Fallapalooza! This Weekend!

First of all, Camp Anokijig would like to thank everyone who attended and volunteered at our Laughter in the Woods event last weekend. Because of your commitment and support, we were able to raise $14,000 for our campership fund, which helps provide opportunities for underprivileged and deserving children to Camp Anokijig.

This past summer, we distributed more than $120,000 worth of camperships. In fact, Camp Anokijig has never denied a child the opportunity to come to Camp, because they could not afford to do so. We simply could not do this without your support and on behalf of all of the children who receive camperships each year, we thank you very much.

If you were unable to attend this event, but would like to help provide a wonderful camping opportunity for a deserving child, you can always make a donation online- https://www.anokijig.com/pledge.htm Please be sure to specify "campership" in the alternate e-mail address column, so we can make sure your donation goes exactly where you intended.

This weekend, Camp Anokijig is swinging open it's doors for our annual Fallapalooza open house. All of Anokijig's program areas will be open on Saturday and Sunday, from 9:30AM to 3PM, including the waterfront area, horse rides for kids, arts and crafts, archery and much more. In addition, Anokijig's kitchen will be serving an all-you-can eat bunch-a-brunch on both days.

We'll also have special events, including an arrowhead dig, carnival games and an archery contest. There will even be an opportunity to win a week at Anokijig in 2009. Admission is just $8 for adults and $5 for kids. Anyone under three years old is admitted free of charge!

If you haven't been to Anokijig in a while, this is the perfect opportunity for you to pay us a visit. We hope to see you soon!

A Sneak Peak at Laughter in the Woods

Camp Anokijig's Laughter in the Woods charity dinner and silent auction is just around the corner (Saturday night at Western Lodge). I wanted to give you, the Anokijig Faithful, a sneak-preview of some of the incredible items we'll have available at this event, which will benefit our campership fund for underpriviledged kids.

Many of you know Gordon Clapp for his Emmy-winning role as Det. Greg Medavoy on the hit TV show, NYPD Blue, but Gordon is also an accomplished stage actor, who was nominated for a Tony, for his role as Dave Moss in the 2005 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. Last year's autographed NYPD Blue script was such a popular item at our auction, we asked Gordon if he had any more he could send us. Gordon not only sent us another script autographed by the entire cast, he sent us an autographed cast photo as well! Thanks Gordon!

We also have autographed Milwaukee Brewer merchandise, including Greg Jennings, J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Bill Hall.

For the outdoorsmen, we have several fishing baskets, a Minn Kota trolling motor, co-pilot wireless depth finder, fish finder and many other great items.

Golfers will be interested in a round of golf for two with a cart at The Bull, four rounds of golf with a cart at Quit Qui Oc, private lessons with the head golf pro at Whistling Straits or a framed and matted photo of Tiger Woods (we still can't get our hands on any more Chris Regis-autographed photos).

This auction isn't just for men who fish, play golf or watch sports. We also have a Tastefully Simple gift basket, a gift certificate to the Otter Creek Wreath Factory and McGinley & Baker of Elkhart Lake have donated an arrangement of flowers per month for an entire year!

We also have a Starbucks gift basket, a wide assortment of gift certificates to area restaurants, unique Anokijig items and several autographed items from Donald Driver, Jerry Kramer and Brett Favre, including a autographed and framed Favre jersey (we couldn't start off with Brett, now that he plays for the Jets).

This event wouldn't be the success that it is without all of our wonderful donors, guests and sponsors and we thank you all for your support of Camp Anokijig. There are just a few spots left for this wonderful event and we hope you can join us. Please call 920-893-0782 to make your reservation today!

Laughter in the Woods

"Laughter in the Woods" isn't just something that seems to happen whenever kids come to Anokijig, it's the name of our annual fall gala at Western Lodge, to benefit our campership fund. Since 1926, Anokijig has prided itself on never denying a child an opportunity to come to Anokijig, simply because they could not afford to do so.

Anokijig distributed more than $120,000 worth of camperships to deserving children in 2008. Many of these camperships were funded by generous individuals, corporations and foundations, but the total amount of funding for camperships never covers the amount of camperships we distribute. There is never a shortage of children in need of a positive experience at Camp Anokijig and we love to provide that for them.

