Camp Chickagami

The Camp Chickagami Board met last weekend to review Youth Camp programs from this summer and set the calendar for next year.  A new program emerged out of the discussion.  We are planning to sponsor Family Camp for those who worship in Diocese of Eastern Michigan congregations.  Our goal in offering this family camp is to introduce folks to the place and program that is Camp Chick.  This session will take place the week of June 28th thru July 4th or 5th.  Stay tuned for details!

This years camps were awesome!  The Holy Spirit moved in all the camp programs, but was especially felt during the second week of programs when campers were introduced to a variety of meditation and prayer helps that were used as tools to help connect with God.  The Labyrinth has never been used so much during the camp sessions, and the spirit of God was among those participating in the walks.  This is just one tool that was investigated during the week.  In all, I felt that the spiritual development of our campers was at an all time high, and we brought the campers closer to Christ.  The staff was awesome, and it was probably the best camp I have experienced in nearly 14 years of working camps.   To all who worked, contributed, volunteered, gave of talents, time, and or funds, we thank you for the wonderful experiences that have changed the lives of the campers. 

Tom Smith

Director, Camp Chickagami

by John Pettipher

Reprinted from Anglican Connections, July 2008. Vol 19. - No 7.  For full issue, including great pictures, CLICK HERE

PRESQUE ISLE –Camp Chickagami 2008 Work Weekend, held over Memorial Day weekend, was a huge success by almost any measure - including perfect weather. Sixtytwo (62!) Episcopalians, plus an assortment of friends, worked to put our Diocesan camp in tip top shape and get everything ready for another successful camping season.
Workers came from all four of our Diocese’s Convocations and ranged in age from 6 to 86. Of special note were the former “boys” who traveled from California, Colorado, and Minnesota to make sure the camp they grew to love in their youth was given the care it deserves. On hand as well was Lee Alden , camp director from the 60’s and 70’s, and Betty Alden, who mothered more than a few of the boys who attended back then.
This was more than a chance to clean up and fix up a camp that next year will be 80 years old; it was an opportunity to reconnect with the past and build a community, our Camp Chickagami Family.
Camp Grounds
The grounds and the Lake Esau shoreline were very much in need of a “spring cleanup”. Every year the tall pines, oak and birch trees that surround the camp drop leaves and branches that must be collected. This year several tall birch trees had reached the end of their life cycle and were cut down by a team of volunteer lumberjacks. The labyrinth was raked and put back in order. (Do you suppose it was the bears or the chipmunks that moved the stones? Or maybe it was just the slow by relentless effects of nature: the freezing and thaw, the melting of several feet of snow.) Docks and a swim area were set up and the shore raked to prepare for a Summer of fun on the water. They say that this year there will be “tubing’. All in all there was lots of pruning, thinning, raking, and mulchspreading to make the grounds ready.
Camp Facilities
Winning the 2008 Work Weekend Farthest- Traveled-Hardest-Worked Awards were our former campers - Steve Maunder from California, Matt Uren from Colorado, and Tom Mooney from Minnesota. Between them they used 15 gallons of paint to freshen up the exterior of Fletcher Hall, the Craft Shop, and Albany. Each brought with him ten to twelve years of Camp Chickagami experience as campers, kitchen boys, and counselors.
But Camp Chickagami Work Weekend was a team effort and not just the work of three. Dozens of people worked to paint, caulk, install dry wall, install showers, and lay flooring. Others washed windows and cleaned, sometimes sorting through year of accumulated stuff. Others were helped to reorganize space for new uses. The athletic supplies have been collected and now have their own storage room. Our tennis court was resurfaced and they built a new archery range.
Thanks to encouraged and welcomed suggestions and feedback from this year’s volunteers, the Camp Chick Board has already started our 2009 Work Weekend project list and is determined to make next year’s weekend even better. Keep us in mind as you consider how to spend Memorial Day Weekend in 2009.
Camp Chickagami Family - 80 Years
Camp Chickagami’s most important asset - our Camp Chickagami Family - “displayed” what this place means to them in varying ways. Some used words. Others used the sound of silence. Everyone worked for the love of this place. Some baked endless platters of cookies to keep the other workers “nourished”. (Some things never change a camp.)

Kris Forsyth, secretary of the Camp board, put it this way:

“I loved the drawing together of folks from so many different eras in the camp’s history. It was fun to see how smoothly we blended. The energy and spirit of the weekend was my favorite thing. The source of that energy came partly from the sheer numbers of people present. The fact that there were so many willing hands definitely refilled my spirit and helped to feel that my time spent offering leadership with Camp Chick was well spent… that people care enough about it to be present and to work hard!
It wasn’t just the numbers, though, that created a sense of God with us…. It was also that sense of community that I sometimes forget about camp… where all the ‘noise’ of life tends to drop away and life becomes all about living in peace and fellowship with each other and with the whole of creation.
We all do our part in the community. The work gets done. We share stories at mealtimes and gathered around the campfire. We have time to sit awhile in the quiet of the outdoor chapel or enjoy friends and family while out in a canoe. It’s restoring time. It’s hard work, yes, but it’s also a place and time where one’s spirit is refreshed.”

It’s Your Camp
Camp Chick is your camp to be used and supported in many ways by you, your church, your convocation, and our diocese. Our camp yearns for your time, talent, and treasures. Visit and explore our web site, www. campchickagami.org. See you at Camp Chickagami.
John Pettipher is a 50-year Camp Chickagami Family member and board member; his prayer is to connect the whole Camp Chickagami Family of the past with our present and future.

