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BearTales
Camp Birchwood for Boys • Fall Newsletter 2011
Camp Birchwood for Boys • www.birchwoodforboys.com • [email protected] • 218-388-4402
Winter: 7034 N. Steamboat Lake Dr. NW, Laporte, MN 56461
Summer 2011 Highlights: Soaring, Sailing, and Singing
Happy Thanksgiving to All! We’re greatful you’re a part of our Camp Community!
Summer 2011 was another ‘Best Summer Ever’ (B.S.E. so say the kids) worth highlighting. Camp was at record numbers once again for the second year in a row, Uncle Dan was hard at work in his creative genius laboratory, and most importantly, our staff was awesome. B.S.E. 2011 brought to Camp the Barracuda River Barge, our new 25-foot Lake Superior sailboat, “Yacht-Ta-Hey,” a reenergized music program (thanks to Recess, Squirt and so many of our other musically inclined staffers), and a new Zip Line, paving the way to new heights (and views of the Seagull River). The new Zip Line has yet to be named, so if you have any ideas, shoot us an e-mail at: [email protected]. We’re already making plans for another B.S.E., 2012 edition!
Pg 2: Yogi & his Sousaphone Portage
Summer 2012 Sessions Announced:
Some of you may have received our 2012 dates and rates cards...with the wrong dates! Here are the corrected 2012 dates:
Pg 3: Sail Tales from Superior
Left to Right: Bryce B. soaring on Camp’s Zip Line | Zach W. soars off the Barracuda | Uncle Dan and JJ pose on Camp’s Lake Superior sailing trip | Carter P., Franklin T., Garrett R. and Logan W. sing & jam
Inside this Bear Tales:
4 Week Sessions:A) June 11-July 8
SLP1) June 11-July 8B) July 9-August 5
SLP2) July 9-August 53 Week Sessions:C) June 11-July 1D) July 9-July 29
2 Week Sessions:E) June 11-June 24F) June 25-July 8G) July 9-July 22
H) July 23-August 5I) August 6-August 19
1 Week Session (Grades 2-3):A1) July 30-August 5
Summer 2011 Collage: The Gunflint Experience is Alive and Well
Give the Gift of
Camp this Season.
Contact us at info@birchwoodforboys
for details
Camp Birchwood for Boys • www.birchwoodforboys.com • [email protected] • 218.388.4402
Directors’ Corner
Camp Birchwood for Boys • www.birchwoodforboys.com • [email protected] • 218.388.4402
Tales from Gichigami
Melissa & Dan before autumn claimed the trees on
Gunflint Lake
Point, where we saw the campers on the North Shore Climbing Trip.”
• PaddyC.,August19,2011:“I am inspired to do more sailing when I get back to England.”
We have so much great news to report from yet another successful summer at Camp, we decided to shrink our little corner of the Newsletter this time, and just simply say THANK YOU to everyone in our camp community who told a friend, son, or grandson about Camp. This summer we welcomed many 2nd generation Campers to the Gunflint, and we even welcomed back a 3rd generation camper whose grandfather had Grandpa Jim Bredemus as a counselor. You can trust that you are passing the same valuable and life changing experience as many of you still fondly remember. Thanks for continuing to share the Gunflint experience with friends and family. Your support means our continued success.
