Camp Nebagamon

Updates

Adam’s New Year’s Resolution

By Adam Kaplan

It goes without saying that 2020 has been an unusual year for all of us. For me personally, it has been an enormously challenging one for sure. The loss of camp this summer was absolutely devastating for me on so many levels. I was denied the chance to do my favorite thing in the world…CAMP!

The pandemic also meant that my off-season life has been incredibly different as well. Normally, I log weeks and weeks and thousands and thousands of miles driving and jetting about the country. While I have enjoyed my time at home for sure, those that know me well know that I have a bit of wanderlust. I especially like travelling during this time of the year, but I was denied that opportunity (save for an AMAZING solo RV trip this fall – check out the highlights here!).

But…these are the cards we have been dealt…and I have just been so impressed with how so many people have been able to deal with it.

But, 2020 is coming to an end and it is time to look back at it, take stock of it, and look forward to the future. This is an annual tradition for many of us. I have always loved newsstands this time of year. In general, I am not much of a magazine reader, but I have to admit that all changes at the end of each year. So many magazines come out with their “year in review” issues and I love these issues. Whether it be Sports Illustrated’s Best Moments in Sports, or Time’s Person of the Year, or Life’s Year in Review, or Camping Magazine’s 10 Hunkiest Camp Directors of the Intermountain West, I enjoy sitting down and thinking about the year past, and remembering what has taken place over the course of the last twelve months around the world.

In addition to having the chance to reflect about the year just passed, this time of year also beckons for us to think ahead to what will be in the coming year, and what things we would like to do differently. This is such a common practice that we give these forward looking promises a name. They are called our New Year’s Resolutions. (Admittedly, it would be tough to come up with more of a cliché article for the Arrowhead than a New Year’s Resolution article! And, while it is certainly a bit cliché to discuss the whole New Year’s Resolution thing, I actually believe that it is a very healthy thing…and since I get to choose the Arrowhead topics…you are just going to have to deal with it!)

In my opinion, the New Year’s Resolution gets a bad rap. The entire concept of the New Year’s Resolution is the butt of jokes, and more so, simply something that people say they don’t have the time, energy, or desire to deal with. This leads us to develop and ignore bad habits. The group put-down of the New Year’s Resolution concept gives us all an excuse to avoid the introspecting needed to uncover what we need to do better. I think this is a mistake. Virtually any successful person will tell you that one of the keys to their success was to be able to evaluate themselves and identify areas which needed improvement. Here are some examples. When Michael Jordan came into the NBA he had a decent outside jump shot, but it was certainly unremarkable. After he identified this as an area in which he could improve, he worked hard at it and eventually turned himself into an excellent outside shooter, thus dramatically improving his game. Also, whether it be a restaurant, a hotel, or a pet sitter, almost every successful business uses tools such as customer surveys and internal evaluations to identify areas for improvement. Without this introspection, there would be very little growth. Take for example politicians…you see…nah…too easy…I’ll leave that one alone!

Certainly we all know that success, when it comes to our professional lives, is dependent upon us casting a critical eye on our operations and making the changes necessary to improve. So why is it then that we sometimes resist applying the same concepts of introspection and active change to our personal lives?

Much of the time we simply fall back on excuses. “I am too busy.” “I never follow through with my resolutions anyways, so why start?” “I am already stressed enough.” “I am who I am; there is no way I can change that.” “How could I ever hope to become chiseled enough to compete with that camp director I read about in Camping Magazine’s year-end edition?” Admittedly, I often adopt one of these lines and therefore successfully avoid having to take a hard look at myself. Not this year. This year I resolve to make some New Year’s Resolutions! Though I think it unlikely that the result of these changes will garner me my own line of tennis shoes, I am hoping that I will have the willpower and stick-to-itiveness to actually affect these changes and continue to grow.

All of us here at the Off-Season Camp Nebagamon Headquarters (ok…that means Steph and I in the basement of our house) wish you all a new year filled with happiness, exciting adventures, and successful introspection.

Adam Gives Thanks

By Adam Kaplan

There can be little doubt that this has been a tumultuous year for all of us. With a first time ever camp cancellation, global pandemics, our own political system redefining the word broken, tempers flaring across the globe on a huge variety of topics, the Chicago Bears teasing us all with auspicious beginnings and then an all too typical return to normal mediocracy, and various other challenges that we are all facing, it is easy to lose perspective on what is right in the world…and what we need to be thankful for. Given these challenges and the fact that this incredibly unique, and likely disappointing Thanksgiving has just passed us, I thought this might a good year for the cliché Arrowhead article about what we need to remember to be thankful for.

We are thankful for Paul Bunyan. That simple statue that stands so powerfully just inside the front gate to camp. Paul has welcomed thousands of boys to camp over the years. Paul has re-welcomed thousands of alumni as they make a pilgrimage back to camp after many years away. Paul is a wonderful symbol to all of us that we are home.

