| Name and Email |
Years as Camper/Staff |
Wapsie Memories |
Darell Douglas Andersen
Darrell@andersenediting.com |
Camper: 1974-1980
Staff: 1981-1982 |
Exceptionally fond memories of my childhood. Wapsie was a huge part of my formative years. My experiences there were fantastic in learning how to work with other people while having a great time. Also very fond memories of sitting in the outdoor chapel at night under a beautiful starry sky and really hearing the voice of God for the first time.
My kids are just hitting the age where they can go to camp and we can't wait. |
D. J. Arnold
arnolddj@yahoo.com |
Camper: 1980-1990
Staff: 1991-1995 |
My fondest memories of camp are the feelings of family that developed among the staff and campers. Anybody who ever went to camp developed feelings that last a lifetime, and usually cannot be understood by those that did not experience it. I am happy that I was one of those who got to develop relationships that last to this day. |
Kristin (Tvedt) Bilardi
ktvedt@gmail.com |
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Bonnie Lynn Black
holabonnie@infinityathome.net |
Camper: 1975-1980
Staff: 1981-1988 |
I was 8 months old when I first arrived at Camp Wapsie. My dad was the Aquatics Director and my mom the Camp Nurse. Our family returned every summer. I became a camper the first year Wapsie allowed girls and then a part of the staff until I graduated from college. Wow, I must be getting really old!! Wapsie had such an impact on my life; the amazing staff, touching a child's life and the wonderful feeling that you have when you're there...it's like no other place. I'm blessed to have been a part of Wapsie and will always hold the memories close to my heart. |
Ryan Christopher Blodi
hondaboy17@yahoo.com |
Camper: 1988-1996
Staff: 1995-1996 |
Wow, great to see a page like this. Hard to believe it has been over 10 years since I last was on the grounds of Camp Wapsie. Too many memories to even list, but it was a huge part of growing up and I grew and learned so much about myself and formed so many friendships through the years I attended. Getting to go through the LIT and CIT program was a great way to end my years at such a wonderful place. The memories will be with me my whole life. Thank you so much Camp Wapsie! |
Jenni (Birgerson) Boettger
aj.boettger@mchsi.com |
Camper: 1982-1983
Staff: 1984-1991 |
My favorite part of Camp is the lifelong friends I made. Bat Mite, Dopey, Bright Light, Boom Boom, Neppl, the Old Gray Mare, and soooooo many other awesome people! The "80's rocked!" |
Heatherlyn Cayn (Henderson) Bright
hcbright01@aol.com |
Camper: 1980-1987
Staff: 1989-1990 |
Camp Wapsie has been and always be a safe haven for me. I remember as a child coming there and feeling like I could do or be anything. As a staff member, I loved being able to help campers to have their own wonderful experiences. It has given me so much - my husband and therefore our children. (Our 2 year old already knows the words to about 15 camp songs including "The Billboard Song") I hope to continue my involvement with camp in whatever capacity that I can for as long as I can!!! |
Phil Bush
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Camper: 1969-1971 |
Wow, where to begin? I was a bit young to really generate friendships (9-11 yrs) so my memories are more about being away from home for the first time. The most fun we had was capture the flag- we snuck through the trees along the road to get to the flag. Seeing my little brother win a contest where they had hidden these little objects (old wooden spools or something about that size) all over the camp and whoever found the most got to pick a prize. He killed everyone and got the prize: traffic cop lessons! I still remember him with his whistle, white gloves and hat, waving at imaginary traffic for all he was worth. Public service must have rubbed off: he is a lieutenant in the fire department. I would have been a staff member for sure, but we moved to Chicago in 1972. (Webmaster's note: Phil had a very extensive list of great memories. We are sorry we could not publish them all.) |
Steve J. Campbell
sjchawkeye@hotmail.com |
Camper: 1989-1998
Staff: 1999-2004 |
The most magical and inspirational place in the entire world. Camp Wapsie raised me to become who I am today. It is my home and its people are my my family. Favorite memories: Rowdy campfires Pinicon trips, Wapsie Stars, Backwater Boys, Special Days, 5/6 Center Room, working with the most amazing staff for 6 summers, having awesome campers, meeting people from around the world, and the best friends I could ever ask for. Thank you Camp Wapsie for EVERYTHING!! |
Karen (Cowdery) Caruth
karen.caruth@gmail.com |
Camper: 1989-1994
Staff: 1995-1997 |
Too many to list...great friends, great kids, great times. |
John Chai
johnchai2174@gmail.com |
Camper: 1998-2001
Staff: 2002-2005 |
Anything and everything. I am a better person today than I would have been without Camp Wapsie. |
