Dear Campers,

Greetings from the Bell Tower!

Yes, it’s me again – Billy the Brown Bat. I’m still flying around the Chippewa Trail property and keeping an eye on the antics of all you former campers and counselors. I’m thrilled that you decided to return to the shores of Elk Lake this weekend to celebrate what would have been Chippewa Trail’s 80th anniversary. There never was and there never will be another camp quite like Chippewa.

I also understand that this weekend brings us an honorary Chippewa camper. Yes, Katie Barr, I’m talking about you!

I have it on good authority from my pals at the ‘Bats Who Live At Summer Camps Association’ that Katie has the kind of spirit we love here at Chippewa! Her times at golf, basketball and nursing camps were marked by much laughter and wacky fun. And I overheard her Mom, Bizzy, last summer tell the tale of Katie’s adventures with the wave runner. Katie called her folks to tell them she and her wave runner were being towed in from Lake Michigan by the county sheriff and that she was being charged with reckless driving. After Bizzy regained consciousness, Katie let it slip that actually, she was only being towed in because the battery died.

Katie, you’re my kind of gal! And because you are now part of the Chippewa family, I think you should know something about your mother. I’ve been keeping tabs on Bizzy since she was a kid here at camp. As you can tell, she just LOVED Chippewa. Like you, she was a very talented athlete, she adored the waterfront and she was an enthusiastic singer of all the camp songs. But here’s the thing: Your mom doesn’t know the real words to ANY of the Chippewa songs!

For example, the first line of our most beloved camp song is ‘If the lake is clear and blue.’ Your mom usually sings ‘If the steak is near and due.’

And whatever you do, do NOT follow her example when singing the super-secret-second verse to that song. The real words are: If you want to swim the waters clear and watch the sun behind the distant hills appear, why don’t-cha come to Chip-a-way Trail.

Instead, your mom thinks the words are: If you want to trim the waiter’s beard and watch the gum behind his distant ear appear, why don’t-cha come to Chip-a-way Trail. Katie, do yourself a favor and hang with Lisa and the other CTC alums to get the full skinny on all the great Chippewa songs.

In fact, I’d recommend getting some sonic input from Deb Jordan Bryan. Not only does Deb have a beautiful voice, and a flawless memory for all the camp songs, you’ll be doing her a tremendous favor by keeping her mind off of a teeny-tiny inconvenience.

You see, Deb and her family recently moved from California to the Lodge here at CTC. Well, to be clear, THEY moved to Michigan. Their belongings, however, have moved to destinations unknown. More than 60 boxes of Bryan family stuff are missing in action. Repeated calls to the moving company remind me why it was so important that Shorty started the ‘Shootman’ tradition. Let’s just say, that the language around the Lodge of late has been rather colorful.

Well campers, that’s about it for me. Have a great time this weekend and sing those songs as loudly as you can. Just don’t let Bizzy get away with this gem:

I wanna go back to Chippaway,
that’s near the trampled flowers
Back to the stodgey fig, of course
Back to the flake with the ridgey horse ...


Your friend, Billy the Brown Bat

 

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