In 2020, Connecting With Campers From Afar

By Kier Malloy

Had you taken a stroll around Deer Island this summer, it would have been eerily quiet: no splashes in the Prep swim area, no basketballs bouncing off hoops and swishing through nets, no cheering crowds at the tetherball courts. No fires being lit, no sails being raised, and certainly no fish being caught. Not even the distant rhythm of the drum. Kooch-i-ching, for the first time in its long history, took a summer off. No campers arrived and no trips departed.

Yet not even the absence of camp could stop our community from coming together and carrying on the traditions we would normally have shared on Deer Island. This spring, at the start of our nation’s quarantine, our staff made it their mission to keep our campers happy and engaged—just as they would have at camp.

JR Verkamp lights the Lamp of Love during a Little Council opening ceremony. (Phary Woods)

Staff Video Series

First on the list of camper engagement projects was a series of entertaining instructional videos submitted by staff members and covering topics ranging from knot-tying and trip packing to fly fishing and handstands.

“I think it’s important just to remind people that even though we aren’t on the island, and we aren’t all together, we can still create that feeling and carry on some of these traditions until we have the opportunity to come back,” said Harry Shook, an Intermediate counselor from West Lafayette, Indiana. Shook, with the help of his family, contributed a short video about how to make the “perfect” tuna melt, a favorite hot lunch on canoe trips.

Law of the Woods Project

As spring turned to summer, we launched a social media campaign that encouraged campers, staff and alumni—from both Kooch-i-ching and Ogichi—to share their individual interpretations of the Law of the Woods.

Henry Baldwin, a Prep counselor and Chicago native, was a regular participant. “I assumed that this would be a place I could always come back to,” Baldwin said of Kooch-i-ching. “But we learned this year that that wasn’t true, and I think it’s important to reflect on why this place is special and why it means so much to all of us. The Law of the Woods reflects a lot of those reasons.” The Law of the Woods campaign ran for 12 weeks, with each week dedicated to one of the law’s 12 rays. Submissions came in the form of paintings, poetry, photos and personal anecdotes, all of which artfully showed our community’s reverence for Kooch-i-ching’s core values.

Original artwork for the First Bell podcast by Patrick Risberg.

Letter Writing Campaign

At Kooch-i-ching, campers are encouraged to write letters home. This summer, our staff flipped the script. Sam Moulton, of Dayton, Ohio, organized a letter writing campaign among our cabin staff, who wrote and mailed hundreds of handwritten letters to campers. The correspondence that followed brought a small sense of normalcy to these strange times, reminding both campers and counselors of the fraternal feeling of summers on Rainy Lake.

“One of the goals of this campaign was to inspire campers to make the best of the summer,” Moulton said. “But most importantly, the goal of the campaign was to bring people in the camp community together.” 

First Bell Podcast

Perhaps the most exciting project to come out of this unusual summer was the last to be launched: a podcast. “First Bell,” produced by the hilarious trio of Zach Schiller, Patrick Risberg and Matt Collins, includes eight episodes—with more planned.

Each episode dives deep into Kooch-i-ching lore and features at least one notable alumnus or staff member. The meticulous sound design transports the listener to a time or place on Deer Island, from the Around-the-Island Canoe Race to the annual Parent Fish Fry to the helm of the Endeavour.

“We hope listeners will maybe hear a sound or share a memory that brings them right back to the island,” said Schiller, who lives in Boulder, Colorado. “I hope they just have a sensational experience that allows them to feel like they are back at camp, even if it’s just for a little bit.”

This article was originally published in the Fall 2020 Tumpline.