…A year ago, (August
2010), the Loyalists show up in Waupaca for an informal reunion and the
official Board Meeting. Someone has been
in Waupaca since 1996 without fail! Mike Lurie and Paul Warshauer discuss the idea of a reunion “next year…” There is
much discussion at the 2010 annual meeting at the Grand Seasons in
Waupaca. Warren Metzdorff says, “It
will never work.” George Lamm is not
so sure but is willing to listen…the board decides to look into the matter…the
Loyalists are invited to walk through camp with CYJ Director Noah Gallagher,
who is excited and supportive of our plans…thus the seeds are planted for the
60th anniversary reunion edition of Camp Waupaca…contracts…
insurance…board discussions…and a very generous donation by Dave Weiner…”Is the reunion still on?”
as Mike’s phone rings off the wall…George Lamm’s wife calls all the members to generate interest…
…Thursday, August 11, 2011: Warshauer wakes up at Gregg Feinstein’s condo in downtown
Chicago and goes for an “Everything Bagel” at Einstein Bagels and declares,
“The 2011 Reunion is officially open!” He picks up Rick Passman at 10:00 am on LSD (Lake Shore Drive) and they begin
the drive using the old neighborhood streets: Peterson, Ridge, then up to
Skokie and onto the Edens…traffic in Milwaukee but we find Rick Poole in Madison, WI ready to go with his 35 year old “Big
Blue Cooler”… after we fill it with necessary “supplies” we choose to drive up
Wisconsin Highway 22 stopping at several watering holes along the way: Leeds
then Wild Rose…The Advance Party ends up at the Clearwater Harbor Bar for the
Opening Ceremonies and have the first Waupaca toast at 5:00 pm…Michael Gordon calls to say he is on
the way and arrives at the Harbor Bar shortly thereafter. Michael is the camper who, in 1966, introduces Camp Waupaca to Paul Warshauer… We feel that with two
Ricks, Paul, and Mike all present, the reunion is officially well under way…We
check into the Grand Seasons Best Western and make a special deal… “The other
hotel down the street is giving us a $59 per night deal, can you?” The Manager
knows Camp Waupaca people have been there for years so he gives us all the
great deal... Warren and Anna Metzdorff
show up, then Mike Lurie and off we
go to Simpsons for our traditional opening dinner (2 Mikes, 2 Ricks, Warren,
Anna, and Paul)…It appears we have all sorts of ceremonial openings and
closings…After dinner the group travels to several watering holes then sleep…we
dream of Lake Stratton, the Far Fields, the Cabins, and memories…
…Friday, August 12, 2011: Early this morning Ken Lapins wakes Abby and Rachel (his two daughters) to get ready
for Camp. They are excited! He has told
them stories since they were born so they are excited but not as much as their
Daddy... Camper of the Year Glen Spear
has a tougher sell; One of his kids is gung ho. The other is lukewarm… meanwhile the advance party in Waupaca has breakfast at the Waupaca Woods
Restaurant for our traditional opening day breakfast…we have fun with our
waitress as we discuss where was the first “Stop and Go” light. Paul calls the
City of Waupaca and leaves a message for the City Engineer…(we don’t hear back
until the following Tuesday!)…The entire group goes on the Lady of the Lake
boat tour around the Chain of Lakes…It rains and we use umbrellas…then the
group shopping at the elegant Mills Fleet Farm…lunch at the Wheelhouse Pizza
Parlor where we meet Sonya Wanty…It
is close to opening so we take the back roads to Camp Waupaca…when we arrive Kenny, Abby and Rachel Lapins have already arrived and Kenny
sets up his family in Cabin 9…Noah Gallagher, the Camp Young Judaea director,
welcomes us warmly….An anonymous former camper (SS) arrives and decides to do a
laker, unsupervised…still, it is his best memory of camp… We find our bunks and
begin the set up…we have no flag for flag lowering but our pulley is still on
what’s left of our old the flagpole from 5 years ago (it used to be taller,
didn’t it??) so we are creative and “capture a flag…” We go into the Mess Hall
and stand waiting for grace, “Evening has come / The Board is spread / Thanks
be to Him / Who gives us bread / Praise God for bread.” The response: “For
these and all Thy blessings, Oh Lord, we thank thee.” It’s chicken… “Is that Rosemary Clotiaux, camp nurse from
1969-1978? She hasn’t changed a bit since 1971!”…We trek out to the Near
Diamond and select teams. Former camp nurses, Rosemary Clotiaux and Suzie Stoffel-Lewis join in and serve
as cheerleaders (and nurse our aching bodies!) Our softball game is played and
many tired muscles. Lots of fun as we bat through the order…. Lee Eisner’s wife Kerry is a ringer. It
turns out they met while playing softball...Tonight’s Players of the Game are
Jonah Eisner, age 5 and Carson Eisner, age 3 … we gather firewood and have a
great first night campfire…stories are told, memories pour back, smores are
made & eaten…
…Saturday,
August 13, 2011: Although Daddies and Mommies want to sleep
in, many are up early to walk around and see the Camp at dawn…Mike and Paul walk through camp like Manny
Desnet or Mike Euer waking up
the camp with “It’s another beautiful day at Camp Waupaca…flag raising in 30
minutes…” we assemble and line up in at the Flagpole and re-enact the ceremony.
