Camp Nebagamon

Updates

The Real Team Players

By Adam Kaplan

I am a sports fan. I appreciate that the rhythm of the sports seasons gives me great sports options during the times of year that I am most free. Most sports fans would tell you that the summer is sort of the doldrums in the sporting world with little going on besides the dog days of the baseball season, and the midseason of the extraordinarily long PGA tour. Luckily, I have a fairly full plate during the summers and do not have to suffer through this sporting downtime.

What I love about sports is that it is an arena in which we can see true drama play out in a very real way with very benign consequences. Through sports, we get a chance to watch how someone deals with adversity. We get to see how people handle gigantic triumphs, and how they manage colossal disappointments and abject failures. Yet, the result of the games is not life or death….they just win or lose. It is great fun to watch and very instructive about people.

Through watching sports, we not only get a chance to watch athletes deal with these situations, but we also come to feel like we know the players that we watch, and so we cheer for or against them. Through watching them succeed and fail, as well as through “up close and personal” interviews from the media, we truly come to believe that we know and understand these folks. We know what makes them tick….

This is, of course, nonsense. The truth is, most of us sports fans don’t know the athletes at all. Some of the most revered and respected athletes are not remotely who we have been meant to believe they are. The most stark example of this in the last decade is probably Lance Armstrong. Here was an absolutely incredible athlete who had overcome great hurdles to emerge as the top athlete his sport had ever seen…the GOAT. And the image that had been presented to us, his fans, was that in a sport rampant with cheaters, Armstrong was a guy who had succeeded cleanly. He had beaten all of the cheaters. As the world eventually learned, he had been cheating all along, and bullying his competitors in the process. Similarly, not too many years ago, Tiger Woods was at the top of the sports world. With a squeaky clean image, and unbelievable talent, Tiger had positioned himself as an ideal role model. We all felt like we knew and understood Tiger which only deepened our respect for him. In reality, Tiger was not the person that was fed to us by his handlers, and his carefully cultivated image was just that. He was a flawed man battling addiction and making poor choices. There are so many of these disappointments…Michael Vick, Michael Jordan, Ray Lewis, Marion Jones, Kyrie Irving….sadly, the list goes on and on.

This problem is not isolated to the sports world. We see it in virtually all forms of celebrity. Whether it be the once revered OJ Simpson, or the once admired Tom Cruise, or the previously idolized Mel Gibson, or the unassailable Ellen Degeneres, they all turned out not to be quite the people that we had believed they were. The status of CELEBRITY creates, with so much of the public, a false sense that we actually know these people. We do not know them, and we spend WAY too much time trying to know them.

I want to be clear here. While there is a certain amount of culpability that is appropriately leveled at these famous folks for carefully cultivating and presenting a false image to all of us, (and certainly, the criminals among them are deserving of scorn) the truth is, that they are all just human beings. They are flawed and unable to rise to the level of perfection that we want them to. That’s the challenge of being human.

But, what we should never forget is that none of these folks really matter in our own personal worlds. Yes, they can entertain us, yes they are incredible at their chosen professions, but they are ultimately irrelevant in our lives. What really matters is the people in our lives, the people that we interact with on a personal level. What really matters is the people that share their strengths, weaknesses, nuances, and complexities with us; these are the folks that we should really be focused on.

There is no better place to discover these people, and to connect with them, than in our camp setting. (I know…you saw this segue coming for several paragraphs now!) It is in cabins and projects, at meals and evening activities, when we are interacting with real people and working through real challenges, that we find the folks that we truly want to admire.

I have been associated with Camp Nebagamon for a very long time now, thirty-six years to be exact. Without a doubt, the most incredible and truly admirable people I have ever met have been people that I know from my association with Nebagamon. And the reality is that none are perfect and all of them work through their own struggles. But what makes them truly admirable is that they continuously work on doing their best to be as good as they can be. I remain forever grateful that I get the opportunity to connect with the real people I admire on a regular basis through camp.

When It Rains…

By Adam Kaplan

This week, no doubt, you have read about lots of cancellations: grand New Year’s Eve events, thousands of airline flights, even small family reunions. Yet again, Covid has thrown another curveball at all of us and we have had to adjust.

All of these cancellations and requisite refiguring of things got me thinking about rainy days at camp. While there are very few of us that hope for a rainy day at camp, the truth is, when a rainy day comes to camp, sometimes really wonderful things happen and are created.

In fact, I suspect that many of the boys’ most memorable days and experiences at camp have come on rainy days or in other situations when “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men. Gang aft a-gley.” (Just thought I would throw some Robert Burns into this month’s article to remind my high school English teachers, all of whom doubted whether I could write a lick, that maybe there was something going on in my head despite their doubts and lack of encouragement! Take that 1980s teachers!)

It is because of this, that despite what I said above, I actually really do look forward to the occasional rainy day at camp. It is on those rainy days that the best sleeping bag forts are constructed in cabins. It is on those rainy days that the most silly and entertaining card games are invented inside of cabins. It is on those rainy days when groups engage in farther reaching and more in-depth conversations than they normally would.

Those rainy days also force us camp administrative folks to be creative as well. One of the things that I brag most often about (besides my having turned into a decent writer without the support of my high school English teachers….yeah, maybe I’m still a bit bitter) is the fact that I cannot remember the last rainy day at camp that we decided to punt, and show a movie to the kids. I can remember many meetings on the Big House porch, as the skies opened up, in which we entertained briefly the idea of just showing a movie, and then all looking at each other and expecting more. And then moving forward with the goal of creating something fun and memorable for everyone. From these gatherings, great ideas have been borne, like all camp “minute to win it” games, a yet to be unveiled horse racing game (The weather improved that evening so the children have not yet experienced the introduction to gambling that we have planned for them!), all camp trivia games, and so many other wonderful games and events that are outside of what we normally do.

