from Yakko of 1995, 1997, and 1998

These are my memories of my first and only resident camp experience as a camper.

I went to Hilaka with a friend, Carrie, and we were in a program that focused on water sports. We swam in the pool every day, boated every day, and - yup, swam in the lake, too. We stayed in Wonken Tonken, and it must have been mid-1980s. I had two counselors - one named Biff, and another with long blond hair who was unusually young-looking for her age. The blond's last name was Manning, but I don't remember her camp name or her real first name.

One day, it was really hot, and we were all complaining about it, even during the quiet time after lunch in our tents. So, with a bit of quick thinking, Biff planned a whole bunch of water obstacles to go through - stomping through water-filled pails, getting water poured on our heads, limboing under the water coming out of a hose. At the end, as we finished the obstacle course, we did jumping jacks as we sang, "We're the Biffsters, the mighty mighty Biffsters! Everywhere we go-oh people want to know who we are, so we tell them we are the Biffsters..." over and over again. We chanted it the rest of the session.

The other thing I remember from that week is how homesick we were right from the start. I think the first night, we were frog marched back to the unit after dinner to pack up our stuff to sleep out under the stars on top of the boathouse. We all thought the counselors were crazy, and we cried and moaned and complained. Most of us wrote letters home to our parents complaining about the crazy counselors that very night and mailed them at the dining hall before going to the boathouse. Of course, it was a beautiful clear night, and we actually built a fire on top of the boathouse and had smores and sang songs and had a great time. After the fire went out, I think one of the counselors even told us mythology stories related to all the stars we could see. Some of us forgot our dropcloths, so hiding from the mosquitoes and the dew in the morning was tough, but it was a great experience. Other units camped out on the boathouse later in the week, and we were all so sorry we couldn't do it again. Needless to say, our parents got the letters after we'd adjusting to being there and laughed at us when they picked us up and we asked if we could go back next year.