I have always bragged that Camp Nebagamon is a place where EVERYONE has a voice, where shy campers become leaders as counselors, where normally quiet kids belt out “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” where Dungeons & Dragons aficionados are as valued as daring Big Trippers, where more than 30 languages announce the diversity of voices on the signposts in front of the Big House. It is, after all, a place of “welcome for all.”
Hence, the theme of this issue of The Keylog. You’ll find stories about different kinds of VOICES — from post-meal announcements (the famous YAKDM award) to songs (the creation of “54849”) to an alumnus who has job security as the voice of Porky Pig. But of course, voices are also the integral element in “keeping the fires burning.” And it has become particularly apparent to me in recent months and years that these voices have legs.
One of the true joys of directing Camp Nebagamon is the chance to connect and re-connect with people who were formative in my camp experiences or who were simply formative in fostering the greater Nebagamon experience. Rare is the job where the correspondence and encounters are nearly universally positive. I get to be the recipient of expressions of gratitude and nostalgia, almost on a daily basis.
Recently, this has been clearer than ever — at Nebagamon’s 90th reunion in 2018, for instance, where hundreds of alumni wandered the grounds with goofy smiles on their faces and voiced their love for camp in countless ways. It was also evident when we produced THANKS FOR THE PINES, the beautiful coffee table book about Nebagamon (still available via the website!) that includes a collection of short essays in which alumni and directors voice their passion for the place. And in 2020, when Covid shut camp’s doors for the first time in 90-plus years, countless campers and counselors and parents and alumni voiced their support — again, in myriad ways.
Indeed, if there has been a silver lining to the Covid crisis, it has been in the form of reconnection. Nostalgia quenched by modern technology. For instance, my own cabinmates (LJ-4 of ’82) have sporadically scheduled online gatherings, and it is always a pleasure to see familiar faces and rehash familiar territory. But we are among many such Zoom cabin reunions — and even trip reunions for the participants in Long Trip ’83 and the 1973 version of Camp Scandia, a Nebagamon-sponsored six-week tour of Scandinavia. Of the 19 Scandia trippers, 12 of them managed to participate last August.
Frank Sachs has put together a couple of Zoom collectives. One, which he describes as “for old-timers who started at camp in the late ‘50s and through the early ‘60s,” included the late Larry Cartwright, a mainstay at camp for nearly two decades. The other group is called “The Hits Brothers,” and (while it has since expanded) it started with a group of back-in-the-day bros (Guy Sachs, Terry Bond, Stan Strauss, Rand Shapiro, Bob Chukerman) who obviously found some free time amid their HITS world tour. So there has been a resurgence in the convergence of voices and faces.
But Steph and I also have heard from scores and scores of voices recently — in the wake of our announcement that camp is transitioning to a not-for-profit model guided by a board of directors, an attempt to assure Nebagamon’s viability for another 90-plus years and more. It has been profoundly heartening to receive positive feedback from voices representing every generation of camp alumni.
Just a snippet of some responses from Facebook alone: “That is very cool! I love the idea of keeping camp continuing the same place it’s been for so long!… So happy to know that someday (god willing) my grandchildren will be able to go to Nebagamon… Very exciting! A fantastic plan to keep CN going strong for generations to come… A brilliant move to protect camps legacy… KTFB for real — so happy about this durable future for Camp Nebagamon!”
These voices of support — resonating and reverberating loud and clear — have always sustained Steph and me, just like alumni support plays such an important role in sustaining camp. And, of course, Nebagamon’s sustainability is the whole point of this new paradigm — a means of making sure that camp will remain the same old place where everyone has a voice.