Brigid (Arnold) Christianson
brigid@francislauer.com |
Camper: 1982-1992
Staff: 1993-2000 |
My favorite memories of camp have to do with all of the people I connected with and all the things I learned about myself. I loved chilling in the TP village on the picnic bench, taking naps in that nasty basement, seeing my LIT's grow and learn and just being able to be silly. As a therapist who treats kids and teens, I wish I could send them all to camp. It is amazing to me how many needs camp meets for people. I was so lucky to have it there to get me through some really tough times in my life. |
Rachael Kimberly Cutter
cutterphoto@yahoo.com |
Camper: 1995-2001
Staff: 2002-2004 |
Where do I begin? The campers that are so homesick at the beginning of the week, but are the ones that don't want to go home on Sat. Basement parties at 2 am. Not showering for a week. Tower lessons. Campfires. Developing into the person that I have become. Meeting some of the most amazing people and best friends that I will ever have. Feeling like you have made a difference in someones life. I could go on and on, but if you've ever been to camp, then you already know what makes it what it is. |
| Janet (Williams) Daily |
Camper: 1980-1990
Staff: 1989-1991 |
Camp Wapsie was a home away from home. I spent most of my summers as a camper at Wapsie South with Mary and the gang. Then spent an incredible summer on staff. Met great people who helped me through a tough summer. Unfortunately I live in California and my kids haven't the opportunity to attend Wapsie. We have found a camp here they love. Ahhh, summer camp. It is a must. |
Sara (Zeller) Diamond
sdiamond12@hotmail.com |
Camper: 1980-1991
Staff: 1992-1996 |
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Stacie (Tvedt) Eastman
eastmanial@mcleodusa.net |
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Stephen Michael Garvey
smchagara@yahoo.com |
Camper: 1993-1997
Staff: 1999-2000 |
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| Jeremy Dean Glade |
Camper: 1994-1999
Staff: 2000-2005 |
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Trish Gossard
tgossard@mccormicktribune.org |
Camper: 1985-1992
Staff: 1994-1996 |
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Amy Gould
agould21@hotmail.com |
Camper: 1980-1986
Staff: 1987-1992 |
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Laura Ann (Scott) Gross
thecoolestgross@hotmail.com |
Camper: 1990-1995
Staff: 1996-2002 |
Camp is my favorite place to come every summer. It is a big part of the person that I am today. Sleeping out under the stars, taking CITs to Backbone, watching kids grow into magnificent counselors and people, giving campers the best week of their entire summer, cookouts, the Friday dance, having a tp villager fall asleep on your lap at the rowdy...I could go on forever. It's the most magical, wonderful place to spend your time when you're growing up. I still feel like I should be getting ready to go to camp at the beginning of each summer. I'll probably always feel that way. |
Gretchen Marie Handfelt
g.handfelt@mchsi.com |
Camper: 1995-1998
Staff: 1999-2002 |
All of the amazing campers who filled the cabin with giggles!! The wonderful friends that are always in my heart and meeting the love of my life! |
Thomas F. Hazelton
hazegolf@fmtcs.com |
Camper: 1961-1967
Staff: 1968-1972 |
What a great "Wapsie Ride"! My father had our whole family at Camp starting in 1956 with the Crippled Children's Society Campout (staff week) each summer. (I believe it was actually the forerunner of Camp Courageous!) I have a picture of myself at 6 mos. of age by the totem pole. I started as a camper as soon as I could and naturally became a staff member at age 13. I took a few years off for college and then Certain asked me to join the Wapsie Board in 1977 - which began another 15 year ride on that Committee - whee! I have known and worked with) all the Directors since 1955 - getting all you alumni together for an event - what a great idea! Many, many of us have come and gone through the Wapsie experience but we all have that "itch" to go back...even if it is just for a little while! Hope to see you someday soon... |
Tom Huntley
thomas_huntley@hotmail.com |
Camper: 1982-1993
Staff: 1994-1997 |
Good times... |
Andrea (Pabon) Jaggers
andrea.jaggers@sbcglobal.net |
Camper: 1988-1991
Staff: 1991-1993 |
It was the best time of my life. I learned so much about myself and gained such confidence in my abilities...I would not be who I am today without the Wapsie influence! I wish I lived closer and could see the changes the camp has gone through. It's great being able to keep in touch this way! Take care! |
Stephanie Rae Johnson
stephanieraejohnson@gmail.com |
Camper: 1995-1999
Staff: 2000-2002 |
TP Village! |
Jennifer Juehring
jennjenn1190@yahoo.com
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Staff: 2001-2002 |
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David N. Knapp
dnknapp@mindspring.com |
Camper: 1974-1981
Staff: 1982-1985 |
