Camp Horseshoe
Who I am today, in large measure, is a result of Camp Horseshoe. My Dad was among the first campers in the 1930s. I was a camper there and a long-time counselor when it was located on Horseshoe Lakes in Minong, Wisconsin. I was eager and elated to join Fran and Jordan Shiner as an Assistant Director when they re-opened the camp on Lake Snowden, in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Among the first songs my children sang as part of their bed-time ritual was the camp Alma Mater, “Hail to the Forest” (followed by “Taps”). Horseshoe is in my blood, my body memories, my soul.
Anyone who has heard the steady rhythm of rain on your tent while trying to get to sleep after a long day of paddling against the wind, shooting the rapids, and portaging your gear, or anyone who has seen the spectacular shimmering display of the Northern Lights while swatting at a swarm of twilight mosquitoes, or anyone who has tasted a trout that ten minutes ago was swimming in the brook, will appreciate why I put my research and classroom teaching on the back burner every summer. For me the ideals of Thoreau’s self-sufficiency and Aldo Leopold’s land ethic must be lived deliberately. There are some who can live without the wilderness, but I am not one of them.
Legacy 1930's
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