We are thankful for that camp smell. The one that fills our senses the moment that we arrive at Nebagamon after some time away. It is hard to put one’s finger on exactly what that smell is. It might be the pine trees. It might be the fresh unpolluted air of the North Woods. It might be the smells that waft off of beautiful Lake Nebagamon. Most likely it is a combination of all of these things. Impossible to define…yet we all know it and recognize it the moment that we arrive at camp.

We are thankful for camp Big Brothers. Those older boys who take it upon themselves to make camp a more comfortable and welcoming place for new campers every year. In an era when folks often talk of the self-absorption of 13-15 year olds, we are all thankful for the special ones that come to camp and unselfishly focus so much of their attention on creating a true camp family.

We are thankful for the camp staff. Those men and women that forgo the siren call (and occasional parental command) of the “real job” to spend the summer working to provide for the safety, health, happiness, fun and growth of the boys that venture into the North Woods every summer. While there can be little doubt that our staff takes a huge amount out of their summer experiences (and that is just in salary!!), ultimately how successful we are every summer boils down to the quality and commitment of those special people. They have affected and improved the lives of literally tens of thousands of boys over the years.

We are thankful for pizza nights. Those raucous meals every Sunday night when we all let loose a bit in the Rec Hall. We eat (way too much), we sing (way too loud), we dance like nobody is watching us….and we laugh…and laugh…and laugh.

We are thankful for Cruiser Days. Those wonderful Wednesdays when we all get a chance to break up the routine and engage in Olympic Days, Harry Potter Days, Guinness T. Nebagamous Days, and other silliness that reminds us all about how much fun it is to play and be a kid. On that note, we cannot forget to be thankful for Dairy Queen Blizzards…chock full of all things chocolaty, sugary, and sweet that we know we should not be eating!

We are thankful for Council Fires. Those hours that we all spend together as a camp family gathered around that huge roaring fire laughing together, learning together, sometimes crying together. No matter from what era they hail, anyone that has ever been to camp will tell you that it is the Council Fire that helps us to understand what friendship is all about…what kindness is all about…what Nebagamon is all about.

We are thankful for camp friends and camp family. Those folks with whom we love to play, with whom we love to debate, with whom we love to lie on our bunks after taps and swap stories, with whom we love to joke around, and with whom we just love to spend time. They are the people that help us when we are struggling and support us when we need a shoulder to lean on. Certainly we all have friends that exist outside the camp world…but there is something different about our camp friends, something more enduring, more accepting, more understanding, and more unconditional.

We are all thankful for our other families as well. You know, our traditional families. Our parents, our siblings, and for some of us, our spouses and children. Those folks that easily forgive our failures and challenges. The ones that always are in our corners cheering us on regardless of how daunting the situation may be. They are always there for us…

On a more personal note (sorry, but I am going to use this bully pulpit for some more personal thanks this month…one of the benefits of an autocracy!), I am thankful for the giants upon whose shoulders we stand. The incredible vision, hard work, passion, intelligence and skills of Janet and Muggs Lorber, Sally and Nardie Stein, and Judy and Roger Wallenstein invented, nurtured, grew and improved this very special place called Nebagamon that so many of us know as home. I think about them often.

Finally, I am extraordinarily thankful for the campers and camp parents that put so much trust and faith in me. I am profoundly grateful for the mere act of either deciding to come to camp, or to send one’s child to camp. It is a message of great faith and one that both humbles me and warms me. I am profoundly grateful for their messages of support and trust in challenging times as well. The power of those messages cannot be overstated.

Certainly, this particular moment in history can shake one’s faith a bit. But, I think if we all take stock of things a bit, we quickly learn that despite the challenges, there is much more to be thankful for…

I think I will whip up some pizza and bug juice for dinner tonight…

Happy (post) Thanksgiving!

Beauty on the Road

By Adam Kaplan

As many of you know, I am currently on a whirlwind tour of the country, in an RV, to take advantage of the fall weather and meet with new families in their backyards. The loop around the nation will cover over 11,000 miles and about seven weeks. It’s been a lot of time away from my family so I feel really guilty about telling you all that IT HAS BEEN REALLY FUN!!! I have gotten to meet with many interested new families and, on a personal level, have gotten to visit some places I have never been. In fact, as of last week, when I spent a night in Vermont, I have now officially visited all 50 states in my lifetime!

Of the nearly four weeks that I have been on the road so far, many memories have been made, but my nights at Proud Lake State Recreation Area outside of Detroit stands out as perhaps the best of these memories.

For most of this trip I have been staying at commercial RV parks. The amenities (internet, electric, water, and places to dump the nasty tanks that get filled during RV life…yes as gross as it sounds!) make things much easier for an RVer. But, I have also tried, whenever the situation permits, to camp in some state and county parks.

