I think to tell you what happened yesterday, I really need to start at the very beginning. The Hill was quiet yesterday morning. By this time in the summer our Swampers and Loggers are more likely to sleep until the wake up bell, so there was nobody out-and-about on the hill. Only birds chirping and a gentle breeze blowing through the trees interrupted the peace. It was quiet… until it wasn’t.
A group of staff gathered near the Swamper Village along with four Lumberjacks campers actually decked out in Lumberjack attire. They paced anxiously until 7:30 on the dot. Softly they counted down… “three, two, one,” followed by a unified yell chanted every year to start our day of all-camp competition: “THERE’S DAYLIGHT IN THE SWAMP!” The four costumed Lumberjacks, elected by their peers to by team captains called Boss Loggers, took off running through camp, rousing their fellow campers from their slumber yelling, “WAKE UP IT’S PAUL BUNYAN DAY!” That’s how it all began.
Our campers look forward to Paul Bunyan Day all year long. I had a few conversations yesterday in which campers shared that they even prefer Paul Bunyan Day to Thanksgiving! On Paul Bunyan Day we divide all of Camp into four lumber companies, Red River, Great Lakes, Weyerhaeuser and Long Bell, companies that campers represent throughout their careers at Nebagamon.
Throughout the day yesterday campers competed in a wide variety of activities. There were athletic events like handball, speedball, basketball, pushball, ultimate frisbee and goalie wars. There were campy events including three varieties of tug-o-war: classic tug-o-war, the voyageur rendezvous (a 1 v 1 tug-o-war where the Boss Loggers each stand on a wobbly stump and the camper who remains on the stump wins), and one of my personal favorites, canoe tug-o-war, alongside events like fire building, archery, box hockey, cribbage, euchre, quiz bowl, and many more. At Nebagamon we have campers with all sorts of different talents and our Paul Bunyan Day planners go above and beyond to make sure we have events that cater to all of those different talents.
We competed hard on Paul Bunyan Day. Campers tried their best to win each event for their respective lumber company. The day is, however, about more than winning though. Paul Bunyan Day encapsulates everything we’re all about at Nebagamon. Yes, it’s about trying our hardest and competing, but more than that it’s about buying in, sportsmanship, and having fun.
On Paul Bunyan Day we all agree as a community to make-believe that we’re Lumberjacks. The day is saturated with pomp and circumstance. Every year we select a senior staff member, this year our Lumberjack Village Director, Matthew Wilhelm, to serve as our honorary “Bull of the Woods,” the day’s MC. Before each meal the Bull of the Woods reads from a script, adding narrative to the day’s competition. The Bull of the Woods tells the story of fictional characters unique to camp like Hot Biscuit Slim, Chris Crosshaul and Ground Chuck Charlie who roamed the woods with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox back in the day. It would be easy for kids to say, “that’s silly, why would I want to pretend I’m a Lumberjack,” but on Paul Bunyan Day, we all agree that we’re in it together because we know that buying in leads to fun!
In our Rec Hall hangs a huge banner that reads, “Win or Lose, Be a Good Sport.” We live by those words every day, and especially on Paul Bunyan Day. Yesterday I witnessed incredible acts of sportsmanship and caring for one another. I saw a camper help someone up when they fell during a game of speedball. I saw a Lumberjack counsel a Logger who was having a tough time after losing a game of ultimate frisbee. What’s more, each lumber company has chants that the kids sing as they cheer one another on at events. Yesterday it wasn’t uncommon to hear loud chanting for campers’ own team as well as chanting for their opponent’s team!
On Paul Bunyan Day we all agree that our priority is having fun. In one of the day’s marquee events, the Timber Beast Trek, a multi-stage lumberjack themed relay race, the camper who was in last place by a significant margin danced across the finish line with a huge smile on his face. The crowd erupted more loudly for the last place finisher than the winner! As another example of the day’s emphasis on fun, after dinner we gathered at the Council Fire Ring to hear the results of the day. But first, as we do every year, we spent some time taking in the goofiest, most outrageous Council Fire one can conceive of, with the only intention being a chance to come together as a community and have some laughs, and then find out the results after. It was all about fun first.
The tone of Paul Bunyan Day, the emphasis on buy in, sportsmanship, and fun, all stems from those four costumed lumberjacks… the Boss Loggers. Each year the ninth grade votes to determine a team captain for each lumber company. They vote not based on athleticism or popularly, but instead on traits like leadership and kindness. The Boss Loggers are responsible for assigning each camper in their company to each of their activities by taking requests and getting to know everyone. They’re responsible for modeling all of the characteristics we hope to see on Paul Bunyan Day through their words and their actions. The ninth graders chose well this year. These Boss Loggers understood that as fun as it is to win, what was more important was making sure that every camper on their time was having as fun of a day as possible. These Lumberjacks were impressive leaders and mentors for the younger campers on their team and their peers alike.
There were tired eyes in the Rec Hall this morning from an action packed day of fun yesterday, but as soon as the bell rang for first period, campers were up and at ‘em, heading off around camp for their final day of projects for the session… Where has the time gone?
All is well in the Northwoods!