…August 15, 2011 and Lurie and Warshauer are exhausted after yet another all-camp reunion… “Never
again,” they both say…then over the next three years, informal gatherings in
Waupaca featuring Warren Metzdorff, George Lamm, Rick Passman, Howie Resnick,
John Schmitt, Bob Mowen, and Errol Grisard
occur…the embers of a fire start to warm up…
…By August 17, 2013 the CWRG Council
agrees to pursue a full-on reunion on site for 2016…the word goes out…concerns
about the food are primary, contract negotiations with Camp Young Judaea
Midwest (the current owner of the former Camp Waupaca) go very well and a date
is selected….optimism is high… postcards,
Facebook posts, and e-mails go out. The response is lukewarm…have we done these
too many times? Is there still an interest? ...the die-hards say GO GO… The
phones light up… Mike and Paul set the fees…very reasonable for a resort in
Wisconsin for a family…
…July 2015, three hearty men gather in
Waupaca to vacation and enjoy the Portage County Fair…Little Ricky Passman got his wish last year
when it was decided to gather informally this weekend in July 2015 so he can go
to the fair like in the old days…Rick
Passman, Mike Lurie, and Howie Resnick all enjoyed the crazy
weekend together…
…February 2, 2016, on behalf of the Camp
Waupaca Reunion Group Council, Big Chief Warshauer signs the contract and we
are a go!... Registrations start slowly and remain sluggish but those who plan
to attend are excited… It’s been five years… Rick Passman signs up early, so do brothers Kenny and Ralph Saunders…
…July 2016, Paul Warshauer enters a contest to win tickets for a
Leinenkugel/WDUX Beer Cruise on the Chain O’ Lakes…he has to get more likes on
Facebook than anyone else, and he wins!!...now all we need are 4 more tickets
for the rest of the “advance team” to go on the cruise with Paul and his chosen
guest…letters to WDUX radio go out but to no avail…
…
Wednesday, August 10, Little Ricky Passman boards a flight from
Reno, Nevada…he arrives at the Central Wisconsin Airport near Wausau…Paul Warshauer picks him up and the
reunion “officially” begins…Mike Lurie
leaves St. Michael, MN with a car loaded with SWAG, (Camp Waupaca hats, t-shirts
and sweatshirts)…by 3 pm, Mike, Rick and Paul are having the official first drink at Graffiti’s on the
Square in Stevens Point…
…Back
in Chicago, men and families prepare for the BIG event…Wives again ask “Why are
we going to this thing?”…Ricky
Weinberger takes planes, trains and automobiles from Miami to get to the
reunion. He borrows an old car to finally get to the Ramada Inn, our HQ for a
while…
… Wednesday, August 10, 2016…On Wednesday night a nice dinner at
T-Dubs, an upscale Irish pub on the Waupaca River…off to the DQ for a dessert
nightcap…on the way to the Dairy Queen Ricky
Weinberger is stopped by the local constabulary for a bad tail-light. He
has a borrowed car, a Florida driver’s license so the cop gives him a warning
as the paperwork would take hours…
…Thursday, August 11, 2016…plastic tub
and a shopping bag of memorabilia are spread out in the Ramada Board Room and
reviewed…Ricky Weinberger is
enthralled by a counselors manual prepared by Ron Lavine in 1981…”Mike, I MUST get a copy of this, seriously!”…Rick Passman tells the group, “I have
never been to New London”…so we abandon the traditional Thursday morning
shopping trip to Fleet Farm, Piggly Wiggly and lunch at Brainard’s Bridge…after
all the Official Itinerary says, “Subject to minor or major change at any
time”…Mike and Paul begin to use the word, “Protocol” for any changes or
decisions we make on behalf of the CWRG…We pile into a red Ford Fusion Titanium
courtesy of Michael Gordon and we drive
to New London and have great burgers and 1919 Root Beer…Back to hotel then to
the Harbor to see if we won any additional Leinenkugel Cruise tickets…we drink
several barley pops which give us more entries to the last chance raffle…no
luck comes our way and Warshauer
gives his winning tickets to Errol Grisard
and Rick Passman who go on the Chief
Waupaca paddle wheeler for a 3 hour cruise, a 3 hour cruise. The rest of us go
to dinner at Simpsons…we are saddened to learn the historic restaurant, in the
family for 4 generations since 1932, is now for sale by the family!...
