PPC Picture(s) of the Day

Yesterday was moving day for our swim docks. It seems like this is a hallmark both of the beginning of the season as well as the end of the season. In August, once post camp is done, the swim docks come apart and get relocated on shore. Then, in the spring the docks head back towards swim point to assume their natural positions.

So Thursday was moving day... but we were kind of worried. See in August we moved the docks towards shore and Leb was a little worried that they may float away. Well, they didn't. The docks stayed put as the water levels receded a bit, leaving some really heavy docks stuck on shore. We pondered a few options for getting them in the water and decided to just get as many people as we could find (about 20 or so) and try to pick up the docks and drag them into the water. It worked. Once the docks in, we needed to get them down to swim point, and the staff decided to make some fun out of it and paddle the docks out to swim point.
You will notice one free loader, Mack (the dog) Shlensky aboard. He made it about 3/4 of the way to swim point before decide it may be quicker if he just swam the rest of the way. We added an extra picture of the docks coming down the stretch to swimpoint.

PPC Picture of the Day

While we're on the theme of clouds... a few days ago we had a rainy day (even though it never rains at North Star) and the sun broke through the clouds for a few minutes.

Today all of our life guards took their in-pool testing... Mandy, who does the certification reports that our campers will be in good hands this summer on the waterfront. Our first canoe trip departed today as well. The trip leaders headed out to the Flambeau River for a scouting trip. The trip staff scouts many of our trips as part of their training and will take trips to the Brule and Namekagon Rivers as well as the Porcupine Mtns. The trippers were pulling for a mini-Canadian... maybe next year.

PPC Picture of the Day

There isn't much to explain about this pic... other than I really liked the clouds above North Star's main lodge.

Life in the Northwoods has heated up as we've expanded to 39 people with the latest arrivals, Jeff, Kim and Lake McCormack, as well as our Village Directors. Our trip leaders will take their first trip out tomorrow, too. They, along with our counselors taking life guarding hope for good weather!

We'll keep the post short tonight as we know that many of you are watching some Stanley Cup Hockey. While this view does not necessarily represent North Star, I happily say "Go Hawks!"

PPC Picture of the Day

One of the biggest changes everyone will notice this summer is the improvements to our tennis and basketball courts. The Wisconsin winters take a toll on the courts as a small, hairline crack can turn into a the Grand Canyon within a matter of a year or two.

This spring we had the courts fixed up. All cracks were filled and the courts were resurfaced. Here you can see the crew applying the first of two layers of green paint, before lines were ultimately painted. The courts are all in great shape now and we know Tennis Mike and the rest of the tennis will be thrilled with their new digs.

Here's a bonus pic... a shot of the completed tennis courts.

Rain descended upon the Northwoods today as we got some much needed precipitation. More counselors have descended upon the camp as well... our entire trip staff and kitchen crew will be here by nights end as well as the rest of the counselors taking life guarding.

PPC Picture of the Day

Our climbers have gotten so good that we decided that we needed to add a new challenge to the climbing wall... so we've removed the bottom two rows of panels and climbers are going to have to figure out creative ways to get up the wall.

This is actually how we keep the climbing wall over the off-season. The bottom two rows of panels are removed at the end of August and then re-attached before the campers arrive.

Our first batch of counselors have finally arrived. We had four counselors who arrived last night... strike that, they arrived this morning. Due to flight delays they didn't get to camp until about 1:15am. Not too much for guys who had spent the previous day plus flying from places like Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

More staff arrive tomorrow and we'll triple in size between now and Thursday as we welcome staff taking life guarding, our trip leaders, more kitchen staff as well as our administrative staff.

PPC Picture of the Day

No... the water level of the lakes isn't that low and we didn't fall victim to a rogue pontoon boat driver who decided to park in the middle of the Junior Village area. We have an armada of boats that are waiting to be put in the water.

We started putting docks in the water at the end of last week. As you may or may not know, lake levels across the upper midwest have really dropped over the past several years as we've seen prolonged drought conditions. To combat this, we've relocated where we park many of our boats. Last year we moved our ski boat lifts and this year we've moved our fishing boat piers, all are now along the side of the Ridge. They now sit in higher water areas with less muck. We hope to get the rest of our piers and swim point docks in place this week.

Our cabins will begin to fill up later tonight. We have our first four counselors arriving later. Three of them will be here for less than 24 hours, though, as they'll head over to Camp Timberlane for a few days of climbing wall training. As you may or may not know, our staff actually live like campers for much of pre-camp training. We assign all of our counseling staff to live in J-Village cabins. They'll get to know their pre-camp cabins before being assigned to the cabin groups/counseling teams that they'll spend at least the first session with. Our administrative team will work to get to know all of our counselors so that we can put together the best teams.

Pre-Pre-Camp Picture of the Day

Greetings from the Northwoods... while camp is still a few weeks away, things are coming to life on the shores of Spider Lake as we have a crew of about a dozen getting camp ready. Docks are being put in the water, athletic fields mowed and boats cleaned. Within the next few days our group will grow to about 40 as counselors, trippers and support staff start arriving. We'll certify about 12 staff in Life Guarding here at North Star starting on the 9th and our trip leaders will begin their training that same day.

Over the next week or two I'll do my best to share a "pre-pre camp picture of the day" every day. Its great to see camp come to life and for most campers and staff, you don't get to see what J-4 looks like piled high with canoes or what the the fields look like before they've been mowed and lined.

I took this picture this morning at 6:45. Mandy (Stanek, our waterfront director) and I drove down to Rice Lake to pick up equipment for the life guarding course, necessitating an early rise. As I drove by the lake, with the steam rising over Brewer's Bay I figured that there (hopefully) wouldn't be many mornings that I'd be up at 6:45, so I decided to take advantage. Enjoy today's picture and I'll post more as we head towards the start of camp.