Good afternoon and happy Branch Day! I know it’s Wednesday, so you’re probably wondering what happened to Cruiser Day? Well, today we’re trying something new!
Here’s the back story. This winter, we gathered a few of our most creative seasonal leaders and posed to them a thought experiment:
You have a wide open Wednesday at camp. You can plan any kind of event you’d like. There are only two requirements:
1. There must be a barbeque for lunch (because the kitchen staff have time off on Wednesday)
2. Campers must have time to walk into the village for ice cream.
Remove the words “Cruiser Day” and any notions of what “Cruiser Day” entails from your mind… What would you do?
Cruiser Day has been a camp staple for decades, and is an important feature of our weekly schedule. The idea here was not to eliminate Cruiser Day; on the contrary, the idea was to inspire some originality in what we do on Cruiser Day. By posing this thought experiment, we wanted these creatives to plan something fresh and something that maintained the spirit of Cruiser Day- a day of outside-the-box community bonding and fun.
A few weeks after we posed the thought experiment the group reconvened to share their findings. They came up with some great, implementable, ideas. Branch Day is the first of these “special” Cruiser Days, and it’s about as “Camp-y” as could be.
It’s no surprise that if you gather a group of Camp people together and ask them to plan an event, it’s likely to feel both fun and thoughtful, and that exactly has been the tone today.
Branch Day has been a day of community service: an opportunity to take care of our own community here at Camp and our local community as well. (Get it? Branch Day? Like, Branching out to the community?) This morning some campers planted trees around Camp and cleaned the Village of Lake Nebagamon’s beach. Others traveled in groups to a nearby park we frequent over changeover and a campground we often use on the Brule River to lead trash pick-ups and trail maintenance efforts there. Another group of campers managed a bake sale in the village with proceeds going to a charity, Kids in Nebagamon, which supports families in our area in need of support. Yet another group volunteered at the Northwest Wisconsin Community Services Agency food pantry in Superior.
All day, our campers and staff have been helping out our community in creative ways and the events have been a blast. I spoke with a Swamper who told me how much fun it was to plant a tree for the first time, and a Lumberjack who told me about the value he found in cleaning up the Brule River campground where he had spent multiple evenings on trips in the past.
Still to come this afternoon we’ll have what will surely be one of the highlights of the day… The Axeman/Lumberjack Car Wash Fundraiser! The two villages will be joining forces to raise money also for Kids in Nebagamon. As the car wash begins our Swampers and Loggers will head to Dairy and Bean to carry on the timeless tradition of enjoying ice cream on Cruiser Day.
Beyond the events themselves, the day has been structured in a really cool way. First of all, they got to sign up for what projects they wanted to participate in. I write all the time about how important it is that we get to make choices for themselves every day at camp. Today I feel that one-thousand percent. Campers didn’t just get to make choices that benefited themselves, like choosing activities or trips, they made choices that benefited others. They opted into their projects and subsequently learned for themselves how it feels to make a decision that helps their community… How amazing is that??
Second of all, the leaders also created a lot of opportunities to think about what community service means to all of us as Branch Day approached. Every day this week, we heard from a different camper during mealtime announcements who spoke to us about what helping others means to them. Campers talked about reciprocal giving, giving back to people or places that have been important in their own lives. They talked about how giving makes them feel fulfilled. They described the importance of helping those in need. Campers even shared examples of things that they’ve done to volunteer outside of camp. We heard some truly inspiring stories.
Finally, while on most Cruiser Days we divide up by village, today, campers worked together across age groups. When I spoke to that first-time tree planter earlier, there was an eighth grader right there with him teaching him how to do it! As a result, Branch Day felt really unifying for our camp family. In addition to learning what it feels like when we make choices to help our community, campers also learned what it feels like when we work together towards a common goal.
So, Branch Day incorporated a ton of new things into a brand new day of camp: campers choosing their activities, working hard and playing harder, helping others, and coming together as a community. Wait… hold on just a second. That sounds like every day here at Camp Nebagamon! In lots of ways, Branch Day has felt like a fresh Cruiser Day, with a focus on service and giving back to our camp as well as the broader Lake Nebagamon community. And just the same, it’s been a typically spectacular Camp Nebagamon day.
All is well in the Northwoods!