Steve St Cyr, camp’s business manager from the 70’s. Then I was fortunate to get the Steins’ book and show my wife some highlights. It even allowed me to reconnect with two older doctors who had mentored me early in my career. Pat Harr and Mike Cooperstock are mentioned in the Steins’ book, and I had forgotten that they were connected to camp. I also reminisced about the one summer when I got to be camp doctor at Nebagamon—in 1986. My oldest sons were very young for that visit, but they even have some memories of the place.
It was especially fun to hear Adam tell me he was a Swamper who spent many days in the nature shack when I was there. I begged him to send a photo of him in those days, and when he did I immediately remembered the guy! At the reunion, I was amazed at the directors’ leadership, and Adam’s statement that he was a steward charged with maintaining what we all love about the camp. I found it little changed from my days.
You were an Eagle Scout back in the day. Is that what sparked your interest in the natural world?
Yes, I started in scouts when I was about eleven, and four years later I became and Eagle Scout. I publicly thank scouting for much of my life successes! I grew up in Ferguson, MO, and was guided by my older brothers in scouts, as well as great adult leaders. As an Eagle Scout, I was encouraged to work summers at the boy scout camp in St. Louis. I did that for five summers and was inspired, too, by other staffers from all over. I learned they were going to college, and I even got to visit some with the camp doctors there. I decided I loved the summer camp experience and that there were three main ways to keep coming back. I could become a full-time scouter, or a teacher, or a doctor! I set on the latter path in college, and it was not easy. Pre-med at that time was sometimes cut throat, but I did just enough to be able to apply to med schools. Nature is applicable to every area of medicine. I got to study biology and anatomy in great detail, and it is now clear to me that the same master plan that happens with trees, rivers and lakes, happens in some ways to our bodies. One simple example is in my family practice: had a Ziploc bag to hold three leaflets of poison Ivy—thus to teach patients how to avoid the stuff.
Since you didn’t have the opportunity to attend Nebagamon as a child, what was your introduction to the camp experience?
Before my time at Nebagamon, I worked for five years at Camp S-F Scout Ranch in Farmington, Missouri. Eventually, I served as the business manager of the camp, but I really wanted to get outdoors more often. So in my last two summers, I was promoted to the Nature Director position. In fact, that’s where I was first known as Brother Nature. Funny story there… some smart-aleck 13-year-old wanted to make fun of my enthusiasm for nature. He said, “What are you? Mother nature’s son—or BROTHER NATURE?” My ears perked up, and I grasped the moniker! When I got to Nebagamon, I knew I needed a spark to encourage the kids, so I used the name. I think many former campers do not remember my name, but I am proud that other nature guys also were called Brother Nature. Another story is that with the Boy Scout program, the campers each did a one-week program. So at Nebagamon in 1977, I had a great first week of camp with some creative programs that I had done before. The program director came to complement my success, and I thought, Uh oh, one week of stuff is all I’ve got! But I did come up with some other ideas, like the ability to gain ranks in nature. Also the great Stan Strauss had brought his pet rats each summer, so we did many evening programs with them running the rat mazes on the table in the nature shack.
What brought you to Nebagamon?
Besides a ’67 Chevy? The director of Camp S-F knew Nardie Stein from the American Camping Association. He was looking for a Nature Lore counselor, and I really wanted to see another part of the country. Paul Brockland from St. Louis Boy Scouts recommended me to Nardie. I interviewed in Clayton and was thrilled with the contract. I still have lunch with Mr. Brockland sometimes in St louis, and his sons also worked at the S-F Scout Ranch. My sons worked many summers there, too, and their pay rate was much better than when I worked there—thanks to Camp Nebagamon’s Dubinsky family! You see, the finance guy for scouts was finding it hard to get good young people to work as counselors. One day, he was having his car washed at the Waterway owned by Bob Dubinsky, and he learned what those car washers were getting paid, so he increased his pay rate for counselors. I’m very fond of what Nebagamon’s leaders do with the scholarship funds and was glad to contribute to the cause there, too.
What kind of higher education regarding nature did you bring to the job?
In college (at the University of Missouri- Kansas City), I studied ecology and biology. In fact, I recall receiving nine college credits for submitting a post-summer report to professors in both ecology and psychology, which are obviously both paramount when you’re a counselor in Nature Lore. By doing the extra documentation to get credit for my senior year in college, it helped me be organized with objectives for the campers. The concepts that I tried to teach the youngsters were well thought out, then documented for my coursework. Those nne hours of Grade A were added to a regular semester of work in the fall semester—so I still have the report card showing 24 credit hours of straight A’s. That GPA boost allowed me to gain acceptance to medical school.
I also trained at the National Camping School in 1975 for Boy Scouts. That was a memorable week near Bloomington, Indiana, and my first experience at a convention. The leaders gave us many ideas to give campers a fun experience and some intrigue. It was there that they had a wooden contraption with the word MONGOOSE on it. I made one to use in my two summers at the Boy Scout camp. Then, at Nebagamon, I made a better one, and it worked well to excite—and gently startle—many campers. Since we also had live rats, mice, and a raccoon, the possibility of a real mongoose was believable.
For a time, you served as president of the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians. Is there anything that you learned as a Nature Lore counselor or simply as a Nebagamon alumnus that has proved valuable in your medical career?
My medical career is a joy that I am so thankful for. Nardie and Sally Stein helped me know that I was a good teacher for the campers. When I did not get accepted in med school the first time, Nardie encouraged me to get a degree in education. I persisted on my path, but learned that “doctor” is derived from the Latin “docent.” So I teach my patients many facts about improving their health. In my early career, I taught many young men and women at Saint Louis University Medical school. I also taught many resident physicians in family practice. Dr. Pat Harr had been an officer of the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians, and he helped me become a student member of his board of directors. He later was the national president of the organization, while I did the leadership for Missouri’s family doctors. Another mentor was Dr. Bernard Garfinkel, who was Nebagamon camp doctor many times, and I recall hearing stories about his other love while acting as team physician for the NFL’s St Louis Cardinals. In the middle of my career, I was Chief of Family Medicine at Missouri Baptist in St. Louis. I ran grand rounds education there, and after Bernie retired, he attended many of these sessions and served on my committee to plan the programs.
For many camp alumni, the Nebagamon experience translates into lifelong hobbies, whether that means tennis or tripping. Did it have the same effect on you?
My lifelong hobbies do include traveling, camping, Boy Scouts, gardening and racquetball. On days off during camp summers, we played racquetball at Telemark Resort east of camp. I still play, and after teaching one son, he played on a high school national champion team, and for four years in college at Arizona State. Tennis was always fun at camp, and I did play for many years. One summer, I was fortunate to travel to Denmark and visited with the Orienteering counselors whom I met at camp. Jorn Lund Pederson and Jan Rahbek were very cordial hosts. We even went to the original Legoland together. In the Steins’ book, Nardie wrote about his experience in Boy Scouts. He mentions the national scout adventure camp in New Mexico called Philmont. I was able to do a two-week trek there with one son when I was over 50. To hike that 100 miles with a 60-pound pack was a fun challenge. I also got to take two sons on a trek to the BWCA. That allowed me to know what all the fuss was for the older campers Big Trips.
When my wife and I came up for the reunion, I was thrilled to take her up to Gooseberry Falls. It was little changed from the days when I took day trippers there. We also got to go to Bayfield after the reunion, and went out on a boat to one of the islands in Lake Superior. When we told friends that we were planning that trip to Duluth, and Superior, they said to try and eat at Duluth Grill. We did not get to that place before the reunion, but loved it when Adam and Stephanie had them cater the fine dining under the big top at the 90th reunion.
