Living the Law of the Woods

By: Mick

“My love is stronger than my fear of death” - Marty Robbins (El Paso)

Camp Kooch has meant many things to me over the years, it was the place my parents were sending me, the island of crazy cowboys, a new home, where all my real friends were, a sandbox of creativity. Kooch is responsible for my highest highs and my lowest lows, and I'm not talking about being wet and freezing. Kooch made me the man that I am today. That is probably true of most staff but it's certainly true for me. I have remarked to many that I wouldn’t even want to meet the version of myself that never touched deer island. Everyone at Kooch who knows me knows I am someone who could be called a “true believer”. I really do believe strongly in the mission and how we shape these kids. When I can look at a kid and the reason I give for doing something is “because that's what we do here” and they know I mean it.

Camp Kooch is a place that has come to be my home. A saying around Kooch is that we don't really get homesick at a certain point; oftentimes we find ourselves getting camp-sick. As in I feel ill not being at camp Kooch. And there's certainly a sentiment there I can relate to. Kooch has meant the world to me and I have traded off every “logical” decision from 14-25 years old to come to Kooch. Internships, summer jobs, building a career, “the real world”. To me Kooch is a place where I have encountered some of the most fun and most professional people often in the same person. We certainly do grow up here. I love that quote. I can't help but wonder what a version of myself would look like and talk like if I had not had Kooch touch my life. I have pondered this with other people I grew up with at camp as well. I recently had an article published in the tumpline describing my love for projects class. One of the key takeaways from the article was making people see the value of projects class past the value of the infrastructure that is created/repaired. Those that buy into Kooch at the highest levels I think already understand that and that's why they do what they do. But this summer I really sought out to have the campers try to understand it. During the final meeting we now have each unit head speak and one chosen camper from each unit as well. As assistant unit head and a moderately talented public speaker I often help to choose and coach the campers in my unit for their speech. I’ve done this several times in the past and did it for the 1st session of this summer. For the 2nd session Buddha and I chose Hank Bangert (the intermediate). I informed him of how he had the honor of being selected and to get started coming up with ideas. I told him to get a basic outline and to feel free to come to me for help. Generally to keep the speeches authentic. I do my best not to influence content and focus mor4e on delivery style, maybe suggest adding a joke but not writing the joke for him. I asked him when would be a good time to meet with me to try to work on this and he kept giving me short times in which I was unavailable. Final week gets pretty busy and I was juggling many things. Red Lodge BBQ happens and I ask Hank I say “ Hey I know we've got final meeting in an hour. Do you want to go over anything real quick, maybe practice?” He said that he felt pretty good about it. Turns out he was avoiding me on purpose, he didn't want me to know that his speech was about. He told the story of his first evening in the summer of 2024. Hank was in my cabin and I do something with my cabin at the start of every summer where I give them a sort of tour. I walk them around the island pointing out the b building and annotate the tour with what and how I built/contributed to each building/piece of infrastructure. “ This is the main road. I dug these trenches as a CIT and laid this sand down after the flood with the excess sand bags. “The weight shack I parred it, that over there climbing tower, Me, Drew and Harrison just built that new top level a couple weeks ago”. And I do this all around camp and it requires no embellishment , after 10 years at camp, with 4 of those years coming up over a month early for pre-season you end up touching everything on the island in some way. Part of this exercise is a tour, but it's mostly to demonstrate who and what we are. I pointed out to some returning campers asking what they worked on and they could chirp in on the couple of projects they did during the tour as well. The new guys immediately are made to understand this is what we do here. The first night cabin “tour” has been something I do and is pretty simple in terms of execution. Hank remarks how he was being taken on this tour of camp and taken aback. He spoke about how he wanted to be like Mick. He said that one day he wants to take his cabin on a tour of the island and be able to point at almost everything and talk about how he built/fixed it in some way. He said that watching me and working with time this summer made him realize what kind of man he wants to be. He wants to help his community and empower those around him to do the same. He talked about how the projects that I managed were not only extremely productive, but how they were more fun than most games. The two projects that I ran this summer turned into more than just projects class. Each one of my projects led to something, with the ballpark we created the hero of George cook as well as amping up the intermediate/senior baseball rivalry. The intermediates and their unit turned into a worksite and could often be seen working on it during their free time. We took suggestions from them and had the kids do polling on where benches should be or which way the spigot on the water fountain should face. The project then turned into golf course construction which led into the intermediate invitational tournament where the kids were all caddies. That way the kids that didn’t know how to play were not excluded or anything. You just carry around a putter and try not to drop it in the lake. Hank said that I taught him how you can give and the value of it. He ended the whole thing by saying that one day “I want to be like Mick”. This was quite flattering on the surface of course but it felt so great. I could go on knowing that the message I had been trying to drill into these campers finally got through.

Camp has taught me so many valuable lessons but these last three years in particular have taught me this: Take your job seriously but you don't need to take yourself so seriously. I think that most people you talk to about me from Kooch would tell you that I have been able to master this. I raised the standard on the swim test so staff have to take it now. I didn't drink or take town days/nights 2022, 23, or 24 the whole 8 weeks of campers, I came up over a month before contract stipulates I do.

While pushing my campers to work far more than projects class requires we build a golf course that hosts a tournament with a stupid spray painted green jacket, I put so many working hours of research, communicating, setting up this JFK inspired game we did in 2023. I took on a bit of risk for running this game, and nobody asked me to. It was simultaneously the funniest, most intense, and highest effort all-camp game possibly ever. I threw a political style rally at Kooch for the “ Camp Kooch Party”. I had the intermediates enter into a poetry contest with the winner being able to read theirs at the rally, I had the “idlers” in Indian Crafts make signs and pennants, I asked staff to write speeches days and weeks in advance. Bill Johnson called it his favorite activity ever. Ask around and people will tell you I take these things seriously and execute on what I say I will do. My wish is to raise standards across the board and have more fun while doing it. I urge you to reach out to my listed referrals and inquire about my time at Kooch.

I love camp. I have come to live by the Law of The Woods. It is my core belief system. I look forward to the second session of 2025 and a lifetime of seeking the joy thanks to Kooch.