Camp Zoe Memories
Wacky Weather
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Camp Zoe was hot and sunny. It was typical midwestern summer weather with an occasional thunder storm. One notable exception was in 1977 when it rained every day during the first session. Owner Jack Peters got on the PA and declared a rainy-day activity schedule. Rainy day activities varied, but I played a lot of cards in the Lodge. One time during nature crafts, we attempted to start a campfire in the rain. The original activity was to make sassafras tea. When the rain came, it turned into a battle of campers against nature. Stuart Hanna and some of the guys finally started it.
One summer some of the youngest boys decided to play strip poker in Mac's Cabin. Two problems emerged. They were too young for girls and they didn't know how to play poker. So they improvised and played a marathon round of "Strip Go Fish". I wasn't around to witness it, but it gives me a chuckle when I think about the story.
We closed our cabin windows during a hard rain. The heavy glass panes swung in on hinges and were hooked to the rafters. We took advantage of the sill space to stow our gear. If a big thunderstorm blew through, we scrambled to shut the windows and grabbed our beach towels off the clothes lines. Some cabins were equipped with lightning rods to channel direct strikes into the ground. A letter dated August 16th tells of a rare lightning strike in camp:
On the [night of the] last campfire of 4th session there was a big storm and lightning struck Cabin III. The electricity was out, a light bulb exploded, and one of the wires caught on fire for a couple of minutes.
Lynn Woodruff, C.I.T., 1978
The summer of 1980 was one of the hottest on record. In contrast to the rainy-day schedule, we ran a special heat schedule when it topped 100 degrees. There was no air-conditioning except inside the nurse's cabin. Many campers and counselors were stricken with a 24 hour flu bug that swept through camp that year. We endured fever, chills, and the runs. The worst cases cooled down on cots in the Nurse's cabin. I estimate nearly half of the camp population was effected. It was like the bubonic plague, but without the pestilence and death.