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Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp

Author: Heidi
Date: 2003-05-13 19:24

Hello all!

There is a distinct possibility that I may get to be a counselor at Blue Lake this summer. (They're supposed to let me know this week sometime) I was wondering if any of you were coming to teach there or knew anyone who is. If any of you have any first hand experience, I'd love to hear it!

Thanks!
Heidi

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Re: Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp

Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2003-05-15 23:52

Sorry, I am not a teacher, but I was a camper there the first year the camp was open (1963?), and my wife taught JH band there for a few years in the 1990's. She liked the experience, and my kids spent their summers with mom and grandma there while I was a summer bachelor. The last year they were there, the kids got into ballet classes which were helpful, and got them out of mom and grandma's hair for a couple of hours every day.

BLFAC has gotten quite a bit bigger since I was there. When my wife started teaching there, the only thing I could recognize was the football field (see below.) Size was definitely an advantage as compared to Interlochen when I was a camper. BLFAC is now as big or bigger than Interlochen.

Camp food is always a problem at every camp. When I was there with my wife and kids, the staff's food was marginally better than the campers'. Not sure which staff this applies to - probably not you if you live with the kids. You will need a car if you can afford to eat out. There are some pretty good places in Muskegon, a half hour away. Can't remember about other places. There are some reasonably scary looking bars nearby but I don't drink. There is also a big amusement park with a super huge nosebleed-sized roller coaster nearby.

This area, as do many others along the west coast of Michigan, has a unique microclimate. The strangest thing is that miniature prickley pear cacti grow wild there, especially around the marching band field. My work-study scholarship in 1963 involved racking enough cactus from the field to allow band camp to go on later in the summer. You could tell the work-study campers because they were always pulling prickers out of their hands during breaks in rehearsals.

The guy that beat me out for first chair, and got the "Camper of the Year Award," was John Wiegand, now a college clarinet professor.

Regards

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