…Friday August 12, 2016…Karamath Khan debates “should I or
shouldn’t I attend?”… Dick Garb
tells him he will drive if they leave Saturday morning but let’s keep it a
secret from his buddy, Steve Prebish…Mike Lurie prepares the sign to go on
the post on Highway 22. Is the sign really 10 years old?...Everyone wants to
get in early but the official start time is 4:00 pm… At 12:30, Paul and Mike pull into the gates at camp recalling Leroy Clotiaux guarding the same gate for parents’ day…George Lamm arrives and the party is
now in full swing…and the nostalgia fills us until we see a single wide trailer
on the golf course!...It is the new temporary office. We meet new Camp director Robin Anderson and
we agree that our group, although small, will have fun this weekend!...
...The
CYJ staff includes Robin, Gabby, Paulina, Lee and Ben. Our cook is Sandy…we
have already printed itineraries, releases, registrations…the staff helps us
find the old pulley for the flagpole and although it is much shorter than
before, it still works…supplies for tomorrow’s Super-Duper Relay are
identified…Mike, George, and Paul get bedrooms in Barney Town, (Manny’s old lodge and the former computer room)…Little left to do
other than wait at the gate for our first arrivals…
…Rick Passman and Errol Grisard finish doing whatever they were doing in town and
arrive at camp, followed by Ricky
Weinberger…Kenny and Ralph Saunders arrive and set up their
tents by the old rifle range…Steve
Shyman and his wife, Vivina stake out the porch on the new Rec Hall facing
the lake… Flag lowering and we introduce the first set of attendees by earliest
year attended…Rick Weinberger lowers
the flag…before we eat, we recite our traditional Camp Waupaca blessing: “Evening
has come, the board is spread. Thanks be to him who gives us bread. Praise God for Bread . . .” everyone: “For
these and all thy blessings, oh Lord we thank thee.”…dinner of homemade pizza
and salad bar…as it is a kosher camp, no cooking on Sabbath…still mighty
good…Liquid Sunshine threatens, so after a quick look at Lake Stratton after
dinner, we head to the newer air conditioned Rec Hall and have a few beers
while looking at the Warshauer
collection…no one wanted to play softball anyways, and there are too few of us…Steve Prebish comes into the Rec Hall
and is immediately immersed back into camp life…Larry Lifson and his bride Bebe are the last arrivals for the first
day…Ricky W. provides liquid refreshment for the troops…some of us feel a
little giddy actually drinking beer on camp grounds…
Michael Gordon and
Steve Prebish take the CPAP cabin (Cabin
10) and Ricky Weinberger takes Cabin
9…the families arriving Saturday will get Cabins 7-8….The Levine family has
reserved Cabin 15…taps…
…Saturday, August 13, 2016… Scott Levine’s daughter, Addison Levine
wakes up and yells, “It’s today!”…many of us have dreams about our great times
at camp…we remember Manny and Lil Desnet, nights out in town (Rick Passman), campfires…some dream
about their legendary performances on the Flickerball Field (Steve Prebish), others their skills at
waterskiing (Steve Shyman), but it
all ends at 7:45 am, when Mike Lurie
wakes up camp going from cabin to cabin, tent to tent yelling, “Good morning
Men! It’s another beautiful day at Camp Waupaca…flag raising at 8:30.” It
reminds us of Skipper Kuklin and Manny Desnet and Mike Euer who used to wake us up many years ago…Cabin reports, this
time by distance traveled…Mike
notices the assemblage is a bit sluggish this morning, so he brings out the Manny Desnet calisthenics…arm rolls,
touch the opposite toes, etc…Steve
Shyman raises the flag...breakfast…we remember the prayer, “Morning has
come, the board is spread. Thanks be to him who gives us bread. Praise God for
bread.” Everyone! “For these and all thy blessings, oh Lord we thank thee.”…We
notice a toaster that says, GLUTEN FREE.” 2016 has come to Camp Waupaca!... Mike Lurie sells preprinted 2-color
t-shirts, sweatshirts, and embroidered hats, custom made for this event…Now it
is a full day of GREAT WEATHER, when folks arrive, walk the grounds go
swimming, skiing, tubing and just reminisce…Larry Gordon is able to make the reunion before driving his last
child to college next week…Karamath Khan
shows up and does surprise us… Dick Garb
drove him up...Aram Adler arrives