And none of these things would have ever come to pass if things went as they were supposed to. If every day had been sunny and beautiful, these amazing and truly special times would not have come to pass.

So…nothing earth shattering this month dear readers. (Yes…I know I am just talking to a single camper from Los Angeles, a committed mom in Detroit, and my dad.) I just wanted to remind us all (because I need that reminder too), that while the fatigue and disappointment that Covid-19 continues to throw at us feels overwhelming at times, it also presents us with chances to do special things and create truly indelible memories for ourselves and our families. Rainy days create opportunity.

Still…looking forward to mostly sunny days up ahead and in the summers to come.

Happy new year!

A December Fishing Tip

By Adam Kaplan

Anyone that has been around me for the past twelve months knows that I have a serious Ted Lasso fixation. The show, which was born of a television commercial has become my most referred to and quoted piece of media. I quote Ted Lasso in times of stress and in times of joy. The first season of that show spoke to me in so many ways. The interactions of the characters have inspired me to be more caring, more understanding, more forgiving, and more accepting of those around me in a way that, truly, no other television show ever has.

Having said that, I have been outraged that the show poached one of my go-to talks for the bi-summer All Staff Meeting towards the end of each session: The Goldfish Talk. In an episode of the show, Ted (the coach of a professional soccer team) is trying to console and uplift a player that made a mistake in a game and is beating himself up over it. He tells the player, “You know what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? It’s got a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish.” His message to this player is to put the mistake behind him and focus on what he can do moving forward. This is a charming idea…and was ruthlessly stolen from the Camp Nebagamon All Staff Meetings with no credit whatsoever being tossed towards the brilliant camp director that has been using it to help his staff for years. (Ok…maybe I borrowed it from someplace else too…but my memory is conveniently fuzzy on this point.) During our meeting, I tell the counselors that despite the fact that we are rapidly approaching the end of the session and they may have not yet been able to make a difference in every camper’s life, there is still time. Because children are like goldfish. So even though the counselor may have missed the opportunity to connect with his camper thus far, the camper will not remember that failing if you make the end special. That is what they will remember…

As we hit December 1st of what has been a challenging couple of years for all of us, it is natural to look back on what the year has been like. I’d like to ascend to my bully pulpit (yeah, no idea what I did to assume the right to preach to so many!) to remind all of us that, in fact, we are all goldfish. There is still time to make 2021 feel like it was a terrific year and to send all of our loved ones into 2022 feeling good about themselves and our relationships with them.

And, lucky for us, December is chock-full of opportunities to connect and forge or reinforce special relationships with those around us. Whether it be the giving holidays, or New Year’s revelry, or the fact that so many of us are gifted with so much extended family time during December, we are presented with many chances to make the final stretch of the year meaningful. All of us goldfish have the opportunity to wave goodbye to 2021 fondly and feeling good about things.

As with anything though, this will take some effort. It won’t just happen. So let’s all commit to making that happen with these last 31 days. Instead of viewing gifting as a chore, how about we all really spend some time to figure out what would be meaningful to those we will be giving gifts. Think about what moves them, or inspires them, or brings them joy and make your gifts elicit these feelings. (And let’s not forget that gifts do not have to be material.) Use your extended family time wisely. Plan some fun, memorable, and even moving time together. (And don’t worry…despite the metaphor I am working into this article, the memories will last more than ten seconds.) And when New Year’s Eve rolls along, try planning something special for whomever you will be celebrating with. But, more importantly, take a few minutes that day or evening to connect with those that are important to you to let them know how much they mean to you and how much you appreciate them, particularly those with whom your connection has suffered some damage due to inattention or conflict. The words you share will stick with them, and even if you cannot completely repair the relationship, the fact that you are making the effort will make a difference to them and to you.

Embrace the goldfish in everyone. Let’s send 2021 off in a way that will make us recognize that despite whatever challenges the world throws at us, life is a special gift, made more special by the people around us and our connections with them. In fact, in true goldfish fashion, I have already forgotten about the intellectual property lawsuit I intended to bring against the Ted Lasso folks for stealing my goldfish speech, and am only grateful to them for inspiring me to touch all of the other goldfish in my life this month.

(I apologize for the preachy nature of the article this month. To be completely honest, it is really just a cathartic message to myself and a way to hold myself accountable for making sure that I put in the effort this month to make it meaningful for myself…and hopefully those in my sphere.)

Learning to Climb the Stairs

By Adam Kaplan

The other night I was watching an episode of House Hunters on HGTV. For those of you that have never seen this profoundly important and powerful show which has thus far been cruelly denied a single mention at the Emmy Awards by clearly jealous Hollywood insiders, House Hunters is a reality type show in which the viewers follow someone in search of a new home as they explore the various options that meet their financial, aesthetic, and practical requirements. In the end, the brilliant realtors ALWAYS save the day and come up with the perfect place, leaving the house hunters and viewers alike overcome with emotion and sobbing tears of joy at the prospect of a new home, a new beginning, a new life…..sniff, sniff….sorry….it just gets me….you know? (Please, readers, can we just gloss over the fact that I happen to have a bit of an HGTV problem? Please don’t let this taint your image of me. Please don’t picture me watching decorating shows in my pajamas and house slippers. Instead, just go with the idea of the rugged camp director watching Deadliest Catch while skinning the Idaho mountain lion that he just killed with his Swiss Army Knife.)

