June 26th, 2008
Hello again from Wilderness! First of all this week, I’d like to announce that WCB has reached the $200,000 goal of the Wilderness Thrivent Fire Challenge Match. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will now match the funds raised by Wilderness supporters with $100,000. The money will be used for fire relief and new construction. We are all very thankful for the outpouring of support from donors and Thrivent and excited about the wonderful new opportunities this fundraising has created for WCB’s long term ministry. Many thanks to all who have given their time, treasure and prayers to help us reach this milestone!
Trail News
This week we received our first canoe groups of the summer. Upon their arrival, Base was full, with over 125 people at camp on Monday night. Canoe groups came from Faith Lutheran Church in Clive, Iowa, Our Savior’s Lutheran in New Ulm, Easter Lutheran in Eagan, Christ Lutheran in Lake Elmo and a partner organization called Kinship.
Upon their return, the campers told many exciting stories about their trips. Their challenges included rain and hail storms, navigation, mosquitoes, and muddy portages. However, the beauty of the wilderness, the fish they caught, the animals they saw and the community they shared seemed to more than make up for the hardships of trail. We are delighted that camp has been blessed with these wonderful campers and that God’s creation has made an awesome impression on them.
Also going on trail was the nominations trip, a special group of campers from previous years who had been nominated by their guides. The group is on a seven night trip, heading east along the Canadian border on the same route once taken by the voyageurs. Their trip will culminate in the 8 mile Grand Portage to Lake Superior. After finishing this historic and exceptionally long portage, the group will go on a guided tour of the Grand Portage National Monument.
On Base News
With nearly all of our guide staff on trail, base has been a little bit quieter this week. However, we have had some amazing work crews from Oak Knoll in Minnetonka, Greater Milwaukee Synod in Milwaukee WI, St. Paul Lutheran in Pontiac, IL, Ascension Lutheran in Waukesha, WI and Easter Lutheran in Eagan. The groups participated in projects such as hauling wood and timbers, brushing out and leveling construction sites, putting siding on the new sauna, and clearing trails. The groups helped clean and organize in and around the now spic and span shop and spent a lot of time on forest maintenance projects such as removing flammable balsam firs from around buildings. Each group also had the opportunity to go on an overnight on Seagull Lake or a short canoe trip at the end of their work week.
I had the opportunity to sit in on the debriefing (reflection time) of the Oak Knoll work crew and hear their stories. The things that stood out to them most were the impressive lightning storm during their overnight that had them all huddled together underneath their rain tarp and working as a team to carry massive timbers up the hill to the Bunkhouse site. One camper commented, "No matter what we were doing there was God's peace- whether hauling a timber or sitting in a lightning storm." Another camper told the listeners that people back at home wouldn't believe that she was "a teenage girl" and had been "hauling lumber" for a day. "I have a lot more strength than I thought I had," she said. Other group members reflected that the week had been "renewing, invigorating and centering" and that they were glad to be a part of the "awesome work being done here."
This Week in Construction
Early this week we bid goodbye to the incredibly large barge. The crew from Low Impact Excavators spent Monday taking it apart and loading it onto trucks for the trip back to Ely. We are extremely thankful for the very useful barge, its role in the construction of WCB’s new buildings and the excitement it brought to Base. At the same time, it is nice to have the islands back to their normal, vehicle-less state and to once again be able to cross Seagull waters without having to yield for a floating dump truck.
Meanwhile, with all our foundations poured, construction has begun. Dave Gustafson and his crew have started to erect massive timbers (10 ft by 10 ft and about 19 feet high) at the Trailshack site. At Listening Point and Bunkhouse, volunteers and construction crews are working to prepare the sites for the next few months of building. Next week, we will host instructors from North House Folk School in Grand Marais who will assist us in putting up the timber frames for the two camper cabins that were cut back in early May.
Staff Bios
Jill Manthey
Jill is from Plymouth, Minnesota and goes to Church of the Epiphany in Plymouth. She just graduated this month from Armstrong High School. In the fall she will attend Gustavus Adolphus College, where she plans to study physics, Spanish and pre-engineering. Jill is gung-ho about Nordic skiing and also loves to play Ultimate Frisbee.
Jill first came to Wilderness as a camper for two years with her friends from Calvary Lutheran Church. She came up as a swamper for the next two summers and is happy to finally be on staff this year. The things that keep drawing Jill back to WCB are the community, the location in the Boundary Waters and the "calming and relaxing" atmosphere. This summer she is excited to witness progress in construction: "seeing the buildings go up and seeing things happen."
Annie Giddings
Annie is from Ramsey, Minnesota and attends Cross of Hope Lutheran "with crazy Pastor Fred." She just finished college at University of Minnesota, Duluth. This fall she will student teach first graders at University Elementary in Blaine. After that experience, she will graduate in December with a degree in education.
This is Annie’s second year on staff. She first came to camp with her church 3 years ago. According to Annie, after that the decision to apply to work at Wilderness was easy because she always wanted to work at a church camp. "I really liked the community feel and thought it would be cool to work in the middle of the woods," she said. Her favorite parts of this summer so far are "being able to sauna and the lake getting warmer." Annie is excited to be guiding this year after being an island camp counselor last summer. She looks forward to going on trail for the adventure and "being able to minister to groups in a new way."
Emma Harness
Emma comes to us from Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. She will be a junior at St. Olaf College in Northfield this fall and is majoring in Environmental Studies and Religion. At St. Olaf she enjoys singing in the choir, running, exploring Northfield and hanging out with friends.
Emma started coming to Wilderness as a camper 7 years ago. She also served as an adult advisor for a few trips from her church. Reflecting on these experiences as a staff member, she says its "interesting to see different aspects of a canoe trip" from different perspectives. She says she enjoys being at Wilderness because "there’s a place here for everyone" and because its "just beautiful up here." This summer Emma has already had two groups and says that its been "fun to find joy in doing really hard work" and that "each group found a different way of doing that." She’s excited to "see how camp is changing with all the new plans and to be a part of the progress."
Pat Murack
Pat is from Waukesha, Wisconsin and his home church is St. John’s Lutheran in Brookfield. He has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire and is now a veterinary student at Madison. Pat is really passionate about fishing and also enjoys hunting and camping in his free time.
Pat was a camper for 5 years with his church. Although this is his first year on staff, he really wanted to guide last year and was prevented by injuries from a sledding accident. This year he is overflowing with excitement about guiding. When I interviewed him, he had just gotten off trail with his first group. On that trip he and his campers ate fish for four nights and one day on Grandpa Lake he caught his fishing limit one hour after getting up in the morning. It was undoubtedly a great trip. So far, Pat’s favorite parts of camp are "being on trail and timelessness." Looking forward, Pat is excited about "the variety of groups that will come up this summer."