Camp Matawa Beats the Heat!

We have seen record high temperatures the last couple days here at Matawa! However, that hasn’t stopped anyone from making the most out of their time here. Although the equestrian campers aren’t able to ride the horses as much as they’d like, they were still able to beautify them by braiding their manes and tales. All of our cabins and the Jack Blank Lodge is air conditioned. Campers had a great time on the first and second days doing ice breakers and cabin activities inside the cool AC air! Our responsible and caring staff is very adamant about our campers not only carrying a water bottle around, but also making sure it is full with water. Our water fountains have never gotten this much work!! Swimming has been a popular activity around camp this week and is a great way for campers to cool off. Many counselors are scheduling as many activities in the pool as they can to help keep the campers comfortable! The camp store has been nearly selling out of ice cream treats during the camper’s free time. Camp Matawa has never seen so many Choco Tacos eaten!!

Despite the heat, our campers are having a great time and really embracing the spirit of Camp Matawa.

Trekker Village…Trekkers have the FLOOR!

Monday got off to an excellent start with the Trekker Village! In the morning, the Trekkers worked specifically on building friendships and communication through the use of various teambuilding games. The first part of the morning, the Trekkers worked in their cabin groups where they could build that cabin comradery and make friends within their cabin groups. The second part of the morning specifically worked on Village teambuilding, where the campers had the opportunity to know more campers throughout the village and where they worked on communication. At the beginning of one of the activities, they had to lift a set of tent poles above their heads and bring it back down to the ground without it bending or one-side having it higher than the other-side. This teambuilding activity works specifically on communication with the whole group. At the beginning of the activity, the whole group rated themselves on a scale from 1 to 10 (one being bad communication to 10 being excellent communication) as a 3. By the end of the activity, the group rated themselves as an 8, meaning good communication. They realized that if they communicate well with each other during the week, that they’re going to have a more successful week of camp.

By the afternoon, we definitely notice a huge difference between the Trekker Village and how well they’re communicating with each other and how well the cabin groups are with one another. We are VERY excited for the Mauthe Lake camp-out and the rest of the week! We are really enjoying each camper and what they bring to camp, they’re personality!

In the Spirit of Matawa,

The Trekker Village

On Sunday May 22nd YMCA Camp Matawa held our annual Spring-Clean-Up Event. We had a total of 25 people working on multiple jobs that will help us throughout the next couple of months as we prepare for our favorite time of year…SUMMER CAMP! We ended up painting the lower dining hall doors, sanding and painting the soccer goals, refilling/repositioning poles at our archery range, moving the 25 cords of wood around camp and out of our bike shed, pulling weeds from the rock walls, and burning the 3+ years of standing  brush that we’ve held on to. It was a very successful day and we would like to THANK everybody who took time from their busy Sunday to come out and lend a hand. We really appreciate it.

May 12th
Campbellsport/Eden Elementary Schools had a SUNtastic time at Matawa two weeks ago. The forecast was posted for Thunderstorms, but we got sunny 80 degree weather Thursday. The 6th graders did a large amount of activities within the one night/two day trip that tired the 6th graders out. ALL sixth graders from Campbellsport/Eden Elementary got to climb the Alpine Tower. The students had a fun time around camp, but what went especially well was the camp-fire with camp staff. IT WAS HILARIOUS! All and all we enjoyed Campbellsport/Eden and hope to continue their tradition.

May 16th -20th
This past week at camp, we had two fun and fantastic groups up at camp. For the first part of the week, we had the awesome Trinity Lutheran School coming from Sheboygan. They had a great time with the different part of the landscapes around camp and even the sixth graders had a shot at climbing the Alpine Tower. The sixth graders who choose to climb the tower, really pushed themselves to achieve their goals or even surpassed their goals. TLS even had the camp staff down to sing a couple of camp songs. What a fun time for the students of Trinity Lutheran School!

For the first time ever, Maryland Avenue’s first, second, and third grade students came to camp and had a blast! By far their favorite activity was GaGa Ball. But they got to experience other camp activities such as; archery, fishing, and teambuilding. The students also had their first Matawa staff led camp fire and had a ton of fun. We hope that this starts to be a tradition for Maryland Avenue School.

