8 | AUGUST 18 • 2022

essay
Camp Brigadoon
I

n these days of COVID
and climate change, the
concept of a life-altering
moment takes on an ominous
tone. But back in simpler times,
in the early ’80s, when we were
growing our
young family
on Wayland in
Southfield, we
had a life-altering
moment without
realizing its sig-
nificance.
Our neigh-
bors, Sue and Sandy, drove
up on a summer afternoon in
whatever pre-dated the SUV or
minivan and began to unpack
their family and belongings
from a week’s vacation. Being
neighborly and a bit nosy, my
wife and I asked, “Where ya’
been?” Our neighbors (now
life-long friends) proceeded
to tell us about their week at a
family camp for University of
Michigan alumni “up north”
near Boyne City.
Camp Michigania ran all
summer, but each family signed
up for only a week. There were
activities for kids and adults in
a beautiful rustic setting, where
families stayed in cabins, shared
with other families. It sounded
interesting to us. And from
such mundane neighborly con-
versation an amazing tradition
that has had a deep impact on
our family was born.
If you are lucky enough to
be able to have the time and
resources for a summer family
vacation, around here you’ve
got quite a few choices. If you’re
very lucky, you have a family
cabin near a lake, so you can
make multiple trips through the
whole year. But, if you’re like
most of us, your precious one-

week summer vacation requires
planning and thought. You
may wish to explore the beauty
of Michigan and surrounding
areas by going to different
locations with your family each
year. Another option is to find a
“happy place” for you and your
family and keep going back
there year after year. You will
miss out on many of the beauti-
ful vistas in our summer water
wonderland in exchange for the
sense of tradition that comes
with a return to the familiar.

OUR HAPPY PLACE
We went to Camp Michigania
the next year and, despite the
lack of creature comforts, we
just fell in love with the beauti-
ful setting of cabins, grass and
trees and sandy roads (leading
to sand in your shoes, in beds
and in unmentionable body
parts) around the fabulously
blue Walloon Lake.
We loved how our kids had
their own activities led by
counselors, which freed up
moms and dads to have time to
do their own things, from ten-
nis to sailing to biking to arts
and crafts during the day. And
then we would come together
as a family for meals and activ-
ities together in the late after-
noon and early evening. After
our first week at camp, I wrote
my first of maybe a hundred
song parodies, this one to the
tune of “Bye Bye Love” (“Bye
Bye home, Bye bye dull routine,
Hello air that’s clean!”). We
were hooked. We couldn’t wait
until the next summer!
We began a pattern of attend-
ing camp each year with a few
friends who also brought their
kids. Some of our traveling
companions went only for a

year or two and then opted out
of camp to seek out venues with
more creature comforts. But
a few of our best friends and
their families, like us, chose to
come back year after year.
We found ourselves feeling
like a part of a new extended
family. After a few years, we
found a certain week where we
just fit in the best … and we
became fourth-week campers
“for life.
” There were always
a few newbies who joined us
every year as well as some
transplanted folks from other
weeks. But we dyed-in-the-
wool fourth-weekers felt like a
big family — one week a year.
Hence the title of this piece
… “Brigadoon” … like the vil-
lage that came alive once every
hundred years to Lerner and
Loewe’s tunes, Michigania only
really exists for us for one week
a year. But what a week!
Camp came with a basic
schedule that shifted only
slightly through the years. Most
activities were expected for a
family camp: introductions at
the flag pole, lunch and dinner
menus tied to certain days of
the week, water balloon tosses
and three-legged races, a fun
final day sailing regatta and a

final night variety show.
We began establishing our
own rituals. An impromptu
singalong on a front porch
morphed into a well-attended
first night singalong in the
south camp gazebo, lit by lights
strung by our fellow campers,
complete with a printed book
of songs we love to sing in a
large-print edition (which sure
has helped as we are getting
older).
Golf outings led to a golf
tournament for all levels of
golfers from experts to total
duffers who only play once a
year. Petoskey stone polishing
turned into a group of campers
singing “Rock-apella” parodies
as they polished stones side by
side, such as “I am your rock”
and “God bless rock polishing.
”
Our camp friend Roger began
creating sand sculptures every
day, until he was dubbed “The
Sandman.
”

TIME WITH FAMILY
But mainly, camp consists of
the gift of time with our kids.
We watched our kids grow up
at camp, being able to run free!
(Kids get an “H” on their camp
badge when they were able
to find their home cabin on

Jeff London and his grandson make music at camp.

PURELY COMMENTARY

Jeff London