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Today I had a great chat with 
the founding director of Ogechi,

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Kathy Dicks. 
We had a great conversation and 

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some of the highlights include 
how her family learned about 

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camp, early days of Ogechi, and 
how they found their footing. 

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She talks about the original 
crew of girls on the first canoe

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trip, the origins of the 
Grateful Circle, crazy story 

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about pulling someone off on 
trip early. 

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She talks about her philosophy 
around meals at camp and she 

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mentions a lot of names that 
helped make Ogechi what it is 

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today. 
So sit back, relax, and enjoy 

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this conversation with the one 
and only Kathy Dicks. 

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Wow, what a great guest we have 
today. 

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I can't wait to hear so many 
things about the early 

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beginnings of Ogichi Dockway and
how it started. 

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And who better to have on this 
show right now to tell us the 

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story than Kathy Dicks? 
Kathy, how are you today? 

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Just. 
Fine, doing great. 

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Good. 
Obviously, I want to start with 

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how did you even become involved
with the Camping and Education 

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Foundation? 
When did this start? 

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You know, I've talked with 
George Simmons and a few other 

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people. 
I know you were on the original 

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team to kind of get this thing 
going, but I mean how did you 

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even find out about the Camping 
and Education Foundation to 

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begin with in the 1st place? 
I'd love to hear this. 

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OK, well, it was 1995 and Jamie,
who's our third of five kids, 

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was a pitcher for the three and 
two baseball team, and the 

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baseball players were on strike.
So he decided he wouldn't be 

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playing baseball. 
And I said, Jamie, Jamie, that 

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that doesn't involve 3 and two, 
you can play baseball. 

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And he said, well, actually, I 
don't want to play a sport where

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I don't have any heroes. 
I just, I think I want to go to 

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a camp. 
So I rounded up all these 

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videos, set them down in front 
of the VCR player with a bag 

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full of videos. 
And he would put them in, play 

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them a little bit, click it off.
I mean, really not even long 

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enough to hear very much about 
the camp. 

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And then he came across this 
one, though, for Kuchicheng and 

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he listened to it. 
He didn't listen to it all the 

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way through, but he listened to 
it for a couple minutes. 

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And then he goes, I want to go 
to this camp. 

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I said, well, wow, how did you 
decide that? 

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And he said, well, I didn't want
to go to one of those camps 

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where they start off talking 
about self esteem. 

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I didn't really want to go to a 
camp where the guys didn't have 

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any self esteem. 
And this one started off, you're

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going to have an awesome, really
good time. 

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And I and I knew that a, a 
parent didn't write that, so I 

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thought I'd believe what they 
said. 

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And I want to go have an awesome
really good time. 

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So that was it, 1995. 
And the next year he took his 

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older brother to camp. 
So I've been 96 and soon after I

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was asked to be on the board as 
a parent and join the Kuchicheng

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board at that time. 
And then we start started 

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talking about the girls camp. 
OK, so that in the girls camp 

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talk came. 
This was the early 2000s. 

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Yeah. 
OK. 

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And. 
Early 2000s. 

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Were you in a career at that 
time? 

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I mean, when you were serving on
the board, were you? 

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Yeah, I was in business with my 
husband. 

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We were art supply distributors 
and at the time I was travelling

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to Europe with Bob visiting 
manufacturers in Germany, 

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Austria, France, Holland, who 
are manufacturers of fine art 

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supplies. 
And I would talk to them and do 

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their marketing, convert their 
marketing to the US market in 

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which would give Bob the 
exclusive rights to distribute 

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those products. 
So OK. 

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So yeah, you had a full, full 
career going and then you get on

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the board. 
We're going to Fast forward here

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probably a little bit. 
You get on the board, you serve 

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on the board for what, 3-6 
years, whatever it was. 

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And now the girls camp comes 
along with George and Jay stare 

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in the group, the Janet van, the
bark and I know there's one 

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other lady that that Janet went 
to camp with. 

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I can't remember her name. 
I think she. 

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Actually, yeah. 
And I was also part of that 

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group because I had a camp 
background at Camp Comedy. 

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So yeah, that early group of us 
started talking about starting 

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the girls camp. 
And I remember we got to the 

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point of interviewing people. 
We did a national search for 

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directors. 
And it was kind of depressing to

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be on that, those calls because 
I could tell that our early 

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ideas and what we had talked 
about was going to be, you know,

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wished away and that whoever was
the director was going to go 

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down at the path of starting a 
girls camp. 

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So I said, guys, I'm going to 
throw my hat in the ring here. 

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And they were like, kind of 
shocked. 

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But I that that was the end of 
me being on those calls. 

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And so I didn't hear from 
anybody for three months. 

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And then we were at a meeting in
Breckenridge and Tim Hindley 

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came to, it was at his house. 
He came down the stairs, told me

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to come on up. 
And they said, OK, you're our 

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new director. 
Oh wow, that's. 

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Great. 
Jeff Wilson was the one that 

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announced that. 
So was this this the the general

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board? 
I guess it was the Kuchicheng 

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board or whoever. 
No, we. 

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Just had one board. 
At the time, right? 

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We only had one board then, 
right? 

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And then here you go. 
Were you nervous doing this or 

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excited? 
No, wait, wait. 

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Hang on. 
Before we go there. 

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Take me back. 
So you had an experience at Camp

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Kamiji, Is that what you said? 
Yep, Yep. 

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I was there for six years and I 
was on staff for two years. 

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Is that located? 
Where's that located? 

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Is that in Bemidji? 
Yeah, Bemidji on Cass Lake and 

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you know, I LED canoe trips just
they were one week trips in the 

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boundary waters were the biggest
trips that they did for the 

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older kids. 
But nonetheless, I had the fun 

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of going on three day canoe 
trips as a younger kid and then 

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leading one week trips in 
Canada. 

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As for the older girls? 
OK. 

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And so I want to keep digging in
here to the beginning days here.

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So you you get named director at
what year was that early 2000s? 

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One or two or three or? 
Something, no, I think it was 

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2003 and I worked on my 
recruiting. 

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I mean I had these kids, I had a
15 year old daughter and a 17 

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year old daughter. 
So I got them and Karen Strauss 

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was also looking for people and 
we got a group of 10 girls and 

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we had Hank Banger and Kurt 
Simmons as our 28 year old trip 

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heads. 
And then Karen Strauss and I 

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were, I think I was 49 at the 
time. 

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OK. 
And did we at that time, that 

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was the first summer with that 
first trip, is that correct? 

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Yeah, that was, that was the 
fourteen of us. 

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We stayed at George's house on 
Grind, Grindstone Island, and 

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they had, he had tents set up in
the back, which was, you know, 

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that's where we stayed. 
And then Curtis ran cruising 

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school and and then off we went.
OK, so that was. 

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George and Tim, yeah, George and
Tim drove the bus and they 

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dumped us off at the start of 
the Turtle. 

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River there, that's what, yeah, 
George was saying it was the 

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Turtle River. 
So was that the official first 

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year of that? 
We consider the first year of 

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Ogichi the camp. 
Or there was some back and forth

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on that. 
We, that was the pilot trip and 

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we didn't vote until after that 
pilot trip to go ahead and 

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launch the girls camp. 
So you could count that as the 

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first year, which I think we've 
done saying it's 20 years old, 

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that to line up with Camp 
Kuchicheng's 100th year. 

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But the first official year of 
Camp Ogichi was 2005 out of 

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Rainy Lake Lodge. 
And so we had 30 campers and. 

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We purchased that in in in early
2005 or the end of 2004, Is that

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correct? 
Yeah, I was sitting next to 

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Frank Hattimer and the lights 
went on and, you know, he and 

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Jim Shook took it away and soon 
he had that property. 

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But that wasn't, it wasn't 
purchased for the girls camp. 

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It was purchased as the, that's 
kind of the launching place for 

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Camp Kuchicheng, which, you 
know, at the beginning years of 

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Ogichi, the trailers and the 
canoes, everything would come 

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right through down Rainy Lake 
Lodge's driveway and they'd, you

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know, we'd see them leaving for 
trips, coming back from trips, 

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all their food supplies, 
everything came right down that 

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drive. 
Yeah, that was a that was, that 

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was a parking area is what I 
think they originally. 

