Tube-A-Thon is Coming!

It's that time of year again, for winter fun at Camp Anokijig! The snow has been falling and the tube hill is primed and ready for an invasion.

Camp Anokijig's annual Tube-A-Thon event is scheduled to be held on the weekend of January 9-11, 2009. Tube-A-Thon is a very important event for Anokijig, because it raises money for camperships for children whose families are unable to afford to send them to Anokijig.

We receive many requests for camperships each year and given the state of the economy, we expect 2009 will be a record year for requests. Please visit this site- http://www.anokijig.com/2009%20tube-a-thon.htm to find out how you can help us provide once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for deserving children to come to Anokijig.

The first Tube-A-Thon was held more than 20 years ago and we've come a long way since then. The efforts in our first few years raised several thousand dollars and helped a handful of kids come to camp. Last year, more than 200 kids came to Anokijig on Camperships and our goal for Tube-A-Thon 2009 is $40,000.

Those of you who participated in our early Tube-A-Thons may remember sliding down Vesper Hill, into the parking lot. Our venue has changed significantly since then as well. We now have a dedicated tubing hill, nestled in the woods behind the archery range, complete with lighting, hay bale barricades and switchback trails coming up the hill.

We hope you can join us!

Get Ready for 2009!

Happy Holidays from Camp Anokijig!

It’s December 2nd, and 8 inches of snow have arrived at Anokijig……….. What better time to think SUMMER 2009!

See all of the news, new schedules, and programs at http://www.anokijig.com/

Online Registration for 2009 is now open at https://www.anokijig.com/2009%20web%20registration%20form.htm

A new camper fundraising option is available for all campers or Anokijig Supporters. Beat the economic downturn with Online Magazine and Gift sales with the profits going to camper accounts or the campership fund. The Store is open and active NOW.
See the fundraising details for: Campers at: http://www.anokijig.com/online%20fundraise.htm
Camper Family and Friends at: http://www.anokijig.com/online%20fundraising%20supporter%20directions.htm
Camp Supporters in general at: http://www.anokijig.com/online%20fundraising%20supporter%20directions.htm
SHOP WITH A PURPOSE this holiday season at the online fundraising store.

Candy Sales will begin January, 20th 2009 and run through May 2009. Call the camp office at 1-800-741-6931 for all the details.

Check out the Holiday specials and sales at the Anokijig Trading post at: http://www.anokijig.com/tradingpost/

For those of you in South Eastern Wisconsin or Northern Illinois we invite you to a great new Anokijig Benefit at the Racine Founders Rotary Casino Night. See all of the details at: http://www.anokijig.com/Racine%20Casino%20Night%20Benefit.htm .

The alumni newsletter is headed out in the mail with news and 2009 registration information, but you can see a copy now at http://www.anokijig.com/november%202008%20anokijig%20Arrowhead.pdf. Email us at anokijig@excel.net if you would like to get just a link by email instead of the printed copy.

The Annual Staff and Alumni Tube-a-thon date is set for January 9-11, 2009. If you are 14 or older and would like to help send some kids to camp for 2009 check out the details of this annual Fun-draising weekend at Anokijig. It’s an incredibly fun weekend of events plus tons of prizes. Start raising funds now to send a kid to camp. See the details at: http://www.anokijig.com/2009%20tube-a-thon.htm

Recruiting for 2009 Anokijig Senior and Junior Staff has now begun. If you know of a great person who would be an excellent staff member have them visit http://www.anokijig.com/staff.htm for all of the details and applications.

We look forward to seeing you all at Anokijig sometime in 2009!

Take Care,

Darin Holden
Program Director

Thank You For A Fantastic 2008!!!

As 2008 winds down, we look back on the fantastic year we've had at Anokijig. Thousands of children and families re-connected with each other and with nature, all while having the time of their lives. It was a challenging year in many aspects for us. We're still working hard every day to eliminate the debt incurred to save Anokijig and we're happy to report we're on schedule to have our principal balanced reduced to approximately $4.1 million as of January 1st, which is down significantly from the original purchase price of $5.5 million just three years ago.

We were unsure how our summer attendance would turn out. We had hundreds of children on our waiting list in 2007 and decided it was appropriate to expand our capacity for 2008. As time went on, we grew concerned that the economy would not allow as many families the opportunity to send their children to Anokijig in 2008. Fortunately, families found a way to make it work and we again experienced record attendance in 2008.

Unfortunately, the economic outlook for 2009 still doesn't look good. Anokijig is still one of the most affordable traditional youth summer camps in the country and with the wide variety of program areas and specialty camping options available, Anokijig has few contemporaries that can offer anywhere near the same amount of activities for a comparable price. We're hoping families continue to appreciate the importance of an experience at Anokijig in the lives of their children.