On the recommendation of a camp alumnus and friend, I spent two nights at Proud Lake. After reading the reviews of the RV area, I was a bit nervous since many reviews focused on the fact that the sites at the park were not level. They were certainly right…my site made me feel like I was living in a villain’s lair from the old Batman TV series! I practically needed a rope to pull myself up the incline to my bed at night!

But, the slanty nature of my site did nothing to diminish my overall experience at Proud Lake.

I pulled into the park at about 3PM on a Friday afternoon and was met with a lineup of about eight other RVs waiting to check in. I figured I was just unlucky with my timing. It made no sense to me that on a chilly Friday in the middle of October that the campground would be crowded. I was very wrong. As it turned out, every single campsite was taken. Now, since this trip began, I have consistently been surprised at the care RVers take in their campsite setups. Whether it be strings of lights hung carefully around the site, or lawn ornaments placed at the campsite entrances, or pink flamingos planted in the ground around the RV, people really take pride in their setups. But Proud Lake in October took this to a whole new level. It seemed that I missed the memo about Halloween decorations being de rigueur! Nearly every campsite was decked out with Halloween lights, pumpkins, blow up witches, skeletons, and tons of other Halloween-y stuff. It looked amazing!

And the park was absolutely full of kids…being kids. Despite the cold, I opened up all of the windows in my RV just to listen to them. The sound of kids screaming and laughing and playing were absolutely music to my long neglected ears. It sounded like camp.

For the first hour or so, I had some work to do, so I just stayed in my rig and tried to work as I soaked in the beautiful noise outside. Needless to say, I was very unproductive!

When darkness fell, I decided to walk the campground. This was the best decision I have made on this trip yet (though getting an entire slab of ribs and a whole smoked chicken for my tiny RV fridge at Joe’s Kansas City Barbeque is a close second!). It was the campfires…nearly every campsite (and I believe there are over 80) had a campfire and folks sitting around them. There were noisy campfires with families loudly laughing and playing games. There were quieter campfires with grandparents and grandchildren, that clearly had not seen each other in a long time, catching up with each other. There were romantic campfires with older couples armed with their fold-up loveseat-style camping chairs, cuddled up close and staring at the fires in silence. And then there were the musical fires. There were some campsites playing southern classic rock, some playing ‘60s music, some playing Taylor Swift (nonstop!!), some playing rap, and some even playing spooky Halloween sounds.

Walking the entire campground made me realize the variety of folks that had come to spend the weekend getting outdoors and connecting with each other. Old and young, singles (ok…maybe I was the only single!) and families, couples and larger groups, hippies and good ol’ boys (not sure if that is ok to say!)…they were all there.

As I walked around, it was clear to me that one of the things that I tell our staff on the very first day of staff training every year is just so true. If you take people and put them in a beautiful setting, then beautiful things happen…and a campfire doubles the effect. I had always thought that this observation was a keen Kaplan insight, one that I could enlighten the staff with. But, as usual, the world is several steps ahead of me. Everyone at Proud Lake knew this already and had planned an excursion to make something beautiful happen. And it was indeed very beautiful. I was lucky to be there and to absorb so much of the beauty that all of these people had created.

So…get out there folks! Grab your family and go to some place outdoors and beautiful, whether it be taking a camping trip, lighting a campfire in your backyard or at a local park (as long as fires are allowed!), or just taking a beautiful fall walk in the woods together.

Beautiful things will happen.

Adam is vlogging his way across the country — you can watch all his video updates here on our Facebook page and here on our Instagram page!

A New Kind of Road Show

By Adam Kaplan

Over the course of the summer, while we were up at camp listening to an empty Rec Hall, lamenting a vacant Council Fire Ring, and desperately staring at cabin doors in the hopes that they would fling open and laughing children would come barreling out of them, we spent a fair bit of time planning for this fall. You see, this miserable pandemic that has affected each and every one of us was going to make my normal “off-season” travel schedule impossible. It is simply not reasonable for me to log the thousands of air miles I do every year to travel to the dozens of cities that I do every year. Those annual camp reunions in many cities that give us all a small taste of camp during the winter, to help us get through to the next summer, just were not going to be able to happen. And those critical face-to-face meetings that I have with virtually every prospective family before their first summers at Camp Nebagamon seemed impossible.

It was all going to have to be done online…with computers…and screens.

Adam and his trusty steed

The thought of meeting new families exclusively over Zoom calls was quite unappealing. Still, we knew this was most likely the way that it was going to happen this year, and so we came up with a plan for trying to bring camp to life for brand new folks over a computer screen. Our intrepid video editor, Louis, created dozens of new short videos illustrating each of our projects, our special events, and some of the more affective parts of camp like our special staff, the friendships that are made at camp, and how we all grow at camp. The videos are excellent and the plan seemed a decent way to show new folks who we are. It was going to be fine….

But fine just didn’t sit well with me. We are better than fine and I worried that we wouldn’t be able to communicate the essence of camp through computer screens.