Forty-eight absolutely awesome 7^th and 8^th graders from Fernwood Montessori School in Milwaukee totally rocked Camp Matawa last week!  They spent three days and two nights at camp on a service trip.  As they learned about giving back they got a ton of work done around camp.  They cleared trails, cleaned the barn, mulched and edged the front of JBL, shoveled out and cleaned up fire pits, planted grass seed, picked up downed branches and sticks, set up and checked all of our tents, cut bookmarks, finished wood burning table toppers and even organized the store!  And, on top of all of that, they made sure to do an amazing job of cleaning up their cabins, the dining hall and the camp grounds before they left on Wednesday.  But, don’t worry!  They snuck in a bit of fun, too!  Their evenings were filled with a campfire, complete with ‘smores, a night hike and a fantastic game of Wolf Call.  We are so appreciative of their time and efforts to help us get camp ready for the summer season.  We couldn’t have done it all without them!  Thanks, Fernwood!

This week has been an exciting, but chilly time here at Matawa.
Northwest Lutheran School’s 6th-8th graders were here Monday through Wednesday. What an awesome group of kids! They braved the not-so-warm weather and had a great time doing all kinds of outdoor activities. Archery, Alpine Tower, Canoeing, Hiking, Fishing, Outdoor Cooking, Scavenger Hunts, Survival, Teambuilding, Games and even Rocket Science were on their schedule. It was good to see so many kids doing so many different things around camp. And, we can’t forget their annual flag retirement ceremony led by Mr. Heckert and the 8th graders. Thanks for retiring a few of our old flags, too! We really had a great time with Northwest Lutheran and are already looking forward to next year.
If the first half of the week did not sound exciting enough for you, wait until you hear about the second half. The Engleburg Elementary School 5th graders arrived on Wednesday and stayed through Friday. The temperatures were a bit warmer, but we had to endure some wind and clouds on Thursday. But, nothing slowed down these kids. They had a fantastic time Climbing, Hiking, Fishing, Playing Ga Ga Ball, Hanging out around the Campfire and Shooting Archery. We always enjoy the energy that Engleburg brings to camp. They really know how to have a good time! Can’t wait to see them again next May!

Browning Elementary from Milwaukee had an amazing camp experience last week. The students in Browning’s Gifted and Talented Program came for two nights and three days and that time was filled with fun and exciting activities. Although we had a “Teaser Day,” (where the weather was sunny and it hit 60 degrees) the weather had no bearing on the many learning opportunities that were provided to the students of Browning Elementary. Some of the opportunities students had were: being spotters on our rock wall when we traversing or encouraging each other to pass their goals on the rock wall. They learned about the intricacies about the compound bow and arrows and how to aim and shoot. Students also took part in our “Zero Food Waste Challenge.” Although they were extremely challenged with our goals, by the end of their time at Matawa, students achieved the last two meals with a pound or less of food waste. We had a BLAST with Browning Elementary!!!

Last weekend at Camp Matawa was fantastic!  We hosted a group of 27 ladies for a 4 day long Quilt Camp.  They traveled from all over Wisconsin, Northern Michigan, and Illinois for this great weekend.  Although quilting and sewing were the first and last thing on everyone’s mind, there was still plenty of time for other fun activities.  The ladies enjoyed some tasty meals and snacks (I think I ate my weight in Puppy Chow!), chilly hikes, presentations and most importantly, fellowship with other women.  They even had massage therapists out to Camp to soothe their tired, sewing muscles.  At the end of the retreat, the generosity of “The Quilters” shined through once again.  The ladies all pitched in for a total Strong Kids Donation of just over $270.  We are so thankful for their continued kindness and support of Camp Matawa.

I hope you’re having a great school year and are looking forward to coming back to camp this summer!  Preparations are underway to make the barn even more fun and exciting than last summer.  Jason and I are hard at work getting everything ready for the horses to arrive.  They’ll be back at camp sometime in May, just like me!  I don’t know for sure what horses we’ll be getting back this summer but I’ve asked to have Jumbo, Bud, Albany, Crawford, Buck, Tahnie, Dallas, Denny, Garfield, and Tuff.  We are also looking into getting some other new horses. It’s time to get excited for some old friends, and leave room for new friends! 

See you this Summer!

Maggie

Family Game Night was an exciting time for campers and their families to catch a glimpse of the Matawa experience. Everyone enjoyed our delicious signature pizza, played board games in the dining hall or lower dining hall, blasted some arrows in our indoor range, and scaled up our indoor climbing wall.  Everyone had a great time, but the MAIN EVENT was the best part of the evening. Six families competed in our Dutch Auction Action Show. Families had to come up with a team-name, had to perform skits, sing their favorite camp songs, had to be a super-model coming down the run-way, and even had to make an interpretive dance to Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield.  No doubt, the Family Game Night was a great success for families spending time together and making memories with each other.