and goes right for the water…so does Gavin
Greene and his family along with Jared
Palmer and his crew…friends since childhood now coming back to camp for the
first time since the late 1980s. Jared is sporting a big beard…who was that
kid? It takes a while to see Jared the kid’s face in the Jared the man now… lakers
(swimming from our beach to a raft across the lake, and back again),
water-skiing, boat rides…Lunch…paper plates and plastic forks do not have the
same impact as crashing silverware to start other Blue and White Wars but Big
Chief Larry Gordon for the white, and
his little Chief, Jared Palmer square
off against Blue team Big Chief, Steve
Prebish and his Little chief, Gavin
Greene. We meet at the horseshoe to divide into two teams and practice the
various events…some of the boys go on a Crystal River trip but the rest get
ready. Big Chief Paul Warshauer puts
the secret ingredient into the #10 cans filled with water then the relay starts
at 3:50 exactly. Although the names of some of the events are not known to
everyone, the old timers recall…the sinking of three free throws (The Ray Krysh and Sundance Swish Event) …it
is close all the way through…canoe marathon, (The Craig Fuller Instant Tantrum Event)…pounding nails into a log (Dick Garb, Jared Palmer, Michael Gordon)
by the Old Craft shop…(Erv Kasian’s
Most Powerful Craft Shop in North America Event)…“Where is that?”…Marathon
running forwards (The Rob Ezsak / Lori Huntoon Kiss the Kitchen Girl and
Run Event) and backwards and one event where someone (Addison) must quack while
walking fast, (Paul Ringel Quack
Like a Duck)…Larry Gordon and Michael Gordon throw horseshoes (The Bob Mowen Lucky Horseshoe Toss Event)…The
kids have a great time as well, Big Jack, Little Jack, and Stacy, do more
events than all the adults!... The wives do many events as well: Mrs. Lifson,
Mrs. Levine, Mrs. Palmer, and Mrs. Shyman… then both teams arrive within seconds
to start building their fires… Steve Shyman
& Steve Prebish for the Blue,
and Jared & Lisa Palmer and Scott Levine for the White team… …The flimsy fire grate provided by
CYJ collapses for the first time in Blue & White War history, but the water
does not spill out so the boil water boil continues…(note to Mike Lurie: next time, we bring our own
Blue and White water boiling equipment)…Blue wins it in 40:05 with Steve Prebish ringing the old bell (no
wasps this year!) propped up on the back of a trailer in the space formerly
occupied by the camp office which was torn down due to rot… White Team’s Jared Palmer is not quitting. He
finishes his fire and his Chief (Larry
Gordon) rings the bell a little later…one camp again…everyone into the
spring fed, crystal clear, sand bottomed, glacier formed Lake Stratton for a
G-Swim….flag lowering by Larry and Bebe
Lifson lower the flag…. And, as advertised, a “scrumptious chicken dinner.”…we
thank the kitchen staff for the improvement in food quality…
…Saturday evening, August 13, 2016…The
Annual Meeting of the Camp Waupaca Reunion Group is called to order by Big
Chief Paul Warshauer promptly at
8:15 PM before a roaring fire built by the winning B&W fire builders…roll
call, proxy votes submitted by non-attendees Warren Metzdorff, George Lamm (had to get back home for family
reasons), and Scott Rubin…the 2015
minutes are about to be read when a motion is made to forego the reading and go
right to the approval…minutes approved as written...treasurer’s report by Mike Lurie…he explains that he has
several unreimbursed expenses and would like to keep the proceeds from the sale
of all t-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts...board votes unanimously to approve Mike’s request…Larry Gordon asks if we are planning to tip the CYJ
staff…discussion, followed by cash flowing in for such a deed…excitement for a
new plan proposed by Larry Gordon to
have a few financially blessed alumni underwrite the next reunion in 2 years
(instead of the usual 5) and have people pay what they feel the weekend is
worth…under “new business”, Mike Lurie
makes an impassioned speech extolling the contributions of Dick Garb, and requests that he be made an honorary board
member…the motion passes unanimously with the proviso that this is an honorary
position only, as he doesn’t want any responsibilities (though he does more
