I see camp people

It's that time of year when parents are planning ahead for the end of the school year and readying themselves for the vast open space of summer when the school age children in their lives once again become their all-day responsibility. (God bless you, teachers, every one. We appreciate you.)

I'd like to make a suggestion to all those parents: Find a great overnight camp, find it now, do not pass GO, and do not hesitate to register your children for camp today.

You may wonder why I'm writing about this in my travel blog? Well it's simple: camp is where I met my people. And camp people are the best people! So I spent much of this last year reconnecting with camp friends. Please bear with me as I tell you this short back story so you can understand the importance of the folks in the photos below.

When I was 10, I was sent for a week of resident camp at Phantom Lake YMCA Camp in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. Phantom Lake is the oldest YMCA camp in North America. It is a traditional Y camp with swimming, boating, crafts, nature, archery, riflery and more. My older brothers and sister had attended before me, but then moved on to other summer activities. For me - camp became my life.

Beyond the positive influence of kind, charismatic counselors on young Jenny, the camper....

Spartus, Girls Camp II, Session 6, 1986, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp

...I learned how to be a camp counselor in the Staff Development Program...

My 1st year as a participant in the Staff Development Program. 1989, 3rd girls, 8th session, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp

...then joined the camp staff and worked two summers as a counselor and activity director...

Staff photo, 1992, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp

...then spent two years as co-Director for the Staff Development Program.

Girls Camp SDP's, 1995

Most importantly, I met and married the love of my life at Phantom Lake - "Mountain" Mike Rule. At our wedding in 1997 there were more than a few camp people in attendance...

As I recall, it was tough to get them to stop singing camp songs long enough to take this!

After Mike and I left Phantom Lake, we worked at a number of other camps together, including YMCA Camp Bluff Lake near Big Bear Lake, California in the summer of 1999 ...

YMCA Camp Bluff Lake staff photo 1999

...and YMCA Camp Benson in Mount Carroll, Illinois from 2000 to 2003.

YMCA Camp Benson staff photo, 2000

The folks that we met and worked with at these camps are still some of my best friends in the world. They're loyal and talented and smart and hardworking and kind. They were great to work with then, and they are great to sojourn with now.

One last story, then I'll skip to the pictures...

In early 2020, as the world shut down due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Mike's body also lost its ability to fight off the complications from ALS any longer. The timing was awful, as everyone had to cut off their visits - friends, family, caregivers. But when word went out that Mike was truly struggling and near the end of his life, a group of our camp friends found a way to show Mike their love. They came to our backyard - socially distanced and masked - with nothing but guitars and their voices, and they sang to him. Camp song after camp song....they sang to us while Mike and the kids and I watched from our living room. It was a pure and lovely moment. Mike was deeply touched. That beautiful gift of love and respect and harmony will stay with us forever.

So without further ado... here are just a few of the camp people I've been able to sojourn with during my adult gap year:

MikeFest! Where we celebrate all things Mike Rule. If they weren't camp people before, they are now! (Many thanks to folks who shared the photos, including Cynthia Holt, Michael Morgan and Joelle Horn.)

Harry, KJ and Charlie

Indo Joe and Mean Jean

Vickie Donovan & Riley Cooper

Slim, Avery & Mike Morgan

Yeehaw, Steiner and Cha

Alan,Ruthie,Tracy,Walt,Eniko

Click here to learn more about MikeFest.

I met up with Camp Benson friend Matt "Toothbrush" Mason in Butte, U.S.A. One of my favorite humans.

My helpful camp friend Jeffrey Foucault became a successful singer-songwriter so that his concerts could serve as mini-camp reunions. He's quite talented. You should go listen to him at www.krisdelmhorst.com. (Pictured left to right (back row) Geoff Blake-Horst, Bif Buchan, Courtney (Griffin) Lindl, Tim "Honeybear" Lindl, Andrew "Bones" Bohnsack, Kristoffer "Pudd" Puddicombe, Jeff "Elvis" Foucault, (Front Row) Anna (Foucault) Hayworth, Jenny "Fozzie" Rule, Chris "Bubba" Hawbaker, Annelies "Flossie" Howell.)

At this show in Chicago, there were 10 camp people in attendance, three of whom remembered to take a picture! (L to R: Hilary Mercer, Jeff Foucault and Jennifer (Krug) Olson)

My camp friend John "Slim" Gillin worked as a teacher in rural Alaska for 25 years. Now that he's back I am enjoying reconnecting with him! Here we are at the Spring Grove Storytelling Festival.

Winning the award for taking me to the highest heights, former camp nurse Ruthanne Reichert Taylor. Not our first sojourn, nor our last! Together in ChiTown in December 2023.

Jon Orum and I at Gus's Pizza in Whitewater, WI. Jon enjoys ping pong, curling and long walks on the beach. (Fun fact: Jon's iconic "Dustin' around" photos of his rental car in Iceland were the inspiration for the blog post about my Subaru Outback, Lakester.)

In Verona, WI with camp friends Kyle "Yeehaw" Gasser and Molly (Garner) Carroll. Kyle was cooking brats at a fundraiser for his daughter's volleyball team when Molly and I stopped by on our way to Donald County Park for a hike.

Alma "Miss Giggles" Valenzuela has stayed as sweet as ever since we worked together at Bluff Lake AND Camp Benson back in the day. (She was Luke's #1 BFF at Benson!) I caught up with her in Knoxville, TN where she works as a sign language interpreter for a hospital.

Gina "Jim's better half" (Chapman) Foucault joined me for a tour of Utah parks in April 2023.

With Eric "Broadway" Stein a.k.a. 'Steiner' in Denver, Colorado. We toasted to our camp days over fancy s'mores!

Annual LOEWSTRONG BIKE RIDE in Menominee, Michigan with Tod "Stretch" Radtke. Followed by burgers and shakes at Mickey-Lu-B-B-Q, of course! :)

American Players Theater in Spring Green, WI with Cynthia "Cha Cha" Holt and her husband Jeremy "Guzzo" Pinc. Got our Shakespeare on!

Camp friend Jeff "Fury" Harrits and I near his home in Montana.

Tammy Woller-Li is one part camp people and one part childhood friend! She was Head Wrangler at Camp Bluff Lake in 1999 and we also grew up together in Mount Horeb! She and her daughter Makaelynn dropped in to meet Buttercup last week. I feel blessed to have sojourned with them many times this year!

Two weekends ago I had the opportunity to travel to the Wisconsin north woods with a group of fabulous friends. A year ago I described this annual weekend getaway in a post called "Winter Friends Weekend". This year some friends were missing, some new friends joined, but the heart and soul remained achingly, beautifully the same. Kinship, music, nature, community, love.

Flossie Howell, Guzzo Pinc, Cha Cha Holt, me and Buttercup, Dianna Puddicombe, Heather Aschoff, Beth Gehrend, Ruthanne Reichert Taylor, Kristoffer "Pudd" Puddicombe, Mimi Puddicombe, Cynthia (Seay) Hill, Steve Hill

And even with all of the photos above, there are still more "camp people" sojourns from this past year that are not included. I see you, I love you, and let's do it again soon!

To return to my thesis statement...send kids to camp! You never know, you just never know, what a life-altering decision that may be.

Sojourn on!

Click here for YMCA Camp Benson in Mount Carroll, IL

Click here for Phantom Lake YMCA Camp in Mukwonago, WI

And if you'd prefer to go to camp as a family, consider the family camp options at the above two camps, or YMCA Family Camp Nawakwa in Lac du Flambeau, WI.