...Paul Warshauer calls Mike Lurie to plan their 8th annual trip to Waupaca..."middle of August" suggests Lurie...calls to Warren Metzdorff, Bob Mowen, Rick Passman, the Saunders brothers (Ken and Ralph), and Dan Lyon to plan a mid-August get together...calls to CYJ and we're told post camps go until August 28..."Change of plans, boys" and Rick Passman changes his airline reservations and Ralph Saunders has to decline...Warren Metzdorff sits on the fence, Bob Mowen says "no, I won't go"...
...Rick Passman arrives in Chicago from Reno, Nevada and takes a cab to Paul Warshauer's Harwood Heights residence...The reunion begins at 4:00 PM with a mafia hug between Don Ricardo and Don Paulo...They drive past Warren Metzdorff's home, and then some hours later arrive at Grimm's Pub in Wautoma, Wisconsin...The boys meet a cute bimbo waitress named Tina...On to the Baymont Hotel in Waupaca, check-in and free cocktails!...
...The "advance team" has dinner, and a horrible Karaoke couple tries to entertain, to no avail...Calls are made for others to join us...
Thursday, August
28, 2003
...Kenny Saunders leaves Chicago at the crack of dawn...He arrives at the Baymont hotel in Waupaca by 9:30 and Rick, Paul and Ken go to the Waupaca Grill for breakfast...More grease per pound of eggs one will not find!...
...The three boys walk downtown and shop in Waupaca...Warshauer buys fudge in a gift shop previously occupied by the old Hardware Hank, next to the store previously occupied by the Drivas Rexall Pharmacy...On to K-Mart uptown to purchase towels and shoes for our journey to the Red Mill...Kenny and Rick relive many old memories by going under the waterfall and into the air pocket!...
...On to the Harbor Bar and we meet the beautiful Molly the waitress...
...We keep calling Warren who tells us Bob Mowen will arrive...They might come to camp, as the Rec Hall is scheduled to be demolished!...
...Mike Lurie arrives from Minneapolis, and he is immediately named Don Miguel for the remainder of the reunion...he and Paul join the good widow Kramer for dinner at the Waupaca Woods Restaurant in the mall...Ken and Rick are still warming the seats at the Harbor when we arrive later...
...We meet Libby Eisenhauer from Steven's Point, a cute bar maid, at the Clearwater Harbor...she serves the Boys from Stratton Lake and tells us that she is just 2 days away from returning to Minneapolis for her senior year at the U of M...Mike, also from Minneapolis, flirts with her and invites Libby to his house for . . . dinner!...terrible thunderstorm interrupts the Green Bay Packers pre-season football game, but we are comfortable and warm under the canopy of the Harbor Bar, reminiscing about our days at Camp Waupaca...Kenny Saunders and the 3 Amigos close down the place...
...Paul is too cheap to stay at the hotel so he shacks up with the nice Widow Kramer...Darold and Corey Kramer owned the Kramer Print Shop which did much work for the camp, including yearbooks, and stationary...Kenny returns to the Baymont for a restful sleep before an early return to Chicago...Rick and Mike proceed to JR Sportsman's Bar for more reminiscing and one last "barley pop" for the day...
Friday, August 29,
2003
...Ken Saunders checks out at 8:15 and Mike misses him by 5 minutes!...Ken is now heading to Chicago and then to Michigan...Mike and Paul go to camp early...Rick stays behind to sleep...We meet the Wanty electrical contractors and the general contractor who will DEMOLISH THE OLD REC HALL!...they give us permission to take anything we want out of there...Mike and Paul agree to take windows, doors and bricks from the fireplace as souvenirs...Mike Lurie takes detailed photos of the old rec hall, inside and out for our official records...
...Downtown Waupaca for lunch at Weasels, and Mike and Paul have pizza buffet...As we leave, we run into former kitchen girl Darcy Wanty and have a nice exchange of hugs...We go to a gift shop downtown and see "Camp Waupaca" playing cards...We immediately get the idea to create our own deck, ala the Iraqi playing cards given to our Gulf War troops, with 52 notable people at Camp Waupaca, plus jokers of course...
...Warshauer returns to his former glory as Rear Admiral and takes out a Sunfish sailboat on Lake Stratton - great winds and very peaceful!...Mike and Rick return to the Harbor Bar and wish Libby well on her final year in school...Calls are now made every fifteen minutes to Hoffman Estates to see if Warren and Bob might attend: "If you leave now, you'll be here in time for Flag Lowering!"...
...At 7:00 PM we attend a party for little Matt Wanty, last of seven children to Bill and Andrea Wanty...He and his bride-to-be, Mandy, are getting married in Texas later next year...This party is a chance for all the relatives to attend at Danny Wanty's house...We meet all sorts of Wantys including Brenda Wanty-Campbell and Sonya Wanty-Nelson...Steve Wanty has a little baby named William who is less than a year old!...Great party and the Three Amigos Waupaca staff, Don Paulo Warshauer, Don Ricardo Passman, and Don Miguel Lurie are made to feel welcome...Lots of tales and old stories about camp and the Wanty's told and embellished...We prepare a crib sheet so we know who is married to whom:
Danny / Mary Joe
Darcy / formerly to a Simpson of Simpson's Restaurant fame
Brenda / Todd
Brett / Lisa
Sonya / Kim
Steve / Stacy
Matt / Mandy (May 2004!)