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But I, I remember conversations 
early too, about we know we want

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to do this where I know they 
looked at different lands, 

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other, you know, different land 
area other than Rainy Lake 

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Lodge. 
I think they even looked at the 

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backside of Deer Island. 
You know, all these places we 

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met, we met several times and, 
and walked quite a few 

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properties and that was, that 
was real interesting looking at 

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these different sites and then 
coming back round to feeling 

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like the really best site was 
going to be at Rainy Lake Lodge.

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I mean, at least we could start 
there. 

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We could borrow that for the 
first season. 

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And then really it was the 
synergies of the two camps with 

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the transportation and the 
expertise back and forth. 

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We didn't even have any 
facilities. 

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We started camp, you know, 
borrowing facilities from Camp 

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Cooch over on Deer Island. 
Right, right. 

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I mean. 
Activity. 

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Yeah, you had nothing. 
I mean, I just used and this is 

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the great story about this whole
place and where and how we see 

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it now, you know, and all the 
hurdles you had to deal with, 

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you know? 
Yeah, Well, we. 

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We started with girls 13 to 18, 
and that was because they could 

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look out for the trucks and the 
vans and everything coming down 

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the drive. 
We, I mean, we, we really 

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couldn't have host younger girls
until we took care of that 

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issue. 
And. 

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Right. 
Yeah. 

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Right. 
So so we made the decision this 

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was going to be the girls site. 
And then now the build out 

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begins and we'll get into people
here down and we'll start 

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talking about other things other
than the actual build up of this

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camp, this the physical 
structure. 

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But I do want to get into this. 
So we don't now know that 

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Ogeche's going to be located 
here. 

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And now the master plan becomes 
now, OK, let's start building 

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out and where do we go first? 
So take take us from there. 

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Yeah. 
Well, OK, initially, you know, 

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when we are borrowing Rainy Lake
Lodge, we were only a three-week

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camp and then the boys camp 
would use its second session for

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their staff lodge and we would 
have to take every semblance, 

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every little signage, 
everything, and stash it away in

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the back closet so that it was, 
again, the boys hang out. 

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And so, yeah, the first thing as
we had to do, we had to decide 

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to take down buildings, 
repurposed buildings. 

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Our first building that we built
was Eagle, the cabin way up on 

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the Ridge. 
And and then we built the next 

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one, Hawk. 
We started with lodging and, and

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finally in 2014 we built the 
lodge, but we had to repurpose 

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all the things that were going 
on in the lodge before we could 

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take that lodge down. 
So we had to do all the cabins. 

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And yeah. 
And we, yeah, we, we started out

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with some guys on staff and they
were in cabin 9. 

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And that was also our trip 
Center for all the gear because 

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that it, it was OK for them to 
sleep with all the gear I guess 

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and all the trip food and 
everything was there. 

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Right. 
So for people that that that 

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were what we're referring to is 
the old Rainy Lake Lodge, the 

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old cabins that they rented out 
to people that would stay at the

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resort. 
And then the original Rainy Lake

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Lodge restaurant slash bar was 
used as the main lodge until we 

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built the new Ogichi Lodge with 
that was kind of your 

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centerpiece. 
There was the old Rainy Lake 

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Lodge and we finally were able 
to take that down. 

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And once you had the new, the 
new place constructed. 

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But in the meantime, we had some
people showing up by water, you 

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know, to come find the bar. 
People would come down and they 

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would actually walk in and they 
would ask if they could have a 

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00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,360
dinner reservation. 
We're like, oh, you see, you 

226
00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,800
see, like 60 girls and you think
that you're going to get a 

227
00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:20,920
table. 
So that was kind of funny to go 

228
00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,840
through that transition. 
And actually one time we were 

229
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:28,800
there, Bob, my husband Bob was 
visiting and this guy came down 

230
00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,240
and Bob talked to him for oh, a 
good hour. 

231
00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:36,960
And he's, he said, gosh, I one 
of your board members or 

232
00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:41,400
somebody came and I was talking 
for an hour and I looked out at 

233
00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:43,760
the guy walking away. 
I go, I've never seen that guy 

234
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,560
before. 
It was just someone who wandered

235
00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:49,200
in and you know this time. 
Oh my gosh. 

236
00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:50,880
Yeah, we had a lot of that. 
We oh. 

237
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,240
Yeah. 
And that's the, I don't know if 

238
00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,160
the scary is the right word, but
the, you have to be alert when 

239
00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:58,280
you're on the mainland like 
that, you know, and plus it 

240
00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:00,960
being an old resort, like you 
said, you know, people just 

241
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,760
don't know, right? 
And so and so you mentioned 

242
00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,320
something earlier your your 
first summer too, you had 30 

243
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,360
girls. 
And I think we had, I think we 

244
00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,200
had ten staff, including the 
Cit's. 

245
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,280
And this exploded quickly. 
I mean, this caught fire pretty 

246
00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:22,680
quick I, I, I assume and now 
it's full every summer with 100 

247
00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:29,480
and. 114 girls each session. 
Yeah, we, so we built up that 

248
00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:34,160
first session and then we 
started lowering the ages as as 

249
00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,240
the campus become more became 
more safe. 

250
00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,400
And then we started second 
session, but started that with 

251
00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,240
the Chickadee program, just 10 
days of little girls. 

252
00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,480
So the first session we built 
from the older girls down and 

253
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,400
the second session we built like
we started that in 2010 and 

254
00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,520
started that with Chickadees and
then built up to adding the 

255
00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,200
older girls. 
So two different models and 

256
00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:01,560
first session was always 
Ogichi's first to sell out 

257
00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,160
biggest, you know, hit kind of 
thing. 

258
00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:09,360
And and Camp Kuch always had 
second session as their big 

259
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:10,920
celebration. 
Right, right. 

260
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,160
And the, the other thing we 
mentioned that you mentioned, 

261
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,720
which I think is really special 
is that the original 10 girls 

262
00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,960
that took the first trip, I 
mean, you, you want to talk 

263
00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:26,080
about a reunion that would be 
just an amazing group of people 

264
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,120
to get together. 
Do you still talk to most of 

265
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,320
them, Kathy? 
Yeah, yeah. 

266
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:36,320
Quite a few of them I'm in touch
with on a regular basis, two of 

267
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,280
them being my daughters. 
I mean, the The funny thing is 

268
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:45,200
Libby, who was 17 that first 
year, she just couldn't wait to 

269
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:49,440
do something like the, the canoe
trips that her older brothers 

270
00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,600
were doing. 
Emily, on the other hand, at 15,

271
00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:57,080
thought that she should stay 
home with her driver's permit 

272
00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,760
and go to the pool. 
I mean, she preferred high heels

273
00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,360
to hiking boots. 
And then I was like, Nope, you 

274
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,480
have to come. 
And on the way up, see, I made 

275
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,920
all the girls write, you know, 
why they were coming, what they 

276
00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,200
were looking forward to. 
And she was in the back of the 

277
00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:16,000
car riding hers. 
And it was, it was not one that 

278
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,000
I would have put up for 
marketing purposes. 

279
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,880
Right. 
And, but the first night on the 

280
00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:24,800
inaugural trip, maybe, maybe 
it's the first night out on 

281
00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:26,720
trip. 
We'd been in camp, you know, for

282
00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,560
a little bit at George's house. 
But she stood up at our grateful

283
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,880
circle, which is something that 
started right off the bat, and 

284
00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,440
she said she was so grateful to 
be out there. 

285
00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,440
She really never had so much fun
in her whole life. 

286
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:44,080
And that squared it up for me 
that no matter what a girl was 

287
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:48,080
like coming to this experience, 
whether they went high heels and

288
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,680
and driver's permits or they 
were like couldn't wait to do 

289
00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,520
what their older brothers and 
fathers had done, that the 

290
00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,720
experience was going to work for
all of them. 

291
00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:01,360
Right. 
Yeah, the great for the grateful

292
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,280
circle that you've mentioned. 
I I want to get into this a 

293
00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:05,680
little bit too. 
So you, you take over it as the 

294
00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:09,480
director of the girls camp. 
Oh, Getchi, first director 

295
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,760
starting from scratch. 
What in the world's going on? 

