Volume LVIII, No. 2, October, 2017

Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,

It’s almost like Mother Nature was conspiring to keep us up at camp this fall.  She is a temptress, and boy did the weather make it hard to leave.  The last week up north was just so beautiful.  We’re never sure what components contribute to when the leaves start changing colors, but this year they started changing earlier than in the past, and it was quite a show!  Add to that the warmth that settled into the Northwoods as September got underway, and the mild nights, and we were loving life up there.  But alas…the calendar never lies, and it was time for us to head out, so that’s what we did.

Fortunately, we were able to make a slight detour to the Chicago area where we took in a baseball game at Wrigley Field and then had a nice dinner with SCOTT WOLF, SAM “PICKLES” KAHN, SAMMY COHEN, and “old-timers” MICHAEL BREEN and JOEY PAWLAN.  Scott and Joey live a block from the stadium so we enjoyed the neighborhood tour.  From there we just got in the car and drove till we could drive no more, and in just two days we were back in Tucson.  DUSTIN COHEN was here already which helped a lot.  It was blazing hot when we first arrived, so happily Dustin had the AC on in the house.  Phew!  Since then it’s cooled down to only steaming hot.

Not to be deterred, we got ourselves settled back into our winter digs, and then we got to spend a week with some friends on a house boat up on Lake Powell.  What an awesome place that is!  Lake Powell is right on the Arizona-Utah border, and it was created by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River.  It is a gigantic lake, over 180 miles long with nearly 2000 miles of shoreline, and folks…it looks NOTHING like a Northwoods lake.  That’s okay…it has a splendor all it’s own, and what a great place to get away, decompress, and disconnect for a short while.  And now we’re back and we are so pumped to gear up for next summer!!

Hey, wanna know what’s even cooler than a BRAND NEW WEBSITE?  That would be a brand new website that works 100%.  Last  month we had the triumphant launch of the new website, but unfortunately some features did not work so well.   Relatively important things like the Camper Application, and the Keylog system.  We know this has created a hassle for some of you, and made it hard for some folks to enroll or re-enroll their campers.  We apologize for this, but want you to know how hard our new web developer has been working to get it right.  He is based in southern Florida, so for a week or so last month he was out of commission as Hurricane Irma paid his home town a visit.  He’s alright, and relocated his work space so he could focus on getting our site up and fully functional.

It makes us very happy to tell you that the site is almost all the way completed!  The Keylog system remains an issue, and should be resolved soon.  So, for now:

  • YOU CAN STILL RE-ENROLL YOUR CAMPER!  For returning campers, until the Keylog system is restored, you do not need to login to your Keylog account to re-enroll your son.  Just complete the online application, and once the system is back up, we’ll connect is application to your Keylog account.
  • NEW CAMPERS CAN ENROLL JUST AS EASILY!  Just complete the online application.  After we confirm enrollment, we will create a new Keylog account and send that information to you once the system us back up.
  • CREDIT CARD PROCESSING: For now, we can accept credit card payments for deposits or any other payment, though it is NOT currently connected to the camper application.  If you wish to make a credit card payment, you can do so by clicking here.  As always, there is a surcharge attached to any credit card payments.

And remember, the new website is mobile friendly, so you can check it out on your phone or tablet, and you can even sign up for camp on a mobile device.  So, thanks for your patience, and we hope you enjoy all the cool stuff on the new website.

Welcome back to the following “old-timers” who re-enrolled this past month: MAX KOHL, BEN GOSS, JACK MORRIS, BEN & DREW SPIEGEL, and JEREMY STROUSE of Deerfield, IL; HENRY & NOAH COEN , JEREMY COHN, CONNOR LANDER, JUSTIN GOLDENBERG, and JONAH SAMSON of St. Louis, MO; MATTHEW KALLMEYER of Cleveland, OH; DREW MUTCHNIK and MICAH SHULMAN of Northbrook, IL; JACOB VINER of Nashville, TN; BLAKE ABLIN, ETIENNE LAFLAMME and CHRISTIAN WALLNER of Chicago, IL; WILLIAM CROSBY of Oak Park, IL; AIDEN SCHARFF of Los Angeles, CA; AARON BERNS, GABE FELDMAN, ANDREW KERPEL and LEO SCLAMBERG of Highland Park, IL.  And welcome aboard to first-year camper COLIN BENJAMIN of Naperville, IL.

Our 2017-18 Reunion Schedule continues to fill out, and it looks like a lot of fun to us.  Take a look, and please mark your calendars so you’re free to come hang out with us when we’re in a city near you.  We will add at least a few more cities for our reunion tour during January, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

CityDate/Time
St. Louis
Kansas City
Chicago
Cleveland
Cincinnati
Nashville
Memphis
San Diego
Los Angeles
Denver
Dallas

At our reunions we will unveil the shortened version of our awesome 2017 Reunion Video.  The full length version will be available as a digital download on December 1st.  Imagine the fun of reliving the incredible summer we shared together.  We can’t wait!