Our Laughter in the Woods event is one way we can help these children, while having a great time enjoying the hilarious antics of the McMann & Tate Comedy Group. Western Lodge is transformed into an elegant (but slightly rustic) dinner theatre, with steak, seafood and libations for everyone to enjoy. We also have a silent auction, which includes fantastic golf packages at area courses, autographed Packer, Brewer and Hollywood memorabilia, gift certificates for many area restaurants and businesses and some very unique Anokijig items.

This event hits the core of Anokijig's mission, "To Serve." These camperships provide once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for many of the children who receive them. Children who have never gone fishing, sat around a campfire or ridden a horse. I hope you can join us at Anokijig on Saturday, September 20th, for this wonderful event. You can call the Camp office to make reservations at 920-893-0782.

If you are unable to attend our event, but would like to help our campership fund, we are always accepting donations and would gladly welcome your generous contribution. As with all donations at Anokijig, if you would like to direct your contribution specifically to benefit camperships, please note that with your contribution and you can rest assured at that 100% of your donation will go directly where you want it. Thank you so much for supporting Camp Anokijig and we hope to see you on the 20th!

Time, Treasure & Talent

Camp Anokijig is the beneficiary of a great deal of assistance every year. This help comes primarily in three forms- time, treasure and talent. The Racine Founders Rotary Club is a great example of a group that helps in all three regards. This past summer, club members came out to Anokijig and assisted us with a variety of projects.

While everyone knows Anokijig's boathouse is the place to go for paddles, oars and lifejackets, the boathouse also serves a very important safety role for everyone in camp. When threatening weather approaches, an emergency siren located on the top of the boathouse tower sounds to alert all campers and staff that they should report immediately to Western lodge.

Some of the Racine Founders Rotary Club members happen to have a background in electrical contracting and were generous enough to re-wire our boathouse, ensuring Anokijig's emergency siren will sound properly, whenever needed. This was a fairly extensive project, which involved dozens of hours worth of labor over several weekends and we are extremely grateful.

More than a dozen members of the Racine Founders Rotary Club also came up for a work day earlier this year, in which they assisted our staff with the construction of a fenceline for a new horse pasture at camp. While both of these acts of service are great examples of how people can help Camp Anokijig, they also illustrate the difference between time and talent.

It takes a certain level of skill and knowledge to re-wire a building, which is certainly considered a "talent." On the other hand, putting up a fenceline is more a matter of having enough manpower to get the job done relatively quickly, which is a great example of "time."

The Racine Founders Rotary Club takes their commitment to community service seriously and they also gave of their "treasure." As was mentioned previously in this blog, Anokijig expanded it's capacity in the last year. Expanding the capacity at Camp isn't as simple as adding a few beds and and a few more tables and chairs in Western Lodge. We also need to expand our program offerings for campers, so all those extra kids have enough activities to choose from.

The Racine Founders Rotary Club made a three-year commitment to Anokijig, to fund a new program area, called Digital Photography. In this program, our campers learn the basics of photography, including how to identify interesting subjects and compose shots in a variety of settings. The great thing about digital cameras, is that the campers can view the results of their work right away and there is no ongoing expense of film for the cameras, because favorite images can be printed out and the memory cards can then be emptied for the next camper to use.

As one can imagine, the initial costs for this program were substantial, as we needed to purchase digital cameras, printers and photo paper for our campers to print their favorite shots. This new program was made possible by the Racine Founders Rotary Club and was also supported by Enterprise Rent-A-Car and we are extremely grateful for their support.

If you would be interested in donating time, talent or treasure, please contact us at 920-893-0782 or e-mail us at anokijig@excel.net

Who Are These People, Isn't Camp Closed Now?

Summer camp ended at Anokijig a few weeks ago, yet there are still people having the time of their lives at Camp. How is that possible? Because Anokijig never closes. While it's true that our busiest time of the year is during our nine weeks of youth summer camp, Anokijig still plays host to countless other groups throughout the year.

This past weekend, Anokijig hosted the annual Labor Day Family Camping Weekend. This allows families an opportunity to come to Anokijig together and enjoy all the great activities Anokijig offers to our summer campers. If you're feeling like you've missed out on some great fun, know that you still have a chance to come back to Anokijig this year.

We still have one more weekend of family camping coming up, on the weekend of October 10-12th. It's a beautiful time of year to be at Anokijig, as the leaves are at their peak of color and we have special events, like pumpkin-carving contests and hay rides for the whole family to enjoy.

For more information on our family camping weekends, please visit the family camping area at Anokijig.com- http://anokijig.com/08family.htm

We hope to see you soon!