296
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:14,720
What am I doing? 
I mean, I'm sure there's a 

297
00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:19,960
couple times that hit you, but 
was there a set of like, you 

298
00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,280
know what, what was your vision,
I guess going into this? 

299
00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,200
Did you have a vision of a, a 
certain way you wanted to, to do

300
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:26,839
this? 
The culture, the type of culture

301
00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:29,080
you wanted to build, the type of
kids you wanted to get. 

302
00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,280
I know there's a lot of 
questions fired at you there, 

303
00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,040
but. 
Yeah, I'm sure you just. 

304
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,760
Can't jump in and go. 
Drew from my personal 

305
00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,000
experiences. 
I had been to camp comedy and 

306
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,800
loved it. 
I grew up summers in at our 

307
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,360
family cabin up on Lake 
Superior, and my dad's best 

308
00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:51,120
friend that he often had their 
family come up with us was 

309
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:56,560
Charlie Barnes, who had attended
Camp Kuchicheng for one year, 

310
00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,560
and he was the Boy Scout leader 
in Kenilworth, Illinois. 

311
00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,600
You know, Pop Pop Vance was in 
Evanston, so we had a contingent

312
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,880
on the North Shore of Chicago 
that went to Kuch, and Uncle 

313
00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:09,080
Charlie, you know, had done 
that. 

314
00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:14,960
He then was a Boy Scout leader 
in in Kenilworth for 50 years. 

315
00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,680
And we had the Wanigans and the 
tump lines and he pulled a lot 

316
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:20,880
of the Cooch experience into the
Boy Scouts. 

317
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,800
But we would, you know, do rope 
swings up in Lake Superior at 

318
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,480
the cabin. 
And we all had different KP, you

319
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,160
know, kind of tribe duties or 
pack duties, I think they're 

320
00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:34,600
called now to do. 
And then we'd go off on an 

321
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:39,560
adventure and like he'd had the 
boys climb up a Birch tree 

322
00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,800
sapling and then he'd have us 
younger girls hold on to the end

323
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,720
of the tree and fling up into 
the air. 

324
00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:48,640
None of what we were doing was 
very safe. 

325
00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,640
And we we had all run amok 
boats. 

326
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,600
You know that you just the kids 
would pray that they would work 

327
00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:57,200
the next day for our next 
adventure. 

328
00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,400
So, well, a little bit like 
Cooch there in the early years, 

329
00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:01,840
right? 
Yeah, and. 

330
00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,440
Also, I pulled just things from 
my family going back to the 

331
00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:06,720
grateful circle. 
That's something we have done as

332
00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,120
a family. 
Not my family growing up, but 

333
00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:15,520
Bob and I and one of my cousins.
We had the kids all around the 

334
00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,240
table and we asked them to say 
something they were grateful for

335
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:22,200
and it just became a tradition. 
We pass out three little Pinto 

336
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:27,640
beans or corn, you know, little 
popcorns and that go around the 

337
00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:32,120
table three times and each 
person puts in their grateful 

338
00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:34,200
being and says something they're
grateful for. 

339
00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:38,560
And first time around it's, you 
know, superficial, but by time 

340
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,320
3, it's and you couldn't repeat 
anything that anybody else had 

341
00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,640
said. 
So like if someone had said they

342
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,880
were grateful for dad and the 
hard work and the opportunities 

343
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,480
we get, nobody else could say 
that that was in the grateful 

344
00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:54,920
bowl. 
So by round 3, it got pretty 

345
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,320
deep and it it became a family 
favorite tradition. 

346
00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:00,360
So I took that to camp thinking 
and. 

347
00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:03,320
And I think the same thing has 
become a meaningful part of 

348
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:04,280
camp. 
I'll get you. 

349
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,640
Yeah. 
Now there's obviously, I mean, 

350
00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,760
as you're talking here, people 
along the way, I, I mean, that 

351
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,160
have helped you, that have 
supported you that, that are big

352
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:20,720
players in this in this place. 
And I, I, I want you to talk 

353
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,760
about a few people that, that, 
that you've either had it on 

354
00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:28,880
staff or campers or, you know, 
the original core group that got

355
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:30,920
the whole thing going. 
And I'm sure we'll leave. 

356
00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,080
We're not purposely going to 
leave anybody out and that's not

357
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,680
the purpose. 
But do you want to talk about 

358
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,880
anybody that that that just 
stands out that that really 

359
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:44,280
early, early? 
On it was George Simmons, J 

360
00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:50,880
Stare, Steve Shook. 
Jim shook, Amy stare, Rachel 

361
00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,400
shook. 
I mean that this Janet van der 

362
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,000
Bark. 
But the ones that I worked with 

363
00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:03,520
daily on this were Jim and Jay 
and Steve and George and Tim and

364
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,760
George and Steve shook and I did
all the early fundraising. 

365
00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,640
We would go. 
I was Those were funny times. 

366
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:14,520
Those were really funny times. 
And then Steve and I took that 

367
00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,680
on ourselves and we would, I, I 
just remember neither one of us 

368
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,600
were really comfortable doing 
the fundraising. 

369
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,960
And we would sit down and we'd 
kind of kick each other under 

370
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,760
the table whose turn it was to 
talk and do the ask. 

371
00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:30,160
And the one with the strongest 
kick was the one who didn't have

372
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,480
to ask. 
Steve's took a lot of asking. 

373
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:38,440
He then became a fundraiser. 
And I would say. 

374
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:45,080
You know, then, then Bart and 
Peggy came over and they lived 

375
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:50,560
in one of the cabins and Peggy 
taught Jazzercise and, and this 

376
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:54,760
is when Bart started doing the 
building. 

377
00:21:55,040 --> 00:22:01,520
And I mean two people who were 
there every minute doing 

378
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,040
whatever they could. 
Pegg was in the kitchen with her

379
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,800
nephew. 
And this is after Curtis. 

380
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,720
Curtis was our original cook. 
Oh, that's right. 

381
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:10,920
And I remember. 
That now? 

382
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:12,360
That's right, yeah. 
Shirtless. 

383
00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:15,320
Cooking hamburgers, I don't 
think, see, we didn't have any 

384
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,040
rules back then. 
We, we weren't, we weren't a 

385
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:19,720
real camp, you know, Right, 
Right. 

386
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:23,120
It wasn't until we. 
Officially got a certain size 

387
00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:24,760
that anybody was looking over 
our shoulder. 

388
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:29,480
So I mean, we had things 
dropping from the ceiling during

389
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,600
meal time. 
Somebody would go up there, you 

390
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,200
know, we had water leaking 
through. 

391
00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,280
It was not one of those 
facilities that would have been 

392
00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:44,320
approved, nor was the kitchen. 
But by the time Peggy was, we 

393
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,280
had Kevin Holland from Kansas 
City, a teacher. 

394
00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:52,520
He was a son of a friend of mine
who owns owned restaurants. 

395
00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:57,080
And Kevin and his wife, Gina, 
came up and cooked for a couple 

396
00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:02,040
summers and they took out trips.
And anyway, along the line, 

397
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:07,280
Peggy and her nephew, who's a 
professional chef, took over the

398
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,800
cooking and, you know, Barton 
Pegg, I can't say enough about 

399
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,200
how they were boots on the 
ground every minute. 

400
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,440
And about five years into it is 
when Hugh was hired. 

401
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,280
And then we had a little bit 
more structure, you know, a 

402
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:23,360
little. 
I was going to ask. 

403
00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:26,200
You when that came in. 
So Hugh was hired five years 

404
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,040
after Ogichi had already started
up. 

405
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:30,800
Yeah, 5. 
Years after, and that's 

406
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:37,240
including the inaugural trip, 
which you know that that was 

407
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,680
that was such an amazing thing. 
And coming back from that 

408
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:45,120
sitting in front of the couch 
board and John Berry was heading

409
00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:48,560
that board at the time. 
And they asked if I would give a

410
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,600
report. 
And I said, well, instead of 

411
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,200
giving a report, how about I get
some of the girls to come up? 

412
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,040
And I think I had five of the 
girls and they were seated in 

413
00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:59,640
front of the board. 
And I said, I'm just going to 

414
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,200
ask questions. 
And Sydney Stair was one of the 

415
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,400
girls. 
And Jay is, you know, more 

416
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:08,480
process and more, you know, 
wanted it to go well. 

