A Freedom Almost Forgotten

By Peter Grunawalt
October 08, 2016 (comments)

There are leaders, and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us. We follow those who lead not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead not for them, but for ourselves. And it’s because we want to that we let them influence us and those around us. Though I never met the founder of Camp Voyageur in person, I've seen glimpses of his life and leadership in this place we seem to seasonally gravitate towards. It radiates from the leadership that continues...

Summer Camp: An American Tradition

By John Burgman
April 16, 2016 (comments)

Author, traveler, and veteran counselor John Burgman writes from South Korea… Over the weekend, a low-pressure system that had lingered for days and dropped nonstop rain on my town finally dissolved. When it did, the landscape emerged in a seemingly new state: grasses appeared with deeper greens than before; flower buds spiraled open to reveal the beginnings of their colorful blooms. Even the soil somehow looked healthier—it was no longer that dull, moon-like gunk of winter. As I stepped onto my deck and took in the scene, I took a deep breath of fresh air and something clicked inside of...

Our Own Little Civilization

By Peter Grunawalt
January 14, 2016 (comments)

In an interview with Vicky Erdmann Burgman, we explore the relatively unknown history of camp, which features the ice house, the generator hut, and a few other quirky things about camp from the 50s and 60s that we bet you had no idea existed! We had our own generator. Back in the 50s and early 60s, camp electricity ran off a generator, which at best worked half the time. We used kerosene lamps for lighting as well. In a sense, we were our own little civilization in those days. The generator only ran at night, when we needed lights. My...