Camp Kamaji Blog | Minnesota's Oldest Camp for Girls

The Magic of Camp

by Kamaji on July 21, 2010 · 0 comments

in Camp,News,Thinking Out Loud at the Kamaji Office,Why Summer Camp

perfect day Yesterday was the session’s first Adventure Day. If your daughter is new to Kamaji, you probably don’t know what that is. Most days, the campers attend four different instructional activity periods — two in the morning and two in the afternoon — and have a free period at the end of the afternoon. They don’t necessarily go to activities with campers from their porch group; instead their instructional classes are filled with campers of all ages and similar interests and ability levels. Adventure Day is an entirely different kind of day at Kamaji. On Adventure Day campers spend the whole day with their porch mates and cabin counselors.

Here’s how yesterday’s Adventure played out. After breakfast, it’s everybody’s favorite time of the day – Cabin Clean-up. Adventure Day Cabin Clean-Up is a much more thorough job because it includes changing sheets and getting everyone’s laundry ready to go to the laundromat and an all-out cabin cleaning (think Spring Cleaning!!). While getting all the campers’ laundry together may sound like an adventure all by itself, it’s only the beginning of Adventure Day. After a picnic lunch, each porch group sets off for an afternoon porch-group specific activities – planned by the group in advance and anticipation of Adventure Day. Groups can opt to do some normal camp activities like sail, swim, waterski or play tennis plus some not-so-normal activities like putting on fashion shows, going on photo scavenger hunts, having Lady Gaga make-overs, shucking corn, making signs to hang over beds or a cabin banner; believe-it-or-not, there are even scheduled shower parties complete with music. (A great incentive to get the girls to shower and wash their hair!). You can check out pictures of some of these activities on Kamaji’s Photo Gallery.

adventure day fashion show Adventure Day’s dinner is the incredibly popular Rainbow Burger outdoor barbecue. After last night’s dinner, each porch group got together to design a porch float for a Porch Float Parade that will be held next week. There were a lot of giggles and funny designs. When the bell rang at about 8:30 pm, a wonderful Adventure Day came to an end. At least we thought it came to an end.

At about 8:45, we heard a whole lot of noise coming from outside the office. When we stepped outside, we saw that there were a bunch of counselors and campers playing a game we did not recognize. There were two teams of folks on one side of the imaginary field and a few counselors sitting on the other side of the imaginary field. They were playing some sort of made-up Disney Trivia game. Here’s how it worked. The counselors sitting would call out a Disney trivia question, Something like, “Who was Captain Hook’s first mate?” The first person who ran across the imaginary field and answered the trivia question (Schmee!) got a point for their team. It was clear that the game had started spontaneously and that the questions were being made up on the spot. There was so much laughter and commotion that before you could say “Steamboat Willy”, the two teams of folks had grown to four or five teams. Campers and counselors wandering by joined in – no invite necessary. It was quite a scene. It was if the campers and counselors just didn’t want to see an end to the first Adventure day of the session.

Where else but camp could a group of nine, ten and eleven year old kids get together with a bunch of 20 something adults and make up a game that kept them laughing and cheering until the setting sun meant the game had to end?

And now the weather: If your daughter was a second session camper last summer, you might remember that we experienced the coolest session in Kamaji’s past 30 years. Well, this session the Great Spirit has been smiling on Kamaji. When the campers stepped off the buses last Friday, it was actually warmer (82 degrees) than it was at any time during last year’s second session. We have had a few showers, but nothing that slowed down the program. Heck, we even had a Camp Directors’ Thunderstorm on Tuesday. A Camp Directors Thunderstorm is an official U.S. Weather Service term for rain which occurs between midnight and 7 am. By the time the campers woke up on Tuesday morning, the sun was shining. It was truly a picture perfect day: sunny with low humidity and a high of 81 degrees. Thanks, Great Spirit!

941766916_889jP-M

Kamaji’s Wilderness Tripping Program is already running at full speed. At 6 am on Tuesday, Pine and Manor left on their week-long Canadian canoe trips. They will spend the next week paddling and portaging in the pristine White Otter Wilderness Area north of Atikokan, Ontario. Also on Tuesday a mixed group of campers from Cabin 4 and Cabin on the Hill left for a four day trip to Voyageurs National Park. And today, Cabin 3 Porch 1 took off for a three day Crow Wing River trip and Cabin 1 paddled off for their three day trip to Lake Andrusia.

And there’s good news from Club Med, Kamaji Health Center. There has been a few sniffles, bumps, bruises and bug bites, but nothing more serious than that. This week, Club Med’s staff is headed up by Dr. Adam Blonsky. Adam is pediatrician from St. Charles, IL and is spending his third rotation on the shores of Wolf Lake. Joining Adam in Club Med are three nursing assistants. Rebekah Bass, Cari Zuckerman, Sharma Prosser – all fourth year BSN nursing students who are spending their first summer at Kamaji. It is Kamaji’s policy to have Cari, Sharma or Rebekah call you if your daughter is admitted for an overnight stay in Club Med or is taken to see a doctor or dentist in town. (We do NOT call if your daughter spends a few hours just resting in Club Med or if she visits for a scraped knee, sore throat, bug bite, applied band-aid or Tylenol request). Kamaji’s policy assures you that if your daughter receives anything more than routine health care you’ll hear from us. No health-related news is good news.

campers 2 FYI: On Saturday, Alan Braverman, a cardiologist from St. Louis will replace Adam Blonsky as Camp Doc. This will be Alan’s 5th stint at Kamaji. And on July 31, Alan’s place will be taken by Cat Dean, a gynecologist from St. Louis, who will be spending her 13th summer as Camp Doc. Cat will be with us until the end of the camp season.

