by Louis Levin
Hello Camp Family,
Attached here is our next Arrowhead monthly newsletter. We feel strongly about delivering the Arrowhead that people have come to expect to ensure that our kids (and all of us) feel some normalcy and predictability in what has become a fairly unpredictable world.
Having said that, we wanted to give all of you an update as to plans for the upcoming summer at Nebagamon.
To be clear, we continue to plan for a summer as normal at camp. We are hiring staff, discussing programming, planning trainings, and our caretakers are physically getting the grounds ready for the summer. With that said, we have been engaging in unique planning around this summer as well. We are creating new cleaning and hygiene protocols, discussing potential new Rec Hall procedures, and generally how to keep our campus as contained and clean as possible. We have plans….and back up plans…and back up plans of our back up plans!!
As I have shared in previous correspondence with the camp family, we are staying in contact with experts within our camp family. We are following developments at the CDC who is working with the American Camp Association to develop specific guidance for summer camps. We are staying in close touch with our contacts at the state and county levels of government.
With all of that said, I wish that I could share some concrete plans for what this summer will look like today. I want to provide a timeline for how/when camp will open, but with the fluidity of almost everything, it’s just not prudent to give you an exact timeline yet. I believe that at some point in mid-May the state and national agencies will be providing guidance for camps. Once that happens, I will be in communication about our plans more specifically. If I have information to share with you earlier, I will of course do so. I know that the waiting and uncertainty is tough on everyone…parents, staff, camp directors(!), and most importantly…the boys.
Rest assured, that the boys and all of the other members of the camp community are paramount in our planning and decision making. This is our most important and solemn obligation.
Thanks for your patience. We will be in touch.
Stay safe and healthy, and Keep The Fires Burning
By Louis Levin
Think you’re a puzzling mastermind? Show us what you’ve got on this month’s crossword puzzle!
Try the puzzle here!
Birthdays this month include…
May 1st – Milo Gilman, Milo Karsh
2nd – Perin Griggs, Bode Pera, Will Schwarz
3rd – Brooks Coyle
5th – Austin Alexander
8th – Sammy Rubinov
9th – Sam Brewer
10th – Evan Friedman, Auden Osburn
12th – Levi Gladstein, Roberto Bigelli, Aidan Capes
14th – Carlos Beaujean, Josh Desenberg, Jonah Kleiman
15th – Oliver Held, Ryan Kessler
19th – Louis Levin, Solomon Wasserman
22nd – Adam Cohen
25th – Joe Briggs
27th – Jacob solomon
29th – Gibson Kapp
30th – Rush Slivjanovski
31st – Zander Aronoff, Charlie Goshko
With the 2020 camp season quickly approaching, we would like to issue a few reminders that will help to answer questions and make the transition into camp run as smoothly as possible.
- All families should have received our email containing the instructions for completing your camper forms. All the forms need to be submitted by May 15. If your doctor cannot schedule the physical exam until after May 15, that is OK, but please complete the health history form ASAP. We read every form in its entirety, and the information helps us provide a fun and healthy summer for each camper. Please be diligent in filling them out.
- If your son will be using any daily medication in pill form, please note the due dates for CampMeds, a prepackaged medication service. (May 18 for first session and eight-week campers, and June 16 for second session campers.) This information can be found with the rest of the online forms here.
- Please make travel arrangements as early as possible. If you are using the Official Travel Agency of Camp Nebagamon, Travel One, contact them at 1-800-245-1111.
While everyone is at home for the time being, we thought you’d appreciate a few different ways to keep up with camp. As Fornear mentioned in his article this month, we are organizing Zoom video hangouts for current campers. We are announcing these video hangouts typically a day in advance on social media and via email. For all you alumni, if you are organizing your own video hangouts, take a picture and send it to us so we can share them!
We have also been running some awesome activities for you at home on our Facebook and Instagram. We’re bringing some classic Guinness T Nebagamous events into your living room (#GuinnessT), and organizing a few Wannado activities you can try at home (#WannaDo). To really feel connected to camp, why not cook your favorite camp foods? We’re sharing some of the best camp recipes for you to cook in your own kitchen with our virtual Chef’s Cap (#ChefsCap). Of course, these aren’t just for our current campers, we’re inviting the whole camp family, alumni, and staff to participate!
We have more on the way, and if you participate in anything campy at home, share with the appropriate hashtag and tag us on social media!
As I write this today, the entire Camp Family — in fact, the entire World Family — is working through truly unprecedented and challenging times. All of us are learning how to manage the shakeup in our lives that the Coronavirus situation has thrust upon us. And, knowing the Camp Family as I do, I am sure you are all figuring out how to navigate it. We are hopeful that this pandemic has directly affected as few of our camp families as possible, but for those of you whose lives it has touched, please know that our hearts and thoughts are with you.
In the camp office, we continue to move ahead with exciting and fun plans for the summer, as well as creating new protocols, cleaning procedures, and policies that will ensure a safe and healthy summer for all.
As I wrote in my note to all families two weeks ago, please know that we take our role very seriously and are closely monitoring the situation. We are receiving information and recommendations from our state and local health departments, the American Camp Association, and our own network of infectious disease doctors and other camp directors. This information is critical to us, and we will continue to stay on top of it.
