Big Fire Campers,
Its that time again for our post
camping newsletter. Time to
reflect on our great weekend and update the members of Big Fire with recent
news, upcoming events, etc. This
issue will also include a surprise feature that will follow some of our future
camping excursions. So please
enjoy.
Big Fire takes great pride in its
members, in both our Michigan and Florida chapters. We are more than 15 strong and growing. With our most recent trip to Lake Port
State Park Big Fire has grown even larger with four more additional
members. I am proud to officially
announce that Tim and Shelly Klan along with their two sons, Noah and Adam are
our newest Big Fire Campers.
I think it is important to let
everyone know how the Klan’s were finally accepted into this club, as it was a
very long, painstaking process. To
make a long story short….. one of our members (head of scheduling) came to us
and stated that he may have found some possible candidates that would be good
for Big Fire, so we decided to give them a chance as we are open to all
requests for new members provided they can pass the interview process.
The site was Lakeport State Park,
just off the freezing, bone chilling waters of Lake Huron. The dates were August 15th –
18th, what could have been extremely hot conditions, luckily for the
Klans we had a cold front move in.
They were placed at a site that was near the deep woods of Lakeport,
loaded with poison ivy, wild animals and hundreds of yards from the safe guard of
the Big Fire Campers site and miles away from restrooms and running water in
order to test their survival skills.
The Klan’s were drilled for days with probing questions, background
checks, and without their knowledge they were tested in several
situations. It was only the
first evening when their interview process was nearly cut very short. They decided to leave the deep woods of
Lakeport to dine out at a 5 star restaurant (Buffalo Wild Wings) leaving the
rest of us to capture our own food (retrieve from coolers) and converge under a
very small 10 x 10, maybe 11 x 11 shelter like a pack of hyenas.
As the rest of the trip went on the
Klan’s true colors came shining through.
We learned that Tim was very resourceful, sending his children out for
wood when our supply became low.
He also has a background in security and is extremely advanced in
technology, which should prove to be beneficial to Big Fire in the future, and
he will complete our social media department which is headed by James in our
Florida chapter. Tim’s wife,
Shelly did show her capability to survive in the wild without shoes for 77% of
the time, often times chucking her shoes deep into the bushes like a gorilla
with a banana peel. She also pushed some of the current members to exercise
while camping which has been unheard of until now, often running 6 miles per
day while the others struggled to make four miles. Adam and Noah gave members of Big Fire hours of
entertainment with their magical skills, even when the tricks did not workout
it did not even matter as stated by Noah.
We found that the Klans do have what it takes to become Big Fire members
and we welcome them to many more great memories in the future.
Other note-able events:
Once again we had chaos ensue when our Krieg coffee pot decided
to malfunction on the 1st morning, throwing coffee grounds like a E5
tornado. We all know that 95% of
Big Fire campers cannot function without our coffee. Luckily for us Papa and Grandma arrived shortly after with
an antique coffee pot from the early 2000’s and supplied us with many good
mornings around and great morning campfire with excellent coffee brewed by the
best coffee maker in the North East (Grandma). Thanks Grandma!
I think it’s time we make Papa and Grandmas site the official BiG Fire
coffee house! Where we gather in
the mornings to reflect on the previous day and talk about the current days
events.
The last camping trip to Camp
Dearborn featured a fishing tournament for the kids, this time we decided to
give the adults a little entrainment with a cornhole tournament. After the teams where set by random
drawing from a hat the competition began.
It was single game elimination with players that ranged from elite
professionals to minor league rookies (some have even been known to throw the
bean bag backwards). After some
lengthy rounds the tournament champions where no other then “J” and Pydyn a
couple of division one and two college athletes demolished the
competition. Notable teams
included Joe and Larry who made it to the finals only to get smoked by “J” and
Pydyn. Also Papa and Tim who were
fan favorites, Papa has a consistent throwing arm with impeccable accuracy. As
for Tim, we think after looking at some instant replays that Tim actually
stopped mid round to research some you tube videos on proper throwing techniques.
The Cornhole tournament will most
likely become a camping tradition for future camping excursions.
I was contacted by
a member of Big Fire (Uncle Paul) after our trip to Lakeport. Unfortunately Uncle Paul had to leave
before the tournament started and many felt that if he was paired with the
right partner they could have won it all.
After all it was the pairing of Uncle Paul and Shelly R that took down
the undefeated Rick and Larry in a practice round. With that being said I took the liberty to do some research
on Uncle Paul to see that type of athletic background this guy could have. This is what I found:
If Uncle Paul can throw bags like he can golf we are all in trouble……
If Uncle Paul can throw bags like he can golf we are all in trouble……
NOTE: I did get
permission from Uncle Paul to use this interesting article before this
newsletter was published. In the
future if any members have anything they would like to share with the group
(life accomplishments, articles, interesting stories about themselves etc..)
please send them to me.
In all I think we had a very successful outing. The kids had a blast and normally I
like to talk with them before we pack up and leave to hear their highlights,
this was not possible this trip.
Due to the fact the youngest member of Big Fire (Leah) had a complete
meltdown on the last day. I think
the beach would have been on top of their list along with hikes through the
woods looking for supplies.
I would also like to thank all of the friends that came to visit
us during the weekend. Some were
even inspired to start their own camping club, which we totally encourage.
I would like to introduce one of members of BIG FIRE from our
Florida chapter. Ethan Royer. Ethan is a total outdoorsman.
Proficient in woodworking, swimming, and excels in all sports. He loves
to ride his bike and go on hikes. He just started Kindergarten in Florida and
always has a big smile on his face.
We look forward to having Ethan, Kim and James on one of our camping
trips next year.
Our next outing will be at the Monore KOA for Halloween
camping. Oct 11th – 13th. Bring your candy, costumes, and warm
clothes.
Thanks
BiG FIRE CAMPERS President
Rick Grezak
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