417
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:10,760
So he wanted to know the 
questions ahead of time. 

418
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:13,600
I said, no, no, I'm not going to
kill them any questions ahead of

419
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,280
time. 
I just want them to speak from 

420
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:20,920
their heart, which they did. 
And you could, you could watch 

421
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,360
primarily men on that board at 
the time becoming very kind of 

422
00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:30,000
choked up emotional about the 
answers the girls were giving 

423
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,760
were ones that they could have 
given or would have given. 

424
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:38,160
And by the end of that meeting, 
I, I think John Berry was on 

425
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,400
board and he was one of our 
greatest opponents and said, 

426
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:47,760
let's go, let's go with it. 
So a lot of a lot of early on 

427
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:52,320
people. 
And then Hugh joined and, and he

428
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:56,920
and Alice were, you know, Alice 
did the songwriting up front and

429
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:58,960
we did those Friends of Ogechi 
events. 

430
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:03,080
That was really to bring in 
three generations at once. 

431
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,280
I had a lot of catching up to do
with Camp Cooch. 

432
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:09,720
So started the women's trip 
because I would go to recruiting

433
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,800
and you know that sometimes the 
girls would sink back in their 

434
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,360
chair if there were any girls in
the room and the parents were 

435
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:21,240
like, I wish I could do that. 
So I'm like, you can we have a 

436
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,680
woman's trip, you know, just 
make it up on the spot. 

437
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,680
And and that's how we, you know,
we got say, Judy Seam and Jason 

438
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,480
was one of our early trip heads 
and he got his mom to come on 

439
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,120
that trip and then she got her 
granddaughters involved and then

440
00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:38,640
her daughters involved. 
It's funny how wraps around 

441
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:40,520
these families and different 
generations. 

442
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:41,640
Yeah, yeah. 
And I. 

443
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,760
I've seen a lot of people, the 
kids coming back in now their 

444
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,680
kids, you know, I've noticed, 
you know, not Ogechi and Kuchi 

445
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,120
Ching both, both places, you 
know, they, they've got their 

446
00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:54,760
daughters at Ogechi and you 
know, and this is going to start

447
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,160
happening with Ogechi. 
Now they're, you know, their 

448
00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:58,640
families are going to start 
coming back. 

449
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:00,080
You know, just give us some 
time. 

450
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:04,200
Hank Bangert and Curtis, you 
know, our early trip heads. 

451
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:09,520
And then the next summer Hank 
came up and he trained. 

452
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:13,440
I took the staff out for staff 
training and now he's got 4 kids

453
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,000
at the camp. 
I mean, I think Alex is aged 

454
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:17,160
out. 
She's in college. 

455
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,960
But yeah, 2 girls, 2 boys at the
camps. 

456
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,720
And Hank was a big part of 
starting that up, as was John 

457
00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:25,120
Powell. 
Who? 

458
00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:29,040
Yeah, took out our CIT trip. 
So we had a lot of crossover of 

459
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:32,520
the young guys. 
I can't say the older men were 

460
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,000
as big of fans as the younger 
guys. 

461
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,240
And then initially I was told 
you can't do anything that Cooch

462
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:39,800
does. 
You have to make up your own 

463
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:41,800
program. 
So you know, there was 

464
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,200
differences starting with girls 
and starting with boys. 

465
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,600
Yeah, I think it's great that 
they have that. 

466
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,760
They have their own little, you 
know how you've created this and

467
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,640
and and and with your classes 
and the trip. 

468
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:56,640
I mean, what you guys have is 
special. 

469
00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,640
I mean, it doesn't have to be 
exactly what's going on on the 

470
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,000
other side of the lake. 
Yeah, it shouldn't be. 

471
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,160
And I had two boys at. 
Camp at at Cooch at the time and

472
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,920
I would hear from their friends.
We like it that you're doing 

473
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,080
different things just keep 
Scoochie Ching for us and you 

474
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,200
have Ogichi and the. 
The younger guys are kind of on 

475
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,920
board with it. 
Yeah, I think the only. 

476
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,240
Common thing would be the 
tripping, the things that come 

477
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,360
out of the trips, the 
friendships that you build. 

478
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:22,360
I mean, there's nothing you can 
do about that, right? 

479
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:25,640
I mean, the, the trips are the 
trips and they, they create this

480
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,560
bond and friendship and teach 
you resilience. 

481
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:30,800
I don't care what you'd try to 
do and how you do it. 

482
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:32,240
It's just the way it is, you 
know? 

483
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,240
But I do remember. 
Curtis and Hank on the inaugural

484
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:39,960
trip, they we had a layover day 
and they were shocked at I don't

485
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,440
know. 
Curtis gave us a top of a I'm a 

486
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,920
Wan again and I don't know. 
We had can't remember what the 

487
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,560
other thing is, but we had to 
make up skits using this this 

488
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,240
prompt and Curtis and and Hank 
were laughing. 

489
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,160
So I I can't believe the skits 
you'd send the girls off for 5 

490
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,280
minutes. 
They come back, they have songs 

491
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,320
and dances, coordinated steps, 
everything, He said. 

492
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,040
It's a riot. 
No, they're they're. 

493
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,400
Everything I've heard, they have
an absolute ball at that camp 

494
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,600
from the start of it, even in 
the difficult times. 

495
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,120
I mean, if you get the right 
people, you can make a tough 

496
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:18,400
situation a lot of fun. 
And I think you did that early 

497
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:20,560
Kathy with your with your early 
people. 

498
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,400
And I think of people like kids 
summers. 

499
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,000
I mean, I just start laughing at
her all just hearing her talk. 

500
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,600
She's just so awesome. 
Yeah, when those. 

501
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,520
Girls, some of these girls, they
were little girls starting out 

502
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,480
like little 1210 and 12 year 
olds. 

503
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,680
I know Meredith freshly, who 
became a very key player in the 

504
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,840
trip center. 
She said Jay stare cornered her 

505
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,840
in the basement of of the house 
when she was over visiting 

506
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,520
Maddie and basically wouldn't 
let her come up the stairs till 

507
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,600
she agreed to come to camp. 
You know, she was a little girl 

508
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,920
and then she's just an expert 
tripper, married a Coochie guy 

509
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:59,120
and they're both, I think, 
working on the Arctic program 

510
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,360
Kit. 
What worked with me as a, you 

511
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,760
know, basically an assistant 
director for I, I want to say 4,

512
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,040
four years or so. 
My daughter Libby did that job 

513
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,480
for a while. 
We had a Melinda was Roscoe for 

514
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:19,360
five years. 
So we had a lot of gals who came

515
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:23,720
in and we would just take the 
job and divide it up. 

516
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:29,200
Who's ever whoever was strongest
at doing that task or if I 

517
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,080
needed to give him that task to 
get him to come on board and do 

518
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:35,320
the job, I would like, you know,
we've just split it up that way.

519
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:36,600
Yeah, that's perfect. 
Made it. 

520
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,440
Fun. 
Yeah, and and you can make any. 

521
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,880
Situation fun so going back to 
the beginning I mean I I got to 

522
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:46,720
ask you this before we move on 
here I mean here you you you you

523
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:49,440
threw your name in the hat for 
this director's job you get you 

524
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,440
take it over you're sleeping in 
a tent in the backyard for your 

525
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:57,040
first trip nog your own trip 
then you get rainy lake lodge 

526
00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:01,960
which has nothing but a bat 
infested lodge and you know all 

527
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,640
these crazy I mean did you ever 
sit back and go Bob I don't know

528
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:10,120
what did what what in the heck 
did I just do here or or was it 

529
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,880
the whole time you were pretty 
much we're going to make this go

530
00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:17,640
and yeah I mean that's the. 
Thing about starting it with a 

531
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:25,800
group, I, you know, either 
George or Jay or or Jim, What 

532
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:31,400
would call, I'd pretty much get 
a call, you know, 3-4 times a 

533
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:37,080
week and checking in. 
And no, I, I mean, I'm used to 

534
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,400
doing entrepreneurial things. 
That's been kind of our Bob's 

535
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,360
and my mode of operation. 
And also growing up in the 

536
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,280
woods, we always were just 
making do with things. 

