We’ve got a philosophy here at Camp Nebagamon that magic can and should happen anytime, anywhere, and in abundance. Of course, camp magic occurs on its own, naturally, in the cabins, at projects, during free time, and out on trail. And it’s plentiful at big, scheduled events like Paul Bunyan Day, our first session competition day, that is coming up this week. But there’s another kind of camp magic we love, and that’s the kind you didn’t see coming. In the winter office, we often refer to these surprises as “Disneyland moments”, like walking through the park and stumbling upon a full-blown parade. Another reference text is Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality (former business partner of CN alum Danny Meyer), a treatise on how to make experiences above and beyond, and why the extra mile is so important. I want to focus on unexpected magic. Unmitigated joy. Blinding wonder. Uncontrollable laughter. I didn’t know that could happen.
I can’t wait for your camper to tell you about our Sunday, because when your camper woke up yesterday, I am not sure he was expecting to have the best day of his life. Sure, it was Sunday at Camp Nebagamon, and we hit all the classics. We slept for 30 minutes and enjoyed cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We gathered for a stellar Sunday Service delivered by our Wilderness Trip Director. Campers screamed at the top of their lungs through our weekly pizza night dance party. We had a lovely Council Fire presented by our Campcraft Director. This is what Sunday usually looks like: reflective at times, electrifying at others. At this point in the season, it was exactly what your camper would expect a Sunday to look like, in the best way possible.
And yet… yesterday afternoon, a few staff members with Noah Stein at the helm, orchestrated what I would call one of the biggest, grandest surprises at camp this summer, and it was called Super G.
Super G was designed to be a G-Swim period to best all G-Swims. It was planned in almost complete secrecy, and unveiled with a relatively vague announcement at lunch. Campers were instructed to head down to the waterfront at the end of activity, and that there would be quite the surprise waiting for them. Of course, there was free swim and G-Snack, as campers would expect during G-Swim. But surprise number one was extremely hard to miss: a firetruck – hose at the ready, lights ablaze, spraying a water jet 100’ high into the swim area and soaking campers on the beach. Special thanks to the local Lake Nebagamon Volunteer Fire Department for hooking us up for this one, including our own Caretaker Jeremy Nordin-Berghuis and his partner Inga, as well as Fire Chief Jake Fuller.
he truck was just the beginning. Soon, a live band of campers started to jam, pulling out one classic rock tune after the next. Campers jumped in the water for a swim, and those who didn’t want to get wet built sand castles on the beach. As they began digging in the sand, a camper realized he hit upon something unexpected: a treasure chest! (Ok, it was a Coleman cooler, but you get what I’m going for!). Why was that buried in the sand? Campers unearthed the cooler and soon realized they’d hit gold. Or at least camp gold, that is… it was brimming with candy.
A frenzy ensued. What else could be hidden under the sand? What other surprises lay below the surface? The campers on the beach kept digging in different spots and slowly but surely uncovered one surprise after another. Next, they excavated a walkie talkie. Huh. This find didn’t really elicit the same response as a treasure chest full of candy, until the camper who found it turned it on.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” asked the camper, as a group of 20 other campers closed in around him.
“Hello, yes, this is the Ice Cream Barge,” a voice crackled back.
“The….. Ice Cream Barge?!” The campers couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing.
“Yep, this is the Ice Cream Barge, how can I help you?”
“……can we have some ice cream?”
“We’ll be right there!”
Jetting across the lake came none other than the Ice Cream Barge, our pontoon boat carrying a cooler full of popsicles, ice cream bars, push-up pops, the works. The boat pulled up to our swim area and campers swarmed as staff tossed ice cream into the crowd. Campers threw frisbees and splashed in the lake enjoying their treats, as others kept digging. At some point, the firetruck had finally unloaded all of its 3,000-gallon tank.
Word spread that a final treasure chest remained uncovered, and a frantic search on the beach continued. As dinner neared, the organizers of Super G announced there would be only five more minutes of searching. As campers hit the beach and dried off, the crowd grew and grew on land, moving mounds of sand until they finally found the final cache buried in the beach. The crowd erupted in cheers and the contents, even more candy, was distributed to all.
Still, other surprises hidden around the waterfront went unnoticed. I personally watched at least three campers stare directly at the Golden Goggle Ticket, a token that can be used to win any horse-n-goggle clipped to the H-dock in obvious plain sight. To my dismay, none of them bit. Ah well – it means we’ve got something up our sleeve for the next time we want to leave a little camp magic lying around for a camper to stumble upon.
As campers gathered their things and thanked the fire crew for their appearance, camp was buzzing. “Best day ever!” one told me. Another approached with about five lollipops in his mouth and wondered if we could do Super G again tomorrow. As the last camper lingered during cleanup, he earnestly asked me, “does this really have to end?”
We capped off the day with another surprise: the fireworks display that was rained out on Friday evening was rescheduled for Sunday. As we sang our closing songs at the Council Fire Ring, campers were dismissed not to their cabins, but to the docks to sit and wait for the show to begin. In my estimation this might be the first time we’ve ever had Council Fire and fireworks line up. One the docks, campers began singing their favorite camp songs as twilight blanketed the waterfront. When the first loud crack came from the middle of the lake a hush fell over the crowd as they soaked in the display.
There is no standard day here at Camp Nebagamon. While yesterday’s Super G and fireworks display certainly put an exclamation mark on the week, campers can tell a story about a remarkable, unexpected moment from every day this summer. Some of them are orchestrated and scheduled weeks or months in advance. Others, like the moose that swam alongside a group of our campers’ canoes in the Boundary Waters last week, are anything but. We’ve got one more week of the first session, and we can’t wait for what other surprises are in store for our campers – it’s sure to be magic!