Interestingly, the couple in this particular episode happened to be house hunting in Boise, Idaho. Midwesterners, they had decided that a move out West made sense for their family, to allow them a slower paced lifestyle and access to some of the outdoor activities that the West has to offer. Clearly they are geographically very discerning and brilliant folks. The house hunters were a young couple with a baby, Hannah, only several months old. As brand-new parents, they were, unsurprisingly, laser-focused on their new baby. In every interview, Hannah was present. In every interview, Hannah was attended to. In every interview, Hannah was discussed. While each of the parents clearly had some of their own personal desires for features that their new home should have, there can be little doubt that ALL of the primary criteria for the new house were centered around Hannah. This was to be, above all else, her home. The playroom had to be in just the right place, the nursery had to be in the right spot with the right orientation towards the sun, the kitchen had to be configured so that highchairs could be moved easily and the baby could always have access to whomever was cooking. Hannah’s house. It was all very sweet and charming (and stomach churning, and guilt inducing for us parents of multiple children!!!!). It was sweet and charming up to a point. Right up to the point at which the couple said that one of their primary requirements for the home was that it be a one level home with no stairs. Given the fact that Hannah had not learned to climb and descend stairs yet, the parents had decided that it was very important that these dangerous instruments of death, household stairs, be completely removed from Hannah’s life. They asked not to be shown any houses with any stairs…..for Hannah’s sake.

This was the moment when sweet and charming became concerning, and emblematic of a current trend to which many of us modern parents have fallen victim. The problem is, of course, that we have so much information, and we love our children so much, that we want to protect them from every possible danger in the world (real or perceived). Now, of course, on the surface, this is not a problem. Of course we should protect those that we love from danger. But, what we sometimes lose sight of is the fact that in our efforts to protect them from these dangers, we also inhibit their growth. Sure, the best way to ensure that Hannah never falls down the stairs is to create a world in which there are no stairs to fall down. But, the reality is, that world doesn’t exist. There ARE stairs in the world, and Hannah is going to have to learn to climb them eventually, and the only way to learn that skill is for her to practice ON STAIRS. It is just completely unrealistic to remove the stairs from her life. Life has stairs.

We modern parents attempt to protect our kids from these metaphorical stairs often. Sometimes it is concrete things like stairs, or cutting their own meat at the table, or boiling a pot of water. Each of these activities are skills that our children will need to eventually learn, yet, with best intentions, we modern parents often delay this learning in an effort to keep them safe.

Sometimes these stairs are interpersonal things like difficulties at school or when playing a sport. When our child is having trouble with a class, or a teacher, or a child in class, or not getting what we perceive to be fair treatment on a team, sometimes, with best intentions, we modern parents intervene with the teacher, or the coach, or the school, or the other child, or the other child’s parents. (Indeed, my children’s coaches sometimes ran for cover when they saw me coming, or they mysteriously had bad cell reception when they noticed my name on their caller ID.) There can be little doubt, that at some point, our kids will need to learn to advocate for themselves, yet sometimes we delay the development of these skills because we don’t let them practice the skills.

Sometimes these stairs are maturational things like getting a job or going to college. When a teenager is going after that first job, or having trouble at that first job, or applying to college, or having trouble with a roommate at college, with best intentions, we modern parents intervene. College recruiters increasingly tell stories about their primary point of contact in the admission of a graduating high school senior being the student’s parent and not the young adult seeking acceptance into the institution of higher learning. Dorm advisors tell stories about how when there is a dispute between two roommates, it seems to be the norm to hear from the parents of one or both of the roommates. Employers often tell tales about job applications being requested by, and even filled out, by parents. We all know that going to college, living at college, and getting that first job are huge developmental milestones in a young adult’s life, yet, with best intentions, we modern parents too often jump in and interfere with our children’s milestones. We rob them of the learning and corresponding maturation that comes with their choices.

AND NOW FOR THE PART YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR:

This is why a camp experience is so important for our children today. Whether campers or counselors, the young people at camp are given a level of responsibility that, with best intentions, we modern parents often deny them. At home, we never hand a sharp knife to our 9 year old and ask them to whittle a spoon. At home, we never offer a handful of strike-anywhere-matches to our 10 year olds and ask them to build and light a fire. At home, if we happened to take our family canoeing (a rare thing for sure!) most of us would insist that the kids ride in the duff, while we parents ensured everyone’s safety by paddling….And, intentionally flipping the canoe??!? Never…..not a chance…..too dangerous…..never on our watch….no modern parent in their right mind would ever! At camp, our children learn all of these skills. They learn the knife, fire, and canoe skills that, with best intentions, we modern parents would be unlikely to allow them to learn on our watch.

Likewise, at camp, all of those interpersonal situations, in which we have a tendency to step in, are instead opportunities for kids to practice how to figure them out on their own. Campers learn how to talk to other kids when they are having problems with them. Campers learn to speak up when they think things are unfair in a game, or at a project. Campers learn to advocate for themselves in ways that, with best intentions, we modern parents often do not allow to happen. (And, yes, they have the help, when needed, of counselors. But, these young, caring counselors, truth be told, have two advantages over us parents. First, they are less likely to be as “helicopter-y” as we parents are, naturally giving campers more leeway to practice skills. Second, the guidance coming from these young adults is heard in a completely different way by our kids than if the same message had come from us. Imagine how much different it is to be given advice from that super amazingly cool guy that is your counselor, versus…..well…..your naggy parents….again…..and again….and again!)