There is just something so much more meaningful and powerful about meeting families and would-be-campers face to face. When you sit down with people you get to know them in a way that cannot be duplicated digitally. You can read their excitement and anxieties, you learn how they FEEL about each other, about meeting new people, about adventure…about possibility.

There had to be a better way.

And then I ran across an article about how RV sales and rentals had really taken off since the pandemic began. An RV! That was it! What a great solution! Sure I have hardly ever driven an RV before and the mechanics of it are daunting…but this seemed a good solution for my pandemic travel concerns.

The rest of the plan came together in a matter of hours. I would buy a used RV and do a lap around the country visiting all of the cities I normally do and meet with prospective families, making that all-important face-to-face meeting possible. If I could get this scheduled quickly enough, I could get on the road by October 1 and complete that full loop of the country before winter arrived. This would allow me to personally meet all of our prospective families, while the weather was warm enough, in their backyards, or in a park, or somewhere outdoors to ensure safety. Outdoor meetings! What could possibly be more Nebagamon-y than that?! How had we never tried to do this in the past? (Well…besides the fact that outdoor meetings in Minneapolis in January are decidedly unfun!) The solution was clear…and very exciting!

So, the day that you receive this Arrowhead, I will be taking off from Boise in my brand new (used) 2008 24-foot Winnebago View on a 47-day journey that will cover 10,000 miles, almost every state in the lower 48, and nearly 20 different cities. To be sure, I am more than a little intimidated by what lies ahead of me. There are so many unknowns, but that is par for the course in this pandemic world. What will living in this small box for 47 days feel like? What will the RV parks be like? How will I eat? Is Hot Pocket subsistence possible for a 53-year-old man? Will I suffer incalculable injury when my never- before-used Instant Pot explodes in a moment of incompetence? 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? And the list goes on.

I suppose my trepidation heading into this adventure makes me a lot like the kids I will be meeting on this trip. Boys who are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead of them, but also nervous about the unknown. What will I eat? Where will I shower? What will my bed be like? What will I do every day? I am nervous…and so are they. And that is the magic of this trip to me. I have never felt more prepared to help them and empathize with their feelings about trying something brand new. We are going to do it together this time.

I am REALLY excited to get out and meet people (in a socially-distanced outdoor setting). I am really excited to see the country. I am really excited to try something brand new!

I will likely be headed to your town relatively soon – you can find more details here. Please give some thought about families that might be interested in Camp Nebagamon and either send me their names or have them contact me to set up a meeting. I’ll bring the Hot Pockets…

Did the ‘See America First’ trips have Hot Pockets in 1954?

Your 2020 Performance Review

By Adam Kaplan

As many of you know, despite the fact that camp was not in session this summer, my family and I spent the summer at camp anyways. Likewise, all of our full-time employees spent the summer here as well. Being the responsible campy kind of people that we all are, despite the fact that we were up here together, we didn’t spend a lot of time together. Everyone was very aware of the safety protocols that we, the general populace, are being urged to follow, and we did. Still, there were times that we saw each other and even had a couple of socially-distant meals together. But for the most part, we all went about our business this summer…at a distance.

But, at this point, it is time for us to head back home to Idaho.

With this in mind, we have been having individual meetings with each of our full-time crew to review their thoughts on this past year, this past summer, and look ahead to the fall, and to the summer to come. While I am not really in the habit of writing about performance reviews in the Arrowhead, this is an unprecedented year…so why not?!

A section of our new pump track

I want to share this because the meetings all went almost exactly the same as usual. When first asked about how they felt the summer went, all immediately went to the positives. Adam Fornear spoke of the decreased stress he felt, and the opportunity he had to build a brand new flow track (or pump track if you prefer the term) for our mountain biking program (IT IS SUPER COOL!!!). Caretaker Joe spoke about appreciating the opportunity to get some maintenance projects done that can really only be done when the weather is good. Andy Mack immediately lit up and the first words out of his mouth were “NO TOILETS TO CLEAN ALL SUMMER!!!” He then spoke, like Joe, about getting the chance to get to some projects that he has wanted to tackle for years…like maintaining camp’s forest, erosion control, and painting. Briggs shared how much he has enjoyed going through virtually every building in camp to clean out some of the accumulated junk and also discover classic treasures that nobody knew were buried in the bowels of the No Man’s Land. And Louis Levin glowed when he spoke about how meaningful it has been to create content, games, Sunday Services, and Council Fires to keep the camp family connected during this time of isolation. True Camp Folks….all of them. They found a way to make lemonade out of their lemons.

But…I will be honest. In each of those discussions, immediately following the positivity and sanguine assessments of their summers, each of their faces clouded up and their heads dropped a bit. And then they spoke of what was missing. The fun, the noise, the laughter, the connection…The kids. Sure there were some things that could be done without camp in session…but they all acknowledged that, the truth is, the summer has been rough without kids around. Those kids are what we all work for all year long (and for most of us, for many years) and their absence was awful this summer. They all felt it. They all talked about it, and you could see it on all of their faces. The lemonade, while made, was unsweetened and quite sour. (Sorry to ruin that sermonette for you all!)

