stories  from  the  last  100  years  of  camp  blodgett

John Zeldam, one  of  Camp blodgett's  oldest  living  campers:1945

While we look back on 100 years of summer camp at Camp Blodgett, we have been seeking out former campers to share their memories with us. To our surprise, last winter a former camper reached out to us as he was writing his life story for his family. John Zeldam, now 82 years old, was hoping we could share photos with him from his years at camp to include in this life story.

As a camper in the late 1940s, John came to the shores of Lake Michigan for the first time. John recalls that he learned to swim at Camp Blodgett, first learning the “jelly fish float” in the lake and gaining some swimming skills which have benefited him throughout his life.

As a child of divorced parents, with a father who was not very supportive, Camp Blodgett was an opportunity to experience the joys of childhood that his mother couldn’t otherwise afford. Arriving at camp, along with the other kids at Camp Blodgett, John was given a marmalade-colored shirt and khaki shorts to wear for the week, “so that there was no fashion competition among the campers”, John shared.

While we don’t have camp-issued uniforms anymore, some of John’s other experiences sound familiar:   He recalls singing “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” at the talent show, a weekly evening tradition that continues today. He also played many sports during free time, including baseball. While basketball and GaGa ball are today’s most popular sports at camp, plentiful physical activity remains a theme throughout the century of summer camp.

And the impact of the camp staff on this young camper is a familiar story as well. John shared, “my cabin counselor was a college age guy who could tell dramatic stories at ‘horizontal hour’ (a time after lunch that today we call rest period) The story I firmly believed and will always remember is when he swam across Lake Michigan. We asked him questions about his feat, and he came up with plausible explanations for the many days or hours it took, how he slept, kept his sandwiches dry, etc.”

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While we’re quite sure this was a tall tale meant to thrill the campers, the commitment of Camp Blodgett counselors to invest in kids in creative and meaningful ways is a story we can continue to tell today with confidence.

We are so thankful to John for sharing his story, and we encourage others to share their experiences at Camp Blodgett. While we consider John our “oldest living camper,” we wonder who else has tales to tell of their experiences from these earlier days of Camp Blodgett. If you know of campers or camp staff from our earliest days, we’d love to hear from them!

Debbie  battjes,camp  blodgett  guild  CO-president  &  emeritus  board  member

For more than 35 years, Debbie Battjes' commitment to Camp Blodgett and the Camp Blodgett Guild (also known as Camp Blodgett's Babies' Welfare Guild) has been an incredible gift to Camp Blodgett. As a retired educator in Grand Rapids Public Schools, Debbie understands the needs of our campers and values the opportunities to get kids from West Michigan out to experience the beauty of Lake Michigan and the fun and growth that summer camp provides. As a 3rd generation member of the women's Guild that has supported Camp Blodgett since its inception, and a 30 year member of our Board of Directors, Debbie understands what it takes to make Camp Blodgett a safe, successful and enriching place for kids. Debbie is, without a doubt, For The Kids!

Debbie's story chronicles not only the 109 year history of The Babies' Welfare Guild (now Camp Blodgett Guild) and their founding of Camp Blodgett, but also her and her husband Bill Battjes' family legacy with Camp Blodgett.  

olga  niyibizi,  camper - young leader - staff - alumni supporter: 2002 - present

What do you get when you take an eight year old girl - who loves swimming and sports - out of the city, and bring her to the shores of Lake Michigan for a week each summer, providing her with meaningful mentors and new friends, action-packed days and lots of opportunities to swim, play and grow?  

You get Olga Niyibizi – a lifelong camper, teen leader, staff member, friend and alumni supporter of Camp Blodgett. Olga shares that “going to camp was transformative to my life and personal journey. Things happen at camp that are hard to explain…” to someone who hasn’t had the experience, she shared. “The sun never sets the same way on the lake… and I was privileged to watch it set on that lake for more than 10 years.”

Her early years as a camper were filled with adventures and fun memories, and staff who invested in her year after year. “You can tell when people are pouring their hearts into something – these staff were people I admired and valued,” Olga shared.