Finally, the staff, the young adults that are applying for college admissions and had to apply to camp for their very first jobs, are being given a level of responsibility that simply cannot be duplicated at home. Our young adult staff (with the coaching of our adult administrators) are given the opportunity to not only solve their own problems, but also the opportunity to help children learn to develop these skills for themselves. Remember, these staff members are the same young adults that allow we modern parents, with best intentions, to intervene at school about their grades, to assume control of their college admissions process, and to take over procurement and execution of their first jobs.

Summer camp is the place in which the best intentions of we modern parents sometimes get trumped by what is actually best for our young people.

At the end of the episode of House Hunters, the sagacious realtor (clearly setting himself up for a second career as a camp director) wound up showing the young couple a house that met all of their criteria….except one. The house was cursed with a deathtrap…stairs. After much hand wringing and stressing out, the young couple decided to expose Hannah to the perils of a home with steps, and they moved in. Typically, at the end of House Hunters, the camera crew is sent to visit the family a few months after they have been living in their new home. This episode was no different. The returning camera crew showed the family enjoying their new home and even included a shot of Hannah climbing up the stairs under the watchful eye of her mother. In the closing scene, the young mother said that she was glad that they had chosen this home, even though it had stairs, because she had not realized it at the time, but Hannah was ready to learn how to climb stairs….she just needed the opportunity.

Adam Hits The Road Again

By Adam Kaplan

Last off-season, because of the challenges that the COVID world was throwing our way, I decided that rather than do an entire recruiting season on ZOOM calls, I would buy an RV and do a lap around the country to meet with prospective families.

It was to be an entirely new experience for me as I had never really spent a significant amount of time alone, or in an RV. I was really nervous. In fact, in the Arrowhead article in which I informed you all of my plan last summer, I enumerated some of the concerns I had about the trip. After having completed that trip, I had answers to all of them. Check them out:

  • What will living in this small box for 47 days feel like?
    • It was amazing. As someone that likes routines (just think about my summer wardrobe, my retelling of the same jokes, and the fact that I own about a dozen pair of Haflinger clogs…the only shoes I wear), life in an RV demands routine and discipline. I loved the process of setting things up upon arrival and taking them down prior to departure. And living in that small space taught me that I really don’t need much space at all and can be quite content in a tiny space with only myself to entertain me. In fact, I still think I am a riot!
  • What will the RV parks be like?
    • Often, prospective families will ask me about the weather at camp during the summer. My response is always “VARIABLE.” This is the same response that I would give to the question about what RV parks are like. Some are gorgeous with meticulous landscaping and welcoming common areas. Some are in beautiful settings with privacy created by lots of nice trees. And some are really just large asphalt plots with painted lines delineating different RV sites. But all were filled with friendly people who seemed committed to adventure and connecting with others.
  • How will I eat?
    • Badly…really, really badly.
  • Is Hot Pocket subsistence possible for a 53-year-old man?
    • It turns out that there is a certain point at which the body no longer will tolerate the Hot Pocket. The digestive system simply rejects it. And, for the record, an RV is NO PLACE TO BE when the body is in the process of such a rejection…enough said… (or maybe too much said!)
  • Will I suffer incalculable injury when my never-before-used Instant Pot explodes in a moment of incompetence?
    • If anyone is in the market for a brand new and totally unused Instant Pot, please contact me. The fear won out on this one!
  • Will I ever be able to dump the black water tanks of the RV without fear of taking a bath in my own…well…you know?
    • This went pretty well. Yes, I was scared each time, but with the exception of a disaster in Rock Springs, Wyoming (thank goodness for my neurotic obsession with always wearing Wellington boots when I dumped the tanks!), everything went pretty smoothly!

My road trip last year was truly incredible. I knocked off my 50th state (it was Vermont). I met a ton of great new families. I got a chance to travel the country at a truly unique and fascinating moment. COVID was raging and, I was on the road during October and November of last year’s presidential election, getting a chance to see the entire country as it was all happening. (I spent election night in Tombstone, Arizona…interpret that however you like!)

The trip was a once in a lifetime experience…or so I thought.

Well, I have spent the last month or so trying to figure out what to do about my off-season camp travel this year. With COVID still holding us in its nasty grasp, I knew I had to be thoughtful. I considered doing everything by ZOOM calls. I considered travelling as I used to before COVID (lots of airplanes, hotels, restaurants, and large group gatherings). I considered just visiting a couple of cities where we historically have significant numbers of campers. But ultimately, none of these approaches felt right to me. Too impersonal, or too risky, or too narrow. There had to be a better way…

And then it dawned on me. ANOTHER RV!!!! (Yes, foolishly and naively I sold my beloved Winnebago View days after I got home from the last trip). Yep…that’s right! The Camp Nebagamon Roadshow is back on!!! I will be hitting the road in my new (used) Thor Chateau (Chateau has a nice ring to it…that is if you consider 100 square feet of living space to be Chateau-y) on October 12 and doing yet another full loop of the country to meet with new families.

I am incredibly excited to see the country again and meet all sorts of new folks that are interested in camp. I will likely be headed to your town relatively soon – you can find more details here.

What I ask of you is that you please give some thought to families that might be interested in Camp Nebagamon. Referrals from current families and alumni are always our best source of new campers. Either send me their names or have them contact me to set up a meeting. I promise not to wear my Wellingtons!