than most all throughout the years)…meeting is adjourned and we start telling
stories…talk about camp dreams, heroic counselors, funny PA announcements…taps…some
go to town for entertainment, others head to the far fields to watch the
remainder of the Perseid Meteor Shower…
…Sunday, August 14, 2016…Paul and Mike walk through camp waking everyone…Many are awake and already
taking great photos of a mirror like Lake Stratton…so many good photos already
posted on Facebook…Flag raising by Ralph
Saunders, the youngest camper (up to that point – “I was so young, I spent
2 summers in Cabin 1!”) and those who
stayed in hotels make it back to camp just in time to give their cabin (or
hotel room) reports…breakfast and singing (Rise and Shine brings back such
happy memories!) and our camp song….Aram
Adler shares a reply to the question, “Why did you come to camp for this
reunion?” His reply, “Life is too short. I wanted to come to camp to relive
great memories and enjoy it before it’s too late.” Perfect…The Big Chief makes Addison
Levine a Pledge…others grumble it will take another few years to make Brave… Hooray
for all of us who hung in there for the entire weekend, including Ralph and Ken Saunders who traditionally disappear, tents and all, in the
middle of the night…Last chance to build sand castles on the beach or go
swimming once more…last chance lakers (swimming from our beach to a raft across
the lake, and back again) were completed by Steve Shyman (twice!), Ken
Saunders, Ralph Saunders, Vivina
Shyman, Aram Adler and Ricky Weinberger. Thanks to Michael Gordon and CYJ staff for rowing
boats to get them there and back safely…Rick
Passman, Mike Lurie and Errol Grisard take a tour to see the
Old Beach…it is still there although many more weeds and small tress now nearly
totally obscure the path from the beach…a few brave souls go tubing behind the
“fast boat,” but Aram Adler over
does it a bit trying to waterski, and comes to shore limping…Steve Prebish sits on a picnic bench by
the waterfront listening to great old songs like Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the
Cradle”…we get a little teary eyed…we reminisce about music at camp, especially
the Police’s “Canary in a Coal Mine” danced by so many CIT’s one summer at
camp…we pack up our stuff…Ralph and Kenny Saunders pack up their tents by
the no longer in existence rifle range while the Shyman’s pack up their tent on the Rec Hall porch…some look at the
memorabilia (Yearbooks, flags, shirts, plaques) still on display in the air
conditioned Rec Hall…we buy a last hat, t-shirt or sweatshirt…one final walk to
the tennis court, archery range, a trip to see the Wanty house, (which as a “For Sale” on it!) the far fields, and the
mini-bike trail…it is still hard to see a giant new climbing wall on the far
fields where many rugby records were made, but it is progress we suppose. The rest
of the camp seems the same, cabins, Mess Hall, Manny’s House, and we try to take in as much as we can until the
next reunion…last lunch of leftovers, last chance to recite our Camp Waupaca
grace and sing our fight song…will there be another reunion? No one is sure but
we know that our memories of Camp Waupaca are preserved and we will meet again…sometime
before the Trail’s End…
September 2, 2016 by Paul Warshauer and Mike Lurie
P.S. …after Paul and
Mike tip the CYJ staff, we head to the corner of Stratton Lake Road and Hwy 22
to remove our sign and save it for next time…Mike and Paul and Rick head to
town to visit the Widow Kramer, the widow of Camps former print shop provider…Paul
heads to the Ramada for a nap while Mike and Rick and Ricky head to Clearwater
Harbor for a corn roast and live music…too busy there, so we head to the old
Roost, now a modern bar & grill for a late lunch…back to the hotel to rest,
followed by one more dinner at Simpson’s (may not be here the next time we
come)…Monday we nosh at King’s Table for breakfast before saying our good-byes
for the weekend…heading back to jobs or decisions about jobs, and to sweetly
remember our days at Camp Waupaca…in the days that follow, we hear from many
attendees, telling us about the wonderful time they had…Paul sends out Pledge
and Brave certificates mounted in frames, touching the hearts of many…Aram
Adler says he has significant damage to his leg requiring surgery (I hope he
signed a waiver)…