Another thing happened in each of those meetings. Every single one of our full-timers shifted the conversation to next summer. They wanted to know about recruiting, and registration, and getting the ball rolling on making next summer happen. You could almost see them levitate out of their seats as we discussed our conviction and confidence about making the summer of 2021 a great one. They all want it; they all need it. A camp full of kids is what makes each of their jobs worth it, and they all wanted to talk about how we all are going to make it happen next summer.

And so it is with great pride and excitement that we have opened registration for next summer! Louis even made a video to demonstrate our excitement about getting kids back to camp next summer (check it out here!). WE ARE FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR THE SUMMER OF 2021 AND CANNOT WAIT TO GET YOU ALL UP HERE AGAIN!!!!

Forest Bathing

By Adam Kaplan

Over the last few months I have watched every season of Ozark, all of The Good Place, the full run of Westworld, and every episode of Battlestar Galactica. With the exception of season 3 of Westworld, this has been some really quality stuff and I am glad to have cultural literacy in these areas. I had expected that when I got to Camp in June that my content consumption would taper off and while I have certainly been watching less…the bit taper, never really came. I will admit that the emptiness of camp has been really hard to take and I have found myself retreating too often to the distraction of the screen.

And it is not only me. I have watched as the same thing has happened with my kids over the past few months. They too have become more and more absorbed by their screens. I know that at the beginning of the pandemic many experts told us to allow for this and to pull back on our screen restrictions for our kids since the situation was so novel and challenging. But still…it seems like it has been a lot.

All of us had become digital people.

Enough was enough.

A week ago, we all piled into a camp pick-up truck hauling a travel trailer and set off to explore the south shore of Lake Superior. On the itinerary were places that campers have travelled to for years that most in my family had never seen before. We planned stops at the Porcupine Mountains, Copper Falls State Park, and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. In each of these places, we walked for miles in the woods and along the coast of Lake Superior.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

At some point someone mentioned the idea of Forest Bathing, which made us all laugh. The idea of this clearly new-age California-y notion was positively silly to all of us. It takes a pretty goofy person to buy into the idea that people need to metaphorically bathe in the forests to maintain their mental and physical health…Sure hiking in the woods is nice. But the necessity of Forest Bathing? A bit much to buy into!

And then on our fourth day, when walking on a short trail near Pictured Rocks, my son, Ben, shocked us all. “You know what? I actually do think that Forest Bathing is a thing. And I am totally down with it.” And even more shocking was how quickly all of us agreed with him. We all felt it. Our previous few days of being out of cell reception, without wi-fi, and only able to focus on the natural world around us and each other, had been enormously restorative and fortifying. We all were feeling better. Forest Bathing is a thing….and we all need it!

When we arrived at our campsite that evening, we discovered that we all had excellent cell reception. And…sadly…that meant that very soon afterwards, we all found ourselves buried in our devices. At some point, I looked up from mine to see all of us sitting at a picnic table overlooking among the most beautiful lakes on the planet and not one of us noticing it. It was….gross. I asked everyone if they felt like the trip was better or worse when we had no cell reception. We all agreed….it was far better when we had no reception.

Then we put down our phones for the duration of the trip.

So….I have two items for all of you to walk away from in this first ever August Arrowhead. First, is my standard self-congratulatory extolling of the virtues of Camp Nebagamon. You see, at camp, we don’t do cell phones and we don’t do Netflix. We Forest Bathe for a month or two. We soak up nature and soak up each other in ways that our modern world make so difficult. We all need Camp. And we will all get it again…My second bit for all of you is to urge all of you to do some of your own Forest Bathing. You don’t need to have a travel trailer to do it (and believe me, you are missing out on nothing by never having to empty five people’s sewer tank through a flimsy plastic hose), you just have to have some ability to put your devices on the kitchen counter, jump in the car, and head out to someplace natural. Then find a trail, and just start walking. It may take some coaxing as we have become used to our current digital existences. But make it happen. Get out there on a trail and start walking. Don’t feel guilty about making fun of Kaplan and his hippy-dippy Forest Bathing for the first part of your hike. That’s totally fine…Poke all the fun at the idea that you wish to. Laugh together. Allow yourselves to talk about whatever comes to mind….even if it is sharing what you thought of all of the content you absorbed on YouTube yesterday. Talk a lot. But at some point, just be quiet as you walk. Look up at the trees. Listen to the birds. Soak it all in….BATHE in it.

You’ll see.

Literally “Forest Bathing”!