“The sun never sets the same way on the lake… and I was privileged to watch it set on that lake for more than 10 years.”
-Olga Niyibizi

Olga (front right) as a teen Young Leader, Summer 2010

As a Young Leader, one of Camp Blodgett’s teen leaders who volunteers during summer camp, Olga was given her first taste of personal responsibility. Expected to be responsible for her time and her assigned tasks, she learned to be helpful throughout camp and interact with younger campers in a way that helped her mature and grow.

When Olga was hired in a staff position at camp, she became the Waterfront Coordinator, where her duties included caring for the pool and overseeing all swim times in the pool and lake. Known by her fellow staff and campers as 'H2Olga' she served in this role for a couple of years. After taking a couple years off, she returned in the summer of 2016 after college graduation for a partial season as a cabin counselor before starting her first full time job.

Today, Olga lives in Chicago, where she works in the field of computer science for a consumer packaging company, Esko Brand Solutions. With a degree in Computing & Applied Mathematics & minor in Physics from St. Mary’s College, she is now pursuing a Master's Degree in Analytics and Data Science from the University of Chicago. She also plays on a travel Rugby team, a sport she began playing in college, but was introduced to at Camp Blodgett.

While Olga considers herself ‘a big numbers person,’ she valued the opportunity to give back to Camp Blodgett during her college years, as it brought an important perspective – the value of investing in people the way the staff at Camp Blodgett invested in her throughout her youth.

When asked about her commitment to Camp Blodgett today, she said “the people at Camp Blodgett transformed my life… now, having the ability to give back, you tend to look at the places that have invested in you.”  And while Olga has had the ability to make investments in Camp Blodgett over the last few years as she has established her career, she also sees the value in giving of her time to Camp Blodgett as she is able.

Olga hopes to travel back to Camp Blodgett this summer to volunteer a few days, and hopes to attend camp’s 100th Birthday Party and Staff Alumni Reunion. We are so incredibly grateful to Olga for her investment in Camp Blodgett as an Alumni Supporter!

H2Olga in the pool with campers, Summer 2012

Olga says her 'costume game' is STRONG thanks to her years of dressing up for camp events.

Steve & Paul Uzarski, campers: 1965 - 1968

Meet brothers Steve & Paul. Their father, a member of the Grand Rapids Fire Department, passed away when they were young, leaving their mother to raise five young children on her own. Their Camp Blodgett story began in 1965 when they and two brothers first traveled from the west side of Grand Rapids out to West Olive for two weeks of summer camp at Camp Blodgett. Their story touches our hearts, and we hope it touches yours, too.

"When you came here you were scared, but when you left, you didn't want to leave"
- Steve Uzarski

Bob  &  Lois  DeBoer, STAff: 1951

 It’s not uncommon around Camp Blodgett to hear the phrase “Camp Love is REAL!”  Many friendships develop through the experience of being in a fun and intensive work environment like camp, and sometimes these relationships turn romantic over the course of a summer.

The love story of Bob & Lois DeBoer began at Camp Blodgett in the Summer of 1951. Lois was hired at Camp Blodgett to teach swimming lessons and serve as a cabin counselor. Bob was recruited by a friend to join the staff as the camp’s Engineer. Bob’s primary responsibilities that summer included un-plugging toilets and hauling trash! He was also a trumpet player, and was recruited to play the revile each morning to wake the campers!

Bob and Lois DeBoer on a recent vacation

Lois fondly recalls meeting Bob : “He’s kind of cute,” she thought. Lois even recalls the red and white checked jacket he was wearing when they met. “As the summer progressed, we spent time on the beach after the campers were asleep, and you can guess what happened,” shared Lois. After Bob served in the military during the Korean War, Bob and Lois were married in 1955. Sixty-five years later, Bob and Lois are still deeply in love and give credit to Camp Blodgett for the beginnings of their incredible love story!  We are grateful to Bob and Lois for sharing their story and for their faithful financial support of Camp Blodgett. They understand what a valuable experience summer camp is for children, and they have the memories to look back on - both together, and for the kids they served during the Summer of 1951.