...Afterwards, a return to the Harbor Bar and JR's for more revelry, as Paul tires out and returns home to the good widow Kramer...
Saturday, August
30, 2003
...We all pile into Mike Lurie's big white bus and go to Steven's Point so Rick Passman can recall his nights out as a counselor...We take the back roads to Steven's point and recall great memories of Ray Krysh driving back from the Portage County Fair in Amherst!...
...We arrive on Water Street and Beer Street (real names!) where we join the Point Brewery Tour just as it is starting...Our tour guide is a perky little gal who had clearly been informed to keep the tour short allowing us time in the hospitality suite...After the great tour, we receive three glasses of beer each...on to the gift shop to buy loads of souvenirs!...on to the Steven's Point Square for drinking at Joes, Mug Shots and Butter's Bar where we meet a bar owner named Eve married to Steve. She tells us all about the old Fox Theatre closing...
...Back to the Baymont Hotel to clean up for dinner...Warshauer goes back to the Widow Kramer's house for a nap. Mike and Ricky try to shame Warshauer into staying at the hotel, but he remains loyally cheap!...
...We meet up with former camper Dan Lyon in the hotel lobby...the Three Amigos add Don Danielo to the new quartet and we drink to our good health and good memories of Camp Waupaca...We enjoy our free cocktail, for which Warshauer has to relinquish his free Point Beer can bank obtained earlier in the day...As we discuss old camp lore, Dan Lyon refers to us as "puppies" for having such niceties as a heater in the cabin and windows instead of tarps & screens...
...On to dinner at Simpson's Indian Room Restaurant with Corey Kramer, her daughter Kathy, Mike, Rick, Paul and Dan...Nice dinner and pleasant memories of camp are discussed by all...
...The boys all head to the Indian Crossing Casino to hear a blues and jazz group called the Groove Hogs...Lots of older patrons as compared to the "Harbar"...We meet some gatecrashers and a sheriff who weighs 300 pounds easily!...
Sunday, August 31,
2003
...Up early and Mike & Paul head to Camp - Rick & Dan will join us later...Paul has tools on loan from Corey Kramer in order to remove doors, windows and lots of bricks out of the Rec Hall...We all must drive through Andrea Wanty's driveway and through the back path because the high-tech security gate is closed...The fields are all overgrown but the Flicker ball posts still remain! Ron Lavine would be proud!...Lurie looks behind every plaque to see if it is recycled Waupaca one. No new finds this trip...
...Back to town to grab a lunch at Subway at the Churchill Street Shell Station, owned by Sonya Wanty-Nelson and her husband, but no free lunch...Back to camp and as we drive through Andrea's driveway, we see remnants of the old barn and see doors, frames and the old wagon that used to sit in front of the Mess Hall during the late 1960s and early 1970s...several photos are taken...
...We eat on the shores of sand bottomed, glacier formed, spring fed, muck raked, crystal clear Lake Stratton on a perfect weather day!...after lunch and clean-up, we take a hike to the Old Beach via the CIT village trail...Dan Lyon wonders where the old pit was! Mike, Paul, and Rick all look at each other and wonder. Dick Garb later tells us on line that he also remembers the pit! None of us had ever heard of the "Old Pit" so Don Daniello Lyon proceeds to call us "puppies!"...His diatribe continues for hours: "When we were at camp we didn't have windows...we had screens and yellow tarps and NO heaters...and we liked it! We didn't go into town at all during the 1950s. We had horses right here at camp and we camped out on the far fields...and we liked it!" - reminiscent of Joel Kettler saying: "Wisconsin State Law states that you must lay motionless on your bunk for at least 30 minutes after lunch, especially on the hottest day of the year" at the 2001 reunion...
...Lyon finally tires himself out and he drives off in the late afternoon. Mike also packs up his car with doors, bricks and windows. He is off to Minneapolis to find Libby Eisenhauer...
...Paul drops Rick off for live music at the Harbor Bar and he goes to dinner at the Northwood's with the Widow Kramer and her daughter one last time. Nice time...
...Up by 10:00 AM and to breakfast at the Truck stop...Rick and Paul meet Jim, the owner who started his empire with a small Union 76 truck stop...He was delighted to see us and chatted for a while about Manny and his strange cars, trucks and busses...
...then began our long drive back to Chicago, through traffic zones and many Harley motorcycles returning from Milwaukee...This was the 100th Anniversary of the Harley Main HQ in Milwaukee...
...Rick Passman returns to his Mom's home on Lake Shore Drive in a rainstorm! Of course it never rains at Camp Waupaca...Warshauer is the last of the Mohicans. The Frog returns to his house in Harwood Heights ending another successful Camp Waupaca reunion...
...knowing that this was the last time we would see the Rec Hall made this a special time for those who attended, and we wonder what changes will be ahead as the Trail's End...