We're so thankful for all of our wonderful supporters and hope they will continue to help us provide these amazing opportunities for children and families. Many of you have made multi-year pledges and we sincerely thank you for your support and confidence in our mission. We hope we have proven our value and that you will consider renewing your pledges to Anokijig. This is especially important, given the fact that some of our supporters who have made pledge commitments simply cannot fulfill them at this time, due to the economic climate.

The kids that need an Anokijig experience don't know how much the Dow Jones has fallen or what the tax implications of a new administration could mean for them. They just know that Anokijig is a very special place, that they'd miss very much, if they weren't able to come next year.

In the coming weeks, many of you will receive a request for support from Anokijig. We hope you will support our ongoing efforts to serve children and families and thank you very much for your past support and consideration. If you've moved or are not on our mailing list, please visit this link for more information on how you can help Camp Anokijig- https://www.anokijig.com/pledge.htm

The Newest Addition to the Anokijig Fleet!

Camp Anokijig is the proud owner of a new (to us) 1994 Chevrolet pickup truck. This truck came to us by way of several very generous donors and a very gracious man from Texas. Some of you may remember that Anokijig just added another new (to us) pickup truck to our fleet a few months back and wonder why we need this one?

The answer is simple- Anokijig is an enormous place with a lot of work to be done every day, just to keep things running smoothly. In addition to the 80 seasonal employees who work at Anokijig and the volunteers, who contribute more than 52,000 hours of their time each year, Anokijig also employees nine full-time staff members.

Two of these employees use trucks extensively in their jobs. One is Preston Shoup, who makes sure our buildings and grounds are kept clean and orderly. The other is Scott Stewart, who is our Facilities Director. Between hauling refuse, spare parts, feed, lumber, towing horses and plowing snow, both of these men use trucks extensively. While they make every effort to use our smaller, more fuel-efficient Kubota RTV when possible, many of their tasks require more muscle or space than the Kubota offers.

So why did we get a 1994 Chevrolet pickup? Because Anokijig is committed to green initiatives that reduce our carbon footprint. That sentence may not make sense to a Prius owner, who looks at this truck as a gas-swilling road hog, but looks can be deceiving. Upon closer inspection, one will notice that this truck has a propane tank in the bed, which allows it to operate on a much cleaner-burning fuel source.

Acquiring this truck wouldn't have been possible, without the generous support of several donors, including Twin Disc, Blain's Farm & Fleet, ZBB Energy Corporation and Web-Pro L.P. Gas. We thank them and all of our other wonderful sponsors and donors for the generous support of Camp Anokijig!

Helping Anokijig the Ebay Way

There are many ways to help Anokijig, through the donation of time, talent or treasure. One unique way our supporters can help us is by using the Missionfish program available at Ebay. This program allows Ebay sellers to donate anywhere from 10-100% of their final auction price to Camp Anokijig, with a minimum of $5 per item. If a seller donates 100% of their final sale price, Ebay won't charge them any fees for listing the item! You can learn more about this program at their web site- www.missionfish.org

Missionfish understands that not all of the people who use Ebay sell items, so they make it easy for buyers to help their favorite causes as well. All items currently listed to benefit Camp Anokijig can be found here- http://donations.ebay.com/charity/charity.jsp?NP_ID=9037

Thank You Case IH!!!

Camp Anokijig is proud to announce the arrival of a brand-new RBX563, as well as a brand-new DCX131, courtesy of the very generous folks at Case IH.

These beautiful, big, red machines will be put to good use at Anokijig, but what exactly is that use? This equipment attaches to Anokijig's Case tractor, with one being use to cut hay and the other being used to bale it into those huge, round bales that you probably see lined up along the fence lines of farms.

Anokijig uses hay to feed our herd of horses, which now numbers between 50 and 60 strong. The Broken Circle A Ranch has been Anokijig's signature program area for many years and a deciding factor for many of the campers and groups who choose to come to experience the great outdoors at Anokijig. Each year, we farm about 80 acres of land and bale more than 7,750 bales of hay, with the help of countless volunteers, who toil under less than ideal conditions to keep our horses fed.

This is thankless, time-consuming work, which had been done with aging, unreliable equipment. Thanks to Case IH, it has just gotten a whole lot easier. We can't thank Case IH enough, but we also owe a debt of gratitude to the Racine Founders Rotary Club, who helped connect us to the key people at Case IH, making this donation a reality.

