By Adam Kaplan
One need only go through a few years of archived Arrowhead articles to find repeated and passionately argued positions on Nebagamon’s view of technology. In several articles, I have made the case that technology unplugs us from each other, unplugs us from our surroundings, and unplugs us from nature. It is for those reasons, among others, that Nebagamon (and most other camps worth their salt) makes the very conscious decision during the summer to require that those around camp unplug from their increasingly plugged in world, shelve their iPhones, and put away their laptops. We ask that you spend your summer engaged not with Facebook, but with real faces (and an occasional book at Rest Period). We ask that instead of Tweeting, you listen to the tweets of real birds. We ask that instead of Snapchatting, you grab one of our old school cameras and snap some shots of the beautiful Nebagamon landscape, that YOU WILL get to develop in a real darkroom. We ask that instead of Instagram, you…well, I cannot come up with a clever campy thing that plays on that word. Just don’t Instagram at camp ok?!
While it has long been a game for the boys to try to get around this self-imposed technological blackout, the truth is, one would be hard pressed to find a soul at Nebagamon that does not believe that we should do it precisely as we are doing it. In fact, just a couple of summers ago, when a rogue cell phone was discovered in a Lumberjack cabin, I called a large group of the older boys together and took a calculated risk. I basically said, “Ok, you win…You guys seem to want phones and technology at camp, so let’s put it to a vote. If you guys think we should change the rules and allow all of these things at camp, let’s do it.” The vote was Everyone to Zero in favor of keeping technology out of our camp experience. They play games…but they get it…and they believe in it.
Tik Tok Mail call in 1962
Now, having said all of that, what I really wanted to do in this article was to extol the virtues of technology when it comes to summer camp in the off-season. When I was a boy at Nebagamon, I loved the guys in my cabin, and I loved the friendships I forged outside the cabin and all around the place. But the reality was, when camp ended and I got on the bus to head home, that was pretty much the end of my contact with my camp friends until the following June. Sure, there was the occasional letter every now and again, but in truth, my tendency to write marathon letters and essays did not really come to the surface until well into adulthood. In reality, camp friends were at camp, and when camp ended for the winter, the friendships were put on hold.
Today, all of that has changed. Through technology, be it email, phone texting, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter, these boys stay connected throughout the off-season. Their camp friendships are extended. There are Facebook pages set up for specific cabin groups, email chains that involve large numbers of campers, and cabin texting groups are the norm. Some even have used social media in a silly way to keep the camp community connected during the winter. There is the A.K. Agikamik Facebook page. Who knew that the Yo-Yo Islands even had internet?! There are Camp Nebagamon Staff Facebook groups. There is even a Facebook group for campers in L-5 of 2008! And there is a host of other technological ways that these guys stay connected that, I have to admit, I really don’t understand at all….Tik Tok?
The electronic world has become so pervasive in the camp community that we have even developed some of our own little abbreviations. Many folks my age are turned off and dumbfounded by the shorthand world that the technology has spawned. LOL, BRB, IMHO, R U there, and ROFL are mysteries to most of us, and those that know them often find them to be a bit annoying. But they are ubiquitous and pervasive. So too, this shorthand has hit our crew. Virtually any email, or texting conversation, or Facebook posting done within the Nebagamon community ends with KTFB…..Keep the Fires Burning. Everyone knows what it means and virtually everyone does it. We have a shorthand way of saying to each other “I am here, and will always be here.” I kinda dig it…
Not only is it just plain fun to stay connected year round to your best friends on the planet, you boys are so in touch with each other that you know what is happening in each other’s school years. You know about sports triumphs and defeats, you know about romantic triumphs and defeats, you know about vacations…and sure, maybe every once in a while you know about interesting things that you have learned at school…occasionally. Let’s face it, school life, academic life, and middle school social life can all be really tough worlds to navigate. There will undoubtedly be times when it goes badly. But who better to take your mind off your woes, or understand what is getting you down, or make you feel better about yourself, than the guys you sat at a campfire with sharing your biggest dreams and secrets? Or the guys that helped you, and cheered you on to fight through that really difficult portage that you were absolutely sure you could never make it to the end of? Or the boys that you sat at the Council Fire Ring with all of those Sunday nights and threw your arms around singing together? These are the guys that you can count on like no one else.