Adam Dives In

By Adam Kaplan

I have been swimming in Lake Nebagamon since 1977 when I showed up at camp for the first time as a 10-year-old boy. To those of us that have spent summers up here, our H-dock (the swimming dock) is as much a part of that lake as the fish and the water. This summer, that H-dock is still lying on the beach, stacked and stored from the summer of 2019. There is no H-dock…just open water at our beach. For us old-timers, the view of an empty waterfront is striking and certainly makes one feel like something is off, something is missing…even scary…which of course is true in so many ways this summer. There is nothing there…just open water, an empty scene.

Still, it’s warm in the North Woods this time of year and Lake Nebagamon is a swimming lake so, while I considered taking the summer off from swimming in my beloved lake because it was so unfamiliar and maybe even a bit scary, I have started swimming. Indeed, at first it was intimidating swimming with no dock, no marked off swimming area, and no lane lines. It was uncharted territory for me and it made me nervous. Where were the boundaries I had always known? Where were the safety demarcations? Where was I supposed to go? How far? How deep? For the first time in my life, swimming in Lake Nebagamon was uncharted territory.

However, as my swimming sessions have worn on, I have started to become more at ease, and I have found my new swimming digs to be exciting, and freeing in many ways. I swim in places I have never swam before. Everything looks different from my changed perspective in the water. It’s brand new, and full of possibility and exploration. I like it.

When I was in the lake yesterday, it occurred to me that in our current world situation, virtually all of us are doing the same thing. Swimming in a world in which so much that we were used to and comfortable with has been altered, or removed, or stacked on a beach waiting for a time to return when we can reassemble it and get back to how things have always been. And while the temptation might be to go to ground and just sit back, do nothing, and wait for it all to return to normal, many people have discovered that along with the scariness of this new world, there are many opportunities associated with it as well. New perspectives, fresh chances, much exploration…something brand new.

We are all currently swimming in a changed lake with no docks. But we are discovering things in that process. Some of us have taken up new hobbies. Others have learned how to play a musical instrument. Some have discovered the joy of just going for a walk. Many have taken the time to connect with friends that have been out of touch for a long time. All of us are learning to understand and appreciate our families in totally different ways than ever before. Enumerating the new experiences that are available to all of us as a result of our current situation would be impossible. But they are seemingly endless.

So let’s all agree that while we certainly wish the docks were in Lake Nebagamon and that we could swim there as we always have, that we will go swimming anyways. Yes, it will be harder at times and even a bit scary, but there are new things to be discovered about ourselves, our creativity, our resilience…and even some new fun that we never would have experienced before.

90 degrees here in the North Woods today…I’m going swimming.

A Sermonette for June

By Adam Kaplan

As most of you know, we begin every meal at camp with a sermonette. These are one- or two-sentence snippets of wisdom that come from many different sources. Some come from inspirational leaders and authors throughout history, some are from popular songs, some are lines from movies. To be sure, some of these sermonettes are simply cute and pithy lines meant to give us a smile or a chuckle. But, some of our sermonettes truly help us and serve as guiding principles through the challenges that life throws at us.

As I sat down to write today, like the last time I wrote you all, I had a hard time coming up with the right words. And then I thought about that sermonette box. And while there are many of those cards that inspire me right now, two of them really hit home. Both touch on a similar theme….

The first, is perhaps the most classic sermonette in the box:

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

A big glass of bug juice – er – lemonade.

This quote does not take a great deal of intellectual energy to decipher. The message here is that sometimes we are going to have difficult and unpleasant situations thrust upon us (though….I kinda like lemons!) and when we are faced with these tough moments, we are best off trying to find a way to take that challenge and turn it into something positive. We see this at camp all the time. We see it on rainy days when our planned activities have to be cancelled. Unquestionably that rain is a lemon. And yet, what happens next is amazing. In these moments, our incredible staff huddle together and create some of the most imaginative and fun endeavors that have ever taken place at camp. In the end, we wind up with new and wonderful experiences at camp that simply would never have happened without the delivery of those lemons.

Well, on Tuesday, I delivered a truckload of those lemons to the entire camp family. For our campers and staff, the light at the end of the COVID tunnel was supposed to be a month or two up at camp. For our alumni, Camp Nebagamon being in session was an indication of some stability in a world that seems to be more than a little bit off of its axis right now. Lemons….

But already, I am seeing those lemons being made into lemonade. I have been having Zoom meetings with our campers and have listened to them put a positive spin on this disappointment. They have enthusiastically asked questions and made suggestions about the summer of 2021. They are focused on all of the truly exciting things that will come to camp as a result of our need to postpone camp’s 92nd season. They are excited for 10th grade campers and all of the new and fun opportunities that will present. So too, they are making lemonade right now in their homes. They are finding new hobbies, finding new ways to enjoy the outdoors in their communities, and planning brand new and exciting summer experiences that, frankly, would never have happened if they were at camp this summer. Lemonade…..

