First Night of Camp

The 73rd summer at North Star Camp has begun! Our 2017 campers and staff come from 30 states and 13 countries and now come together to make one incredible community. The buses from Minneapolis and Chicago pulled into camp together at exactly 4:15pm and the campers unloaded to meet an amazing group of staff members who were jumping and cheering at their arrival. The excitement quickly turned to warmth as the counselors were greeting new friends and old. We quickly gathered around the flagpole to announce the cabins, and then lots of happy faces ran off toward their cabins to unpack.

The boys unpacked and new campers received a tour of camp. As they walked around camp, they saw many of the improvements from the off-season. Our senior village campers were excited to see their newly renovated washhouse with more showers. Everybody saw the continued improvements in the Fieldhouse, which has the completed basketball courts in addition to a new and improved fitness center, a multipurpose room, and an upstairs clubhouse that features ping pong and foosball. Behind the Fieldhouse, a new batting cage is being installed for our baseball players to get their swings in. There is a brand new rocketry room, a new home for ecology, as well as an expanded trip shack. By the time they go to sleep tonight, they'll have played games with their cabins and met some of the other guys their age as well.

Dinner this evening was burgers, fries and jello, plus the ever present salad bar and Sun Butter and jelly. There were vegetarian burgers available for those that prefer, and Gluten free options for those that needed it. And of course brownies for dessert. Immediately following dinner, the campers chose their first week's activities.

The evening activities will be followed by the candlelight ceremonies, where each cabin will have a meeting led by their counselors. They will share their goals and expectations for the summer, while continuing to get to know one another. This will be the first of many cabin discussions that are an important part of the team-building goals that we have for each cabin group, and helps develop the strong sense of community that we strive for at camp.

One of the reasons that this community is so strong is because of the role models that your boys have at camp. Dan and Andy searched far and wide to find empathetic and caring counselors who represent our values. Each year during orientation, we do an exercise called Leaving a Legacy, where we discuss the importance of role models and set goals for what kind of role model each staff member wants to be this summer. They spoke of teaching kindness and generosity, perseverance and grit, strength and compassion. They spoke of the importance of character and integrity and their dedication to living with both. And they affirmed their commitment to helping create a North Star community that allows every boy to feel comfortable being himself, so that he can experience social and emotional growth at camp. It was an emotional evening that had us very excited to see what a wonderful impact these guys can have on our campers.

Tomorrow the kids will have a busy day as our medical team checks in the boys. The campers will take a swim test and find time to play several games of dodgeball. Evening program tomorrow will be our first game of All-Camp Capture the Flag. First thing on Wednesday morning the boys will begin their first week of regular activities. Wednesday morning our oldest campers will leave for their Canadian adventure, where they will spend 10 days in the Canadian wilderness in Quetico Provincial Park. Some of our 8th graders (we use the grade they just completed) will leave that day for five days on the Superior Hiking Trail, while other campers will depart straight away on the Brule River or the Flambeau River. Wednesday evening will be the staff show, where our very talented group will be on display.

FOLLOW CAMP ONLINE

From here on out, you can follow along with the summer of 2017 on our website at
www.NorthStarCamp.com/blog.

We will also be posting updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/northstarcampforboys, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/northstarcamp and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/northstarcamp.

We post pictures online on a regular basis, and you can access those directly from your CampInTouch page. To access your CampInTouch page, go to www.northstarcamp.com and click "login" in the upper right hand corner. From there you can click on "Photos" to see those smiling faces. If you'd like to set up guest accounts for friends or family you can do that from your landing page by clicking on "Guest Accounts."

Thank you for trusting us with your boys!