Returning To Camp

By Adam Kaplan

Josie (my daughter) and I finished our drive from Boise to Nebagamon yesterday afternoon. After two very long days it felt great to finally get here. This was a bit of an unusual year in terms of my arrival at camp for the summer. I had arrived here on May 11th for the first time, and spent two weeks with just the other full time staff…but I had to head back home last week for my son, Ben’s, high school graduation. Consequently, when Josie and I arrived yesterday, camp had already seen the arrival of the entire pre-camp crew, and its population had swollen to over 30. I was a bit nervous about it as I am usually the one to greet folks upon arrival, and I like the rhythm of gradually adding a few people to the group every day for a few days. This time, I would be the one walking in to an already established group. Very unusual for me.

But here is the thing; it didn’t feel unusual at all. I was absolutely amazed at how normal it felt here. When we arrived, people were out and about working and engaged in all of the normal tasks that have been undertaken for 92 pre-camps since 1929.

It was perhaps the most comforting moment I have had in the past 16 months. Normalcy…

I don’t even have words to describe how incredible it felt…and feels.

Camp is upon us. It will be perhaps the most important summer here ever as our entire camp community needs camp so badly. We all need a return to normal.

So…I have nothing particularly profound to share with you today…I am just grateful.

I am grateful for our full-time staff. For Louis Levin, Adam Fornear, Joe Briggs, Andy Mack, and Joe Crain. They have undertaken herculean efforts to bring us to this day. They have planned, re-planned, re-re-planned, built, re-built, re-re-built. All with the goal of getting us all back together up here. They have been amazing.

I am grateful for all the staff that have signed on to work at camp this summer. They signed on knowing that there would be some new and challenging aspects to this summer. But they signed on knowing that whatever differences may exist, just being up here would be the panacea for all of the turbulence they have endured. They signed on to work in hope of normalcy, and with the desire to gift normalcy to our campers.

I am grateful to our parents. In a time as tempestuous, and, frankly, frightening as what we have all been through, to still have it in them to trust us with their favorite things in the world is among the most humbling things that I have ever experienced. But, if I am being honest, I am always incredibly humbled by parents’ trust…every year. It’s a normal feeling…

Finally, I am grateful to those kids. Those amazing kids that are headed up here in just under three weeks to spend four or eight weeks running, laughing, playing, singing, struggling, achieving, triumphing, failing and having just plain unabashed fun. All of the facets of a normal childhood…

Now, of course, I know that some things here will not be the same as they have always been (i.e. added COVID safety protocols). There will certainly be some differences. But after my arrival here yesterday, and the feeling of normalcy that instantly calmed and sated me despite some new protocols, I have all the confidence in the world that the summer of 2021 is going to be an incredible one because, this summer, normal feels incredible!

A Long Awaited Spring

By Adam Kaplan

There can be little doubt about it…spring has sprung. The signs are unmistakable. Whether it be the 70-degree day followed up immediately with a 40-degree day, or the rain followed up by the snow, followed up by more rain, followed up by a frustratingly short peek at the sun, followed up by hailstorms. Yep…spring is here. I have always maintained that spring should be renamed MUD. IT’S ALWAYS MUDDY!! I don’t get it…what is so great about spring?!?!

Oops…sorry for that opening paragraph, it has been raining here for days and it’s getting to me! Let’s start again:

There can be little doubt about it…spring has sprung. The signs are unmistakable. The trees are growing their green summer foliage, flowers are blooming, temperatures are on the rise, hibernating animals are emerging from their slumbers and re-entering the world with the zeal that comes from enduring a long and hard winter. Everything is headed in the right direction.

Yeah…that paragraph feels a lot better. Thanks for bearing with me…I feel better now.

During spring’s preceding season of winter, the world goes dormant. Trees shed their leaves so that they can focus on maintaining their cores while the climate becomes challenging. Fish retreat to the bottom of the lakes they call home in order to avoid the ice. They slow their hearts and metabolisms so that they can survive the difficult conditions. Many animals retreat to caves and dens to hibernate and sleep through the winter so that they can survive the hostile conditions that Mother Nature has inflicted upon them. In nature, winter is a time of seeking shelter, shutting down, and just trying to get through it. Winter is tough.

But that all changes when the spring arrives. Spring is a time of rejuvenation. When spring comes, the whole world seems like it is getting a fresh start.

Never has this been more clear and more poignant to me as it has this spring…as I think about camp.

We have just finished the longest winter in Camp Nebagamon’s history. For the first time in 92 years, camp remained dormant, captive to winter, for more than a year and a half. All was in hibernation at Nebagamon. No tennis, no sailing, no canoeing, no swimming…no kids. Winter was tough and long.

But spring has most definitely sprung at camp. This week, our caretakers have been clearing camp of all of the limbs and trees that winter knocked down. They have been blowing the leaves off the grounds to clear our paths (can you imagine what a job that is…leaf blowing all of camp?!? THANKS JOE, ANDY, AND CODY!) In just one week, more of our full-time staff (Briggs, Fornear, Louis and I) will be heading to Nebagamon to start all of the at-camp work that we need to do to get ready for the summer. A few weeks later, our Pre-Camp crew will arrive and begin the laborious (and seriously cold!) work of putting in all of camp’s docks, cleaning all of camp, and setting the table for more to arrive. And arrive they will. The next group will be our staff, the large group of men and women who have committed themselves to bringing Camp Nebagamon back. The collective team will be working every single day to make sure that camp is rejuvenated.