And technology has made it easier….
So, while we will still adamantly stick to our philosophy that at camp, we unplug from our electronic world, it seems fitting to give credit where credit is due here. Those friendships forged through face to face contact in the Northwoods can continue to deepen and grow when we are apart through the internet machines and email boxes that we all seem to have these days. As a thank you, I have offered Mark Zuckerberg a job as a junior wilderness trip leader this summer….no word yet.
TTYL and KTFB
Mark Zuckerberg, JC 2020
It was with all of this weighing on my thoughts that I sat down to write my article this month. As is so often the case, as my thoughts turn to camp, I shook my head in disbelief at the genius of the place. (I can say this in good conscience and humility since I was not the designer of the system…..far be it from me to call myself a genius. Anyone that knows me knows that I would NEVER do such a thing…..) At camp, as at home, mealtimes are really important. Anyone that has ever set foot in the Rec Hall knows this to be the case. Each family meal is evidence of the value of this forced togetherness. Each table filled with a cabin of campers is a microcosm of it working. Looking around, you notice families laughing together, families discussing things together, and, yes, families working through tough times and wayward behaviors together. There can be no doubt that Rec Hall time is a SIGNIFICANT part of every member of our camp family’s time at camp. But, here is the genius of the camp setup…you see, at camp, the daily routine is designed so that each camp family cabin eats EVERY meal together….not just a family dinner mind you, but EVERY meal. We never schedule an activity, or a practice, or a play date, or a meeting during a meal. Mealtimes are left alone. While it is possible that this scheduling brilliance was created as a way to simplify things for our kitchen crew, I prefer to believe that this was done, at least in part, with the knowledge and belief that when families spend time together around the table, the roots grow deeper and the connections grow more significant.
In 1948, Muggs and Janet Lorber founded the Camp Nebagamon Scholarship Fund (CNSF). The fund is intended to provide money and scholarships to agency camps around the country. Whether it be a camp for families in financial need, a camp for children with emotional struggles, or a camp for kids with physical challenges, the Camp Nebagamon Scholarship Fund has been doing this great work for over nearly three quarters of a century! Historically speaking, one of the more special facets of CNSF is the focus that has been placed on inviting current campers to participate. Every summer, just outside the Big House, we erect and tarp a big board that explains not only what CNSF does, but different ways in which our campers can contribute to make a difference in the lives of other children. Whether by earning money raking leaves, contributing some of their allowance, or creating their own fund drives, campers are shown that THEY can participate in Nebagamon’s culture of giving.
Finally, let us not overlook the positive impact the CFN scholarship program has on the rest of the camp community. The scholarship is not intended simply to improve the life of the individual recipient of the scholarship. The scholarship is intended to improve the camp experience for everyone at camp. I cannot tell you how much I believe camp as a whole has benefited from the addition of scholarship campers throughout the years. These campers enrich, broaden, and add to our family in so many ways. There can be little doubt that Camp Nebagamon is a better place because of Camperships for Nebagamon and the kids that CFN has helped send to us since 1995.
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.
I have to admit, this is one of the more challenging times of the year for me. It is really difficult to go from spending nearly 100% of each day outdoors, spending tons of time in nature, and being engaged with hundreds of children and adults nearly every minute of the day, to spending nearly 100% of each day sitting in my basement, spending time sitting in front of my computer with not a soul around to roll their eyes at my hilarity (I am told that the eye roll is more flattering than the deepest belly laugh…..right?) Admittedly, each year, during these first few weeks of being back in Boise after a summer in Lake Nebagamon, I find whatever excuse I can to get myself out of the basement and find something to do upstairs or about town.