537
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:50,120
I, I didn't have to have it 
perfect by any means and we 

538
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,320
would just kind of make we had 
so much laughter about things. 

539
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:56,800
The girls there were, there 
weren't any drawers, anything. 

540
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,680
I said, well, guys, use the 
refrigerator for your clothes. 

541
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,960
Sydney Stair was laughing so 
hard getting her tripping boots 

542
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,800
out of the refrigerator in these
little cabins. 

543
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,800
And we would just repurpose 
things all the time to make it 

544
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:11,200
work. 
I. 

545
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,600
I just think that's awesome. 
I mean, I, you know, I've 

546
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:16,960
tripped with people like 
Kuchicheng in the past where 

547
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,480
they were miserable to be with 
and then I could trip with 

548
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:21,720
someone and there were, it 
rained every day and we had the 

549
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,640
best time of our lives. 
So I think that kind of hearing 

550
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,800
you say that, Kathy, what you 
went through and how you 

551
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:31,160
approach things that that comes 
off and the kids see that. 

552
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,400
And I mean that that's that's 
exactly the type of leadership 

553
00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:38,440
that I think that having you 
there, that's why it was so 

554
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,000
important having you there to 
get this thing off the ground. 

555
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:42,640
That's probably why it's so 
strong today. 

556
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,360
Because of that, you know, I 
think we had the right person in

557
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:46,720
the right place. 
Yeah. 

558
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:48,440
Well, thank you. 
Certainly at the right time. 

559
00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:52,680
I'll, I'll tell you one story 
about early on, which was kind 

560
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,200
of frightening. 
Katie Lonsdale, who had had come

561
00:31:55,200 --> 00:32:00,960
from England and she had cousins
over at the boys camp and she 

562
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,360
wanted to trip. 
Kenny Metcalf was her trip head.

563
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:09,760
Susie Jolly was on that trip and
Kenny's fiance was on that trip 

564
00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:14,400
and Kenny called me. 
They were on the Allen water and

565
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:18,320
he called me, said Katie 
Lonsdale is, she's struggling. 

566
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:23,160
And then he'd call and say no, 
she's OK Katie Lonsdale is 

567
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,680
struggling. 
This has been back and forth and

568
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,040
finally he said I just, I, I 
think we've got to get her off 

569
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:31,120
the trip. 
So Campbell Jolly and I drove up

570
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:36,400
7 hours to Sue Lookout and oh, I
took one look at her and I was 

571
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:41,920
like, we got to get her in the 
car and we took her back, drove,

572
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,360
you know, I, I got stopped by 
one of the Canadian policemen 

573
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,040
for speeding and I said I, I 
think this girl is, she's very 

574
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:51,240
sick. 
I think she might even have an 

575
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,440
appendicitis. 
And so he said follow me. 

576
00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,440
And we, we, you know, we're 
probably going 120 at that time.

577
00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,760
He speed all the way, got us 
across the border to the 

578
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,600
hospital. 
Sure enough, she had an 

579
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,960
appendicitis and that was my 
early director on duty. 

580
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:11,800
I had to figure that whole thing
out and then I, she was in the 

581
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,760
hospital for a week because it 
was a perforated appendix. 

582
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,520
And you know, I just brought her
back at the end of that and 

583
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:20,240
stuck her down in Rainy Lake 
Lodge. 

584
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:21,960
We really worked out of one 
room. 

585
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:25,600
We had bedrooms upstairs, but we
had, you know, that we'd 

586
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,480
collapse the tables to have 
activities, send them back up 

587
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:30,880
for another meal. 
Katie Lonsdale was over by this 

588
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:35,840
counter that we used as the 
store and just set her bed up 

589
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:38,440
there because she couldn't go up
and down the stairs and the 

590
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,840
couch cousins would come over 
and visit her. 

591
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:42,840
And I mean, that's just the 
spirit of thing. 

592
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:44,600
And we just had to make it work 
right? 

593
00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,680
And the and the decision making 
at both ends, your end and 

594
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:50,960
Kenny's end. 
I mean, hey, something's not 

595
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:52,640
right. 
I mean this happens a lot and 

596
00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:56,880
yes, but I I don't think we 
could. 

597
00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:01,080
Be a real camp until we could 
catch up the facilities. 

598
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,640
I mean, the facilities were 
problematic, you know, and I, I 

599
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,480
do remember one mom coming up 
and just being so shocked her 

600
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,520
daughter's had had the best 
time, but she just couldn't get 

601
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,719
over the facilities. 
So I would say that early group 

602
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:19,679
of people, those were parents 
who are all on board with this 

603
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:21,760
do whatever it takes kind of 
spirit. 

604
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:24,239
So that was our initial crowd of
parents. 

605
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:25,960
That was our initial crowd of 
campers. 

606
00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:32,120
And I do think that launched 
kind of a that strong spirited 

607
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:37,000
way of thinking and that strong 
spirited attitude because those 

608
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,400
that was our initial group. 
And then later on when the some 

609
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,800
of the Kuch guys would come over
and go, you have it so easy over

610
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,159
here. 
After we have this beautiful 

611
00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:48,679
lodge, I'm going. 
You have no idea. 

612
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,560
No idea what we. 
Started with no some of the. 

613
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,520
Younger ones, don't you know, 
they just think that's just 

614
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:56,480
they, they watered the ground 
and that thing went up, you 

615
00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:00,080
know, but no, I think some of 
our. 

616
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:05,560
Most loyal supporters, you know,
Hard times build bonds that are 

617
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:10,720
unbreakable and, and and to this
day, I think many of us in those

618
00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:13,200
early years are just so 
committed to each other. 

619
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,120
Oh, absolutely going. 
Through that, I mean, I that 

620
00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:18,560
bonds got to be that's why I was
saying that original 10 group of

621
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,840
kids that took that first trip. 
I mean that that's a great 

622
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,520
group. 
I mean, well, some of some of 

623
00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:27,960
them never came. 
Back a few of them didn't come 

624
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,880
back, but but that happened. 
I mean, if you talk about the 

625
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,360
original group in a larger sense
that you're talking about the 

626
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:38,840
early people on that early, it 
was an Okichi dock way. 

627
00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,040
I don't know if we called it a 
committee, steering committee or

628
00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:43,280
something. 
I don't think we were even 

629
00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:46,720
aboard. 
But you, you look at that group 

630
00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:51,920
of people and, and the, the 
early people that that showed up

631
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:56,280
or the parents of people that 
showed up like the polls and 

632
00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:01,880
then, you know, Sharon Walsh, 
John's sister and Sarah, it just

633
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:06,880
is amazing that the bond is, is 
we can go back 20 years and 

634
00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:10,920
laugh about things and remember 
it's so clearly and the 

635
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:14,440
commitment to each other is just
strong as made. 

636
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:15,680
Stronger through the. 
Years. 

637
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:18,240
Well, you built a great. 
Foundation with the with the, 

638
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,640
the attitude, the way you 
attacked the early tough years 

639
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,280
and all of you, I mean under 
your leadership. 

640
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:27,720
But you got we, we got the 
facilities going. 

641
00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:31,240
We got barred out there, got him
off his rear end and got him to 

642
00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:33,000
finally do something. 
I'm just kidding. 

643
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,160
But so you you. 
Go in and looking at the in camp

644
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:42,880
Kathy at your your programs in 
camp, the things going on in 

645
00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:44,360
camp before we get out to the 
trips. 

646
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:47,480
What do you like? 
I mean, what, what are the kids 

647
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,520
seem to like and what do you 
seem to like about what you're 

648
00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:51,680
doing? 
What you started from an in camp

649
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:55,920
once you got your facilities up 
and going, was there a big hit 

650
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:58,720
for people? 
You know, every time I talk to 

651
00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:02,160
Bart, he said, Jeff, these girls
are having an they're absolutely

652
00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:03,920
crazy. 
They're funny. 

653
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,480
They're having a ball and he 
would tell me stories. 

654
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:10,960
I would just be cracking up 
laughing and, well, you know. 

655
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:16,160
We there's something different 
about growing the growing years 

656
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,360
than there is once you're a full
camp. 

657
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:23,040
But we don't have enough of any 
age group to have anything like 

658
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:28,840
units or age. 
And we just had kind of this, I 

659
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,440
think Charlotte Bergkamp called 
it festival seating. 