Still, with all of these challenges, I am sure that many of you have noticed unexpected positives as well. The massive amounts of family time that we have all been gifted by this situation will undoubtedly strengthen and deepen our family connections. Truth be told, I had thought this degree of time with my family (one of whom is in college and the other two at an age when their non-family life becomes increasingly important) was gone forever…that I would never again have the special time with my kids that childhood affords. And now I have that time…. we all do. In all of our families, we are coming to understand each other in ways that “normal” life would not have allowed. In the long run, it is my belief that this will lead to healthier family relationships and closer families. Also, I am betting that this increased home time has decluttered many “just throw it in there” closets, junk drawers, and garages as we all find productive ways to spend our time. (Not sure my kids have viewed this as a positive. Except maybe my son, Ben, who now realizes he DOES have enough MATCHED socks to make it through 10 days. In the long run, he may appreciate denying his 17-year-old pals THAT avenue of attack in the future….and it might help him get a date too!) Additionally, I am betting that we are all becoming better and more creative cooks as we learn to make do without the exact items we want for a given recipe. (I have found that chocolate chips are an excellent substitute for just about everything!)
To be sure…I don’t mean to suggest that what we are all dealing with right now is a good thing. Rather, there are some positives that come of it, and it is healthy for us to remind ourselves of this.
It is with this in mind that we present our annual April Arrowhead. If you have been a reader of these monthly newsletters over the past 17 years (yes, I know….that means my dad, one mom in St. Louis, and an alumnus from Seattle) you might remember that the lead article of April’s Arrowhead is always intended to be a lighthearted prank on my vast readership. And I see no reason to deny you that piece of normalcy….
Take care everyone, and feel free to reach out to us for anything.
Adam
March birthdays include…
March 1st – Sagiv Siegel
2nd – Katay Briggs
3rd – Henry O’Connor, Drew Smith
5th – Melissa Moy, Graham Straus

Have Muggs cut you a big piece of cake for your birthday!
6th – Camde Blumberg, Mason Pedroza, Kavi Vishnubhakat
8th – Jonah Karafiol
9th Matan Radwin, Dax Winegarden
12th – Ari Weiss, Alex Buring, Henry Lokken
14th – Hudsoon Soofer, Levi Whalen Stewart
15th – Austin Abeles, Tristan Hall, Walker Karp
17th – Sohra Rezaei
18th – Teddy Chazkel, Joshua Varon
19th – Eli Hoffman, Josh Marcus
20th – Reeve Gaele, Matan Siegel
21st – Austin Evans, Liam Man, Jack Schrader, Tyler Shaw
22nd – Cam Louie, Wicho Zambrano
24th – Will Gray
25th – Tate Gell, Lev Lippitz, Dylan Marroquin
26th – Michael Bayer
28th – Audrey Hurt
29th – Owen Goldsmith, Max Hesser
31st – Rahul Pai, Drew Sklar, Ben Sklar, Eli Striker
It’s time for the annual icebreaker contest! We’re hoping spring will soon be upon us, so when exactly will the ice break? That’s the question facing us as we begin this year’s contest.
Aficionados will recall, in 2012 Lake Nebagamon experienced its earliest icebreak on record, falling on March 21st. The latest ice breakup was on May 14th in 2013. The Official Lake Nebagamon Ice Recorder is none other than our own Andy Mack. He is already monitoring the lake for the village and will let us know as soon as the ice disappears, whether it happens mid-afternoon or at 3 a.m. Yes folks, Andy spends every waking moment (eating, sleeping, and working!) on the very shores of Lake Nebagamon to let us know EXACTLY when the ice breaks up (correct up to the second)!
To enter, simply fill out the form below. All entries must be received by April 1st. Of course, it would be wise to read the fine print below before making your guess. Winners could be contacted by Bravo TV, HBO, Hulu, Netflix, and other major networks and will receive prominent mention in The Arrowhead. So, don’t wait until the last minute. Send us your guess right away!
The Following Applies to the Sweepstakes Above:
Sweepstakes begins on the day you receive this Arrowhead and all entries must be received by April 1st. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, incomplete, illegible or postage-due mail. Entries become the property of Camp Nebagamon LLC and will not be returned or acknowledged. Any prize notice that results from a printing, production, typographical, mechanical or other error will be void. If due to an error, more than one prize notice is issued, the prize will be awarded in a random drawing among all such notices issued and received. Sweepstakes open to the residents of the United States and Canada and to residents in selected parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, Mexico, North America and South America, where made available and where permitted by law. Employees (full-time) of Camp Nebagamon LLC and members of those employees’ immediate families are not eligible. Select camp dogs permitted to submit entries; cats prohibited. This offer is subject to all applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws and regulations and is void whenever prohibited or restricted by law. Winner selection and random drawings are under the supervision of Ostrow Reisin Berk and Abrams Ltd., an independent accounting firm whose decisions are final. Random drawings will be held within 5 days of the ice breaking, no later than 5:00 p.m. at 877 Chardie Road, Boise, ID 83702. Winners will be notified within 10 days of the selection/drawing. Any prize or prize notification returned to the sponsor as undeliverable will result in the awarding of that prize to an alternate winner in a random drawing. Prize is not transferable except to a surviving spouse. Substitution for the prize may be necessary due to unavailability, in which case a comparable prize of equal or lesser value will be awarded. In countries where cash prizes are prohibited, substitute merchandise of comparable value will be awarded. Taxes (and any expenses not specified herein) are the responsibility of the winners. Entry and acceptance of the prize constitute permission (except where prohibited by law) to use the winner’s name, hometown and likeness for purpose of advertising and promotion on behalf of the contest sponsor without further compensation. If you’ve read this far, congratulations! The fine print is a joke, but the contest is for real!
By Louis Levin
How well do you know the camp songbook? Test your knowledge below!