Camp Wapsie is a truly special place for me and is still a part of who I am today. It is a unique little world where we learn the basic lessons of life - how to laugh, how to play, and how to be a true friend to others. Thousands of memories include the American Indian-themed parables told at camp fires and taps in the 70's and 80's, morning duty as a CIT checking for wet beds, Saturday laundry day in Central City, the Super Duper and Super Stinky awards, capture the flag, the Friday Night Dances, cannon-balls off the old high dive at the pool. My 97-year old grandfather, Russell Knapp, was one of the first campers before there was a permanent camp location. He still tells a story about the small group (10-15 people in those days) going swimming in the Wapsipinnicon River and coming back to their campsite later to find that wild pigs had eaten their food. |
Jennifer (Ruyle) Kohler
kohlerjen@gmail.com |
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Dimon V. Kuzmin
kuzmin_dimon@hotmail.com |
Staff: 2000-2002 |
That was WICKED COOL! :)) I'LL BE BACK.. |
Jamie Francis Margolin
jfmargolin@aol.com |
Camper: 1995-1997
Staff: 1998-2003 |
It's hard to pin down a memory that I would want to share on this site. My best memories involve igniting, messing with, and expanding the minds of 200 kids a week for 9 weeks out of the year. And hoping that from you, they will have learned how to do the same when they get on staff. In the words of the great Paul Torbert, "ANDY OHN. I REPEAT: ANDY OHN WILL NOT BE ATTENDING HORSES THIS WEEK." |
David R. Mayer
drmayer5805@aol.com |
Staff: 1976-1983 |
Sunday night buffalo stew, Wizard of Oz Daze, The Great Escape, Friday night Dance and Closing Campfire. I especially remember all the special staff members that worked at camp, that made and make camp truly wonderful. |
Laura (Dillon) McColl
m.mccoll@sbcglobal.net |
Camper: 1984-1991
Staff: 1993-1994 |
Too many to recount! It was truly the best thing I ever did growing up and I look back on my decade at camp with great joy (and some sadness that I am no longer there; I still have dreams where I try and figure out what I can do w/ my kids for the summer so I can work at camp!) |
Heather (Kennedy) McDonald
mrsmcdonald203@mchsi.com |
Camper: 1978-1984
Staff: 1985-1986 |
Somewhere there is a picture of me really ticked off because the week was over and I didn't want to go home! I still marvel at how fast my cabin-mates and I bonded. My fondest memories are of the chapel in the morning, where it was amazingly quiet for that many campers; the lodge for meals, where it was incredibly loud; and the campfire at night when everyone would huddle together although it wasn't all that chilly. When I was an LIT, I thought it was fun even to do dishes with my fellow Lit-ers. I think the tee-pee village was built right around the time I became a counselor, and those little tykes were so cute: "We like to live in the tee-pees, they're real cool tee-pees, sleep in the tee-pees, too (etc)." My memories could go on and on... |
Justin Miller
justinmiller_1@hotmail.com
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Staff: 1997-2002 |
"Campers First" signs in the cabins.
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Whitney Erin Mitvalsky
whitney.mitvalsky@gmail.com |
Camper: 1995-2001
Staff: 2002-2005 |
The best part of growing up was going to CAMP WAPSIE. Every year, I looked forward to going to camp to meet new friends and reconnect with the old. My favorite memory being a camper was simply seeing how many hot dogs I could eat at a cookout with my sister cabin. I have met my best friends at Camp Wapsie as well, and camp will continue to be my home away from home. It was a place I could always be myself and no one would care. Thank you to all the campers who have touched my life and the friends that will last FOREVER! I LOVE CAMP WAPSIE! |
Lisa M. Morano
LMMorano@gmail.com |
Camper: 1995-2001
Staff: 2002-2003 |
Meeting all of the amazing people that changed my life and made me who I am. Natural beauty days, pre-camp wrestling tournaments, Vera, sleeping on the tennis courts, Friday morning cookouts, camp St. George, OJ, singing at the top of my lungs, being in nature and loving it, and much much more. I learned more there than I ever will any place else, and Wapsie will always have a special place in my heart. |
Kelly M. Neppl
KellyNeppl@gmail.com |
Camper: 1983-1985
Staff: 1986-1991 |
I'll have to check on my years as a camper and staff member...I was day camp director for one summer (1993 - could it have rained any more??) - In the summer, my heart was always in Coggon - I could probably drive that gravel road with my eyes closed! I love Wapsie for all the people I met and for all I learned through those years. |
Shawnee June Petersen
sshawnee77@aol.com |
Camper: 1986-1994
Staff: 1995-1996 |
Old Gray Mar... Love you Mary! Everyone remembers Mary!!! |
Kerri A. Potter
kapotter@avalon.net |
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Jeff Prachar