660
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:34,480
It was just like sit wherever 
you want for any meal. 

661
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:39,440
We had round tables so that 
nobody was hidden and we had 

662
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:43,320
conversations and but there 
would be like 10 year olds with 

663
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,560
60 year olds. 
We didn't have like the staff 

664
00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:52,760
tables and, and that was I 
wanted the, we had tablecloths 

665
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:57,640
and I wanted the, the meal time 
to be the extension of family 

666
00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:01,800
meals where you, I said, guys, 
you can't possibly experience 

667
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,040
everything in a day that there 
is to experience. 

668
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,200
So our meal times are times to 
talk about what other people 

669
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:09,400
have done during the day and 
learn from them. 

670
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,720
And maybe it's something you 
want to try. 

671
00:38:11,720 --> 00:38:14,440
And then the different ages 
would, you know, foster 

672
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,080
conversations. 
And we would always have a 

673
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:18,960
program at the end of every 
meal. 

674
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:24,240
I mean, even if it was silly, as
if you think your legs are are 

675
00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:27,080
worse, have more mosquito bites 
than anybody else. 

676
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:29,760
Come on up here. 
And they'd stand on a bench and 

677
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,280
we'd have a contest about the 
mosquito, you know, the mosquito

678
00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:35,320
bites. 
Or we'd have girls stand up and 

679
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,680
tell like a story of the day. 
It had to be had some humor or 

680
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:41,600
some kind of lesson in it. 
And they would stand up. 

681
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:44,280
And I, I mean, I swear those 
girls became public speakers. 

682
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,680
They were so good at getting up 
in front of a crowd of all 

683
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:51,520
different ages, not intimidated.
We had stories that we would 

684
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,320
tell. 
I mean, one of them was seat 29 

685
00:38:54,320 --> 00:39:01,520
E and seat 29 E is the place on 
the airplane that that is right 

686
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:04,440
by the the the restrooms in the 
back. 

687
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,600
It's just the chair doesn't go 
back. 

688
00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:10,920
It's well, you know, ripe with 
smells and just nothing about it

689
00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:13,240
is good. 
And and we would say, OK, you 

690
00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:16,520
know, sometimes you're going to 
get seat 29 E, but we still 

691
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,760
expect the same kind of good 
attitude expedition behavior. 

692
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:24,680
We had skits, you know, to get 
them ready for their their 

693
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,600
trips. 
And I just think there's so much

694
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:30,800
laughter going on all the time. 
But you could do that with a 

695
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:36,480
wide age range of kids, the 
older kids, you know, 

696
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:38,680
entertaining the younger ones 
and vice versa. 

697
00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:44,080
So you you could you could go. 
And eat and each meal you'll 

698
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:46,360
you'll sit with a good different
group of people possibly each 

699
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,400
meal probably is that is that 
the way I'm that's awesome. 

700
00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:53,440
I think that's great, that. 
That built a community spirit 

701
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:55,560
absolutely every. 
Girl at. 

702
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,480
Camp knew everybody's name. 
There was not. 

703
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,520
There was not. 
Oh yeah, I guess she was there 

704
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:03,360
at the same time, but I never 
saw her. 

705
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:04,440
I didn't know her. 
No. 

706
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:05,800
They were in activities 
together. 

707
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:09,200
They the only thing we did by 
age was the cabins. 

708
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:11,840
Gotcha. 
Yeah, we, I, I. 

709
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:15,920
Just literally took their 
birthdays, 12345678, boom, you 

710
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:18,840
know, down the list. 
So everybody was and they 

711
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:21,160
wouldn't get the same cabins 
every year 'cause people would 

712
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:22,880
drop out and people would come 
in. 

713
00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:25,040
But basically that was all by 
age. 

714
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:30,320
Everything else was and, and I, 
I did love the fact that, as Sid

715
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:33,360
Stare told me, I've spent all my
years in sports. 

716
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,160
I've never done art. 
But you know what? 

717
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:39,600
I go over and do the art classes
and I'm there with 10 year olds 

718
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:43,880
and 12 year olds and you know, 
I'm, I'm older, but my artwork 

719
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,520
turns out just like theirs and 
doesn't matter, you know, and 

720
00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:50,440
vice versa, you'd have someone 
who has spent all their time at,

721
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:55,320
in art and they go over and play
sports with the girl, you know, 

722
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:59,520
the, the, the younger girls and 
they would like, Hey, this is 

723
00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,080
fine. 
I'm, I'm pretty good at kickball

724
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:04,600
with the 10 year olds and they 
just had fun. 

725
00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,000
So I, I think there was a lot 
of, and there was a lot of 

726
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:12,120
teaching like so at riflery, for
instance, we, we had riflery and

727
00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:17,400
archery and, and we had climbing
on that actual Rockwall. 

728
00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,240
But it was nice that we had 
multiple ages because you, you 

729
00:41:21,240 --> 00:41:24,760
would beef up the staff ratio 
basically when you had the older

730
00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:26,120
girls in there with the younger 
girls. 

731
00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,160
You're right and that. 
Those activity facilities I've 

732
00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:32,800
seen build out, you know, I'd go
up early a lot in April to help 

733
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:34,920
Bart out from from year to year 
when I could. 

734
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:39,080
And, you know, watching that 
whole place grow out. 

735
00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:40,960
I mean, there's you've got the 
ball field, you've got the 

736
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,600
pickleball courts, you've got 
the rifle Rangers, a new 

737
00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:45,800
climbing tower now out there on 
the ball field. 

738
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:48,360
So I mean, there's a lot of 
things that have grown up over 

739
00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:53,120
the years to give you a better 
in camp activity standpoint. 

740
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:55,760
And you got the, the basket 
weaving and then the songwriting

741
00:41:55,760 --> 00:42:00,720
and and I, I, you know, the arts
that there's a boat building 

742
00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:01,560
building. 
Is that up? 

743
00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:03,400
Is that up by the shop? 
Is that correct? 

744
00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:06,240
Yes, yes. 
Well, it was fun. 

745
00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:11,200
Bart and I would have coffee, 
you know, I 5:30 in the morning 

746
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:15,680
and we would talk about, you 
know, projects and what we're 

747
00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:18,200
going to do next night. 
I can remember early on I was 

748
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:21,560
like Bart, I, I think we need 
some kind of bookshelf to 

749
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:25,800
separate the living area of the 
lodge with the dining area. 

750
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:29,400
And you know, by noon there it 
was all built. 

751
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:32,240
You know he doesn't let any any 
Moss grow for sure. 

752
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:35,600
And and then it was like, what? 
Color, do you want it? 

753
00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:38,840
I was like, oh, kind of like AI 
don't know, like a green OOP by 

754
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,880
dinner. 
It was painted, you know, and we

755
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:46,480
would talk about, Oh yeah, I 
remember the, the, the problem 

756
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:51,640
for me was that the reason we 
built that building that's like 

757
00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:56,240
the welcome center boat 
building, is that on the arrival

758
00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:59,840
days or the departure days, we 
would have parents just 

759
00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:02,480
wandering in and we wouldn't 
even know they were there. 

760
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:06,440
They would have maybe gone up to
the cabins because the lodge was

761
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:08,440
one of the last things you came 
across. 

762
00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:14,040
And so we talked about building 
a, you know, a welcome center, 

763
00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:19,400
multi purpose and and that's why
that came about. 

764
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:22,720
I think it was approved after it
was semi built. 

765
00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:27,160
That was one of those ideas that
Bart and I had seemed like so 

766
00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:29,200
good. 
You know, surely we had talked 

767
00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:34,000
about building another building,
but we we thought that was an 

768
00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:36,240
excellent idea and it's turned 
out to be a good idea. 

769
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:40,120
And now and. 
Now we have the the alumni house

770
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:43,120
going in for the alumni would 
love. 

771
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:46,080
That so much Oh yeah name. 
Jay's name? 

772
00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:48,320
Yeah, yeah, Bart picked the 
most. 

773
00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:51,840
Difficult location of all alumni
house. 

774
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:55,000
I mean, he's, he's crazy how I 
saw him this summer going. 

775
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,520
Up and down the east, I'm sick 
of going up and down this Cliff.

