Whether it’s your first time to camp or your last, both are filled with tears because you’re leaving a place you love. You have butterflies as you leave home, or as you leave camp to start a new adventure. This year, I have a lot in common with the little Chickadees.

On January 6, 1999, then-Ohio Congressman Rob Portman stood before his colleagues in the US House of Representatives to pay tribute to one of Cincinnati’s “finest citizens.” He was speaking about longtime Kooch-i-ching Director John Holden, who had recently succumbed to cancer at the age of 75.

In the summer, you’re likely to find him leading a postprandial paddling session, poring over maps in the Map Room, fixing zippers in the Trip Center, or ripping across Rainy Lake in his Boston Whaler.

Do you miss campfire cooking as much as we do? Well now you can brush up on your baking skills with this tutorial on how to use a reflector oven from Ogichi staff woman Sara Upson, aka Uppy.

“S’mores ‘round a campfire are better than chores,” sings Alice Peacock-Haller in “A Different Summer,” which she wrote with four Ogichi campers during a virtual songwriting class this week.

In the first episode, Cleveland Smith talks Woodsmanship and Ian Redfield’s first friction fire, while Matt Collins and Zach Schiller share their favorite trip memories from the storage room under the dining hall.

As the true impact of the vote reverberated across the call, the disappointment was immense. At the same time, we took comfort in knowing that we had made the correct decision.

“We are going through an incredible amount of contingency planning. We have to prioritize the health and safety of campers, staff and the community. We have a relationship with International Falls, and it's a relationship we respect.”

Teresa Baños is back with not one, but three recipes for making s’mores without a campfire. So grab some graham crackers, chocolate bars and marshmallows, and follow along!

Gracious giver of all good food, Kooch-i-ching chef Ryan Siess shows you how to transform Sunday morning cinnamon rolls into Deer Island bread pudding (trademark pending). Yum!

In this video, Jack Hanley from Jack Hanley Fishing & Game shows you how to catch, clean and cook a rainbow trout from his home in Omaha, Nebraska. Master these techniques and you’ll be serving up pond-to-table trout in no time. “Booyah, baby!”

“Give it another whip or so,” says staff man and I-Falls local Wyatt Amdahl while standing in front of Deer Island and wearing no less than three articles of Kooch-i-ching clothing.

Imagine that you’ve been walking upriver for the past ten days. You’ve been pulling your boat from shores of mud, rock, brush or ice—sometimes no shore at all. You’ve become so attuned to your immediate surroundings that you’ve developed a kind of tunnel vision.

On any given day at Ogichi, you might spot a pack of Dirty Dogs roving the campus, doing all sorts of extra community service. You might see them singing or laughing as they work—even dancing. Occasionally, their outlook isn’t so rosy.

I asked myself, “What would I do without these women?”—the majority of whom I knew from Ogichi Daa Kwe—and suddenly saw them in a new light. I decided to start interviewing them and publishing their wisdom on a digital platform. Thus Queen Speak was born.

Kooch-i-ching staff man Hal Taylor wears his waders well in this fly-fishing tutorial straight from beautiful Brookville, Indiana. In the video, Hal takes you through the basics of setting up your rod, understanding your fly box, and casting.

In the fall, Johanna will work under Kathy’s leadership, learning the many nuances of the off-season role, from recruiting campers and hiring staff to the logistics of moving a small city to the Northwoods each summer.

How many vegetables can Henry Cordeal fit in a Vitamix? More than you think. Watch this veteran Kooch-i-ching staff man turn his blender up to 11 as he teaches you how to make a nourishing green smoothie.

Is Andy Howell kissing a stick? No, he’s just testing it for moisture—one of several skills that this Kooch-i-ching staff man will teach you in “The Art of Batoning,” a masterclass in splitting wood with a knife. Be sure to wear closed-toe shoes when you try this at home!

The next time you’re at Ogichi, look around at the trees. As the tree men say, no one notices when they do their job well. It’s just the way it should look: beautiful and pristine.