Voyageurs Return: First Round of Trips!

By Peter Grunawalt
June 22, 2016 (comments)

Tuesday afternoon, the camp peninsula was brought back to life as all of our wilderness trips trickled back into camp without incidence. Given the storms and wind we've seen in the past few days, the fact that everyone was in on-time was quite a feat. We have a tough, hardworking group of campers and an experienced staff, and they met the daily challenges of the elements with high spirits. As campers and counselors cleaned up, their stories were coming out of the woodwork. As you can imagine, preteens and teens are excellent story tellers, particularly when it comes to embellishing...

Day 1, Session 1: It's only the beginning...

By Peter Grunawalt
June 13, 2016 (comments)

While one would expect the first day of camp to seem like the first day of school, it was anything but that. Friendships picked up right where they left off last summer, and in some cases, summers from 2-3 years ago. New campers hopped right into the program after settling into their cabin bunks. Within hours of arriving, camp’s 25’ War Canoe was put to the test. We loaded it up with some of our strongest paddlers and took it for a spin. After a long restoration process, it’s good to know that it doesn’t leak. You hear that Elliott?!...

The Staff Trip: Camping Like It's Your Job

By Peter Grunawalt
June 08, 2016 (comments)

Once per summer, some of the most qualified wilderness leaders of the century gather in one location to test and hone their skills. That place happens to be Camp Voyageur. And these wilderness leaders I speak of? Why, they’re our camp counselors of course! Over the past two weeks, our counselors have been put through the ringer. They’ve been trained and tested in risk management, wilderness first aid, life-guarding, CPR, aquatics and water safety, behavior management, counseling techniques, transportation safety, healthcare, and a number of specialized activities we do here at camp. That’s not including the other certifications they need...

Camp's Garden of Eatin'

By Peter Grunawalt
May 29, 2016 (comments)

The following post was written by veteran counselor Ned Yonkers, who has spear-headed the gardening movement at Camp Voyageur this summer. He writes... Phase one of the project involved setting the posts for a fence and planting the garden. "Being at camp invokes the feeling that we are living in a community independent from the outside world. It is a place where no matter what is happening everywhere else, we’ll all be fine here. To enhance this feeling of independence, this year’s staff have worked on expanding camp’s garden, bringing in more herbs and vegetables than ever before. Nothing says...

"Make Camp Great Again"

By Peter Grunawalt
May 26, 2016 (comments)

Camp is what you put into it. This has been true since its founding in 1951. In fact, most of the structures and facilities around camp have been built up not only under the direction of the Erdmann family, but with the combined foresight and initiative from our counselors. Without them, few of our favorite in-camp facilities would be around, and even fewer traditions that generations of campers have enjoyed would exist. In recent years however, we’ve had to focus more on maintenance than lofty projects. Many an alumni can testify after a quick tour of the facilities that camp...