Among the many cool trips offered this summer, the Lake Superior Sailing trips were some of the most popular. Campers explored the great Gichigami (Ojibwe for the great Lake Superior, meaning “big water”) aboard Camp’s 30 foot Catalina, the “Yacht-Ta-Hey,” which is a play on the Navajo greeting, “Ya Ta Hey.” In September, as we were winterizing the Yacht-Ta-Hey, we debriefed one last time by reviewing the Summer 2011 Boat Log. It was easy to see that there were some awesome adventures had this summer on the Great Gichigami. In reading through the sailing log, we realized how cool it would be to share with everyone the summer 2011 excerpts recorded by campers and staff on their “big water” journeys. Here are some of the journal entries from Summer 2011:
Yacht-Ta-Hey’s First Ever Lake Superior Crew:Casey S.,J.J.,Adam B.,Ori M.,& Uffda
set sail July 4th
Counselor Spotlight On: YOGI
I-L-L-I-N-I! Yogi still finds time to chat with Camp friends when not busy with the Marching Illini and studying at the
U of I
Russell “Yogi” Pildes has attended Camp since he was a little guy . This past summer, he joined us again, but this time as a stellar counselor-guide. If you’re missing Yogi like we are, or are interested in his story, here’s a sampling of our online interview, which he typed up under a tree in the Quad at the University of Illinois: BWB: Yo Yogi! We’ve missed you! What have you been up to since Camp?YOGI: Well, the night I returned from Camp [in August], I took out my own tent (a Eureka-A-Frame, of course) and slept in my backyard. Sleeping in a bed took time. I’ve been kayaking on the Des Plaines River and a few weekends ago my mates and I went to Indiana for our away football game and camped out for our lodging.BWB:Cool! Understandable, we get Camp-sick too. Did you have a favorite trip?
YOGI: It’s a toss up between the 5-day Quetico fishing trip and the Larch Creek-Granite River trip. The fishing trip, my 4th trip with the Professor, was a great adventure: 30 mph headwinds into Cache Bay, kids catching lake trout...I learned to clean fish. The Granite river trip is also dear to me though, because it was my first canoe trip as a camper..it was fittingly magical to be back on that. BWB:Tough choice. So you’re back at school, what’s a typical day like for Yogi?YOGI: Typical day is busy! Since U of I is in corn country, I usually get up early and run or bike through the farms, sometimes to the sunrise. I have classes all morning, then I grab lunch and study until the best part of my day: marching band. I play sousaphone in the Marching Illini, so I have rehearsal at least once a day on top of my courseload, but it’s by far the most fun and exciting thing I’ve done. Then I eat dinner, get down time with my mates, and go back to the library!BWB:Wowsers. Well, sitting in the library studying and allowing yourself to think back to Camp, what do you miss most?YOGI: Hearing Hagie Bah Bah echo back off the river at the end of Eagles Nest. Not many things give me the chills quite like that, as a camper or as a counselor.
Photo taken by North Shore Climbers from the Cliffs of Shovel Point
Apostle Islands Adventurers,Bob A.,Hadrian G.,Graham B.,Champ, &
Lyndon V. explore the Sea Caves
Cruising the North Shore of Lake Superior: Gunnar E., Max B., Jack
S., and Dunder
Uncle Dan and Abelardo D. at the Helm of Yacht-Ta-Hey
on Lake Superior
• AdamB., July 4, 2011: “After enjoying some gale winds and a good dinner, the winds calmed down and the Duluth city fireworks started...”
• CaseyS., July 6, 2011:“...we left the marina [at] Knife River...headed north towards Silver Bay...I saw the coolest museum ever...a lighthouse.”
• BerniB.&JackM.,July21,2011:“...headed up to Split Rock Island and everybody had the chance to drive. We had [to] tack and jibe over huge ocean-like swells...At 9 p.m. we had a quick night sail and Uffda docked the boat in the marina perfectly.”
• MattC.,August2,2011:“...from Cornucopia we stopped to explore sea caves near Sand Point--using a dinghy to get a closer look...Wind was great across the channel...managed to hold 7 kts; however, we came off course and hit Little Marais...On the way along the coast, we passed Shovel
The Fishing Report
Pictured above is Camper/Senior Leader, Danny S., on a Senior trip to the Saganagons in Canada. The Northern Pike pictured above was nicknamed “Toothy,” for its very large teeth. Fellow Senior Camper, NoahLani L. came back a legend from the same trip for having caught 45 fish in Glacier Lake. Henry D. and Marcus D. both came back very successful from their fishing trip as well, catching 3 Walleye, 3 Lake Trout, and a lot of Pike and Bass.
More like the CATCHING REPORT. Walleye, Northern Pike, Small Mouth Bass, and Lake Trout were-a-biting.
Anyone Looking to Reconnect
with Yogi is welcome to e-mail him at:
Fish Fact: MN’s State Record Walleye was caught right in front of Camp!
