Camp season comes to an end

Page 10 – Hermann Sons Life – September 2021 Making memories and making a difference

By IAN BRASSETT

Executive Camp Director

Summer camp 2021 was a huge success!

I’m still reading through every survey and every comment our campers have written down and will be doing so through the middle of September. That’s when I will know what the campers’ favorite and least favorite meals where! I will know which activities they liked and didn’t like. I will publish that in the next newspaper.

I’ll also be reviewing all of the parental surveys to gauge the parents’ level of satisfaction, what you liked and did not like about the summer just passed.

The stand-alone numbers look great from the campers and parents – now is the time to really dig in and look at the words. I want to know where we are as a Camp in truly serving the campers and the parents of Hermann Sons Life. Every year my goal is to improve the quality of the summer camp experience.

Having spent the majority of my adult life working in the summer camp industry, I cannot recall a more difficult summer to navigate on so many levels.

Having both facilities near dormant for 20 months, we found going from zero to 60 for much of the infrastructure, especially on Riverside, really took its toll. While we did a lot of cleaning and prep work, the cold snap and the dormancy really did a number. A huge thank you has to go to Clay Haley who was amazing in getting the plumbing ready throughout Hilltop. This was definitely not a normal summer opening.

Skittles and Johnny Tsunami worked from March through the beginning of Camp scrubbing all of the dorms on both sites, along with the Riverside Dining Hall. This really helped make a difference. Thank you!

When difficulties arise in summer camp, it is the staff that invariably helps you dig out. Staffing this year was a bear. As most of you notice as you go into town, restaurants, diners and stores are all in the business of trying to hire staff. We were no different.

Initially we were looking at running both dining halls from one kitchen which would have been incredibly difficult. Thankfully, we had hired a wonderful overseas kitchen staff that jumped in and performed way above my highest possible expectations. Their incredible work ethic made the operation of two kitchens possible. Carolina, Yareli, Miguel, Raquel, Karla, Jesus and Braulio were magnificent in the kitchens and deserve a huge amount of credit for the high quality of the food.

It would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of Sue Wood and Brenda Gunnink who both spent countless hours teaching Miguel and Braulio how to cook. Brenda deserves so much credit for working long hours at the Home and then spending countless hours in both kitchens to help guide our staff. My gratitude cannot be summed up in words.

While we were well staffed in both clinics, a huge thank you goes out to Shelly Pankratz and Heather Johnson for their dedication and long hours. Shelly would often be found helping in the kitchens, running food from one site to the other along with managing the nursing crew. She was always ready to do whatever was needed to make the summer a good one for our campers. A big thank you goes to Cailin Mica for stepping up and working additional weeks when we were short-staffed and for Medic Mike.

Many times when driving past the Riverside campus, long after the campers and staff had all left on a Saturday night, I would see Pamela Nentwich’s truck! If you look in a dictionary for “dedication to Hermann Sons Life Camp,” I’m pretty sure her photograph will be there.

This summer we ran two minicamps. In both mini-camps, while we were a little unlucky with the weather, we were not unlucky with the staff who worked both camps. Running a coed camp on Hilltop, with a completely different age group than our staff is used to managing, did not phase them. The campers seemed to really enjoy their time spent with us and I look forward to many of them joining us for five more years of wonderful summer camp experiences.

By operating the second minicamp, we were able to put on a Staff Wrap Party at the end of the summer. The steak was fantastic (thank you Terry!). Thanks go to our three and five-year staff members who received their beads and chairs from Skittles, Lucky and Vice President of Member Benefits Cecily Kelly. Lucky also received a special 10year jacket.

Behind the scenes was the incredible help of Cecily, Tammi Sutherland and Jaqueline Klein in the Home Office. Thank you.

Counselors, though, make or break the summer camp experience. Our counselors this year were wonderful. They received scores far exceeding the 2019 counselor scores from the campers.

This year a special shout-out must go to our home-grown junior staff. When we lost 12 staff members unable to attend because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were handed more leadership responsibilities and they grabbed the opportunity with both hands and ran with it. They really made the summer possible for our campers.

While a little short of counselors in a number of sessions (never under the state and American Camp Association minimum requirements), we were able to run a Camp that our campers seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

Allowing these Hermann Sons Life CITs to work 6-8 weeks in Camp really helped boost our camper numbers and they were great.

What’s next? We’re excited and hoping that many of you will be coming to the Member Appreciation Picnic on Sept. 18. Please stop by and talk to me about your child’s experience and anything you’d like to see us improve or add.

While we have a few things in the works (much more in November’s newsletter), we’re hoping to add a few different offerings to our campers. . . . maybe pickleball and golf for Riverside? We’re also looking at the daily program to see if there may be a way to increase the social aspect of Camp for our campers, possibly adding more free swim and providing a structure to allow more opportunities for campers to do more than simply the same six daily activities. We’re ruminating on that so more to come.

Thanks for reading.

Ashlyn “Lucky” Chambers, right, receives a jacket from Vice President of Member Benefits Cecily Kelly recognizing her for her 10 years of service at Hermann Sons Life Camp. The overseas staff that worked at Camp this summer made it possible for both Dining Halls to offer meals that the campers and staff enjoyed.

Members of the Camp staff received their bag chairs recognizing them for five years of service. The chairs were presented during the Wrap Party held at the end of the season.

Three-year beads were presented to members of the Camp staff at the Wrap Party held at the end of the season.

September 2021 – Hermann Sons Life – Page 11 Youth Camp fun in 2021!