Washers

Camp is full of simple pleasures and one of my favorite happens to be washers. This seemingly benign little game of tossing washers into a cup may appear at first to be so lacking in complexity that just about anyone could become a champion their first time out. On the contrary, to be great at washers requires skill and dexterity.

Cap Endres taught archers to throw darts with the knowledge that they would improve their hand/eye coordination and thus improve as archers. I would say that similarly, washers can help you improve at all sorts of sports for the same reasons. For this reason, I think we should all build ourselves a washer court in our own back yard.

All a person needs to do to enjoy washers (and exercise those fine motor skills!) is to follow these simple instructions.

1) Materials:
2 8' green treated 2"x6" boards ( ' means feet and " means inches - don't ask me why. It just does.)
2 6" long pieces of 3" ID (inside diameter) PVC pipe
4 2" OD (outside diameter) washers
1 10' to 16' long area in the yard that you have written permission from your mother to turn into a skill honing washers court.

2) Get help from mom or dad and cut the wood into 4 pieces that are 24" long and 2 that are 27" long. The two that are 27" become the backstops and the 24" pieces become the sides. Screw or nail them together standing on end to form a three sided box that measures 24" by 24" on the inside.

3) Mark out your courts location. The cups in the center of the boxes should be about 14' apart but anything 10' to 16' is perfectly acceptable. Bury the boxes, open ends opposing one another, halfway into the ground.

4) Bury the 2 pieces of PVC in the exact center of each box.

5) Remove the grass or wood chips or flowers or concrete from inside the box and replace with a nice bed of clay (check the local clay supply store) and you are ready to start being better at nearly everything you do.

6) Have fun and don't hurt yourself. And if you forgot to follow these directions to the letter and did not get permission, you're on your own.

About L.A. and Turkey

Just last weekend I made a trip to Los Angeles to introduce Chippewa to several new campers. It was a fun crowd and I'm looking forward to seeing some new guys from the West Coast next year.

While wandering the coast of southern California, I stopped in to say hello to a few alumni. Tony was a camper in the 1940s and Nick was a counselor in the 90s (hailing from England). Both are sailors, so I suspect that their love of sailing may have had something to do with their draw to southern California. Regardless, it never fails to amaze me to see the winding routes lives can take and the success that so many of our alumni have seen over the years. Yet, Camp Chippewa holds such meaning for them. Tony learned to sail on Cass Lake at camp, which lead to a life-long love affair with sailing. He and his wife are both still sailors in the San Diego area and they have a grandson at camp after sending three of their boys to Chippewa in the 80s. It is quite inspirational.

I trust that everyone had their fill of turkey and dressing yesterday. Natalie and I pass along our wishes for a happy Thanksgiving weekend...a welcome respite from our daily routine and wonderful time with family.

One last note to pass along. Just a few days ago, Allen "Moe" Sigoloff, the longtime director of Camp Thunderbird for Boys and an influential voice in the camping world, passed away in St. Louis after a battle with cancer. On behalf of the Chippewa family, I want to pass along our condolences to Carol, Shari and the entire Sigoloff and Thunderbird family. I will miss Moe's guidance and unfailing support of camping.

Official Word from the ACA

In late July, we were pleased to welcome visitors from the American Camp Association (ACA) for our periodic review for accreditation. Karen and Linda, our visitors, had wonderful things to say about Chippewa following their day-long visit and review of Chippewa and offered some insightful guidance for camp.

Today, official word from the ACA arrived stating that we had either met or exceeded the standards as set forth by the ACA. We have again maintained our ACA accreditation, demonstrating our commitment to a high-quality and safe program for our campers.

A big thanks to all of the Chippewa counselors, staff and campers for sharing their camp with the visitors in July. It was a fun visit!

Super Sundays

When I was a camper, I remember being excited when Sunday would roll around. First of all, back then we got to sleep in an extra half-hour. Like today, though, the counselors would inspect the cabins, my best chance to 'forget' to shake the sand from my sheets, or sweep under my bed. Of course, we all know Sunday means scatterball. No wonder I liked it so much.

I started to wonder, though, why everyone else likes it. So, check out the poll at the bottom of this page. What do you think? Is scatterball the best part of Sunday, or is JP grading your hot dog the best part? Vote for your favorite or vote for a couple if you can't decide.

2nd Session Photos Posted

Just in case you missed it, the 2nd Session photos from 2008 were posted last weekend. We still have more photos coming, but plenty of pictures to see right now! I'll let you know when more are uploaded.

Peter Rocks!

I've received a couple of emails asking for the lyrics that Peter Evans wrote for the Chippewa version of Nickelback's 'Rockstar', so here you go:

Chorus
"Because we all just want to be at Chippewa
Canoe all day and sleep under the stars
Take a dip in the morning and one at night
Inspection after breakfast, it'll feel just right

And we'll cook hotdogs in the open air
Run around all day without a care
Live in a cabin with all our friends
It's a shame that the summer must come to an end

....Hey, hey I wanna be at Chippewa
....Hey, hey I wanna be at Chippewa"