But, if you really think about it, it is not just the grounds that are experiencing spring this year. We all are. The world has been going through its longest winter in a century. As the animal kingdom does every winter, most of humanity has retreated to make it through this winter. Like trees, we too had to shed for the winter, but instead of leaves, we shed our interpersonal interactions to maintain our cores as the climate became challenging. Like fish, we were forced to slow our worlds down to survive the difficult conditions. (And yeah…some of our metabolisms slowed too…that’s why your pants don’t fit anymore!)  And we too went into hibernation, confined to our own caves and dens to survive the hostile conditions inflicted upon us.

For our children, this has been a particularly difficult and long winter. This extended winter has denied our kids of interpersonal interaction, and connection, and playtime, and other kids that they so desperately need. They have had to miss out on so many experiences critical to their well-being.

But so much of that is changing. Our long winter does seem to be abating and giving way to a springtime for all of us…like none before. While the winter still has a firm grip on so many in the world (and we cannot forget them even as our spring is upon us) there can be little doubt that many of us are starting to see our own personal leaves budding, flowers blooming, temperatures rising, and that sanguine feeling is back again. Rejuvenation…it feels just on the horizon.

And come June 21st, our campers will experience that rejuvenation like they never have before! (And, no, it is not lost on me that for the first time in memory, our summer at Nebagamon will begin on the very first day of summer rather than in the waning days of spring as per normal. Kinda ruins my metaphor here, but I wasn’t going to change our start date just to make my article work better this month!) They will arrive at camp and begin to nourish themselves with all of the things that winter has denied them. Much like all of those animals who have just woken from their hibernation, I expect these kids will have an unmeasurable fervor about this emergence and will hit the ground running in a way that we have likely never seen at camp before. (I am both thrilled and terrified about this!!!) They will get to cast off their screens in favor of skits. They will eschew X-Box to play box hockey. They will get a chance to live a life less governed by social distance and more governed by social connection. Our campers will be rejuvenated.

Spring has indeed sprung for Camp Nebagamon.

It’s worth the mud…

A Rec Hall Revolution

By Adam Kaplan

If you have been paying attention at all these days, you are aware of the fact that people are becoming more and more aware of what they are eating, where that food is sourced from, and the health implications of all of it.

One need only look at the fast-food restaurants around the country to know that there is a change happening. The Panera company has pledged that by 2022 all artificial products will be absent from their stores. Chipotle prides itself on using sustainably raised ingredients. Subway made the choice to remove that weird “yoga mat” material from their breads. Taco Bell has made the “pink slime” meat additive a thing of the past. Burger King now makes healthier french fries (sure they still have the old fries and they are cheaper than the healthy ones…but it’s a start!) and their Impossible Burger has been hugely successful. McDonalds has recently announced that they will be eliminating the use of chicken raised with antibiotics. And KFC…well…never mind that one. The KFC Glazed Donut Chicken sandwich, consisting of a deep-fried chicken filet sandwiched between two glazed donuts, is still alive and well. (If you have never tried one of these Glazed Donut Chicken sandwiches, my son Ben and I can share a story about the time we decided to go for it on a drive between Salt Lake City and Laughlin, Nevada. The moral of the story is that these should not be eaten just before a long car ride. And if you want to know which rest stops are the nicest, on the road between Salt Lake City and Laughlin, we can tell you…we know every one of them!)

Scientific research makes it clear that the food choices we make affect everything, including our mood, our motivation, and our overall health. The scientific community has spoken loudly and clearly about the dangers and benefits of our food choices. Of course, the latest food villain changes periodically. For years we were told that if we had any hope of staying healthy we needed to avoid salt in our diets. After that, red meat was found to be the health boogeyman. Soon after that, scientific unanimity was achieved on the topic of the need to eliminate fat from our foods. Then carbs, then glutens, and now all sugars…

With all of this in mind, we will be instituting some changes for this coming summer. We are well aware of the fickle and ever-changing nature of the foods that scientists admonish us to avoid at all costs. It is likely that by next year, sugar, which is currently the MUST ELIMINATE food, will be replaced by dairy, or rice, or lima beans, or something else. We do not want to fall victim to the latest food panic. Having said that, it is clear that one food always has been and always will be the healthiest of choices. One need only stop by the super coolest and hippest restaurants in town to see that the only true superfood in the world is KALE. So, it is with great pride that we announce that starting with the summer of 2021, all of the food served at Camp Nebagamon will be entirely based in kale.

Now, we know that this change may be frightening for some of our campers as they wonder what will happen to their favorite camp foods. But, not to worry, we are sure that you will barely notice the change. The change in our opening night meal, spaghetti with meat sauce, will barely be perceptible as we move to a bright green kale pasta with a sauce made simply of olive oil and wilted kale leaves. All sandwich meals will consist of two slices of kale with a kale pâté, you know, to keep it moist and, of course, lightly salted kale chips on the side. (We apologize for this salt deviation. Our best Swamper scientists are working on a kale-based salt alternative…stay tuned!) Sunday morning coffee cake will undergo a major overhaul as we serve kale smoothies instead, made from blended kale…and blended kale. And the crowning achievement of this new plan will be the alteration of the true root of all evil at camp…Brownie Glop. We knew the elimination of this dish would cause some consternation with the kids, so we are tweaking it rather than getting rid of it all together. Instead of undercooked brownies covered with vanilla ice cream, we will serve warmed under-ripened kale leaves covered with a chilled, liquefied kale reduction sauce. We are sure the kids won’t notice the difference…except for the color, texture, taste and overall palatability. In fact, we served the new and improved Brownie Glop to Josh, Ben and Josie the other night. To be sure, their reactions were not quite as enthusiastic as we had hoped for. Josh declared it “unbelievably gross.” Ben noted that he would rather eat sand covered in a tar sauce. And Josie, after eating her first full bite, asked if it was possible to switch parents at age 14. So, admittedly, we are off to a slow start in getting the “buy-in” we were hoping for. But we know it will come! Wait till they try the Kale S’more Pie tonight!