Los Angeles is currently missing LEO WEISS, who has been living in Belfast, Northern Ireland since the summer.  He and his family will return home in December.  Bar Mitzvah congrats to BEN SIWAK, who celebrated last month with a bunch of camp guys, some of who traveled from Kansas City and Chicago to e there.  ZACHARY LISS is one of the KC guys who was in St. Louis for Ben’s big day, and then he made his way up to Chicago to celebrate JACK KRISER’s Bar Mitzvah.  Congrats to Jack!  In Kansas City, ELLIOTT KORENTAGER has been playing hockey.

Nurse KAREN MCKELVEY has been putting some final (and not-so-final) finishing touches on her new tiny home in Cascabel, AZ.  She had a nice road trip home from camp, traveling the Native Stone scenic byway around Santa Fe, NM.  Nurse KELLI MCDONALD  has been very busy coordinating health care at 3 different schools in the Wausau area and starting the process of becoming a foster parent.  DANIEL VAN BUREN has resumed his work as a school bus driver, this time in Paulding Country, GA.  BEN ROBERTS is doing well at the University of Texas, though his family in Houston is still dealing with some issues from flooding from Hurricane Irma.  DUSTIN COHEN departed recently for a few weeks of travel in Peru and Argentina, before returning to Keystone Resort in Colorado where he’ll again be a Children’s Ski Coach.  RICK JONES has been putting the miles on his bicycle while the weather in Mooresville, IN. remains nice.  JAKE FLOM is enjoying his freshman year at the University of Michigan, and has spent some time with “old-timers” JOEY BURSTEN, SAM JAFFE, DAN SHELANSKI, and JACK EICHNER.  JAKE MAZOW is a proud member of the Corps of Cadets at Texas A & M.   “Old-timer” EDDIE ROSENBLUM is spending another semester in China this fall.  And “old-timer” JORDAN TAYLOR has accepted a job with APT in Chicago as a business consultant for next fall after he graduates from Duke University next spring.  That does, boys & girls, leave his summer free.  You may begin the email/text/FB campaign now.

 AROUND THE HAND-WASHING STATION

by Scott Wolf

HEY TEAM,

And just like that – it’s been a year! An entire year of planning and preparation, frustrations and triumphs, LOTS of smiling and laughter …

And man, was summer 2017 worth it.

My first year on the job, I don’t think I quite recognized how direct and immediate the payoff would be. I see it now. Every time I visited one of you new campers in your homes, or called or emailed one of you parents, or Skype interviewed one of you new staff members, or even just chatted on the phone with one of you old-timers, we were working in tandem, building relationships, and our efforts culminated in 8 weeks that knocked EVERYONE’S socks off! It was the best summer I can remember. And we did it together! I’m incredibly grateful.

And now, I’m ready to do it all over again.

From my end, I’ve already started talking to people about joining us next summer (how cool is that!). But for you, summer 2018 may seem like a million years away…it’s not, but it may feel that way. And that makes sense – I mean, school JUST started!

But if you’re like me (which I know you are), you’re still basking in the glow of what we had going for us in June, July, and August. Physically you’re home, but in your heart you’re still getting that extra ski run in during clinics, playing the Timber Open during your free period, or just hanging for an extra moment at the top of the climbing tower to take in the magnificent view. That’s good. Stay there! Keep taking in the view. Also come to a reunion this winter (yup, already working on those, too)! And if you want to read a book for school and watch some playoff baseball in between, so be it 😉

Any favorite memories from this summer you’ve been wanting to relive with someone? Tell me about it: scottlorenwolf@gmail.com

Until next time,
Scott

BRAVO TO OUR OCTOBER BIRTHDAY BOYS & GIRLS: Matthew Kallmeyer – 10/1/2003, Ilan Reiss – 10/2/2003, Ryan Copeland – 10/3/2007, Jonah Hoffman – 10/6/1998, Emerson Coronel – 10/8/2003, Andrew Kerpel – 10/8/2002, Jared Saef – 10/8/2000, Gabe Feldman – 10/10/2005, Ryan Teitelbaum – 10/10/2003, Ari Lackner – 10/11/1996, Josh Ettinger – 10/13/2000, Josh Ettinger – 10/13/2000, Robin Lodder – 10/14/1994, William Coovert – 10/15/2002, Jason Rabinowitz – 10/15/2003, Jeremy Grover – 10/16/2005, Spencer Farber – 10/18/2003, Zach Newmark – 10/18/2004, Ethan Schwartz – 10/18/2001, Jack de Riesthal – 10/19/2004, Dox Raskin – 10/19/2003, Gil Ron – 10/19/2004, Jonah Samson – 10/19/2004, Justin Leider – 10/21/1991, Andrew Mukavitz – 10/21/2005, Ethan Teich – 10/21/1999, Eli Tenenbaum – 10/21/2004, Colin Benjamin – 10/23/2004, Peter Fink – 10/25/2004, Jack Kahn – 10/25/2001, Chase Wolinetz – 10/25/2006, Jack Duffy – 10/26/2006, Lauren Baum – 10/28/1996, Alec Schlossberg – 10/28/2004, Ryan Zlotnik – 10/29/2007.

Next month we begin our Reunion Tour, and we can’t wait to see many of you along the way.  Have a great October, a not-too-scary Halloween, and we’ll write you again next month.

Benches up,