Well, that’s all for now. We’ll write again in a few days. In the meantime, if you have any questions about your daughter’s experience at Kamaji, just write or call.

Campingly,
Mike, Kathy and Kat

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Now We Know How Kamaji Camper Moms (and Dads)…

by Kamaji on July 15, 2010 · 1 comment

in Camp

. . . spend their time while their daughters are at Kamaji!!

mamojians

The mom who sent in the picture (printed with permission of all present in the photo) writes:

For the 3rd summer, many of your Chicago campers moms have enjoyed a
lovely night out together w/o having to get home for our kids.
Someone lovingly nicknamed our group the ‘Momajis’. This summer we
let Tom Dutton join us. While we know our kids are having a great
time at camp, we’re having our own fun w/o kids around (or w/ less
kids). Thanks for taking such good care of them for us!

Your Friends in Chicago

Need Ye Directors say more??!!

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Anne Comes Home Today

by Kamaji on July 14, 2010 · 2 comments

in Camp,News,Why Summer Camp

(Published on Kamaji’s Blog August 15, 2009 but worth putting it front-and-center again)

I woke abruptly, with a catch in my throat as I realized the immediacy of the day, both for myself and for her.

I have missed her. I am aching to put my arms around her after a month’s absence. I am so eager to hear her stories of archery and camping trips and Tribe Day and evening talent shows. And after a while, I know, she will drop back into her own-selfness, and I will lose the glimpse of Anne at camp.

But, this morning, I am feeling a lump in my own throat as I look at the clock and know they are loading the buses to leave camp. My own eyes are pricking as I consider the hugs, the last glances through the trees, the promises to write . . . Did it rain there last night, as it did here? Is the ground damp and earthy scented? Are the trees weeping raindrops onto the backs of weeping girls? Did anyone run down the steps to the lake, to breathe the morning mist and hear once more the kak-kak of the mergansers, perhaps the warbling of the loons? No doubt that beautiful, soft whispering of the lofty white pine branches is obscured this morning by gasping sobs and tearful laughter. How many girls look around, gulping it all in, distantly aware that it will never, ever be the same as it is today?

Girls will stay in touch; e-mails will be exchanged, letters will be sent, giddy reunions will take place. Campers and staff members will return another year. The jewel in the north woods will remain, preserved in hearts and memories through the winter. And then, next summer, the lodge, the Nutshell, the stone steps, the lake . . . all will be there. Small changes evolve, but camp will still be camp.

But it will never be the same as it is today, this month, this year. This precious moment, the one with the perfect synchronicity of cabin mates, tribe members, counselors, coincidence and weather will remain only in our remembering. In another month, another year, we will be older, we will view the world and each other . . . differently. We can never stand in exactly this wonderful place again.

I think kids get it as they say their goodbyes. One can, perhaps, survive just fine away from that friend who plays tetherball, without that counselor’s encouragement, without that play to rehearse. In a larger view, a picture broader than camp’s, these things may become less essential. But today, it is all here, all the fun, the challenge, the disappointment, the sweetness and wonder. It is all coalesced in a magical place and time, under the pines on a lake up north.

What we are saying farewell to is this moment, this month of magical moments, the amazing, exuberant serendipity of life at camp. Girls embrace counselors, clutch tightly to them as if to embed the feelings in their hearts. Moist-eyed and wistful faces watch the buses pull away through the tall pines. Some travelers will grow quiet as they make last looks, memorize the place, the faces, the feelings.

In a few hours, she’ll be home, back to the house and people she left a few weeks ago. In her soul, she carries a month of adventures. I want to hear them all. I want to know how her world has changed this month. I want to hear about canoeing blisters and gritty s’mores, windless sailing days and exhilarating performances. I want the details of every arrow gone astray, every toast at banquet, of Capture the Flag and Adventure Day. I want to hear all her triumphs and disappointments.

I’ll get a smattering. Some of it will be fun to tell, and she may or may not recreate for herself and for us the vividness, the immediacy and truth of each moment. I’ll hear a healthy dose of stories today, and tomorrow over lunch. And I crave that.

But, I’m guessing the most important stuff will seep out over the next weeks and months. A passing reference to the climbing wall, an off-hand remark about “. . . once, when I was on the Barnett . . .”, these will be the truly telling stories, the ones that ever-so-subtly and maddeningly gradually will show me what camp was about. It’ll be the stuff that comes out almost unconsciously. The things that have wormed their way into her outlook, that shape her perspective and influence her taste and choices. These are the thoughts and ideas that stay with her long after she’s left the magical place up north.

While these things that endure are, to my mind, the most precious part of her adventures at camp, they are also, paradoxically, what she is bidding farewell to this morning. Those poignant moments, the crystalline events that shape her new wisdom and understanding, these are ephemeral. The lessons and memories endure, but the process, the experience of acquiring the joy, the hurt, the hope, the wisdom and understanding is forever ensconced at Kamaji. It is those moments of enlightenment, whether conscious or not, those brilliant bits of Kamaji-flavored living that the girls say goodbye to this morning. The lessons, the memories, the sunburns and friendship bracelets all go home, but the lovely, luscious process of living and learning at camp stays at the end of the rainbow.

In a few hours, I’ll see her, my daughter will be home. I know she’ll be a little sad, a little disoriented, tired and dirty. I hope she’ll be a little bit happy to see us, to sleep in clean sheets and have plenty of hot water. I can’t wait to see her, to get my arms around her and to hold that brilliant rainbow tucked inside her.