So, all of us at the Camp Nebagamon offices wanted to make sure that you, our camp family, knew that we stay current on nutritional developments, care deeply for the health and nutrition of our campers, and also had calendars that indicated that today is, in fact, APRIL FOOLS DAY!

Keep The Kales Burning…

“Kale? For dessert? Hi-Five!”

The Summer of ‘Camp People’

By Adam Kaplan

Those of you that have been around camp since we became the stewards of this wonderful place have likely heard me describe camp as “The Radical Utopian Experiment.” By this I mean, that at camp, we try to do everything as well as we possibly can. We try to create a community that is kinder, more thoughtful, more caring, and more cooperative than the outside world. It is our hope that as we attempt, every summer, to build this community for ourselves at camp, that we will take these ideas with us into the “real world” when we leave camp.

I am often asked to write reference letters for counselors and staff. Truth is, I really enjoy writing them; it gives me the opportunity to spend some time thinking about each person. With that said, I have found that there is one phrase that I consistently use when describing our better staffers. I refer to them in the letter as a Camp Person, and then explain what I mean by that. In short, I mean someone who is willing to do ANYTHING that needs to be done regardless of whether or not it falls within their job description. It means that, in addition to providing kids with positive growth experiences and rollicking fun, our counselors are sometimes vomit cleaners, our office staff are sometimes plumbers, our infirmary staff are sometimes art teachers, and our trip staff are sometimes baggage handlers. It just does not matter to a Camp Person. A Camp Person just sees what has to be done and does it…period…for the good of the community.

The truth is we need more Camp People in the outside world. Anyone that has had a job can remember situations in which someone notices something that needs to be done and says, “Hey…not my job.” (I am not sure that they use the ellipses in their sentences…but they really should…such a great writing tool…perhaps my only writing tool!) I would argue that the lack of Camp People in the outside world is one of the very real factors that leads to unhappy and dysfunctional workplaces. Truth is, when we are only focused on whatever specific tasks we have been assigned, we lose sight of the big picture and become isolated. On the other hand, when we are looking at the big picture and how we can help, we feel much more connected to each other and the work we are doing. We take greater pride in that work, and become a team.

The summer of 2021 at Camp Nebagamon will succeed for exactly this reason. Camp Nebagamon is simply chock-full of Camp People. This summer we will be asking a great deal of our entire camp community and I have no doubt we will all rise to the challenge.

[To be clear, we are feeling really good about the likelihood that this summer will feel largely normal for all of us that will be up there. After a year of relative isolation and restriction, kids will be able to roam freely, make choices about how to spend their days, participate in Paul Bunyan Day, Council Fires, GTCs, and every major event that a summer at Nebagamon offers. ALL OF THEM. Sure, some things may need to be tweaked in order to ensure safety for the community, but it will still be a classic summer at Nebagamon. To make this happen, we will need the cooperation though of the entire camp family.]

Already, our full-time staff has stepped into roles they have never had before. This past summer, our program director, trip director and office manager became part of the maintenance team building a flow track and improving the lower diamond field. This winter, they are becoming experts on researching and implementing safest practices to ensure a successful upcoming summer in a pandemic. These were not responsibilities delineated in their job descriptions, and yet, they are doing it without hesitation. Whether it be reworking our first week schedule, or determining best practices for janitorial work in the era of COVID, or researching the best thermometers for large-scale, regular temperature taking, or the building of 35 brand new picnic tables so that we can convert the Lower Diamond into an outdoor Rec Hall…they are all on it. And happily so.

But the teamwork doesn’t end with our full-timers. We are counting on everyone to be a part of making sure our summer will be a success. We need parents to do their part to ensure that, prior to camp, kids are properly tested and quarantined. We need staff to be willing to not only do the typical things that we ask of them, but likely other tasks…including living within our camp bubble for the summer. And we need campers to be mindful about the protocols we put in place in order to protect the camp experience for all. (As already mentioned, at this point we do expect that after the first week, camp will be able to return to a fairly normal routine.) Indeed, summer 2021 will require that we all pitch in to make it work.

But I am not worried…

The Camp Nebagamon family is absolutely full of Camp People…and that is all we need.

An Update on our Plan for 2021

By Adam Kaplan

Greetings from…well…my basement…still in my basement. Normally, when I write my Arrowhead articles, I try to take something that is going in the world (or in my world), explore it a bit, and then give a Camp Nebagamon spin on it. However, today, I want to address the pandemic and give everyone an update on Camp Nebagamon.

As of course all of you know, we made the tough decision last year not to run camp as the information about the virus was still very incomplete and so, at the time, we did not feel confident that we could run camp in a safe way…always our very first priority.

Since then, much has been learned about COVID-19, how to mitigate it, and specifically, how to safely run a summer camp while the virus is still active. These lessons have been learned through incredible efforts on the part of the world’s medical and scientific communities, the hard work of the American Camp Association, and the successes and failures of camps that did run last summer. We just know so much more. Diving deep into the information and lessons, we have become much more comfortable with running camp safely during this pandemic.

SO LET ME STATE LOUDLY, CLEARLY, AND EXCITEDLY THAT CAMP NEBAGAMON WILL BE RUNNING THIS SUMMER!

Sheesh, that felt good to write!!!

