2008 VISITING WEEKEND & MID-SUMMER TRAVEL INFO
FRIDAY, JULY 11th - 4:00
pm - 10:00 pm
SATURDAY, JULY 12th - 10:00 am -10:00 pm
The following contains information for Visiting Weekend and travel arrangments for four-week campers. Please understand that out of all fairness
everyone must follow the established times and guidelines.
FIRST SESSION CAMPERS
If your son
is leaving after the first four weeks and is not being picked up at camp, he
will depart on Friday after breakfast. The bus will leave Kawaga around
9:00 am. It will arrive in Milwaukee around 1:30 pm at the Four Points Sheraton
near Mitchell Airport. The bus will make its final stop at THE CUBBY BEAR IN LINCOLNSHIRE, IL (21661 N. Milwaukee Ave, 60069) between 3:00 pm and 3:30 pm.
If you are picking him up at camp, you may take him out of camp on Friday
evening or Saturday afternoon. Please confirm if he is not sleeping at
camp on Friday night.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT
DINNER
All campers
may go out for dinner with their parents on Friday and Saturday night. You
may pick up your son in the camp parking lot on Friday, no earlier than 4:00 pm.
If you are picking up your son by boat, you may do so only on the wharf,
which is the dock with the canoe rack.
PLEASE DO NOT COME INTO CAMP UNTIL SATURDAY. All campers must check
in no later than 10:00 pm. Campers are not permitted to sleep
out. All campers will be required to sign out before departing camp
and check back in upon their return on Friday and Saturday evenings. No
pets are allowed in camp at any time.
SATURDAY AT KAWAGA
We look forward to joining you this summer during Visiting Weekend!
Parents will be permitted to enter Kawaga no earlier than 10:00 am. We
will have our traditional visiting weekend agenda: A morning Service,
followed by Open Areas, and a wonderful cookout lunch. We encourage all of
you to spend the afternoon in camp to see the boys in their activities. No
visitors will be allowed to use any of Kawaga's waterfront facilities. We
will have a Father-Counselor Softball game and a Mother/Son Tennis tournament in
the afternoon. Visiting Day in camp will end on Saturday at 4:00 pm. You
are welcome to take your son out of camp anytime after lunch.
* VISITING WEEKEND OFFICIALLY
ENDS AT 10:00 PM ON SATURDAY. No parents will be allowed in camp on Sunday.
FOOD AND CANDY
We feed your son three hearty meals a day and a
snack. We ask that you do not bring gifts of food and candy. The
boys will NOT be permitted to keep your gifts of food and candy. Please respect
our policy.
TIPS
Kawaga’s policy has always prohibited counselors from
receiving tips. The counselors have been apprised of this policy. The
field of camping must maintain high professional standards as well as high
ethical standards. While tips may be intended as a reward for good
performance, quite often they are perceived as a way to insure that a particular
camper receives special treatment. If you wish to express your gratitude,
a small gift other than money, as a token of appreciation, is reasonable.
SECOND SESSION CAMPERS
CAMPERS ARRIVING BY BUS
The bus leaves
Sunday, July 13th from THE CUBBY BEAR IN LINCOLNSHIRE, IL (21661 N. Milwaukee Ave, 60069). The bus will depart promptly at 9:30 am.
Please arrive 30 minutes early for check in with a Kawaga staff member.
ALL BAGGAGE SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO THE BUS. The bus will stop in Milwaukee at the Four Points Sheraton near Mitchell Airport at approximately 11:00 am to pick up Milwaukee campers and those campers who are flying into Mitchell Airport.
WE WILL POST AN ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE WEBSITE ONCE THE BUSES HAVE ARRIVED AT KAWAGA. If there are any scheduling or procedure changes, you will be notified via the Phone Alert System and by email.
DRIVING YOUR SON TO KAWAGA
If
your son is a second four week camper and you are dropping him off at camp,
please do so on Sunday between 9:30 am – 10:00 am in the parking lot. As
part of camper orientation, a counselor will assist him upon his arrival. We
respectfully ask that you depart Kawaga by 10:15 am.
CAMPERS ARRIVING BY
PLANE
A Kawaga staff member will meet your son at the airport. If you are
shipping baggage, please do so no later than July 7th.