Judy Welch Meisner
July 14, 2009
Kamaji Alumnae ’67-’69, ’71,’73
Kamaji Doctor ’01-’10
Kamaji Camper Parent ’08-’10

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CAMP KAMAJI NOTES END OF SESSION EDITION, JULY 12, 2010

by Kamaji on July 13, 2010 · 0 comments

in Camp

TRAVEL INFORMATION FOR JULY 14, 2010
July 14th will be a long day for your daughter! We’ll have about a 5:30 am wake-up bell and the buses will leave camp at about 7:00 am for the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. Campers are heading to 20 different cities around the country. We sent you our flight schedule last week, so you should know when to pick her up.

If you are meeting your daughter at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, you should pick her up at the Transit Center between 11:30 am and noon. Your daughter and her luggage will be there.

If your daughter is flying on DL 3482 to St. Louis, DL 5682 to Chicago O’Hare or SW 200 to Chicago Midway she will be escorted by a Kamaji counselor. That means you probably won’t be able to meet your daughter at the gate, however, you can try to get Delta or Southwest to issue you a security pass. If you can’t get to the gate, the counselor will escort your daughter to baggage claim and remain with her until you arrive.

If your daughter is on a flight other than the ones mentioned above and is flying home as an “Unaccompanied Minor” you should be able to obtain a security pass from the airline which will allow you to meet your daughter at her arrival gate. Plan on arriving at the airport in plenty of time to obtain your security pass.

If you have any questions about travel, just ask.

END OF SEASON INFORMATION
Here are some final details about the end of your daughter’s stay at Kamaji:
1. If your daughter is missing clothing or equipment items, please notify us as soon as possible.
2. Your daughter’s store account refund or bill will be sent to you before September 1.
3. Information about Kamaji’s 2011 camping season will be sent to you in a few weeks.
4. We’ll be sending you an evaluation form from us in the next few weeks. We hope you’ll complete it. If you have a more immediate concern, feel free to contact us now.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SESSION FROM YE DIRECTORS
(Ed. Note: This section of the letter may sound familiar to many of you. The concepts are not new, but we’ve freshened it up a bit.)

Be prepared! In a few days your daughter will be hanging out with you. The first session of Kamaji’s 97th season will be history. We want to warn you that your daughter may, at any time during her first few days at home, fall into the “Kamaji Zone”. You will immediately notice a change in her behavior. Don’t worry as these changes will only last a short time. Right after your daughter eats breakfast don’t, we repeat don’t, panic if your daughter suddenly jumps on the kitchen chair and sings at the top of her lungs. That’s what we do at meals. And after breakfast, YOU had better sit down. We don’t want you to faint if your daughter runs to her room to make her bed and straighten up her closet. Don’t worry. We are confident that THIS behavior won’t last more than a few days. If you are sitting at the dinner table and you would like her to get something from the kitchen, just tell her that it’s her turn to be “hopper”. And if you go out to dinner at a nice restaurant, please remind her NOT to put her chair on the table when you leave. And be prepared. Your daughter will expect you to have 4 or 5 different activities planned for her each day. (How about windsurfing, horseback riding, ceramics and sailing – just to start.) There may be certain words missing from her vocabulary – Words like “TV”, “texting”, “facebook”, “download” and even “hair dryer” – Don’t worry. Most girls will pick up these terms quickly. There are other behaviors – too numerous to mention, that you may observe during the first few days your daughter is home. If you cannot interpret any of them, feel free to call the “Kamaji Kommand and Kontrol”. Trained camp personnel will be on duty 24 hours a day to answer your call.

Another way to ease your daughter’s transition into the “other” world is to show her the “Smugmug” pictures. She hasn’t seen any of them and what a great way to re-live the past few weeks. We suggest that you go through the pictures with her. We don’t want you to miss the chuckles. Heck, you both can follow Kamaji’s second session through the posted pictures.

When parents and friends talk to us about camp, one of the questions often asked is, “How has camp changed over the past few years?”. Well, camp hasn’t changed much. Oh sure, when the campers arrived this summer they were pretty excited to see the brand new ski boat, but the magic of camp is that it’s pretty much the same as it was 20, 40 or 60 years ago. The biggest change over the past few years is not with Kamaji, but with Kamaji’s campers. They are more enthusiastic about camp than ever before. We believe one explanation for this change is that kids feel more disconnected from their school and neighborhoods than in the past. I-Pods, e-mail, cell phones, Facebook and unrealistic academic demands have made it possible for all of us to communicate with each other without any real human contact. It literally takes less energy to send an email message halfway around the world than it does to walk over and say “hello” to your next door neighbor. Contrast all this to life at camp. No matter what you do here at camp, you do it with other people who can hear, see and touch you. We eat together, sing together, learn how to do new things together. We know each other’s names. We laugh with each other, swim with “buddies”, sail with a crew, set tables with our tribe, clean cabins together, sort laundry with our porchmates. We have a shared language (Metigs, Za, Za 2, O’Naug, keylog, gooey rolls), a shared history (“We were here in ‘010, ‘010…”), our own rituals (Boy, oh boy, what a day it’s been!), and most of all, shared experiences (remember our canoe trip, Tribe Day, Adventure Day). In simple terms we are a “community” where each camper is connected to her porchmates, her counselors, her tribemates, her “Kami Sister”. We touch, see and hear each other a million times every day. Yup, Kamaji has changed over the years. We have more fun than ever before! Maybe campers have figured out that sleeping in a bed right below your best friend is a whole lot better than being a “friend” on Facebook.

