Nothing More American » Border Trip

In memoriam: William T. “Bill” Will

Jim Gibbons — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:06:09 +0000

As Shewahmegonites, our camping friendships—strong and deep—wouldn’t exist without Bill Will. This post will have many authors, to reflect the many lives Bill helped transform. This post is here to help us remember and honor a truly incredible man. If you’d like to share, please send your photos and memories to jimgibbons1[at]gmail[dot]com. Thank you!

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Bruce Ballantine, who was at Shewahmegon from 1966 to 1984 as camper, JC, counselor and tripper, sent along a few photos of Bill through the years. Thanks very much for your contribution, Bruce!

The Wills in 1956.

The Wills ten years later in 1966.

Gerry, Bill and Bruce's wife Linda.

The Wills and the Ballantines in 2008.

B. Dub on the water in 2008.

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Bill with his group after completing the 1999 Border Trip. Photo by Dan Gibbons.

Bill Will at the center of the 2001 Staff Photo.

A close-up of the above staff pick. (Click to enlarge)

Bill overseeing some Northshore Dippers on a particularly warm year. From 2000's Border Trip.

Bill Will giving instructions on how to properly play croquet. Taken in the year 2000.

Bill shooting hoops on The Waterfront. Taken in the year 1997.

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More to come…
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All Day Hikes

Jim Gibbons — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:53:46 +0000

All hiked out or maybe ready for more at (i believe) Picnic Point.

Each year during the fifth and sixth weeks of camp, the two oldest cabins (Bunkhouse and Cabin 15 during my seven years at Shewahmegon.) would go on a 10-day canoeing trip in Canada. While the Border Trip was an amazing experience, the real kooky fun was happening back at camp. Taking a break from the everyday Shewahmegon routine, Border Week was filled with all sorts of crazy activities including a mud-chucking battle in a swamp, campers throwing whip cream pies into Staffer faces, beach parties and much, much more.

In 2000, my first year on staff in the illustrious position of Junior Counselor, the entire camper population and counselor staff went out one day during border week on a series of All Day Hikes. After trudging through the woods, we stopped at Picnic Point to cook Puffers (more on these later!) and take a break before heading back into the woods to venture forth to our next destination. I have a lot of pictures from this brief stop and plenty of fun memories even though it only encompassed two or three hours of my entire camp career. That was always one of the interesting things about camp (As far as my memory is concerned, at least.), certain days just ended up being a ton of fun for no particular reason. All Day Hikes was not a favorite event among the campers or staff, so maybe that led to all of us banding together to make the best of a bad situation—I don’t know. Perhaps when camp shrunk as the oldest cabins left, the rest of us—shocked at the loss of our, dare I say, brothers—reformed our bonds of friendship stronger and faster in their absence only to welcome them back joyfully 10 days later into a more cohesive web of camp family. Either way, I remember this particular cookout was extremely enjoyable and chock-full of some seriously great bonding. Similar Posts:

Random Recollections—Orange Cappuccino

Jim Gibbons — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:28:32 +0000

In my last year as a camper at Camp Shewahmegon, during which I would have been 14 years old, I went on my second Border Trip—a 10-day canoeing excursion in the remote Canadian wilderness, usually in a waterway reached only by floatplanes or miles upon miles of driving to a secluded boat landing. I was in Cabin Bunkhouse at the time—the oldest cabin at camp during my seven years, though it had been used for younger campers in the past—and was wearing the same black-and-gray plaid, long-sleeved button-down shirt I’d worn the whole trip during our hours on the water canoeing each day, just like I had on Border the year before. It was the last morning we’d awaken in our tents on some secluded, make-shift camp site, as we would reach the put-in point by day’s end where the vans the brought us this far north were parked, thus completing the circular journey of that year’s Canada trip. We had camped on a small island, which on two sides was comprised mostly of large boulders, and had pitched our tents in the wooded area toward the island’s center. The kitchen and campfire of our site was located on the rocky side that faced the direction we’d be heading out towards when we got in our canoes later that morning. As had been the case at every breakfast on the trip, there was hot water for cocoa, to make instant oatmeal or, in this case of my brother’s Australian counselor Miles Bence, to make some General Foods International Orange Cappuccino.

At some point earlier in the trip, Miles had discovered that the tin housing the cappuccino mix had one of those goofy little descriptions oft-times found on coffees. Though I can’t be sure General Foods International hasn’t changed it since then, it would have read something like, “A wonderfully full-bodied coffee with the enticing flavors of orange and spices, inspired by the cafe’s of Europe.” Each morning afterward, including the final one of the trip, Miles would riff on other possible coffee tin epithets, switching into a rich, TV commercial-like voice, probably placing one foot on a rock and leaning on his raised knee with a steaming mug in hand.

“There’s nothing like the warm aroma of General Foods Orange Cappuccino to thaw the chill of a crisp Fall evening from your quivering lips.”

Or…

“Just like the snow falls on a barren meadow, blanketing in white the homes of the forest denizens, General Foods Orange Cappuccino is a fresh, clean start to your day—whether you’re waking up to the peace of a thatched cottage or to the hustle and bustle of the big city.”

Years later, I actually saw a skit on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” where two rival writers of these coffee tin vignettes had a poetry slam-esque face-off before deciding the victor in a brutal cage match. After seeing that, I couldn’t help but be reminded of those mornings and think, “Man, camp certainly was ahead of its time in the comedy department!” As, so very clearly, we were.Similar Posts: