Chippewa Trail Camp Reunion 2005

WE (Renee Bator, Devon Thomas, and Nicole Kelly) were among the last of the Tondites in 1984. Tami Stahle and Gail Thomas would have been in Tonda in 1985. Unfortunately, we were unable to find Tami and Gail in time for the fabulous 2004 all-camp reunion. Although the 2004 reunion was an unbelievable experience, Gail and Tami were definitely missed. So Renee went to work early in the Spring of 2005 and paid money to a highly effective people finder and found them!!!! This was their first time back to camp in over 20 years. We spent the entire year from October 2004 to October 2005 planning this "80's" reunion (with our favorite counselor Cindy Greene). And although not everyone who was invited from that era could attend, our vision to have Gail and Tami be with us and experience the reunion was fulfilled. We had the best time of our life. Here is our story.

Friday, October 7, 2005
Renee Bator arrived at 8 am in Burlington, Vermont to find her flight into Traverse City overbooked. Because there was a large tour group traveling together, there weren’t enough people willing to give up their seats. Finally the gate agents had to tell another woman that they would try to get her on a different flight leaving that night. The woman looked distraught and explained that she was attending a wedding that afternoon. As much as Renee felt sorry for her situation and wanted to help, there was no way (for any sum of money or free travel vouchers) that she would miss meeting up with her Chippewa girls that afternoon. So Renee took her seat on board and arrived into Traverse City to find Gail Thomas and Nicole Kelly waiting in baggage claim. This was a huge surprise because they didn’t even have Renee’s flight information. It turns out Gail was traveling into Traverse City heading east, while Nicole was on the same road heading west. Gail called Nicole’s cell phone and they met up at the hotel and plotted to surprise Renee at the airport. We were off to a great start!

We left the airport and drove back to the Traverse City Holiday Inn. Along the way Renee and Nicole informed Gail of the many items on our agenda for the weekend in honor of traditions that had begun during our reunion weekend of 2004. The first of those was staying at the Holiday Inn, which is walking distance to downtown. But first Gail needed a little assistance transporting the many bottles she brought from Chicago. She had suggested she supply us with alcohol for the weekend because it would be cheaper in Chicago than Traverse City. But then she wouldn’t let any of us reimburse her, so it doesn’t really seem like she was motivated by cutting costs! But lucky for us, we were well stocked in fabulous, fun beverages. Once we checked in, it was margarita time! Gail took a shower and Renee passed the 1983 peanut off to Nicole. Another tradition is that Renee and Nicole bought the peanut together at the auction in 2004, and the rule is that we hand it off each year – in person. This could be a difficult requirement considering that Nicole lives in San Francisco and Renee lives in New York. But for us, it’s not going to be a problem. Renee also shared her 2004 reunion photos with Nicole. Then Devon and Tami arrived and we decided to head downtown for more drinks and snacks. Since Tami is expecting her third! baby, she was willing to take the role of designated driver.

We went to a nearby pub (yes, it was the same one from last year), ordered a round of drinks and had some great appetizers (yes, it was margaritas and spinach and artichoke dip – just like last year). Then Renee introduced the first activity of the trip. Each person tried to list as many cabins as she could remember. Devon was the clear winner and Tami was rounding up the group (did she remember only four cabins??), with Nicole, Gail, and Renee tied. For the run-off we had to list the cabins in order from youngest to oldest. Again we tied. The purpose of this little diversion was to provide a means to give out prizes. Last year Renee had tag bracelets engraved with ‘CTC 1980-1984.’ This year Renee made bead bracelets with letters that spelled out ‘Chippewa Trail Camp’ or ‘CTC.’ So Devon got first choice, and the other girls could choose a previously selected bracelet or take a new one.

Once we were all bejeweled, it was time to head to the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa for our manicures and pedicures (also tradition). Devon went for her pedicure, Renee and Tami got their manicures, and Gail and Nicole went for a walk while they waited for their appointments. In the end, Renee, Devon, and Tami were done and we crammed into the little pedicure room where Nicole and Gail sat on either side of some poor woman who just wanted a relaxing evening, but had to listen to our nonstop chatter about camp. When we were all done and our toes had had enough time to dry, Tami drove us back downtown to Poppycocks (guess where we ate last year?) for dinner.

The restaurant was a little crowded, so we got a table at the front window, ordered a drink, and shared with each other what we’re doing in our lives now. Then we were seated and ordered appetizers and pasta all around (except of Devon’s fish). Tami drove us all back to the hotel where we stayed up talking until we couldn’t keep our eyes open.

Saturday, October 8, 2005
Renee and Tami woke up first. Tami took a shower and got ready to meet her cousin (who lives in Interlochen) for coffee. Renee went for a jog – intending to run through town for 15 minutes, and then return back to the hotel. But after only 5 minutes she had come to the very, very far end of town. So instead, she ran up and down each side street, over and over again. But after eating so much the night before, it was a good way to start the day. When she returned to the hotel room Devon was out exploring downtown, but Gail was up for a cup of coffee in the lobby – Nicole was still dreaming of camp. Gail and Renee got to spend some time really catching up on each other’s important relationships, career moves, and to reminisce a little. When we returned to the room at 10:30 Nicole was still asleep! Okay, so maybe the time change played some role here, but Renee decided that it was perfectly okay to wake her up. The three of us headed downtown to breakfast where we met up with Tami and Devon. We had the most amazing breakfast at the Omelet Shop, and if you go there, you’ve got to try a cinnamon roll.

After breakfast we practically crawled back to the hotel, stopping at the American Spoon where somehow everyone had room for copious amounts of jam samples. Tami made us laugh telling us that the last time she was there she apparently bought so much jam she could barely carry her bag to the car. Then she had to tell her husband that she just spent a little too much – on jam!

Once we returned to the hotel we cleaned up and it was time to pack our trunks and send our duffle bags along and hurry up to camp where we all belonged … we LOVE Chippewa Trail boom boom boom. Although the song says nothing about loading up a hotel trolley with the remaining liquor bottles. Nicole and Renee drove together and made a quick stop to stock up on bottled water. And we were off! It was a surprisingly quick trip until we came upon our beloved Chippewa Trail Camp sign.

We turned down the road and off to the right we saw Mike Mehaffy mowing the lawn where his new Adahi house is nearly built. He invited us inside to see the new place and then gave us big hugs and told us to have a blast.

As Gail arrived she said that she was thinking of the Thomas Wolfe book "You Can't Go Home Again"...clearly, Mr. Wolfe doesn't "get" the CTC experience. Sure time changes everything physically, but it can't touch the memories of childhood. She actually felt herself slowing down by Shorty and Susan's, half expecting someone with a clipboard to tell her she finally made it into Tonda. (It only seems fair, as she was driving HERSELF to camp instead of climbing the backs of her parents’ seats like a Chihuahua strung out on crack!) When Nicole and Renee arrived, Devon, Gail, and Tami were already exploring the Lodge trying to find the candlestick and T in the fireplace. We all agree that they were much closer to the ceiling when we were kids. Deb has done an amazing job decorating the lodge with old camp photos, and we were thrilled to see our old juice and milk glasses as well as the dishware we used to use. Then Cynthia Greene arrived with groceries for dinner. We made drinks (thanks, Gail) and got to work helping Cindy prepare a chicken dinner baked in a clay pot.

Devon brought the 2004 scrapbook from Shorty and Susan, so we took turns examining it. Renee got a fire going, Nicole helped prepare roasted potatoes, and then we had cheese and crackers by the fire.

The aroma of our baking dinner made us hungrier and hungrier, and we enjoyed the CTC CD playing camp songs in the background.

Finally we set the table, then went outside and asked Nicole to ring the bell to signal 15 minute warning for dinner. She rang it three times and the sound really took us back to our days at CTC.

We headed for the lodge, stood beside our chairs, turned to face the lake, and sang, “Now the day is over.” We could imagine the sound of 100 scraping chairs as we sat down to our delicious dinner. Nicole made a toast to the best times of our lives, having the priviledge of having been a Chippewa girl, and to the best of friends forever. When it was done, Tami and Devon surprised us with the ingredients for banana boats. But beforehand, we decided to walk down to the lake. We found a dock a lot like the one from our waterfront, and took in our favorite view. Doesn’t it look closer to the other side as an adult? After a while we all stumbled back up to the lodge, this time tripping over furrows made by bulldozers and backhoes as opposed to the occasional root or stone we remember finding in our flip-flops. Tami and Gail view walking up the hill that night as their "Tonda Walk." We all remember idolizing "the Tonda girls" as they made the turn at the end of the path and would walk up to the Lodge together. Even back then, such a formidable group. They were like a mobile Red-Rover game. Since Tami and Gail would have been in Tonda in 1985, they never got to sing the final verse to the Tonda camp song. So tonight was their night.



When we returned to the Lodge we sat by the fire and looked through old photo albums, trying to remember names and reminiscing about our fabulous childhood experiences. We watched 2004 reunion videos from Cynthia, Sara Snyder, and Renee and Nicole. Then we talked and talked: about getting to spend the night in the tree house, who had which secret parts in Indian Council, and how we each initially found CTC. We decided that it was almost impossible to believe we were actually in the same lodge where we spent so much of that precious time. Lights out didn’t happen until almost 2 am (don’t tell Shorty!). Renee and Nicole took the loft, Gail and Tami were in the front bedroom, and Cynthia and Devon had the master bedroom. The greatest thing was falling asleep listening to the whispered conversations from around the lodge – so camp.

Sunday, October 9, 2005
We all slept in pretty late, as this was going to be our ‘Wednesday Camp Day.’ Gail got started right away making blueberry pancakes and bacon, while following specific instructions on how to cut the oranges. Again we stood to face the lake before breakfast, but had a hard time recalling the tune to: “God has Created a New Day.” Once again we were all good eaters. We really lingered after breakfast knowing that Gail and Cindy would be leaving. We lined up in front of the fireplace and used the self-timer feature to take some photos,

including a recreation of a 1981 Kenue cabin photo:

then we went out to the deck and Cindy videotaped the group singing: ‘If the Lake is Clear and Blue.’ Then it was time to say goodbye – to Gail and Cindy. It was so hard to see them drive up the hill past Shorty and Susan’s house.

And then there were four. Tami, Devon, Nicole and Renee decided to take a walk around the camp property. First we went down to Wakikonza, but it was locked. Then a car drove by and it turned out to be Margie Hunt – Lena Morgan’s great niece. She generously offered to show us around the old chips’ cabin area. Her home had been used as the chips’ dining hall, and she had a beautiful photo of Miss Morgan on her horse Chief. She also opened up the cabin (which is now available for rent) where the chips used to sleep. It was such a treat to get to meet her; it was a real highlight of our trip. Then we walked down to the Indian Council ring and we were thrilled to see that one old teepee pole was still standing and we could identify the pair of trees used as the Indian Council entrance. We continued to walk along the lakefront and met up with Cassie Heos, who owns the big, blue house where the waterfront director’s cabin used to be. She told us she was trying to find the Chippewa name for ‘waterfront’ so she could put a name on her house. We spent some time later that afternoon trying to assist her with that, but we weren’t able to come up with anything that would work. Hah! Then we continued along the waterfront where Nicole found our old footpath bridge! It’s amazing that it’s still there – only a few feet away from some major construction.

Then we walked up the hill to the lodge, made guacamole, and ate chips and salsa sitting on the deck in the afternoon sunshine. It was incredibly beautiful outside and we all started to feel a little tired and lazy sitting in the sun for hours and talking. Finally Renee, Tami, and Nicole decided to go grocery shopping for that night’s dinner – chicken tetrazzini. It was funny that we had come up with that menu plan because we all remembered eating it as campers, and Gail had cooked it recently, so she was able to write out the recipe for us before she left. We came back from the store and Nicole and Tami did most of the cooking, preparing our casserole, while Nicole made a fabulous Greek salad.

We had another HUGE dinner. At first we wondered what we would do with all of the leftovers when we saw the huge Pyrex dish come out of the oven. But it turned out that there was almost nothing left when we were done. After cleaning up, Devon pulled out Susan’s 1980’s photo albums and we worked on recording the names of the people we recognized. Then it was time for slides and s’mores. It was another fabulous evening, although we really missed Gail and Cindy. Sure enough, we didn’t make it to bed until after 2 am.

Monday, October 10, 2005
Renee went for a jog and it was an incredibly gorgeous morning. It was crisp and sunny with a mist coming off of the lake and hazy sunshine streaming through the trees. We had been feeling unbelievably fortunate all weekend, but running up the hill and then turning right to head to Round Lake, it felt like being a kid again. Renee returned to the lodge to find Devon whipping up a wonderful egg, cheese, tomato and cilantro breakfast. Then we started cleaning and packing, because now it really was time to say goodbye…to our little corner of the world.

Last year, at the 2004 reunion, Renee and Nicole anticipated that it would be too difficult to leave camp and go home on that Sunday morning. So we planned a little post-reunion overnight up to Mackinac Island. It was great to debrief up there, so Devon joined us and we had another opportunity to relive more 2004 ‘traditions.’ Tami gave us directions so we could leave Devon’s car at her family home on Torch Lake. We met up there and then the three of us really had to ‘hightail it to Mackinac’ (as they say on the billboards). We didn’t leave the lodge until after noon, and we wanted to catch the 3:00 pm ferry out of Mackinaw City. It was much less stressful in 2004 when Nicole and Renee didn’t know the ferry schedule. They had taken their time, had a leisurely lunch in Petoskey, decided to cross the Mackinaw Bridge and then depart from St. Ignace. Well they arrived at just after 4 pm, only to learn that the last ferry departed at 4:30. Phew!

Even though we were in a hurry, we still stopped in Petoskey for lunch (at the same restaurant as last year), but we were antsy through our meal, knowing we had to hurry. This time we pulled into Mackinaw City at 2:58 (we are not joking), and could not find the ferry dock! We finally pulled into the correct parking lot and pleaded with the dock workers to get us on the 3:00. And we did. What a relief!

We got off the boat on Mackinac Island and were immediately assaulted by the powerful odiferous combination of fudge and horse manure. Ahh! Our ferry guy stacked our many, many suitcases and duffel bags on the tiny basket at the front of his bike and then he arrived at our B & B before we did. We checked in (to the same room as last year),

opened our wine to give it time to breathe, and headed downtown to browse.

Devon wanted to find some sand for her mother’s sand collection, but she had to settle for pebbles. Then Devon asked if she could add a new tradition to the itinerary. Renee and Nicole were a little reluctant to change anything, until they heard that she had always marveled at the Pink Pony bar when she was a child – the bright colors, the carousel horses, the mystery! So Renee and Nicole complied! We got a table at the front window and watched the shoppers while we sipped Cosmos, Pink Pony style – Devon’s treat. They were GOOD! (Note to self – add this to the official tradition list.) Then it was back to the B & B to recreate another 2004 tradition: drinking red wine on the back patio. But this time we added cheese and crackers to the mix. We talked and talked and talked and talked, then decided to do some shopping. We browsed in the stores, some were having good end-of-season sales, but bought much less than last year. Finally, we went to Horn’s (yes, same restaurant as last year) and sat at the bar and ordered chips and queso dip (ditto). Then it was time for big burritos, which had to be pulled from Nicole’s grip when she admitted she was so full she was sweating.

As we walked back to the B & B we were shocked to hear Taps playing in the distance at the Fort. We stopped in our tracks. It took our breath away. We stood perfectly still, each of us recalling the significance of listening to Taps each summer evening when we were at camp. Then imagine how stunned we were when it was repeated (facing the chips’ cabins?!). Finally it was time for one final tradition (do you think CTC played any part in our craving for traditions?), videotaping ourselves reminiscing about camp. Last year Nicole’s theme was: things we were glad Billy the Brown Bat never knew. This year Renee suggested: camp stuff: the good and the bad. So we talked about the things we loved (like free swim) and the stuff we didn’t love (like camp breakfasts – especially cream of wheat – blah). Renee and Devon sampled their fudge purchases and then it was time for lights out.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005
We had to do a little math to calculate our departure time given that Renee’s flight left Traverse City at 3, but we agreed that our best bet would be to take the 10:30 am ferry. First we had breakfast at Jesse’s Chuckwagon, which was fabulous. Then we packed up, gave our many bags back to our ferry guy (which were stacked so high he could barely see over the top of them). Then we went for a walk, admired the amazing ‘Private Residences,’ and caught our ferry to start our trip home.

It was a beautiful weekend filled with wonderful friends and great memories. What an incredible treat it was for us to get to spend time together, cooking and eating in the lodge, and re-exploring the property of the little corner of the world that we love so much. Finally it was, as Snyde said in 2004, time to head home to Camp No Fun. The one thing that made it possible to manage leaving was that we know we get to do it again next year.