ONE LAST FAVOR….
The crazy economic news of the past two years have brought scary times for many private summer camps, including Kamaji. 2010 was a good recruiting year for us. The number of new campers this summer is up 135% over the summer of 2009. That’s thanks to the support of many of you. After all, referrals are really our only means of finding new campers. If you know families who might be interested in hearing about Kamaji, please let us know. Referrals can be friends of yours, friends of your daughter’s, relatives from another city or business contacts. We’re never get tired of talking about camp, so please send the names and contact information for anyone who may want to hear Kamaji’s story. Thanks in advance for your help.

FINAL COMMENTS
This has been quite a session! Even though we’ve been camp directors for a long time, every session is brand new. There are a couple of things that stand out about the past few weeks.

First of all, on June 18th, we greeted 38 new campers. Some were as young as 7 years old and, for the first time in recent history, we had 2 new 15 year olds. It was AMAZING just how quickly all 38 of the new campers were swallowed into the Kamaji Kommunity. Not one “homesick” talk! Not even close to one “homesick” talk. That’s quite a tribute to the campers, their counselors and, yes, you, their parents. And, it seemed as if each new camper was greeted with open arms and a huge smile by the returning campers as well! If your daughter was a new camper this summer, we hope she now feels that Kamaji is her “home away from home.”

The second thing that stands out is just how much fun the campers seemed to have during the past few weeks. When we say “fun” what we mean is just how creative and silly the campers can be. Whether it’s dressing up for Alien Abduction Night or just playing with flashlights in the cabin, these campers know how to get a make fun out of almost any situation. It’s great to see.
Lastly, thanks to you for trusting us with your daughter. We know what a leap of faith putting your daughter on that plane represents. Our kids are 26 and 22, and we still worry every time they leave the house. We also know how excited you must be to get your daughter back home.

We sincerely wish you and your family the very best for the rest of the summer and the upcoming fall. We hope that your daughter enjoyed herself as much as we enjoyed having her here and that she will return for Kamaji’s 98th season. “Boy, Oh Boy, What a Month It’s Been!”

Yours,
Mike, Kathy and Kat

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Tuesday, July 6th: A Day of Contrasts

by Kamaji on July 8, 2010 · 1 comment

in Camp,News,Thinking Out Loud at the Kamaji Office,Why Summer Camp

waterfront at sunrise The campers and counselors enjoyed an absolutely spectacular camp day. Bright sunshine, crystal clear skies, light breezes and temps in the upper 70′s. Kamaji looked like a movie set today. Cabin 4 Porch 2, Cabin on the Hill, Nutshell Porch 3 and Cabin 1 Porch 2 all left on their respective canoe trips. For those campers remaining at camp, it was Adventure Day. Porch groups swam, skied, painted the huge propane tank to look like a Converse tennis shoe, put on fashion shows and played tennis. A wonderful Rainbow Burger BBQ was followed by more games on the archery field. What a day for campers and counselors alike!
fashion 3 For Ye Camp Directors, it was, well, just one of those days. It was one thing after another. Things got started at about 4:30 am when we received the first of about 5 computer generated phone calls. That’s when the phone rings and you pick it up and there is nothing but a beeping noise. (We eventually unplugged the phones in our house.) Later that morning came the realization that the huge propane tank (which supplies propane to the camp kitchen and would later be painted to look like a shoe) had basically ran out of propane because the propane company forgot to deliver propane. Next the brand new, really big commercial water heater (which supplies the camp kitchen) stopped heating water. At lunch, the Hubbard County Water Sheriff showed up to do his yearly inspection of all Kamaji’s boat registrations. That’s a lot of boats: 24 canoes, 20 kayaks, 13 sailboats, 6 motor boats. There were about 800 other things that conspired to keep Ye Directors firmly cemented in the office. Of course, it didn’t help that everyone who came into the office yesterday commented on what a beautiful day it was.

fashion 2

Ye Camp Directors were actually planning on going out for dinner for the first time this summer, when one of the nursing called the office and said that SHE had a medical emergency. One of the other nursing staff rushed her to the ER. The good news is that the emergency was a false alarm, however, it meant that Kathy needed to be at camp to help with Club Med. No going out to dinner. And so it went until the bell ending the evening program sounded. I headed outside to the office porch to schmooze with the campers as they headed back to their cabins to get ready for bed. That’s when the two camp worlds collided.

The campers and counselors from Nutshell Porch 2 walked by busily talking and laughing. I stopped them to ask “How was your day?” I heard small tidbits of their Adventure Day tales. I also heard about Isabella’s pending move from Ft. Collins to somewhere in Texas, Izzy’s excitement about her grandmother’s pending stay at Kamaji as the Camp Doctor, and Posey’s review of her parents’ recent visit to camp. Understand when you ask a group of 10 year olds that question, they answer all at once, so these stories took about 90 seconds to tell. Then I heard one of the campers say the words, “night swim”.

Shoe 02

“What?” I asked and one of the campers said that it was such a nice day and she wondered if the cabin could go for late evening swim. I said “Sure. I’ll be the lifeguard. Go get changed. I’ll meet you at the swim area in 10 minutes.”

Ten minutes later as I walked down the steps toward the lake, I could barely take everything in. The lake looked like a picture postcard. The sun was still lighting up the far shoreline. The water reflected the deep, blue sky and few white clouds. A mother wood duck and her six ducklings were sunning themselves on one of the floating rafts. And the campers and counselors of Nutshell Porch 2 were sitting on steps ready to for their “night swim”. As soon as I said “Let’s go!” the eight campers and three counselors barefooted out on the dock. They lined up on he dock and someone said, “One, two, three.” While everyone jumped into Wolf Lake, the family of ducks jumped off the raft and headed for a quieter waters.

For the next 25 minutes I couldn’t believe the scene in front of me. The setting sun! Wolf Lake still except for the swimming Nutshellers and ducks. Even an eagle was soaring down the shoreline. And there was only one word to describe the sounds of campers and counselors — Joy.