Our alumni, concerned about this disequilibrium that has been foisted upon them by the first ever cancellation of a Camp Nebagamon summer, have taken it upon themselves to keep camp alive. They have been connecting with camp friends that they have not seen or spoken to in years. They are sharing camp stories, photos, and experiences with each other on various social media platforms. And they have reached out to camp itself just to offer steadfast support and express their willingness to do whatever it takes to make sure Camp Nebagamon is ok. This renewed connection to the place and to each other would just not have been a thing without these lemons. Lemonade…

To be sure…I am not remotely suggesting that what we are all going through is a good thing. Quite to the contrary, the loss of life, livelihood, freedom, and innocence that this situation has inflicted upon all of us is inexplicably and inescapably horrible and unlike anything any of us have ever experienced. Still…what we do in these situations matters. How we react matters. Making lemonade matters.

The other sermonette that has provided me with metal during this challenging moment is this:

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.

This time is tough. I imagine that for many in our community this “winter” we are all enduring has been overwhelming. The difficulties, disappointments, and challenges that are being thrown at us, at times, seem relentless and insurmountable. And yet, during these times, each of us finds something within ourselves that allows us to weather that storm. We find a strength within ourselves that we had previously not known. And we have the courage to rely on our families, friends, communities, and the camp family to support and nurture that invincible summer. Yes, this will have been a longer winter than we have experienced before (at least on the calendar) but, we all have that invincible summer within us. We have that strength.

And at camp, we know that the most invincible summer of all, 2021, will undoubtedly and triumphantly arrive…because of our conviction and belief in camp, and the strength of the camp community…and through drinking a ton of lemonade.

Our Camp Family is Now Assembled

By Adam Kaplan

I have often said that if I were within 100 miles of Lake Nebagamon on a Sunday night in the summer, I would do whatever it took to get to camp to participate in the Council Fire, because not being at camp for a Sunday night Council Fire seems absolutely untenable and absurd. (Of course, given my current job description, my being more than one mile from Lake Nebagamon on a Sunday night would be VERY problematic!!!)

There is just something that is so powerful, rejuvenating and moving about sitting down on those decades-old benches that have been sat upon by generations of boys every Sunday night during the last 91 summers. There is just something peaceful about that few minutes at the very beginning of a Council Fire when the entire camp family sits in silence, mesmerized by the fire – as it gets lit, gradually catches hold, and then becomes the roaring fire that it does. The sight, the sound, the smell…the feeling. There is just something engrossing about the skits that highlight camp’s values through the eyes of a particular staff member. There is just something special about participating in a Keylog ceremony, listening to the rawest and purest of emotion being poured out by everyone from an eight-year-old to an 80 year-old as they convey gratitude to members of the camp family for making a difference in their lives. There is just something inspiring about watching the Council Fire grow from embers to a beautiful fire built exclusively from the kindness and caring of our community. There is just something grounding about standing up with your camp family to bow your head in prayer for the health and safety of your loved ones. There is just something incredibly emotional and unifying about throwing your arms around the folks next to you and singing “Round Thy Blazing”, “Taps”, and “All Night, All Day”. There is just something buoyingly melancholy and hopeful about gathering around that same fire to gather some warmth just before heading off to bed for the night. There is just something complete about a Council Fire.

When it was first suggested that we attempt an online Council Fire, I was quite unconvinced that it could possibly work. After all, none of us would be anywhere near the Council Fire Ring. We would all be in our homes, and in front of computer screens. It didn’t make sense. We all know that you have to proceed to the Council Fire Ring in silence. You have to sit on those benches. You have to swat the occasional mosquito. You have to recoil from the smell of that kid in front of you who really needs to shower. You have to struggle to not break into guffaws when the kid next to you passes gas. If you aren’t there, it’s not a Council Fire. Plain and simple.

Adam and Stephanie opening our Council Fire at Home

Still…these are truly unprecedented times (can you believe how many times you have read or written those two words in the past couple of months?) and ultimately, we decided to give the online Council Fire (henceforth Council Fire at Home) a shot. We got to work right away to assemble a cast of folks that we felt would really speak to what would likely be a generationally broad audience. Very quickly eight folks representative of different generations at camp agreed to put together short stories for us. They were given tight deadlines and each and every one of them delivered something meaningful and perfect. We then put out a call to the camp family to send in video Keylogs. Very quickly we received many of these Nebagamon-style expressions of gratitude. Finally, a couple of Zoom interviews of the giants whose shoulders we have all stood on for so long…Nardie, Sally, Roger and Judy. After that, it was all up to Louis to make the Council Fire at Home feel right. He cobbled together the new material with footage from Council Fire’s past to create just the right tone and atmosphere. He did, in my mind, a perfect job….