Due to airport security measures, Kawaga staff can no longer meet campers at the
gate unless they are registered as an unaccompanied minor. Children under
the age of 15 are considered to be an unaccompanied minor. Please notify Kawaga
if your son needs to be escorted from the gate.
If your son is flying into the MILWAUKEE AIRPORT, please be aware of the following:
- Campers will be met at the airport by a Kawaga staff member.
- We will only be able to meet your son at the gate if he is flying as an unaccompanied minor. We will contact you prior to his departure with the name of the counselor who is meeting him at the gate.
- All campers will be chaperoned across the street from the airport to the Four Points Sheraton, where they will meet the bus.
- You will be contacted once your son has arrived in Milwaukee and is on the bus!
- WE WILL POST AN ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE WEBSITE ONCE THE BUSES HAVE ARRIVED AT KAWAGA. If there are any scheduling or procedure changes, you will be contacted directly.
If your son is flying into RHINELANDER or CENTRAL WISCONSIN airports, please be aware of the following:
- Campers will be met at the airport by a Kawaga staff member and taken directly to camp.
- We will only be able to meet your son at the gate if he is flying as an unaccompanied minor. We will contact you prior to his departure with the name of the counselor who is meeting him at the gate.
- You will be contacted once your son has arrived at the airport and is in Kawaga’s care!
- WE WILL POST AN ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE WEBSITE ONCE HE HAS ARRIVED AT KAWAGA. If there are any scheduling or procedure changes, you will be contacted directly.
REMINDERS
Packages If your son forgets anything at home, please mail it to Sydney’s attention at 10000 Kawaga Rd. Minocqua, WI 54548. We do NOT accept packages for campers unless it is in a 9x12 flat envelope via US Mail.
Mail Our mailing address for letters should be addressed as follows:
Camper’s name
Camp Kawaga
Cabin #
PO Box 90
Minocqua, WI 54548
One-Way email You are able to purchase one-way emails through your online Kawaga account.
Medications All medications must be mailed to camp one week before you son arrives. We need the medication before camp so that the health staff has time to sort everything for proper distribution. If you are unable to mail the medications ahead of time you must discuss this with Sydney. You are also required to input all medication information in the online medical form in your account. We will not distribute medication that is not in your son’s file in our database.
Cell Phones and Electronics We absolutely do not permit cell phones. If we confiscate the phones we will not take responsibility for them. If your son is flying to camp and you would like him to have a phone for the airport, please let us know so that we can collect it once he is at camp, and have it charged and ready for his return flight. We also do not permit any type of handheld games like PSPs, Gameboys, etc., laptop computers, Palms or Treos, or video Ipods. It is very important that you help us maintain the Northwood’s camp environment by following these rules. If you allow your son to sneak or hide any of these items, you are undermining our authority and it will teach your son that it is ok to break or stretch the rules when it is something that they want.
Homesickness We train our staff to be aware and how to handle all homesick campers. We are available 24 hours a day to help your son adjust to camp and have the best summer of his life. It is important to tell your son to communicate with his counselors and Syd and Taz about his concerns and needs. We keep the campers very busy which helps reduce homesickness a great deal. If your son does express or present signs of homesickness, Syd and the rest of the staff will work with him until he feels great about being at camp. We will also let you know if there is any reason to be concerned. If you receive a letter home that is negative, remember that it can take up to a week for mail to get to you and things are most likely completely fine, but feel free to contact us to discuss any concerns. Remember that if you remain positive about the camp experience and do not make any type of deals to pick him up from camp, your son will feel much more confident going into summer.
Contact Information During The Summer If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call or email us anytime. We do spend most of our time at camp with the campers, which is why we feel confident reporting back to you on how your son is doing. However, this does mean that we are not available to talk at all times. Either email sydney@kawaga.com or taz@kawaga.com, or leave a message with our office assistant, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
More Contact Information Our phone number is 715-356-6262. We will answer the phone during normal office hours and check the voicemail frequently at all other times. Our fax number is 715-356-5484. We place updates, photos, and camp newspapers on our website www.kawaga.com. You can send your son one way emails through your online Kawaga account, which can also be found on the website.
We hope that all of this information has been helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions. We are looking forward to spending the summer with your son and we will talk with you soon!
Thank you,
Syd and Taz
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