The very first post...

Hello!

I suppose that I should say Welcome! Thanks for being here… Tell you a little bit of what to expect.

CAMP! At least we hope to deliver that idea and so much more. Slam and I have been working together for some time now and through discussions and “meetings” with Applebee’s mozzarella sticks, crappy camp food and BW2’s boneless parmesan garlic wings and Mucho Margaritas. We began to find camp.

Now you may ask… Camp? I know where is… What are they talking about?

This is a very complex situation and simple all at the same time….. Because camp is so many things…..To so many people…” it’s where I found myself” one might say… while another may tell you a story about Archery or Swimming in a lake for the first time, or hiking up the biggest hill and seeing the sunset over the lake… and we plan on telling you stories like that too….and so much more, as well as share ideas, and insights into evening programs, games, songs, true facts and tidbits…. Some days we will tell tales of past pranks, snakes, bugs, adventures and craziness that is our chosen field of professionalism. Sometimes we won’t make sense I’m sure, but when we do I hope we paint you the picture of a place, a feeling, a dream, a hope, an attitude and maybe, just maybe, you will start to see what we mean when I say the word Camp…

We are very excited to launch our little blog and see what happens… Out here in the clear blue air

Starting all this made me think that I needed to start from the beginning….the very beginning… When I dad turned to me and said…. “What do you think about going to summer camp?” He held a glossy booklet out to me with a smiling girl on the cover wearing a t-shirt that read “CAMP LAKAMAGA”

Hmm, I had never thought much about that before, sure I had heard of other girls going and knew what he was talking about. “Sure?”  I said… not quite knowing exactly what I was getting myself into.  I paged through the brochure and looked at the pictures a bit, read the descriptions some, and felt that I was ready.

 I was a Girl Scout and my best friend Kristen Schmidt’s mom was our leader, we met every other Sunday at Christ the King church in New Brighton, MN….. and one day in April after our meeting my dad pulled our big golden Dodge truck up to Kristen’s mom’s car rolled down the window and said “How bout we get these girls together and sign them up for camp?” at least that’s how I remember it…. In real life my Dad is quite eloquent and I can’t imagine him sounding quite so hokey…. But for the building of the drama you can imagine what you would like here J

The next couple of weeks Kristen and I talked and giggled about the exciting things our program guide promised:  Campfires with friends, arts and crafts, singing, and sleeping in a platform tent. We paged through the booklets and stared in awe at girls that were shooting arrows and swimming with bright orange life jackets…. Soon enough we were packing our things up… mine in a giant duffle bag bigger than me with my mosquito netting brand new in its plastic casing and my sleeping bag bundled and ready to go……we ventured the long winding dirt road to camp.

My dad and I walked into my tent and picked my bunk next to Kristen.  I unrolled my bed and broke open my mosquito netting and tied the little ties to the proper stick height. (A very intense process) and I turned to my dad and it was time to go…. TIME TO GO???  What??  I burst into tears…. “Don’t leave!!” I wasn’t ready…  What if I forgot something?  What if I need you?

And this when my dad gave me the best gift he could have ever given me… as hard as it was… he gave me a hug,  told me it was time to go and he was gone….

And that’s how it all started, I was officially a camper… my program: “outdoor antics” was a general program, we had a little taste of everything that Lakamaga had to offer, I was introduced to this amazing place, to this crazy way of life that I adore… Sure I was lost and scared and didn’t quite know what I was doing or who the heck these crazy people who were that were in charge of me for the week. I chose a camp name… no not BABE as many of you know me but Honey Bee. (Melissa means honey in greek I was told??) I embraced the idea that we had an alter ego (something that I will talk about again at a later date.)

I learned things: I got in a huge fight with my best friend, I never went to camp with a “buddy” after that summer.  I grew as person, I became an individual, I learned to cook over an open campfire, I swam in a lake, I slept in a canvas tent.   I WAS HOOKED!!

And I hope that you are too, in this blog we will chronicle our times at camps that we have worked at…. The good, the bad and the ugly, I hope that we give you a little insight into this wonderful crazy world that we call camp…..