Shoe 01

Nothing was really organized, but the campers and staff probably made up about 100 different games during the 25 minutes of their “night swim”. And the air was filled with constant chatter and giggles. I felt as if I was had landed in the middle of a movie meant to show summer camp as some sort of nirvana.

Only at Kamaji it was real.

scenery 2

In the end, yesterday turned out to be was a terrific day for campers, counselors and, yes, even Ye Directors, too. Thanks Nutshell Porch 2 for making me forget about the hot water heater, the 4:30 am phone calls, the trip to the ER and the 800 other things that kept me in the office all day. Ain’t camp great??!!

Mike (and Kathy and Kat)

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Kamaji Notes: June 30, 2010

by Kamaji on July 2, 2010 · 0 comments

in Camp,News

campers

We had an action packed last few days. First session is zooming along. Can you believe that two weeks from tomorrow the first session campers will be on their home??!! Yikes!

We hope you’ve been keeping up with the pictures on “Smugmug”. If so, you’ve been able to see many of the past week’s program highlights. Here are some of our highlights from the past week.

You already know that Monday’s evening program was Halloween Night. There was one very important part of Halloween Night that you didn’t see — the Haunted House. It’s pretty hard to take pictures in a haunted house because it’s, well, dark. Let’s just say, the campers found the Haunted House really scary and FUN! You’ll probably hear more details about the Haunted House from your daughter.

campers and counselor Another of our program highlight of the past week was Saturday night’s Council Fire. One reason we enjoyed it was that the season’s first Council Fire had to held indoors, so just being outside at the Council Fire with the “fires leap toward the sky” was a pleasure. And the campers seemed to enjoy a quiet evening program, too.

Here’s a couple of more personal highlights from the past few days.

On Sunday Cabin 2 Porch 2 was in the middle of their three day canoe trip. I needed to get a simple message to Tripper Nick and I knew the group was camped on some property we own on Lake Andrusia. It’s only a few minute drive from camp and I thought it would be fun to visit the gang so, after the evening program, I jumped in a car. When I arrived at the campsite, I found the whole gang sitting around a campfire and enthusiastically singing the Unicorn song. (Tripper Nick had a copy of all the words.) When the campers saw me, they jumped up to say “hi”. Every camper immediately started telling me about her canoe trip, and because they were all talking at once, all I really could figure out was they were having a ton of fun. Within a few minutes I was sitting around the campfire with the group. The campers continued to talk rapidly as they filled me in on the very, very minor details of the trip. There were a lot of giggles and outright laughter. After a few minutes it was time for me to head back to camp, and when I walked back toward the car, the whole group was still sitting around the campfire and talking up a storm. It was a picture right out of the movies. Campers and counselors sitting in the woods around a campfire simply enjoying being together. Ain’t camp great.

campers 3 Here’s another incident from the past few days that impressed me. At Monday’s dinner, I sat with the campers and counselors of Nutshell Porch 1. All the Nut 1 campers are spending their first summer at Kamaji so I was looking forward to getting to know them better. As I sat there I was amazed by the almost ballet-like coordination between the campers and counselors. Let’s just say that eating dinner with 7 nine year olds is action-packed. Campers bring the food to the table, pass platters around the table, pour milk and water, even take time to eat, scrape the plates, take food back to the kitchen, get dessert, pass out dessert, eat the dessert, scrape the dessert plates, clear the table, and wipe the table clean. All this is accomplished with constant chatter, giggles and laughter. The counselors seem more like choir directors as they keep everything moving in the right direction. Even though you don’t normally associate eating dinner with a lot of activity, camp obviously isn’t normal.

camper and staff 2

Here’s a few notes from other Kamaji departments.

Health Department: What a difference a year makes!

Last year at this time, we were in the middle of good ‘ol swine flu. Flash ahead to 2010 and the folks at Kamaji’s Club Med have seen a few bumps, sore throats, and headaches, but nothing more serious. As a matter of fact not one camper or counselor has been admitted to Club Med this summer. (Keep those fingers crossed!) For the first ten days of camp, Kamaji’s medical team was headed up by Dr. Judy Meisner, an anesthesiologist from Wayzata, MN. While being a doctor is a good thing, Judy’s number one qualification for being a camp doctor is that she is also a MOM to camper Anne. Judy just spent her 14th summer at Kamaji: her 9th summer as camp doc after spending 5 summers in the ’70s as a Kamaji camper. Last Saturday, Judy headed home and Martha Bowman, an internist from Rochester, Minnesota took over as Camp Doc. Martha is from Rochester, Minnesota and she arrived at camp with her three children and husband, Mark. Joining Martha in Club Med are three nursing assistants. Rebekah Bass, Cari Zuckerman, Sharma Prosser are all nursing students and spending their first summer at Kamaji. It is Kamaji’s policy to have Cari, Sharma or Rebekah call you if your daughter is admitted for an overnight stay in Club Med or is taken to see a doctor or dentist in town. (We do NOT call if your daughter spends a few hours just resting in Club Med or if she visits for a scraped knee, sore throat, bug bite, applied band-aid or Tylenol request). Kamaji’s policy assures you that if your daughter receives anything more than routine health care you’ll hear from us. No health-related news is good news.