Without a doubt, for each of us that spent a month or two up at camp during the summer, the transition from camp back to our other homes is a significant change. The lives that we lead at camp are dramatically different from the ones that we lead at home. It should come as no surprise to any of us that this transition can sometimes be a jarring and difficult one. All of us can relate to this challenge. How many of you have gone red faced after having shouted “HOW!!” in your classroom or at a social gathering? (I did it at my children’s school production just last week!) How many of you have been sitting at the table during a meal at home and found yourself humming a camp song that we used to sing in the Rec Hall? How many of you have been walking home from school, suddenly feeling the call of nature, and NEARLY pulling up to that big oak tree next to the sidewalk. These are the humorous sorts of situations that we all experience as part of our transitions to home. Then there are the times that you find yourself just sitting in your room, feeling melancholy, and just missing it. Missing your friends, missing your counselors, missing the singing, missing your cabin, missing swimming in the lake….missing camp.
Some may think this philosophy is directed solely at the international members of our community, but I disagree. I believe that this is a message intended for every member of our community. Certainly, we work very hard to make our international visitors feel comfortable and welcomed. But, really, any person coming into camp for the very first time likely feels a bit of anxiety melt away upon seeing those words displayed so prominently. That sign say to them that the time spent worrying about whether or not one will be comfortable at Nebagamon in their very first summer would have been better spent finishing off the last few puzzles in that Tomb Raider game that will be denied to you while at camp. Because the worry was misplaced…of course you will be made to feel comfortable…to feel welcomed.
believe these things are in and of themselves bad things, rather we just believe that it is a healthy practice to take a break from them for a month or two during the summer. Truth is, at least one of the camp directors has a legitimate fondness for some video games, and goodness knows that the very same camp director cannot remember a single day in recent memory when he was completely away from a computer. Indeed, the break from electronics that camp affords us is a welcome abstention.
Now to be clear, just like our attitude towards electronics, we are not suggesting that following the news of the nation and the world is a bad thing. Quite to the contrary, we believe that in order to be good members of the community, outside of camp, it is important that people stay informed about the goings on of the world. Keeping abreast of the news is important. Still…with all of the bad news out there, it can be downright scary and even depressing. A break from all of that, just like a break from our electronics, can be very restorative for our psyches.
While this is an adventure he was excited about, it is also an experience about which he was quite nervous. It took quite a while to get him to actually commit to taking the trip. He hemmed and hawed about whether he really wanted to do it and what part of the planet he should travel to. He seemed daunted by the planning required for such an excursion. He was frankly a little bit scared. He speaks some marginal Spanish (and to date has not entered the only Spanish speaking country on this trip!), but he does not know the language in virtually every country to which he has travelled and will be travelling. He has no real plans (see above fake news itinerary he presented us!), and he is completely on his own…forced to figure out everything without parental assistance (and this for a kid that loses his car keys when they are in his pocket!). The uncertainty of it all was a little nerve wracking…he had no idea what to expect. Yet, eventually, he decided that the trip was something he wanted to do….and that it was important that he do it. He CHOSE these challenges. He CHOSE to go somewhere he has never been before, to an alien landscape, to experience something new. He CHOSE to push himself to discover another part of himself.
Because I only rarely divert my attention from all things Nebagamon to trivial things like family, his trip has gotten me thinking a great deal about our tripping program and the parallels. I know that for many of the boys that come to camp, the idea of a wilderness trip is indeed an intimidating one. For many of these boys the mere act of electing to come to camp in the first place pushed them very far out of their comfort zones of solo bedrooms, home-cooked meals tailored to their individual liking, and parents’ consistent attention and guidance. Now, on top of that major leap of courage, to go on trail they have to make the additional adjustment of temporarily moving out of their cabins and being exposed to the elements, eating food that is only as good as they prepare it, and sleeping in a tent that they themselves erect. In a very real way, they don’t speak the language and they will be in an alien land…the uncertainty of it all. They have no idea what to expect.