Each Cabin reports, including the nurses and those in “Hotel Cabins”…This
morning, Cabin 9 campers (The Lapins
Girls) raise the flag… into the Mess Hall… we see whole fresh avocados,
something that no one ever remembers being served at camp before…a little
singing then announcements, “Waterskiing is open by signups, the waterfront
will be open at 10:00 am for swimming and boating”…choose up softball at the
near diamond at 10:00 as well… At 10:00 Warren
Metzdorff and Mike Lurie square
of in a pitching duel… Mike Savin
shows up and he walks around in “reminiscent mode”… last time we saw him he had
massive glasses and a mop of hair…not so much hair now and no specks... All
three Becker Brothers, Lee, Perry, and Glenn and appear and
grab mitts to play in the first softball…George
Lamm reports for duty and plays first base… Sam Johnson (Todd Laff’s stepson) hits a triple,
everyone bats and fields…Cama Schulte, Sam’s mom, leads the cheers…many sore
muscles but smiles all around as game is declared a tie…Player of the morning
game goes to: Jonah Levine, age 8, son of Jeff
Levine… Many go swimming and build sandcastles… Dick Garb, camp sage and memory expert, shows up on the beach and
soaks it all in… he tells stories and corrects erroneous information… Paul brings a small brown bottle to the
beach that contains the sacred ear drops; Rosemary
Clotiaux confirms the recipe: ½ White Vinegar / ½ alcohol. Many boys remembered the smell of putting the
drops in ears to prevent swimmer’s ear….at the top of the waterfront, Barry Craven recalls that his time at
Camp Waupaca For boys was the best of his life...we remember little Steven “Turtle” Chavin (Michael Chavin’s younger brother) who
passed away far too young…meanwhile there is a Blue & White War Pow-Wow on
the raft and a last minute switch of Little Chiefs…Lunch and then we have the
best pianist in Waupaca, Joel Kettler,
play camp songs at the mighty 88 (well, it is an electronic keyboard)…We sing
the Camp Song and “Titanic”….Rick
Passman sings one part of one verse, “Oh it was sad…” and tells us “that’s
all you get out of me…” Some sort of commotion occurs at the front of the Mess
Hall as Todd Laff squares off
against Kenny Lapins and knocks off
his hat. Glen Spear comes to the rescue of Kenny Lapins and Rob Ezsak
comes to the aid of Todd Laff. They
serve as Little Chiefs to their Big Chiefs and the “War is all Heated Up!” All
campers, counselors, and children go directly to the Horseshoe and we divided
into teams…Scott Rubin arrives but
is too late to be the Little Chief…Ken
and Todd go over the list of events
and assign participants…most go off to practice tennis, walking backwards,
tossing pine cones into a hula hoop on the archery field, soccer, nailing into
wood, and the dreaded (but hysterical) canoe obstacle course… We all meet at
the horseshoe one more time and the relay begins, as it has for decades, with
the sinking of three free throws on the basketball court…The relay beings at
3:30 with basketball free throws… There is fun[MEL1] and urgency as everyone works hard….Steve Shyman and his girlfriend, Vivina
Ma, perform the Canoe Obstacle course jumping out of their boat and getting
back in on a whistle… Two Becker
brothers (Lee and Glenn) accomplish the tennis rally on
the first try with ten consecutive hits…Ami Ma does a great job in the
backwards walk… It is neck and neck and, as usual, Michael Leung practices for
an hour and gets a ringer on his second toss!...it comes down to the fire and
BOIL WATER BOIL. The
final score is 36:10 for the BLUE Team (Kenny
Lapins/Glen Spear) and 37:20 for
The WHITE Team (Todd Laff/Rob Ezsak[MEL2] )…
Many of us head for the beach for an old fashioned G-swim, George Lamm and Rick Passman canoe into “Big Lake Stratton…” Warren shows off his muscles and takes his wonderful wife, Anna Metzdorff on a rowboat ride around
the circumference of sand bottomed, crystal clear, spring fed, glacier formed,
dredged by the Caldwells, Lake Stratton!... Dinner of some strange goulash deal
(they call it cholent, at least it is kosher)… We sing a few more songs,
announcements then the evening softball game is played… Lots of pinch runners…1973
one-time counselor Errol Grisard
really connects with the ball, however his running doesn’t keep up as he turns