jprachar@yahoo.com |
Camper: 1975-1978
Staff: 1977-1982 |
The Great Escape...Capture the Flat...weekend trips to a movie and Dairy Queen (where we sang camp songs in the parking lot!!!)...endless swimming...there are so many memories on so many levels as I spent some part of each summer there from age 10 to 18. It was a great place and I am glad to see it is still there... |
Heather Price
lilprice930@netscape.net |
Camper: 1999-2002
Staff: 2003-2004 |
For me, Camp Wapsie was its own little world where you could create bonds with the most unlikely people. Through capture the flag on Sunday nights to that last tear-jerking campfire on Friday nights, this was a place I could call home. I'll never forget my CIT trip to Backbone Park with the walkie-talkies, wrestling down in the staff lounge, not having my voice for 10 weeks b/c of over-singing, special days, certain campers that I learned important lessons from, and mostly, the friends I made. Wapsie made me realize the kind of person I wanted to be, and for that, I am so thankful. |
Brian E. Reed
jnbreed@hotmail.com |
Staff: 1987-1988 |
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Julie Ann (Eden) Reed
jnbreed@hotmail.com |
Camper: 1979-1983
Staff: 1984-1988 |
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Alex Fitzpatrick Reinert
swimy2004@hotmail.com |
Camper: 1990-2002
Staff: 2003-2005 |
Camp was always a home away from home for me. It was a place where I could and still can go to think out my problems and get away from the worries of the "Real World", as we call it. I am definitely a better person because of camp, my time there as a camper, and a staff member helping children grow. And remember, May you always have blue skies. |
Melissa M. Rieff
melissa.rieff@usmc.mil |
Camper: 1989-1998 |
My fondest memories of Wapsie are centered around the camp fire. No worries, fun songs, and the utmost of camaraderie. I learned so much from my summers there, much of it I've used during my time in the Marine Corps. I wish experiences like that for everyone! |
Lexie Camille Schulte
Trumpettgurl@aol.com |
Camper: 2003-2006 |
It was my first year and i was confused. I kept hearing all these names for groups -- LITs, CITs, RJCs, etc. -- and thought "What?" Like the years to follow (through summer 2006), I had a blast my first year there exploring things Wapsie had to offer. Last year, ('06) was best by far. It challenged me to do and try new things I never thought I was capable of -- climb rocks, the hope tango tower, branch out, and even dance with people. I used to be a very shy person. :D Wapsie has been such a great experience the last four years! I've met so many fun, energetic people, tried new things, had fun with all the activities -- camp crafts, archery, rowdy camp fire, the mini-trips, and the dances. Even though there are other summer plans this year, I still want to stay connected with camp, visit, and maybe one day I'll be on staff. Thank you so much Wapsie, Friends, and Staff for everything! You made those years very memorable and I'll never forget it. |
Erick James Skogman
eskogman@skogman.com |
Camper: 1987-1998
Staff: 1998-2002 |
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Erin Catherin (McDermott) Smith
erin6494@sbcglobal.net |
Camper: 1982-1986
Staff: 1987-1989 |
Camp Wapsie was such a huge part of my life, I still miss it every summer. I know a large part of the person I am today was developed at camp. I have two children of my own now and wish for them a place like Wapsie, a second home they can return to every summer. I have told them stories about the Great Escape biffers, sleeping out in the big field, Friday night dances. Nice to see some familiar names on the alumni site! |
Celeste A. Staebler
celestestaebler@hotmail.com |
Camper: 1999-2001
Staff: 2002-2002 |
Wapsie Memories...where to start? It's a place that's held dear to my heart, there is no other place in the world you can do so much in one week and still have the energy to get up and do it again the next week. The chance to touch a campers life, other counselors life, and remember people that you may never see again. Favorites: Late night swims, sleeping under the stars, a hug from a tired camper, snow, Central City fireworks....the list could go on for days, but the point is, it was the best and most often remembered experience. |
David Milan Steele
strndniowa@fbx.com |
Camper: 1979-1985 |
What ever happened to Wapsie South...AKA the ski camp - went to main Wapsie when I was younger...don't remember exactly when. |
Jeanne Ann (Butters) Stevens
steve3stevens@msn.com |
Staff: 1976-1980 |
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Ronnie Vienberg
vienberg.r@gmail.com |
Staff: 1993 |
It was the best time of my life. I would not be who I am today without the Wapsie influence! I was a Foreign Exchange Counselor from Denmark. I just loved Camp Wapsie....... |
Andy Weld
weld.andy@gmail.com |
Camper: 1984-1988
Staff: 1992-1994 |
Good times... |