Our full-time administrative crew has been feverishly working to create the safest and most fun summer that we possibly can. Indeed, this summer will be different from previous summers in several ways. At this point, given the continually changing landscape of the COVID-19 world we are living in, it would not make sense to enumerate all of the plans, and back-up plans, and back-up plans of the back-up plans that we have been working on. Having said that, there are some guiding principles at the core of all of this planning. These include:

  • Continually educating ourselves on the latest developments and recommendations from the CDC, American Camp Association, Wisconsin and Douglas County Departments of Health, medical professionals, and our fellow camps.
  • A closed campus. While I have always maintained that, to the majority of our campers, the 77 acres of camp feels like the entire universe, this year we are going to make that real! Camp will exist as a bubble with no visitors. Even our staff will be spending their time off on the grounds (or on chaperoned and socially isolated field trips to quiet beaches and parks). In order to make it as likely as possible that everyone entering the camp bubble is COVID-free, our protocol will include a pre-camp quarantine, pre-camp testing, and a period, initially upon arrival, during which cabin groups will stay together as a cohort. This period will be followed up with a second set of tests, after an appropriate number of days, to check that indeed, we are free of COVID-19.
  • Hiring an outstanding staff that is prepared to manage the unique challenges of this summer. We will be expanding our staff training to two weeks (up from eight days) to ensure that our staff is ready to facilitate an amazing summer (and probably so bored from listening to us that they will be INCREDIBLY excited to have those kids arrive!!!!) We will also be hiring extra medical staff and have arranged to have one doctor at camp for the ENTIRE summer to provide continuity of care.
  • Masking and social distancing. We will be utilizing these important interventions to protect our community. We all wish we could be done with this, but at this point, it is still a critical tool to stay as safe as possible. Mask wearing and social distancing will likely be used when folks are interacting outside of their cohort groups. When within cohort groups, masks and social distancing will not be necessary.
  • Being outside! Lucky for summer camps, being outside is extremely effective in the fight against COVID. I have always talked about how a summer at camp means that we are basically spending the entire time outside. This year, we are going to take that to a whole new level doing everything possible outdoors. We will eat outdoors (weather permitting) and we will move virtually all indoor activities outside.
  • Increased sanitation and hygiene protocols. There will be a renewed emphasis on handwashing and we have built a new handwashing station to help facilitate that. We will also be increasing the frequency and targeted nature of our cleaning regimen using CDC recommended COVID-killing cleaning solutions.
  • All for one and one for all. Everyone – parents, staff, and campers are responsible for the health of our camp community this summer. We will be asking everyone to commit to abiding by the protocols that we decide are necessary for a safe summer.
  • Last but not least, clear and frequent communication with our families about what is happening at camp. We have always encouraged our camp parents to reach out to us for any reason and we, again, want to reiterate that we value your participation on our team to ensure your son has a fabulous summer at camp!

To be clear, these guiding principles are the foundation of what we are building to this summer. I wish that we could give you a definitive plan right now, but the information regarding COVID continues to change. It would be premature to think we know now what the conditions will be in four and a half months from now. However, I can promise you that we will continue to update you on our plans as they become more certain and as we flesh out the details as we approach the summer. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

(These guiding principles are posted on the camp website and you can read a bit more here.)

Wow….yeah…pretty dry Arrowhead article, Adam…..

I hear you….

BUT WAIT! THAT’S NOT ALL!!!

Sure, I have just laid out many ways that camp will be different this summer. But, I also think it important to remind ourselves that Camp Nebagamon will still be the Camp Nebagamon we know and love this summer! The summer of 2021 will:

  • Be one of unabashed fun and playfulness. At a time when the world seems awfully serious, camp will serve as a reminder of how much fun life can be….and we intend, as ever, to embrace this fun fully!
  • Foster lifelong friendships through Council Fires, sailing, pushball, laughter, cabin discussions and even a game of box hockey! Our kids have spent a lot of time away from each other over the past year; there can be no doubt that they all need some serious kid time. What better way than a month (or two-month) long slumber party!?
  • Push each of us to be our best selves by a shared expectation that we are all committed to treating ourselves, each other, our community, and our environment as well as we possibly can.
  • Help boys realize how capable they are; grow self-confidence. This is the beauty of a long portage on a canoe trip, the achievement of reaching the top of the climbing wall, the happiness of getting up on water skis, or the self-discovery of navigating the challenges and rewards of group living.
  • Provide opportunities to live in nature. Play in nature. Deepen our love and respect for nature.
  • Help boys discover new passions, talents, and interests.
  • Provide opportunities for countless campfires. Anyone that has ever sat around a campfire with a group of friends knows all about the magic of that experience. Everything is different around a campfire. We all look a little different in the firelight. The warmth of a campfire is like none other. The conversations are deeper. The laughter more contagious. And the S’MORES, S’MORES, and more S’MORES are beyond compare!

These are treasures that a summer at Camp Nebagamon has always provided. And even in this summer, when camp will have to alter itself somewhat to protect our community from COVID, in all of the ways that matter, Camp Nebagamon will provide the exact same incredible experiences that it always has.

Hmmm…so I guess this Arrowhead article does follow my format – I took something going on in the world, explored it a bit, and then put a decidedly Nebagamon spin on it. As your camper will tell you, I am a believer in repetition (and that is just in my comedic world). So, rather than come up with a whole new Arrowhead article rubric, I just stuck with the same one! And instead of being concise and to the point, was long-winded as ever!

We are just so incredibly excited to be back up at camp this summer with a camp full of kids. We are working hard to make it happen and just cannot wait!

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