As I approached the two girls sitting on the steps of the dorm, I could see they were deep in conversation.  I knew the one young person.  She was a part of our 2005 E.Y.E. delegation from the Diocese of Eastern Michigan.  The other young person was unfamiliar to me.  After being invited to join the two, I listened as our delegate shared her anxiety over a situation with her roomate that made her uncomfortable.  As I listened, I learned that the other youth was a trained Peer Minister who was one of a group of twelve or so young people serving the youth attending the Episcopal Youth Event.  I was really impressed with the Peer Minister who had become aware that our delegate needed someone to listen.  The Peer Minister didn’t speak for our delegate at all.  She just offered companionship and support and friendship.  The conversation between the three of us was quiet and calm.  I was grateful in that moment that our delegate had received the care of this generous peer.  I had been wrapped up in handling the demands around another delegate’s health care and preparations to head home the following day.  I was able to hear and respond to our worried delegate because she had received the support of the Peer Minister assigned to our dorm.

We will be offering Peer Ministry Training this summer at Camp Chickagami during Sr. High Camp.  Young people will have the opportunity to learn and practice skills in such areas as “saying hello” and “welcoming a stranger” and “listening to understand” and “gift naming”.  Peer ministry program time will occur during morning sessions and in brief evening gatherings.  Sr. High campers will also experience all the other favorite camp activities as well including swimming, crafts, hikes to Lake Huron, boating, and new this year, ARCHERY and TUBING.

Greg Forsyth and Regina White, two former J2A Leaders at St. Christopher’s, Grand Blanc, will lead the program along with Karen and Brian Ouellette, two former camp staffers at Gordonwood.  A team of counselors from the Camp Chick staff will also participate in the program.  All staffers are very much looking forward to hanging out for the week with campers at Sr. High.  It’s not too late to register for camp this summer!  Go to http://www.campchickagami.org for a registration form and brochure.

Kris Forsyth
Secretary to the Camp Chickagami Board

The Camp Chickagami Board met this afternoon and reviewed a proposal to build an Archery Range put forth by Camp Director, Tom Smith.  After some consideration, the board enthusiastically approved the project.  The new archery range may be one of the projects for the upcoming Work Weekend.  Camp Chickagami hasn’t had archery as part of it’s program since the last year the boys camp operated back in 1980.

Kris Forsyth/ Secretary to the Camp Chick Board

At the recent Diocese of Eastern Michigan Convention, one clergy person approached the microphone to ask, “How is Camp Chick?”  She expressed concern over communications and specifically mentioned the late mailing of Camp Brochures.

In retrospect, we’re glad for the question.  We’re pleased for the concern for the youth of the diocese and interest in camp’s well being.

So…  How is Camp Chick?  Actually, in many ways, we are having a banner year!

Some celebrations…

• We put out our first newsletter, last winter, in years.
• We had strong attendance at Spring Work Week.
• Our Youth Camps were fully staffed.
• We had critical mass in attendance.
• The quality of our youth camps, in terms of program, staffing and strengthened health and safety practices, continues get even better.
• Our board met in late August for a Visioning Retreat too.

The board retreat deserves special mention.  During our retreat time, we considered, what it is that we celebrate about Camp Chick and what do we see as obstacles or challenges to overcome.  We also asked ourselves these questions…  “What do we/ what does God dream for Camp Chickagami?  How can we be a stronger resource for the Diocese of Eastern Michigan?”

Hopes and dreams came pouring out!  The possibilities are exciting!  Our efforts in this area will continue this spring, in consultation with the diocesan office, as we move from visioning to strategic planning to implementation.
Some of our more immediate plans for improvement include:

• Resurfacing the tennis court.
• Remodeling the “Head”.
• Hiring a seasonal Waterfront Director/ Assistant Caretaker
• Contracting a graphic artist to design our camp brochure.

So, how is Camp Chick?  Truthfully, we’re in a stronger place than we’ve been in years.  We’re hopeful about the future.  New energy is emerging.   Thanks for asking!

By Kris Forsyth

A great feature of Camp Chickagami is, of course, the outdoor environment. Situated between Lake Esau and Lake Huron on 87 acres, it contains a wide spectrum of ecological microcosms. The marl pond, great lake bay, fresh water lake and northern mixed forest give favorable habitat to many species of flora and fauna.

Camp Chickagami’s property was formed by the glaciers erosion leaving a deposit of sand and stone over the Alpena shelf of calcite. Our Q hut is built on an outcrop of calcite and a close look at the stones around it will reveal Petoskey stone. A rock hound will find, on the lake shores, a plethora of transports including jasper, basalt, pudding stones, feldspar and mica left by the glacier.

The land has an outdoor history. Q Hut was the machine shed of the old Fletcher lumber camp and the land was donated by the family after the last regional log off and beginning of the Great Depression. The camp served as one of the first state program boys work camps that evolved into the federal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

The sandy soil is a natural niche for red and white pine with a large stand of aspen. The mature pines are now 80 years old. The hardwoods tend have a life of about 40 years and we are seeing the fall of the second generation and rise of the third. One year during the spring migration, fourteen different species of warbler were seen. Many nest on the camp property. The woods serve as home to an abundance of American Redstarts, Red eyed vireos, Chestnut sided warblers. Some prefer the pines, others the hardwoods and some the cedar swamp abutting Lake Huron. Loons, red breasted mergansers and great blue herons work the waters seeking aquatic snacks.

Freddie’s Pond is a small but rare feature. It is nearly dead with a marl bottom caused by the acid from the cedar swamp reacting with the limestone base. This acidic water trickles into Lake Huron but on the way makes a sand flat serving as a haven for the endangered pitcher plants, In an effort to accentuate the natural setting and an appreciation of the same, binoculars and field guides are being purchased and will be made available in Fletcher dining hall. Please bring your own fishing pole.
By Dana Howard

We love coming to Camp Chick!