776
00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:01,080
I'm like, hey, he said. 
But it's going to be sturdy, I 

777
00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:03,120
can tell you that. 
So I mean, it's pretty. 

778
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:06,000
Impressive. 
We had early on, we had this, 

779
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,760
this place that we call Dan 
Schneid named it. 

780
00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:10,960
It was called Sacred Heights. 
And you could go. 

781
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:15,560
It's one level above the Alumni 
House and you'd climb up there. 

782
00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:19,600
I remember pulling, pulling and 
pushing and helping Ed Betts get

783
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:22,960
up there. 
And he stood up there and just, 

784
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:27,200
you know, eyes water this most 
beautiful place on the whole 

785
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:30,000
site. 
And, and Bart, I know wanted to 

786
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,280
build something up there, but 
I'm glad he stopped at that 

787
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:35,720
lower level that that it's 
pretty high up there, you know, 

788
00:44:35,720 --> 00:44:38,160
and alumni, you didn't just hate
to see him take a few steps 

789
00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:39,800
right off down to the ball 
field. 

790
00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:42,840
So. 
So let's go real quick. 

791
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,600
Let's get out a lot of the in 
camp going onto the trips. 

792
00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:50,640
Is there is there a certain trip
that that that that that the 

793
00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:55,040
kids just love or that you can 
think of or I mean, I know now 

794
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,240
you have groups taken going up 
to the Bay now. 

795
00:44:57,240 --> 00:45:01,680
I mean, this thing is gone just 
absolutely such big time 

796
00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:05,440
tripping. 
I just think it's outstanding. 

797
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:08,840
And of course, Catherine Heinle 
has been one that's been leading

798
00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:11,480
some of those trips up there who
I know really well. 

799
00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:14,640
But your tripping program to the
kids seem to like it. 

800
00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:16,280
Is there a certain trip that 
they really like? 

801
00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:18,920
Is there? 
You know, I think of my days, I 

802
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:21,320
think of the English and the 
blood vein and things like that.

803
00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:24,160
You know, I don't know if 
there's anything special that 

804
00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:28,480
they like that they all go. 
On, you know, we're the turtle 

805
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:30,120
and the English and the Allen 
water. 

806
00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:33,360
So when you say are there trips 
the girls like they like the 

807
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:38,400
ones that that they've gone on 
and that they can talk to other 

808
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:40,800
people and they can, you know, 
hit the highlights. 

809
00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:43,880
But in the tripping center, we 
started writing the names of the

810
00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:46,280
rivers on the boards on the 
perimeter. 

811
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:50,400
So you could go in there and 
they would site all the, you 

812
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,880
know, and then we had the Kopka,
Ellen water Kopka. 

813
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:57,320
We had then Lindsay took a group
on the mountain river. 

814
00:45:57,720 --> 00:46:03,040
We, we didn't go to the Bay 
initially because of the, the 

815
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:05,320
polar bear sightings. 
And that was kind of Coochie's 

816
00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:08,120
big trip. 
So we went the other direction 

817
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:12,160
and we did some other big trips.
And they were, they were not 

818
00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:15,440
ones that they could talk to 
their fathers about having gone 

819
00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:18,520
on, but they were equally tough 
and equally long. 

820
00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:25,640
And and then I was probably the 
barrier to the art to the Bay 

821
00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:28,840
trips just because of the early 
beginnings and needing to do 

822
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:30,480
things differently than Cooch 
did. 

823
00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:34,280
But yeah, Catherine Heinle S LED
those trips and very 6 mostly. 

824
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:36,960
And the girls love them. 
But I think the big night at 

825
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:46,280
2017 when 6 N of 60, when those 
girls took that 72 day trip, I 

826
00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:51,280
think it was 2600 miles and they
did all the planning themselves.

827
00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:56,000
Those were our key, you know, 
trip planners, trip people. 

828
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:57,680
Meredith Freshly. 
Lindsay. 

829
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:00,360
Yep. 
Spangler. 

830
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:06,400
Maddie. 
Stare Sammy Armacost Was there a

831
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:07,640
Sikh girl on? 
That trip? 

832
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:09,360
Marie's Marissa. 
Sikh. 

833
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,600
Yeah, her dad was in camp with. 
Mia Cooch, she's my counselor. 

834
00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:15,800
One year. 
Yeah, David, just awesome. 

835
00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:20,520
Trippers and when they came back
I think people were pretty much 

836
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:25,000
in awe of their presentation how
intentionally were about taking 

837
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:30,920
care of each other and and how 
you know they set the canoe 

838
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:35,680
table and they they came back 
looking like they were you know 

839
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:39,800
they didn't have that skinny. 
I need to send you to the ER 

840
00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:41,760
look that some of the boys trips
would come back. 

841
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:45,040
These girls would come back and 
they let beautiful, healthy, 

842
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:48,880
vibrant. 
It's like a different form of of

843
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:54,360
care during the trip and for 
their food and planning all that

844
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:56,440
ahead of time. 
So I mean. 

845
00:47:56,440 --> 00:48:01,320
We, we've seen it's talking 
about the, the, the, I don't 

846
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:04,040
know if rough's the right word, 
but humble beginnings, I guess 

847
00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:06,520
maybe is a good way to put it of
the whole start of this thing to

848
00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:11,760
see it now. 
Kathy is amazing where it is not

849
00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:15,760
only from a physical standpoint 
of the physical facility, but 

850
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:19,360
from what I see on the outside 
looking in is some great bond, 

851
00:48:19,360 --> 00:48:23,840
some great friendships and just 
a great, great, great foundation

852
00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:27,680
for the future of this place and
a fun place for girls to be. 

853
00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:31,000
Are there any stories, Kathy? 
Before we get off this thing, 

854
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:34,720
I'll give you, I'll open the mic
up to you to share any goofy or 

855
00:48:34,720 --> 00:48:38,360
funny or fun or not so fun 
stories that you have. 

856
00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:40,880
I'm sure there's a there's more.
You've forgotten more than you 

857
00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:43,560
can remember, I'm sure. 
But oh, I I remember, but. 

858
00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:45,880
You know, when the stories come 
up is when you're sitting with 

859
00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:47,760
other people and they they 
start. 

860
00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:52,200
You know, I mean, like, I, I 
mean, there was, I think some of

861
00:48:52,200 --> 00:48:55,560
the preseason stories are the 
funniest of all. 

862
00:48:55,960 --> 00:49:01,640
Like Bart and I were just 
talking about this one when he 

863
00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:08,080
built Snowshoe Hare and Crow on 
the same Ridge as the as the 

864
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:14,200
Great Lodge. 
He had set a toilet out there 

865
00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:17,920
and it wasn't set yet, but it 
was just out in the room. 

866
00:49:18,200 --> 00:49:23,520
Haley Simmons went up to paint 
and she painted right around the

867
00:49:24,120 --> 00:49:27,960
edge of the toilet sitting in 
the room so that when you lifted

868
00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:30,800
it up that floor was a Bart 
would get the biggest kick out 

869
00:49:30,800 --> 00:49:32,480
of these things working with the
girls. 

870
00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:37,560
And we developed this this brand
called Ogichi perfect. 

871
00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:42,160
It was so not perfect, but you 
know, I remember the stair girls

872
00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:46,040
helping me stain the big great 
lodge window facing out to the 

873
00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:50,200
lake and Jim Hanson had come 
over and selected a stained 

874
00:49:50,200 --> 00:49:53,200
color and off we went. 
You know, stay where had 

875
00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:56,320
specific instructions about 
staining it and then wiping it 

876
00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:59,680
off quickly. 
And then we had a a final coat 

877
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:03,560
to put on and Gretchen and 
Maddie got a little confused and

878
00:50:03,560 --> 00:50:06,600
they put another big layer of 
the dark stain. 

879
00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:12,520
And I mean this it, it went from
the desired color to like way 

880
00:50:12,520 --> 00:50:15,240
too dark. 
And we just, you know, what 

881
00:50:15,240 --> 00:50:18,360
could you do but laugh? 
It was already done and I turned

882
00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:20,920
out better than it initially 
would have. 