a triple into a double… Player Of the Game: Jacob Spear, son of Glen Spear, for amazing fielding and
batting…then a campfire…the official CWRG Board of Directors holds its annual
meeting in full view….Big Chief Warshauer
wears his ceremonial Indian headdress…Paul
then proceeds to award the Blue & White War “player of the war” to
Max….”Who’s Max?” …Warshauer says
“you know, the kid who got a ringer in two throws”…he can’t read his own
writing … we present the Dave Weiner award and explain who Dave Weiner is…this one-time award goes to David Wax who passed away suddenly this year…stories by Warren Metzdorff, Scott Rubin, Joel Kettler
“Wisconsin State Law…” and pizza arrives, courtesy of Joel and Judy Kettler
with soda and beer…”Glen Becker, have you ever drank beer at the horseshoe
before?”… Mike Lurie tells the story
of Mike Berke being saved in Lake
Stratton by Rick Passman… we sing,
“Day is done, gone the sun / From the Lakes from the Hills from the sky / All
is well / Safely Rest / God is Nigh.” …Perry
Becker asks if this song isn’t Nihilist, “God is Nigh?” … Some go back to
their hotels…others drift off to sleep…Todd
Laff, Mike Lurie, and the Gerowitz family (minus a very sleepy
child) are still in the camping spirit and journey out to the far fields to do
some sky and star watching with Naturalist Rick
Poole and others on the far field…children dream of camp and many of us
know it will be over tomorrow…still we have dreams of canoeing, swimming…George Lamm dreams of teaching
horseback riding from many years ago but he leaves early…the beds are a little
rough for some of us with bad backs…still, a night to remember
…Sunday
August 14, 2011
Flagpole, salutes, as Nathan and Miranda
Gerowitz, son and daughter of Rob Gerowitz re-enact the last flag raising 5 years ago…
the mystery of Max is solved, (Max is really Michael Leung, Steve Shyman’s
guest) who tossed a ringer on his second toss at yesterday’s Super Duper relay…
We set up memorabilia in the Rec Hall: plaques, Yearbooks, shirts, old
documents, contracts, letterhead, schedules and lots of photos…Glenn “Glenardo” Becker
cannot believe he was in a play with Jonathan
Mintz and Ralph Saunders…we
produce the play and a program... Michael
Gordon sees a photo of himself from 1969…We all miss Bob Mowen and hoped he could have attended…slowly the camp empties
as people go back to their hometowns across the nation. Rosemary Clotiaux returns to New Orleans, Suzie Stoffel to Chapel Hill, NC... The Kettlers to Los Angeles, and others to points in Illinois,
Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota.
Everyone packed up their belongings and cleaned up. The camp is empty
and fall will soon be here. Mike and
Paul stay behind and settle up. Noah
Gallagher compliments our group for leaving the camp clean…the reunion is
officially over or until the “Trail Ends…”
Michael Gordon drives Rick Poole back to Madison and on to
his home…
Only three die-hards
remain in Waupaca after the reunion. The exhausted men check into the Grand
Seasons Hotel and visit former printer’s wife Cory Kramer…have a last supper at
The Chain of Lakes Restaurant… Mike
almost gets lucky with a neighbor of Camp…A few drinks at JRs and it’s off to
bed. Lurie and Warshauer
agree, “SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN IN FIVE YEARS AND IT WON’T BE
US!”
…Monday,
August 15, 2011
Three Little Indians (Warshauer,
Passman, & Lurie) have the ceremonial
closing breakfast at the King’s Table in King…Mike Lurie says his goodbyes as he heads to Chicago to visit
family…and then there were Two Little Indians…Paul and Rick travel to
Stevens Point and take the Point Brewery Tour and spend the afternoon sampling
local beers at The Elbow Room and talked to locals, Ernie’s and were served by
a bartender in a sling…Harbor Bar, the Place and Chain of Lakes Dinner at a TJ
Martins, the Waupaca Irish Pub…
…Tuesday,
August 16, 2011
Up
and out of the hotel thus formally ending the reunion…Rick and Paul start
their drive back to Chicago leaving at 10:30 am, but stop for gas and to say
goodbye to Sonya Wanty at her Shell
station … on to Fond du Lac at the Applebee’s then back to Lake Shore Drive…Now
some us plan to meet again in Waupaca next summer for an informal reunion or
…Until the Trail’s End…