canadian 3

canadian 2

Travel Department

Kamaji’s Wilderness Trip Program is busy, busy, busy. Since we last wrote, Cabin 2 Porch 2 went on a 3 day Mississippi River trip to Lake Andrusia. Monday morning a group of campers from Cabin 3 Porch 1 and Cabin 3 Porch 2 left on their 3 day trip to the Crow Wing River. On Tuesday, the wilderness woman of the Hatchery set off on their expedition to Webster Lake. Also on Tuesday, eight very lucky campers left for their three day Lake Superior Climbing Trip. Nutshell Porch 2, Nutshell Porch 1 and Tikinagan all have trips schedule for later this week. By the way, Monday evening marked the return of Kamaji’s Pine Manor Canadian trippers. From all reports, they had wonderful week-long wilderness trips. We posted a ton of pictures taken by the Canadian trippers. Take a few minutes and check them out. Kamaji’s Wilderness Trip program will be taking the 4th of July weekend off, but will be at full speed again next week.

hatchery

Weather Department

Even though we had plenty of rain last week, much of it was know by the technical term “Camp Director Thunder Showers”. For those of you who aren’t meteorologists, that means the rain begins after the evening program and ends before morning wake-up. This week it’s been mostly sunshine. It was a bit cool on Tuesday, however, temps are expected in the upper 70s today and mid eighties tomorrow. Yea!!

friends

Well, that’s all for now. Have a great few days. We will.

Thanks,

Mike (and Kathy and Kat)

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June 22, 2010 – Kamaji News

by Kamaji on June 30, 2010 · 1 comment

in Camp,News

Wow! So much has changed here at camp in the past five days. After a week or more of staff orientation, Camp Kamaji came to life last Friday afternoon when the buses rolled in. There’s been a constant buzz now that Kamaji’s 97th camping season has begun. We thought we’d write you a note with a few highlights of past few days.

One of the first thing parents want to know is “How’s the weather up there?” Quite honestly, until Monday, it was kind of yucky. If you’ve seen the pictures of Opening Day on Smugmug, you probably noticed it was sweatshirt weather on Friday. That wasn’t too bad, however, on Saturday morning, it wasn’t “kind of yucky”. It was yucky. We postponed the scheduled morning swim test until the afternoon when the temperature reached almost 70 degrees. The good news is that since Saturday, things have improved dramatically. Although we had some rain on Monday night, every day has gotten warmer and a bit sunnier. Tuesday turned out to be stunningly beautiful. High temp about 80 degrees and bright sunshine. This morning it’s a bit overcast, but sun is expected with a high temp in the upper 70′s.

Even though the campers just arrived, some of them have already left the shores of Wolf Lake. Kamaji’s Wilderness trip program began in a big way very early on Tuesday morning when 15 Pine Manor campers and 4 Kamaji staff left for a week long trip to the White Otter Wilderness Area in northwestern Ontario. This is the BIG ONE of Kamaji’s wilderness program. One group from Pine and another from Manor will spend the week paddling for hours and hours on crystal clear lakes; portaging canoes and backpacking all the gear for what will seem like miles and miles; and camping on some of most pristine campsites in North America. What an adventure! Later that same day, campers and counselors from Cabin 2 Porch 1 left on a three trip Mississippi River trip to beautiful Lake Andrusia; and campers and counselors from Cabin 1 Porch 1 left on their 2 day upper Mississippi River trip. Today, Wednesday, Cabin 4 Porch 1 takes off for a three day trip to central Minnesota’s Crow Wing River. We hope all the Kamaji trippers have a wonderful time.

Here some highlights from the past few days.

Friday’s travel day was probably pretty hectic for you as well as us . Despite a few flight delays, things went pretty well at the Minneapolis airport. No doubt all the campers were delighted to get off the buses after a four hour bus ride to camp. As the campers bounded off the buses, they met their counselors and headed to their cabins to begin settling in to their “home away from home”. After dinner everyone headed to the archery field for the traditional opening evening program – John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. The sun was setting by the time the game was finished, so everyone headed back to the cabins to get ready for bed. Wow! What a day!

As mentioned earlier, Saturday morning didn’t exactly lend itself to the Kamaji swim test. The good news is that by the afternoon, the temp had risen enough to put everyone in the water. Not exactly anyone’s favorite camp event, but a necessary one. Saturday’s evening program was a special one, especially if your daughter is a first year camper. It was Tribe Initiation and each new camper and counselor became a member of one of Kamaji’s six tribes. Trust us. This is a big deal. If you daughter was initiated on Saturday, you should already know what tribe she is in and, more importantly, what color you should be painting your living room.

cagin picture

cabin picture 2

On Sunday morning we took pictures of your daughter’s porch group. Chances are you’ve already found your daughter’s picture on Smugmug. On Sunday afternoon the campers tried out one or two of Kamaji’s instructional activities. Saturday’s evening program was Toy Story Night. Everyone got dressed up as Toy Story characters and ran around camp performing unusual activities and acting, well, toy story-like. If you haven’t checked out the pictures of Toy Story Night on Kamaji’s Photo Gallery take a look.

On Monday, we followed the normal Kamaji schedule for the first time which meant the first day of Kamaji “regular” activities. That’s probably not a great name for Kamaji instructional program, because there’s hardly anything regular about them. There are four instructional activity periods each day and campers choose (with some input from counselors and Ye Directors) from Kamaji’s 20 instructional activities. Most of the things the campers do here are things which they can’t do at home. So whether it’s scaling the climbing wall, trying out the windsurfing boards, riding a horse or learning to develop film in a darkroom, we hope campers will gain a huge amount of self confidence from their activity choices. If you want to follow along your daughter’s day, click here. Monday’s evening program was supposed to be our first Council Fire of the summer. Council Fire is one of those camp programs which you may remember from your camping days. Heck, if your grandmother or grandfather went to summer camp, Council Fire would seem familiar to them. Everyone sits in a circle around the big campfire watching the flames “reach towards the sky”. There are songs, stories and a few camp rituals. Old fashioned, but not out of fashion. Unfortunately, it started to rain just before Council Fire, so our first “Council Fire” of the summer had to be held in the Lodge. Oh well. During the program, there was a special ceremony to announce this session’s Tribe Leaders. Tribe Leaders are elected by their tribe mates and carries a great deal of responsibility including organizing, supervising, and leading 22 or 23 other tribe members. It is a big job!! The following campers were elected by their tribes: for the Ishkadays, Dana Schwartz, from St. Louis and Rachel Mego of Little Rock: for the Waubuns, Rachel Steindler and Ilana Dutton, both from Chicago: for the Mundahmins, Bex Schulman of Columbus, OH and Nia Smalley of Phoenix: for the Metigs, Alexis Schwartz of St. Louis and Frankie Burik of Chicago: for the Geshigs, Emma Stanicek of Northbrook, IL and Danielle Gray of Chicago: and for the Nanahtahgas, Mandy Wolter of Norfolk, VA and Sadie Woolf of San Francisco. Congrats to them!

