25th Season
To Boys
Wouldn't you like to spend this summer on
a snug island in a mountain lake, where each day is a
new adventure and you can do the things you've always
wanted to do, with boys you like as pals and kindly men who are
interested in the things you are doing? Where there aren't
a lot of rules and "don'ts" and everybody is
happy just having a swell time? "Yes?" Well,
then you'd better be packing your bag for Treasure Island.
You jump out of bed in the morning and dash
to the lake for a plunge that makes you feel "like
a million"...then Ralph has breakfast ready for you...and
how Ralph can cook! Breakfast is cheerful time, talking over
what you want to do that day, reading the morning mail
and discussing the latest news and baseball scores.
Then up to your cabin to make up your bed
and put things in order. This done..."What do you
feel like doing today?"
Maybe you'll go out sailing in one of the
18-footers, perhaps you'd rather play some tennis. We
play a lot of tennis at Mishe Mokwa and you get the very
best coaching to improve your form.
But still, you may want to go fishing, or
go paddling or rowing around the island, or go exploring
one of the neighboring brooks, looking for birds, turtles,
or snakes.
You might want to make something in the
shop, or try your luck at archery, or shooting on the
range...or ride horseback...but perhaps you and your pals
will plan a trip away from camp into the mountains or to the seashore,
in which case you'll get together your blankets, knapsack,
kit, and rations, and "You're off!" maybe for
the day or it may be for two or three days or more. Sleeping
under the stars in a strange country, listening to the
noises of the night, and perhaps seeing or hearing some
new animal of the woods, Nissan experience you'll never
forget.
Mishe Mikwa boys like to keep their bodies
strong and supple, so at most any time you'll find some
"old' campers practicing somersaults or flips on
the mats, climbing ropes, or doing stunts on the horizontal
bar.
Before you realize it, it's time for "swim"
and a chance to learn some new strokes or dives. Swimming
in crystal-clear water over a white sand bottom is real
fun and there's usually a new stunt or two going on, which
make it more interesting. After coming out of the water
there will be time for a good sun bath and then "First
call for dinner!"...and you're so hungry you have
"seconds" and even "thirds."
After dinner, as any good athlete does,
you'll take a rest for about an hour, stretching out on
your bed in your cabin...perhaps your counselor will read
you a story or maybe everyone will just take a nap.
The afternoon is a great time for a baseball
game or trips in the war canoes...it you've never been
one of a crew in a war canoe, you have a new thrill coming
to you.
Again there will be a trip in the cabin cruiser or a "spin"
in the fast Gar Wood, and, best of all, you may do some
aquaplaning, a sport that had its origin at Mishe Mokwa
in 1913, Instead of these things you may play more tennis
or go sailing again, or go out for that "big bass."
As it gets late in the afternoon everybody
usually wants to go in for another swim with its "joshing"
and "kidding" and general jollity. With swim
over, and a good "rub down." it is time to eat again.
After supper we lounge around the broad
veranda of the Lodge for a while, with usually a group
singing around the piano. A little later there may be
some games on the play campus, while others, as the Indians
of old, paddle their canoes quietly along the wooded shores.
As dusk comes on, blanketed figures begin
to gather around the camp-fire, soon to be thrilled by
some interesting story.
All too soon the tale is ended; we arise
sleepily and follow the paths to our cabins, and before
the last note of taps has died away some are already in
dreamland.
The quiet peace of those hours after taps
with the moonlight filtering through the trees, the water
lapping on the shores, and the light breeze drifting across
the island from the cool waters of the lake. is a sensation
that will always live in our memories.