883
00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:23,560
We're still, I know there is 
because I was there a couple 

884
00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:25,240
years ago. 
There's still a piece of 

885
00:50:25,240 --> 00:50:28,760
painters tape up in the corner 
of the lot left from Meredith 

886
00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:33,000
and Kitt's painting. 
Oh my gosh, I don't know. 

887
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:38,400
They one time Megan Maycheck, 
she stole Bart's boots and she 

888
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:41,400
put rhinestones all over his 
boots and Bart would take these 

889
00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:44,200
things and oh, he told me. 
He was the. 

890
00:50:44,200 --> 00:50:48,200
Center of so many pranks and 
such a good sport about it. 

891
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:50,360
Yeah, he loves it. 
He loves. 

892
00:50:50,360 --> 00:50:53,840
It and they put those rhinestone
piece all over as as a Gator too

893
00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:57,680
or as rhino, whatever, whatever 
it was yeah no, I I mean. 

894
00:50:58,400 --> 00:51:02,240
This is a fun thing about 
getting together for that 120 

895
00:51:02,240 --> 00:51:06,040
year gatherings. 
We got together at at in 

896
00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:09,400
Evergreen Co and we get together
again in Cincinnati. 

897
00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:13,560
You get a group of I mean, 2 is 
fine, but three or more you 

898
00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:15,560
can't believe. 
Well, you know, you've 

899
00:51:15,560 --> 00:51:20,760
experienced the same thing. 
The stories, the and then people

900
00:51:20,760 --> 00:51:23,240
supply details that you've kind 
of forgotten about. 

901
00:51:24,720 --> 00:51:26,640
Yeah, it's got. 
To be fun for you, Kathy. 

902
00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:29,960
I mean, I, I've seen it, you 
know, obviously I've lived it in

903
00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:32,480
my stories with the, with my 
people that I went to camp with.

904
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:35,560
But the energy that I see a 
group of girls sitting there 

905
00:51:35,640 --> 00:51:40,040
from Ogichi alumni, alumni or 
whatever and talking about their

906
00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:44,640
times and bringing people in, 
the energy and the fun and the 

907
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:47,840
passion that they have is so 
much fun to see. 

908
00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:53,480
And that's for you. 
I mean, I can't imagine, you 

909
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:57,520
know, what that would be like. 
I mean, as a coach, when I coach

910
00:51:57,520 --> 00:52:00,120
basketball, college basketball 
for many years, one of the most 

911
00:52:00,120 --> 00:52:02,520
rewarding things for me was to 
go get invited to one of our 

912
00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:05,560
players weddings. 
And this has got to be similar 

913
00:52:05,560 --> 00:52:09,920
for you, seeing the girls 
reunite to tell the stories 

914
00:52:10,880 --> 00:52:13,360
about something that you were 
really the cornerstone behind 

915
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:14,880
creating. 
I mean, that's just got to feel 

916
00:52:14,880 --> 00:52:17,240
so good. 
I come from A. 

917
00:52:17,240 --> 00:52:24,560
Family of community builders and
so the the desire to see this 

918
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:29,680
turn into a functioning healthy 
community was was a vision that 

919
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:34,600
was one I kind of grew up with. 
You know, how do you turn 

920
00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:39,840
something into a community where
the and to have three 

921
00:52:39,840 --> 00:52:43,840
generations of women living 
together at all different ages, 

922
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:47,360
different friendships. 
I mean, you know, Erica's travel

923
00:52:47,360 --> 00:52:50,200
with Emily Spangler. 
They're not related to different

924
00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:53,240
generations. 
And then Erica's daughter. 

925
00:52:53,240 --> 00:52:59,200
It those kind of things just are
so heart warming to see, you 

926
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:03,240
know, people taking on other 
people's family members as their

927
00:53:03,240 --> 00:53:09,040
own and just the the sharing and
in here now Bart and Peggy and I

928
00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:12,160
are related, which is crazy. 
Congratulations. 

929
00:53:12,160 --> 00:53:14,520
Getting married. 
Yes, that's awesome. 

930
00:53:14,520 --> 00:53:17,560
I said we made it official. 
Our camp family members are now 

931
00:53:18,040 --> 00:53:20,240
actual related family members 
so. 

932
00:53:22,040 --> 00:53:24,360
Yeah, and I see the. 
Girls out in Colorado, I mean, 

933
00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:28,680
they, I talked to Kit and mayor,
they, they, I think talk to each

934
00:53:28,680 --> 00:53:31,560
other every day. 
This group of girls out there 

935
00:53:31,560 --> 00:53:35,960
that grew up together, it's it's
fiercely loyal group. 

936
00:53:35,960 --> 00:53:37,400
It's awesome. 
I I mean I've seen. 

937
00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:41,720
Them and it's just fun to watch 
and it just like I said, it 

938
00:53:41,720 --> 00:53:45,920
reassures that what's going on 
up there is being done right and

939
00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:49,640
and it's having a great impact. 
And you, you accomplished what 

940
00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:51,960
you set out to do, right. 
I mean, you wanted to start a 

941
00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:54,800
girls camp. 
You wanted them to have fun. 

942
00:53:55,280 --> 00:53:59,440
You wanted to build leadership 
qualities in women, which you've

943
00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:01,400
done. 
I mean, we could go on and on 

944
00:54:01,400 --> 00:54:04,720
and go out to go for example, 
after example after example of 

945
00:54:04,720 --> 00:54:07,160
different people, I'm sure, and 
be here all day. 

946
00:54:07,160 --> 00:54:12,120
But you did a great thing, 
Kathy, get this thing up and 

947
00:54:12,120 --> 00:54:13,840
running. 
And I think there's so many 

948
00:54:13,840 --> 00:54:18,520
young people today that are very
thankful for what you've done 

949
00:54:18,680 --> 00:54:21,280
and the time and effort you 
spent to get that thing moving. 

950
00:54:21,840 --> 00:54:24,440
But more importantly to there's 
going to be many, many, many, 

951
00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:26,920
many women down the in the 
future, they're going to be able

952
00:54:26,920 --> 00:54:30,000
to experience this because of 
the wonderful foundation that 

953
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:34,360
you built there with how you how
that thing's running. 

954
00:54:34,360 --> 00:54:38,920
So I'm sure I speak for a lot of
people to say thank you, you 

955
00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:40,720
know, and we certainly want to 
appreciate. 

956
00:54:40,720 --> 00:54:43,080
I appreciate. 
That very much and I've one of 

957
00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:47,360
the final things I'll say is as 
the years went on, you could see

958
00:54:47,360 --> 00:54:52,480
the community extending to the 
Cooch community and the 2 two 

959
00:54:52,480 --> 00:54:57,480
groups, 2 camps overlapping and 
blending and becoming one 

960
00:54:57,600 --> 00:55:01,920
camping Education Foundation. 
And thanks to Hugh for a lot of 

961
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:06,800
of that. 
And I think Jr. and I recruiting

962
00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:09,960
together and then we change 
friends of Ogechi to friends of 

963
00:55:09,960 --> 00:55:12,400
Coochin Ogechi. 
And I think now you have a much 

964
00:55:12,400 --> 00:55:19,120
more interrelated foundation and
I think what you've got now. 

965
00:55:19,120 --> 00:55:23,000
Too, Kathy, which is really big 
is a ton of mutual respect 

966
00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:24,960
between both places now, which 
is great. 

967
00:55:25,360 --> 00:55:27,920
You know, that's, that's what's 
really important. 

968
00:55:27,920 --> 00:55:31,000
And I see it and I hear it and 
it's great to see. 

969
00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:35,240
And like I said, it's, it's a 
it's in a great spot from a 

970
00:55:35,240 --> 00:55:38,480
physical plant standpoint. 
And, and certainly, you know, 

971
00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:41,640
with the people and, and the 
direction that it's, it's going 

972
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:45,880
with what you built. 
So anyway, listen, we appreciate

973
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:49,440
you coming on today and 
hopefully we could still stay in

974
00:55:49,440 --> 00:55:52,920
touch if we hopefully you'll 
still stay around and and be a 

975
00:55:52,920 --> 00:55:55,280
part of different events and 
we'll see you at a Christmas 

976
00:55:55,280 --> 00:55:58,880
event here and there. 
And but Kathy, thanks a bunch. 

977
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:00,960
Yeah. 
Thank you very much for joining 

978
00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:01,160
us.