From then, it just required me to engage in the same routines that I have for 17 years of Council Fires so far. A welcoming talk…some thoughts on the presentation…the Keylog story…and then those same rote lines, that have been recited by Camp Nebagamon’s directors for generations, that conclude our Council Fires. If I am being honest, I was particularly worried about these parts. Usually I go into Council Fires without a definite script or plan for what I am going to say. I have always let the presentation, current events at camp, and the feel from the camp family inspire what I say. So I was quite nervous that I wouldn’t be able to channel anything from a computer screen and NOBODY in front of me. I considered writing some things down…but it just felt wrong. If we were going for a Council Fire then it should be treated as one…So I winged it as usual!

And here is the thing…

It worked. It totally worked. I have heard from countless campers, parents, staff and alumni about how our Council Fire at Home worked. They have shared how they felt like they were experiencing an actual Council Fire. They shared that they really felt connected to Nebagamon and the camp family like at an actual Council Fire. They shared how they teared up in the exact same spots that they remembered tearing up when at Nebagamon during an actual Council Fire.

And you know what? I think it worked because the truth is, even though we were not sitting on those benches at the Council Fire Ring and participating in the exact same way as we have in the past, the Council Fire at Home was an actual Council Fire. Because as important as the patch of land that we call the Council Fire Ring is, what really matters is the people. What makes Camp Nebagamon so special has always been the people. And they were all there. And guess what? Almost every single one of them was more than 100 miles away.

If you missed the Council Fire at Home, you can rewatch the broadcast in its entirety below. Skip ahead to the 19-minute mark for the start of the presentation.

An Issue With Tissue…

By Adam Kaplan

As I have mentioned in two letters now to our camp family, despite the truly nutty times that we are all going through right now, we are moving ahead full steam with our planning for the summer. During this time of year, that means connecting with families, hiring staff, and pulling together all of the supplies that we will need for the summer.

Our Jops will be in tip top shape this summer!

It is this third task, gathering the supplies we will need for the summer, that has presented us with the existential threat to camp life that I am writing about today. Try though we may, we have been completely unable to procure any toilet paper for the summer. Whether in stores or through our wholesale distributors, there simply is not a sheet to be found in the Northwoods.

But at Camp Nebagamon, we are problem solvers. We do not give up when challenges are thrown at us. We accept these challenges and figure out ways to work through, or work around, the challenges to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Many organizations might shy away – one might even say, poo poo – these daunting challenges. But we have plans…

We will be taking a multi-tiered approach to solving the dearth of toilet paper. It will require that everyone do their part, and with this group effort we should be able to wipe out the problem completely. (I know…I am kind of on a roll here! But I know I should stop with the puns. Potty humor is just too base and easy. I will dump the double entendres now.)

As I said, we will be attacking this problem from a number of angles at camp this summer. First, I have spoken with Anne Rowe, our 16-year kitchen manager, and she and I have agreed that this summer, the camp’s diet will consist exclusively of bananas and cheese…only. As any dietitian will tell you, these items are top notch in terms of shutting down the system…thus minimizing the need for toilet paper at all.

Our number two solution to the problem will involve finding alternative materials to serve in the bathroom tissue capacity. For years now, I have been pressured by our office to do away with the classic Camp Nebagamon checkbooks. It has been argued that checkbooks are a relic of the past and that very few people still use them. I have been considering this for a long time but have admittedly been hesitant as I am an old school and nostalgic kind of dude. But, as necessity is the mother of invention, I have decided that this will be the year. We have a massive stockpile of checkbooks that will all be placed in the Jops (bathrooms for you neophytes) to serve as a substitute for toilet paper. I realize that this might be slightly irritating, but the cool upside is that each checkbook has the Camp Nebagamon logo printed on it, so if that transfers to the boys during their work, they will develop a deeper Nebagamon pride! Along these lines, letter writing days will be cancelled and the boys’ stationary will be repurposed as well (a new kind of Dear John letter, you might say). Yes boys, you will still get your candy lines for well used stationary…not to worry! Hershey’s new UnFiber Bars will be a big hit!

Yogi Julie Gordon prepares for summer 2020

I have also asked our Nature Lore program to help out with the search for bathroom tissue substitutes. Those of you who have ever spent a good deal of time on trail know the joy of finding the perfect leaf to do the trick. I asked our Nature Lore director to help identify the best foliage around camp for the job. She told me that there are lots of great options that she would share with the boys, but went on to admit that she is not great at differentiating between good bathroom tissue leaves and poison ivy…but she didn’t think that would be an issue.

Finally, we had to come up with a plan for what to do if we exhaust all of our alternative sources and are completely without any substitutes. With this in mind, I have contacted our camp yoga instructor, Julie Gordon, to help the boys learn a new yoga move called Dragging Dog. Those of you who are dog owners have no doubt witnessed this maneuver when your favorite pet uses the home carpet or front lawn to serve as its own personal TP substitute!

Alright…that’s enough Adam. You’ve taken this WAY further than you intended to in this article. All for a cheap laugh and an escape from the craziness that we are all enduring.

Happy April Fools Day!

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