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RE: Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp

Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2001-11-29 16:54

I went to BLFAC their first year - 1964. It was definitely low budget then, but a great experience. Played a lot of band literature I wouldn't have otherwise. Went on a scholarship (don't think they still had these) which involved raking cactus out of the football field (western michigan micro-climate - really!) They didn't have an anvil for one of the Holst suites - so the band director took a couple of percussion players to a local junk yard with their mallets to get a suitable hunk of metal.

Fast forward - my wife taught junior high band there 1992-1996. It was lots bigger but still appeared to be a good experience for the kids. The food was a minus, essentially similar to the low-budget grub at Interlochen. The size made things seem a lot more impersonal to me, but the two places occupy the same order of magnitude. But, what do I know - I was just an adult camp brat who mostly hung out drinking sodas and watching my kids at the pool. I sat in with the faculty band at the session carnival and had a great time reading circus marches at break-neck speed with some better players than I was used to.

Transportation to camp is an issue - BLFAC is about 1/2 hour north of Muskegon. Don't know how they handle it now. In 1964, my folks dropped me off, and my counselor got me onto the bus back home.

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