News From Plum Lake
Updates from camp, stories from the summer, and news for campers, parents and alumni.
Several cairns have popped up around camp. At it’s most basic, a cairn is a pile of stones. But cairns have meanings other than *just a pile of rocks. Cairns mark the trail for our guys hiking across Isle Royale right now. Cairns can be found on the beaches of Lake Superior, possibly denoting a…
The track meet is almost as old as Camp Highlands itself. It’s a reminder of the early close ties to the Chicago Lab School and an emphasis on worthwhile pastimes such as track and field. Today? Today, we took it up a notch. After a tie in last year’s meet, Andy and Craig had a…
They made it to northern Wisconsin, Highlands friends! For those boys returning to camp for another summer, it’s like riding a bike. They chose their bunk, found their friends from last year and waited for the bugle to call them to supper and – VOILA – it’s like they never left. For first-time boys, it’s incredibly…
I don’t know what I’m most excited about: a new pier and diving towers in Senior Row, new dugouts on the ball field or two new cabins. There’s a LOT to get psyched for in 2017! Have you filled out your forms? If you have enrolled, you’ve got forms to complete. Here’s a quick to-do list…
One of my absolute favorite things about camp is the laughter. I think I laugh harder and more often here than I do anywhere else. We’ve reached that time of the season where the smiles come easy, the nods are affirming and everyone leans on the best of intentions in our interactions with one another….
There is something magical about the full moon this time of year. It peeks up above the treeline about the time the fellows are headed down for evening dip. The beautiful skies the last few days, combined with the magical silver bridge that starts small but stretches across the water as the night grows is…
Who wouldn’t want their child to have a real-life adventure? Your boys have arrived and the fun, challenges, self-discovery and friendships begin exactly…NOW. The adventure starts the minute boys get off the bus and counselors and campers alike swoop in, grab trunks and bags and things are delivered to cabins in about 6 minutes flat. Boys who ride the…
The Fourth of July is a little funny around here. Really, it’s just like any other day–except that we have the boys board buses to head into Sayner for a front row seat at the Sayner firework display. Although it’s SUPPOSED to be a surprise, truth is most of them already know. But that doesn’t make…
This morning, walking up to flag raising I overheard one of our staff guys comment to a young camper as he was gazing out over the boating bay, “Another day in paradise, eh?” The young man simply grinned and nodded. Another day in paradise, indeed. It’s been quite a week at Camp Highlands. This past…