Tuesday was our first Adventure Day of the summer. Adventure Day is a day when the campers spend the day doing activities with their porch groups. Yesterday, some porches went sailing, some went waterskiing, some had fashion shows, some filmed their own commercials, just to name a few. It was such a beautiful day, most porch groups spent time at the waterfront during their Adventure Day.

Today, it’s “regular” activities again. Tonight’s evening program is Alice in Wonderful night. You’ll have to check Smugmug to find out the details.

It’s been a remarkable few days. We have 38 new campers here this session, and each appears to have adjusted quickly to the new surroundings. (If you are the parent of a new Kamaji camper, you should have received a call us regarding your daughter’s adjustment to camp. If you haven’t spoken with either Sarah Cort or Kelly Appleton, give us a call.) Ye Directors have not had to help anyone overcome homesickness and there are tons of smiles all over Kamaji. Kamaji’s 97th camping season is off to great start.

We’ll keep in touch.

Mike, Kathy and Kat

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Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah

by Kamaji on August 29, 2009 · 3 comments

in Camp,For Kamaji Campers Only,The Importance of Camp,Thinking Out Loud at the Kamaji Office,Why Summer Camp

Greetings from Camp Kamaji where it is much too quiet for our liking!! Although summertime has yet to give way to Autumn, the life-and-breath, the heart-and-soul, the campers and staff are no longer in residence. Camp is simply not “camp” – the last of the departing buses two+ weeks ago took with it all traces of Camp Kamaji as we know it. What we are now left with are but the memories of a summer that was indescribably great!! We hope that those of you who spent time here this summer would agree that Kamaji 2009 was a season to remember. And to our campers, we hope that you – in your own words – have thanked your parents for allowing you an opportunity to spend part of your summer at Kamaji. What your parents have given you is an immeasurable gift. Below is a sample camper thank-you letter to all those parents who took an incredible leap of faith to entrust that which is most precious in their lives to Camp Kamaji. Here goes . . .

Beautiful scenery

Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah,

Thank you for the priceless gift you gave me this summer – the gift of summer camp!!

Thank you for the glamour . . . and the mystique of summer camp.

Thank you for a place where I could create a new world on a blank slate. . . to invent my best self . . . and make first new impressions.

Thank you for placing me in a unique setting that allowed me to feel a sense of connectedness, belonging and safety . . . and an acceptance of and appreciation for me.

597750665_yqT4B-M Thank you for turning me loose to play freely – and, in so doing, I have acquired a sense of playfulness that hopefully will survive well beyond my youth.

Thank you for sending me to camp – a child-centered environment where the hurry, stress and demands of life away from camp were almost totally eliminated.

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Thank you for providing me with a place where I could make my own fun and most importantly, make my own choices.

Thank you for allowing camp to teach me what positive things to say and do when I made mistakes and faced challenges – without feeling bad about or unsure of myself.
Kayla Kraft boat Thank you for giving me the chance to choose my own activities instead of doing what was expected.

Thank you for sending me to a place where I could make new friends, enjoy the outdoors, short-sheet my counselors’ beds and try and try and sneak candy into my cabin.

Thank you for staying “connected” with me this summer through your handwritten letters.

Thank you for indirectly teaching me an important life lesson that will surely stay with me through adulthood: even though at first it was a scary experience being away from you, I know now that I can take care of myself.

Fleming and Cohen

Thank you for letting me go which I know is not always easy for a parent to do.

Thank you for the fond, fuzzy memories of a summer where I lived with camp friends in bunk-filled cabins in the woods.

Thank you for the opportunity to take canoe trips down remote stretches of river and help pitch tents, collect firewood, prep and cook some of my own meals. Thank you letting me sleep underneath the stars. These experiences have given me a kind of self-confidence I am not sure I could have gotten any other way.

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Thank you for sending me to camp where I learned that I was competent in ways I never dreamed possible.

Thanks for not coming to get me when I begged to come home. As a result I learned that you have faith in my abilities to adjust to whatever comes my way.

Thank you for the opportunity to live in a cramped small living space with a group of girls – many of whom I did not know until camp – who are now some of my best friends . . . and surely will be for the rest of my life.

Thank you for the lessons about responsibility, teamwork and leadership – skills that I can now take back to home and school . . . and beyond . . .

Thank you for the chance to learn that requiring all kids to do everything equally well is a mistake – and that, instead, my individual talents and interests – found, tapped, nurtured and applauded at camp – set me apart in all ways good. Canadian jumpers great

Thank you for providing me a place where I could develop my independence and grow in confidence.

Thank you (I think??) for allowing camp to make me clean the cabin, hop and clear at meals, sort and fold my own clothes.