A Need Indeed

Behind that cloud of smoke is Camp Anokijig's pontoon boat. While it has served us well over the years, it has seen hard use during it's stay with us and it is definitely showing it's age. Our Waterfront Director, Don Hill, has made pontoon boat maintenance an annual event, spending the winter months welding the old lady back together and re-carpeting the deck.

Don has done an outstanding job of keeping her afloat, but even he has his limitations and overhauling the pontoon boat's dying outboard engine falls behind his skill set. While we would love to have a new(er) pontoon boat, we really need a new(er) engine for the one we have now. As you can see from this picture, our outboard is clearly not as eco-friendly as the beautiful electric launch donated by Ernie and Bernie Styberg.

While we do have other boats we can call on in case of emergencies on the water, it's always nice to know that boats can be relied upon to start when needed. Another boat was generously donated to Anokijig several years ago, which we also use on a regular basis for our fishing program. Much like our pontoon boat, this fine craft has served us well, but is also now showing it's age.

It has gotten to the point now, that starting the boat requires a series of specific actions, well beyond the typical priming of the tank and setting the choke on the start. As our Program Director, Darin Holden, illustrates below, even though this boat once had an electric starter, that has not worked properly for quite some time and this motor must now be started by removing the engine cover and manually winding a rope and pull-starting the engine.

While we would love to have these boats in tip-top shape, we simply don't have the resources in our budget to make that a reality. We would love to have brand-new engines for these boats, but we'd certainly be appreciative of newer engines, that are easier to start, pollute less and use less fuel.

Even if that's not possible, we'd love to have someone who is familiar with outboard engine maintenance and repair, who is willing to donate their talent and time to freshen these engines up as much as possible.

Do you have a boat or a boat engine that you just don't seem to be using much anymore? Are you tired of paying for extra insurance, winterization and winter storage on a boat that only gets used once or twice a year? Perhaps you might consider donating it to Camp Anokijig. Since Camp Anokijig is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity, all in-kind donations to Camp Anokijig are tax-deductible at their fair market value. Just remember the old saying, "The two happiest days of a boat owner's life are the day they get their boat and the day they get rid of it."

I couldn't think of a happier ending for a boat owner, than to know their boat will be enjoyed by thousands of children and families. Call Anokijig today at 920-893-0782, if you'd like to add a boat or engine to the Anokijig Armada.

Anonymously Assisting

Horses are expensive! Just ask anyone who boards a horse and they'll tell you the same thing. In Wisconsin, boarding a horse year-round typically costs about $300 a month.

That expense puts horse ownership out of reach for many folks, which is one of the reasons Anokijig's Ranch program is so popular. The Broken Circle A Ranch provides thousands of children with the opportunity to learn about these beautiful animals and interact with them each year.

Anokijig's herd fluctuates between 50 and 60 horses at any given time and while it probably doesn't cost us $300 a month to maintain each of them, they are still very expensive. In fact, our board often wonders if the nominal fees we do charge campers actually comes close to covering the costs associated with running the program. We always arrive at the same conclusion- even though the fees may never cover the expenses, we know our Ranch program attracts countless summer campers, schools, weekend campers and many others, who might not otherwise choose Anokijig.

One of our wonderful donors recognized the importance of our Ranch program and wanted to help offset some of those expenses for us this year, but didn't want to be publicly recognized for their generosity. This happens sometimes and we respect the desire people have to maintain their privacy and will often refer to those donors as "anonymous," if needed.

In this instance, the donor asked that their donation recognize another group instead, the Forest County Potawatomi, and we were happy to oblige. It's a win-win scenario for everyone involved and we're so grateful for their support. As Jim Scherer and so many others have said- "There's something about the outside of a horse, that's great for the inside of a kid."

Anokijig Memories

Anokijig held it's annual Alumni reunion day last Sunday. As always, we had a wonderful turnout of former Anokijig campers and counselors, some of whom first set foot at Camp way back in the 1940s and 50s!

Besides seeing all the old friends and familiar faces, one of my favorite parts of the event is the huge display of old camp photos, yearbooks and other memorabilia. While our collection is large, there are quite a few holes in it and we could use some help in filling in the blanks.

We've done a pretty decent job of documenting Anokijig's recent history, but as we move back into the pre-1980s, things start to thin out for us considerably. If you have old photos of Anokijig, yearbooks, newspaper clippings, patches or other Camp items that you would be willing to donate to our archives, we would greatly appreciate it. Even if you have photos that you couldn't bare to part with, if you could loan them to us so we can scan them for our collection, that would be helpful as well.

Our mailing address is: Camp Anokijig, W5639 Anokijig Lane, Plymouth, WI 53073 and you can mark your letters "Attention Archives"

If you missed out on this event, don't worry. We hold this event on the same Fall Colors weekend every year. If you can't wait an entire year to come back to Anokijig, then don't. Someone is always at Camp and we always welcome back old friends and visitors.

