Camp Woodland Blog

We spend a lot of our lives at camp. We grow here during a summer, of course; we learn about ourselves, we learn to love each other, we learn how to be our best selves. At times, these platitudes can seem overused and insincere; we hear them so often that they begin to lose their meaning. But every so often – when the sunshine hits the pine trees just right,  when we close the campfire circle holding hands, when we’re laughing so hard with our cabin mates that we can hardly see straight – it hits us anew how big camp is in our lives. How much of who we all are is made up of this forest-scented Northwoods air and sparkling blue lake water. How much of the good in who we are and what we see in the world comes from Woodland.

It is these times that add the real value to receiving a “five year” pendant. Yes, it means five years of activities and birthdays and banquets and gold rushes. It means that we’ve hopped too many tables to count, that we’ve braved hundreds of cold Sand Lake mornings, that we could spigot shower in our sleep. But more than that, it means that we’ve been here long enough to become a part of Woodland, forever. For Woodland to be a part of us. Five years? that’s five cabin groups we’ve loved so hard we can’t imagine leaving them after six weeks. that’s fifteen sessions of hard working and rewarding activities, five years of passed levels and shows and gained skills. Five years of this big messy loving family we all call Camp. Five years of home.

Congratulations to all of our campers that will be receiving a five year pendant at our annual Camp Birthday Bash tonight.  Also, congratulations to Camp Woodland for being part  of  the Jordan Family for the last 44 years!  We love you Camp Woodland and the Jordan Family.