News From Plum Lake
Updates from camp, stories from the summer, and news for campers, parents and alumni.
Did you know we have a Better Authentic Recipe™ for becoming a Worthwhile Man developed over 116 consecutive years of running camp? Hanging behind my desk is a rough, hand-typed quote by Theodore Roosevelt that I’ve never noticed. Until this year after Andy and I watched Brené Brown’s “The Call to Courage” special on Netflix where…
We asked our Cub head counselor, Kent Overbey to do a rain ceremony to keep the weather at bay, and it worked. Yesterday’s predicted thunderstorms held off and today’s forecasted rainy drear has been replaced with a damp, warm, overcast day. The morning started off with our safety talks and general getting-to-know-you tours around camp,…
By Seth Fox It is mid-spring, and I am sitting in a coffee shop attempting to get organized for the week. Everything is great, besides the fact that I am incredibly camp-sick. Camp-sick is the phrase that I use to describe my longing for the summer- to be in the Northwoods of Wisconsin again with…
One of the first times I heard someone at Highlands talk about, “being a better man,” was at the very un-glamorous hour of morning dip. I was a camper at the time, but many of us would file down to the Towers for a quick dip in the morning before breakfast. This was a particularly…
Once Mike and I turned the pages of our December calendars, camp was almost always on our minds. We wrote about, made calls about, and constantly thought about every detail of the coming summer. Who will be able to return? Who won’t be able to return? (Oh, shoot!) Possible new campers, and campers referred to…
A note from Tim Bachmann: Did you know the Monilaw family hosted a scaled down version of Friends and Family in the 1930s and 40s? It was not promoted; it was just their friends and family, mainly from the Hyde Park and University of Chicago neighborhoods. This summer of 2017 Friends and Family was new…
I was recently talking with a father of one of our campers. He shared how his son was receiving a LOT of pressure to attend the summer clinics of his chosen sport. The coaches were holding out starting position offers like bait, and head-shaking shame if this boy chose a path different from the one…
And just like that, second term has started! Drop off was a bit damp, but you’ll be happy to know that today the skies are clear, the lake is gorgeous and the boys have a great northern Wisconsin day ahead of them. Today’s schedule includes safety talks in the various areas of camp and swim…
Happy Independence Day, we had an awesome time here at Camp Highlands yesterday. After lunch the individual divisions grouped up for their “Division Day.” Cubs took the busses into town to Jim Peck’s and pizza, Colts made PVC marshmallow-shooters, and Juniors and Seniors yutzed around camp, playing on a giant slip-and-slide and cooked out. The…