Thank You Faith Technologies!

Camp Anokijig finally has a new work truck! That may not seem remarkable to the casual reader, but this is very welcome news to those who are intimately familiar with Anokijig's inner-workings. A work truck isn't the most glamorous of donations, but at Anokijig, a good work truck is vital to our mission of serving children and families and the story of how this wonderful 2002 Ford F250 came to Anokijig has as many twists and turns as the road leading into Camp. We actually received the truck a few weeks back, but it was pressed into duty immediately and we weren't able to even snag a picture of it until this week.

Perhaps the most telling sign that Anokijig needed a new truck, was the fact that our facilties director, Scott Stewart had been using his personal vehicle for Camp business for quite some time now. Between taking care of our 50-60 horses, plowing roads, hauling around equipment and supplies and generally keeping this place running, camp vehicles tend to see very hard use and it bothered us very much that Scott was using his own truck for this hard work.

Some may ask what happened to the red 1992 GMC pickup Anokijig had for many years? It served us well, but eventually, the hundreds of thousands of miles of rough use caught up with 'Ol Red and we had to put it out to pasture near the end of 2006.

Although we had other trucks to use, they weren't really an improvement, in fact, we sometimes wondered if the mid-1970s Ford F100 we were using actually leaked more gasoline than it burned. By June of this year, another camp work truck with several hundred thousand miles on the odometer was finally retired. It's currently resting by our supply shed, if you'd like to stop by and visit it.

The truck we've been using most recently is this green F250 donated by our good friend, Norman Voigt, whom we all miss dearly. Norm's truck filled a role, when we desperately needed it, although it's never seen a gas pump it didn't like. Like it's two predecessors, Norm's old truck now sounds like it's running on five or six cylinders and with several hundred thousand miles on the clock, we're just hoping it hangs on for another month or so, until we can replace it with another donated truck.

As we turn our attention back to our new F250, the name Phil Binks needs to be mentioned. Phil is one of those very special Anokijig alumni, who even after several decades, have kept in touch with Anokijig and helped us a great deal over the years. Phil's name is mentioned, because it was Phil's son, Dan Binks, who was able to connect us with Rollie Stephenson and the wonderful folks at Faith Technologies, Inc., who spearheaded this effort to update our aging fleet.

After Phil told Dan how much we needed a new truck, Dan took it upon himself to find someone who might be able to help Anokijig with a newer work truck. When Rollie and the folks at Faith Technologies heard about our need, they responded in tremendous fashion and quite honestly, overwhelmed us with their generosity. We should also mention that the great folks at Bergstrom Automotive, Auto Trim Design and Zero to 60 Garage also made this truck a reality for us and we are grateful for their support as well. With our Alumni Renunion taking place this Sunday, we hope many of you can join us and see the newest addition to Anokijig in person!

Disc Golf is Coming!

Disc Golf is coming to Anokijig in 2009! Great news, right? But your next question might be, what exactly is disc golf? Disc golf is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and is popular amongst adults and children alike.



Disc Golf is similar to traditional golf in some ways, but there are obviously significant differences, the most obvious being the equipment. Discs, which look similar to frisbees are used, instead of golf balls and the metal apparatus in this picture is called the "disc pole hole."



The discs themselves are generally smaller than frisbees and although there are many to choose from, advanced players divide their discs into three different groups- putters, mid-range discs and drivers. Casual players can easily enjoy disc golf with one disc, while professionals (yes, there are professional disc golfers) will carry a dozen or more discs with them during a typical round. Just as with regular golf, disc golf courses have different tee boxes, which allow players of different ages and skill levels to all enjoy the disc golfing experience on the same course.



Disc golf is an excellent fit for Anokijig, because unlike traditional golf, it doesn't require a well-manicured course. In fact, many disc golf courses are situated in areas very similar to Anokijig, where rolling hills, trees and a variety of other natural obstacles are all incorporated into the disc golfing experience.


Although you may not have heard of disc golf before, it is growing quickly in popularity, with hundreds of courses now scattered around the upper midwest, as well as local, regional and national clubs and tournaments.


We think disc golf will be an exciting addition to Camp Anokijig's program offerings and we are looking forward to seeing it in action in 2009. We are extremely grateful to Camp Anokijig Board Member, Chris Regis, who has spearheaded this project and provided the initial funding for it.


If you'd like to be a part of our disc golf program, hole sponsorships will be available and if it is as successful as we anticipate it will be, future plans call for additional holes to be added.