Director's Corner - Tuesday, July 30

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Life is a Highway
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Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind
There's a world outside every darkened door
Where blues won't haunt you anymore
Where the brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore

We won't hesitate
To break down the garden gate
There's not much time left today, yeah

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're goin' my way
I wanna drive it all night long

Today started out bright and early here at Beber as we loaded the campers onto their buses for destinations all over Wisconsin to experience the three-day rips. Our tripping program is a crucial aspect of summer camp for several reasons:

1. Skill Development: Our tripping program teaches essential outdoor skills, including, cooking, setting up camp, and environmental stewardship.
2. Personal Growth: Campers face and overcome challenges, boosting their confidence and resilience. They learn to push their boundaries and discover their capabilities in a supportive environment.
3. Teamwork and Leadership: Trips foster cooperation and collaboration. Campers must work together to achieve common goals, which enhances their teamwork and leadership abilities.
4. Connection with Nature: Immersion in nature helps campers develop an appreciation for the environment. This connection can foster a lifelong commitment to environmental stewardship.
5. Physical Health: Tripping programs involve physical activity, promoting fitness and health.
6. Mental Health: Being in nature and unplugged offers mental health benefits, including reduced stress and increased mindfulness.
7. Building Community: Shared experiences on trips strengthen bonds among campers and staff. The challenges and successes of a trip create lasting memories and deeper friendships.
8. Fun and adventure: Trips add an element of adventure to the overall camp experience, making it exciting and memorable.

Campers get to choose from many different skill based trips and it is our goal to give everyone their first or second choice from all of these excellent adventures.  

The Biking Trip

The biking trip follows the Elroy-Sparta and 400 State bike trails. Along the Elroy-Sparta State Trail, darkness becomes an integral part of the landscape, complementing scenic vistas of rolling hills and farmland. This trail features three hand-dug railroad tunnels across its 33-mile stretch from Sparta to Elroy, renowned as the oldest rail-trail conversion in the United States.

Meanwhile, the 400 State Trail was established on a former Chicago - Northwestern Railroad route, named after the 400 passenger train that covered 400 miles from Chicago to Minneapolis/St. Paul in 400 minutes. Its smooth biking surface consists of packed limestone screenings and bridges with planked floors. The segment from Elroy to Wonewoc includes picturesque crossings of the Baraboo River.

Campers on this journey find accommodations in campgrounds adjacent to the trails, some even equipped with swimming pools for a refreshing end to a day of cycling.

The Climbing Trip

The climbing trip heads to picturesque Devil’s Lake State Park, where participants enjoy the unique opportunity to ascend actual rock faces, with Ramot campers also experiencing the thrill of rappelling. Apex Adventures organizes the climbs and equips our campers with full gear, including helmets and climbing shoes.

After a full day of climbing, campers unwind with a refreshing swim in the lake. A highlight of the trip includes bouldering to Devil's Doorway, situated high above Devil’s Lake. This natural formation is thought to have been shaped by the freezing and thawing of water within cracks in the quartzite. The views from this vantage point are breathtaking, often prompting early morning hikes to witness sunrise through the rock formation.

The Canoe Trip

Due to the amount of rain that we had this summer so far, the lower Wisconsin river was too high for enough sandbars to successfully support this trip.  In true Beber style we pivoted and sent them a little further north to Kosirs Whitewater Rafting in Silver Springs, Wisconsin.  This coveted trip, typically reserved for our CITs in past summers, is sure to be a highlight for the former canoe trip campers and staff.  Campers will experience flat water kayaking on the lower Peshtigo river, lazy river floating and white water rafting on the upper Peshtigo river.  If the water level drops enough by later tomorrow they will also get the opportunity to traverse a section of Class V rapids on the Menominee River.  If this doesn't pan out they will do a more intense group rafting on the upper Peshtigo.  This thrill seeking trip is sure to please.

The Fishing Trip

The fishing trip is a popular trip among our campers. In addition to fishing at local ponds and waterways, campers on this trip embark on a charter boat adventure on Lake Michigan, targeting sizable salmon, which then gets fileted for them to be prepared for dinner in the evening.  Campers can become their own chefs as they prepare the salmon their way that they caught that very afternoon.

Tomorrow I will talk about the rest of the trips. Each trip has reported in and has had glowing reviews of their day and the fishing and climbing trips are anxiously awaiting their excursions tomorrow, the bikers are stretched and ready for the day tomorrow and  fine arts is excited to experience Circus World. The canoers said the river was like glass today with no wind and the perfect paddle weather. Backpackers had a wonderful hike through the Ice Age Trail and the Sports trip had a day filled with fun games and some dancing in the short  rainstorm. I cannot wait to hear about how everything goes tomorrow.

Let's move on to Makor so I can tell you all about their amazing day today.  For the three days that Ramot and Kesher are out on their trips, Makor has the run of camp and gets to enjoy special programming.  Late wake-up, waterfront takeovers, an overnight stay at “upper camp” complete with camper stew and s’mores, and special programs facilitated by our teen leadership campers, make this a really exciting time for our youngest age groups.

Today they started the morning with a hot breakfast of french toast and fresh fruit.  After a cabin clean up they had a fun car wash where the campers all washed the camp utility vehicles and even a couple of camp cars.  I have to say they did a really nice job but it was fun watching them having little water fights and laughing with their friends.   They also got to have some runs around the aquapark during this rotation and having it all to themselves felt great!  

Lunch: Taco Bar
Dinner: Camper’s Stew

For the afternoon, MaKor had a choice of playing tennis baseball or doing some camp beautification (chalk drawings on the bridge to the island)  They then were treated to a program led by the CITs where they were able to create their own superhero and share their unique powers, others were given materials to create their own superhero gadget that would allow that superhero to help people.  Their creativity was awesome and I can tell that they had a ton of fun creating these.  I am also very proud of our CITs who are stepping up and becoming very effective counselors and really creative programmers.  

In the afternoon, the campers packed up their gear for their overnight campout. They ate a dinner of make your own camper’s stew which is a personal favorite at Beber where they add meat and potatoes and all sorts of veggies and spices to a foil packet with their name on it and throw it on the fire to cook.  Every camper has their favorite combination and the fact that this is a meal only served on a trip out of camp or overnight, it becomes a real treat.  They then headed to their campout site and got themselves set up in their tents followed by a snack of delicious s’mores and a rousing song session around the fire pit.  As I write this they are all tucked into their sleeping bags and dreaming about all of the fun they had with their friends today and all of their special and unique experiences.  

Our PIOs are assisting as junior counselors for our Taste of Beber program.  Over 30 campers arrived today for Taste of Beber.  This is an opportunity for our rising campers to get an in person “taste” of what it would be like to be a real Beber camper.  They are here for two nights and will be having exclusive programming throughout their stay allowing them to see all of the fun activities here at camp.  They stay in the yurts and eat in the dining hall and they will experience the waterfront and the farm and so much more.  It is amazing to see the PIOs take on this “counselor” role.  They are interacting with the kids and working hard to meet their needs and support their experience.

“Life is a Highway '' and at Beber Camp we are traveling it and its a great ride!

P.S. Congratulations to the following who knew that Fleetwood Mac sang "Go Your Own Way”

Wendy E
Amy B
Ronit R
Dennis P
Brian B
Franci F

P.S. - Today’s question: Who sang “Life is a Highway?” Email your answer to trivia@bebercamp.com for a shoutout in tomorrow’s blog!