Thank you for the opportunity to live with girls whom I didn’t always get along with but with whom I learned to deal with our differences in a productive positive way.

Thank you for putting me into a situation where I could really test my limits . . . and expand my horizons.

Thank you for allowing me to develop resiliency – by learning, when I sometimes fall short, how to bounce back from everyday challenges.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make my own decisions . . . discover my own strengths . . .

Thank you for allowing my cabin counselor to do her best to help me get through it when I was homesick, upset or sad.

Thank you for the opportunity to be embraced by unique and special traditions and customs – the “secret codes” of my camp.

Thank you for a chance to experience new adventures.

Thank you for the ability to surprise even myself when I found that I could achieve results in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Molly Shapiro climbing trip

Thank you for providing me with an experience that will surely reap benefits for a lifetime.

Thank your for allowing me to step out of my comfort zone, to spread my wings and learn to fly.

Thank you for the gift of camp.

Love,
Your Happy Camper

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Anne Comes Home

by Kamaji on August 15, 2009 · 0 comments

in Camp

Anne comes home today!

I woke abruptly, with a catch in my throat as I realized the immediacy of the day, both for myself and for her.

Judy Welch Meisner
July 14, 2009
Kamaji Alumnae ’67-’69, ’71,’73
Kamaji Doctor ’01-’09
Kamaji Camper Parent ’08-’09

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Please Don’t Box Me In

by Kamaji on March 23, 2009 · 4 comments

in Camp,Thinking Out Loud at the Kamaji Office,Why Summer Camp

347633 I’ m stuck in a box and I can’t get out!! Seriously, in yesterday’s e-messages, I received a questionnaire from my college that asked all kinds of questions — from where I live to my marital status to whether or not I have kids to how many pets and what kind, if any, do I own?? Other questions included whether or not I had any schooling beyond college and what my profession is?? Whoever composed the questionnaire even had the nerve to ask me my age!!

Each of the questions were followed by a list of multiple choice responses. The responses to where I live were limited to choices urban, suburban and rural . . . followed by list of states. Now truth is I live in two different places: in the off-season I am a resident of suburban Clayton, Missouri but during the summer, I reside . . . at camp — which happens to be in a rural area in the state of Minnesota. But Camp was not even a boxed option to check off!!

27023 Ticking of the appropriate boxes, I clichéd myself as married and having two kids (both boys) and a very fat cat. Easy enough to answer. But those single-choice responses did not take into account that I am “mom” to over 300 girls every summer . . . at camp!! And that I have an additional three cats and a dog (Marjena’s brood) plus Oreo and Patch (Kamaji caretaker Randy’s two dogs) who spend almost every day . . . at Kamaji. And then there’s the 10 horses . . . at camp.

And, yes, I have had education beyond my college days — went to grad school in fact (where, by the way, I first met Mike). But there was no choice for education other than in a school environment. How limiting given how much other-than-book-learning I’ve acquired thus far in my lifetime. Think of all the learning that takes place . . . at camp!

And while there was a huge variety of occupations to choose from — everything from A to Z — there was not one mention of working . . . at camp!! In actuality I should check off teacher and dietician/food service manager and medical liaison and counselor and accommodations manager and business manager and sometimes photographer and videographer and youth worker and stay-at-home mom (after all I am at camp — my home-away-from-home — all summer long with my 300+ ‘daughters’). But again I was limited to checking off only one occupation . . . and, again, camp director was not one of those choices!!

And, okay, so maybe I am 39+ years of age in real life but I am young-at-heart . . . at camp!! (You guessed it — “young-at-heart” is not a choice option!!)

Baffled as to how to accurately respond, I wonder what, if anything, my college will do — once it has compiled all my limited-to-one-choice responses — with the information?? After all, I can’t even respond to most of the questions because whatever answer I choose won’t fully describe who I am!! Bottom line is: I cannot fit in tiny boxes with labels attached (i.e., urban, rural, married, single, no children, some children, dogs, cats, young-middle-aged, middle-aged, verging-on-old-age, college, post-college, doctor, lawyer, etc).

It is the sum of my total life experiences which shape who I am rather than some anonymous computer compiling labeled-limiting-data on me and likely then categorizing me according to some label.

Likely many of you know of what I write. As far back as early grade school kids label one another according to a perceived social status — cool, sporty, brainy, nerdy, geeky, loser . . . which continues through high school with even more labels attached including boho, indie, wannabe, jock, goth, tree-hugger, preppy, punk, straight-edge, skater, poser, scenester, etc. added to the list.

Labeling isn’t all bad. Take for example Bill Gates, billionaire geek extra-ordinaire. Because of him geek is chic. But labels are not quite as simple as they may seem. For example, if you play sports, get good grades, skateboard, and like to wear all black, are you a nerdy jock-skater who’s into goth or a skater goth-jock who’s a bit of a nerd?

Labels can negatively stereotype or be a source of pride and comfort. Finding a group to identify with is sometimes an important part of the process of defining who you are. But defining anyone solely by the way she looks, what she believes, what she likes or does or, in the case of my college questionnaire, by demographics — can be an insult to the many dimensions that make up a person . . . that make up me!

outsidebox It’s important to look beyond labels (or, in the case of the questionnaire I received, beyond little square boxes). There’s more to every individual than a single “label” or a few ticked-off boxes on a limited-to-one-choice-response generic questionnaire.

All I can say, is thank goodness for camp!! Camp allows me to be whoever I want to be, how many whoever’s/whatever’s possible(!!) instead of simply a one-dimensional stereotype pre-defined by marital status, education, profession, etc. and categorized by someone else!!

As for my college questionnaire — I decided not to complete and submit it after all; instead I boxed it into my computer’s trash compactor!!r