Happy New Year!

Camp Foley's Top Ten Things to Look Forward to in 2014!

7. Lucy 

10. New Thingz! We've went crazy this fall replacing equipment for TONS of the activities. You'll see new snorkeling equipment, floor hockey goalie masks, trick skis, a new wakeboard, paintball masks, bikes, bike helmets,  fencing jackets and more! The pool table in the Rec Center was re-covered. There's now a campfire pit outside of Osawaka and the Marina and Sauna doors will be replaced in 2014!

9. New Special Canteen Items! We know there will be new sweatshirts, sweatpants and tshirts plus some of the random fun stuff. Do you have any good ideas of things we should sell? Let us know! We're trying to decide what kind of sweatshirt to sell next year - so vote in the poll on Foley's homepage!

8. You Rock Tables! We know you remember the You Rock Tables from last summer for our Club Paradise and Rockstar LIT/CIT campers. They'll be back this summer, so save your seat at one today! Bring a cousin, friend or neighbor to Foley for the first time. Not only will you get to sit at a special table, but you'll attend the awesome Club Paradise root beer float party too!

7. Lucy! In 2013, our leucistic black rat sake passed away after spending seven summers at the Camp Foley Nature Corner. Luckily, we were able to adopt Lucy this winter. She is a new leucistic black rat snake that will live with our other critters in the Nature Corner!

6. Bike, Hike & Campfire Trails

6. Bike, Hike & Campfire Trails! This fall, all the trails on the other side of the road were cleared and signage was posted to make it easy for everyone to follow. Maybe this summer your cabin will adventure into the woods for special Evening Program? Maybe you'll sing up for Biking for the first time and bike one of Foley's trails! Every trail and campfire site has a name that's posted and signage throughout the woods helps you find your destination.

5. New Ski Boat! If you were here during 4th Session you remember saying goodbye to our old friend, the Green Ski Boat (and you may have gotten a glimpse of the newest member of our fleet)! This summer we'll have at least one new boat down at the Marina to tackle one of the most popular activities at Foley: Waterskiing!

4. Pizza Parties

4. Pizza Parties! We have Pizza Parties & Video Showings scheduled for the Twin Cities (January 27) and St. Louis (February 1). If you live in either of those places make sure to mark your calendars! If you'd like to host a party in your area and want a Foley Rep to help out, let us know!

3. CITs & LITs! We have a handful of campers starting or returning to the Leadership Program in 2014. If you're going into 9th, 10th and 11th grade you can take on an important leadership roll!

2. Counselors! They live in your cabins. They sit at your meal tables. They teach the activities. They are crazy fun and sometimes just plain crazy! Keep checking the Meet the Staff page to find out who's the counselors and ADs will be!

#CF90in14

1. It's Foley's 90th Year! Camp Foley began waaaay back in 1924, so 2014 marks it's 90th year. We've got some fun stuff planned and hope you're excited to help us celebrate 90 years of camping all year! Tell us what you're most excited about on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram use "#CF90in14."

What are you MOST excited about for in 2014? We'd love to know! Share on Facebook or Tweet @CampFoley!

Throwback Thursday: 1961 & 1962

We are proud to bring you the first Throwback Thursday request - 1961 and 1962. Per usual, we got our information from the old newsletters. I must say, as I go further back in time the newsletters get very silly. Back in the day, there was a lot of mocking of returning staff and poking fun at the campers from the past summer. I found a lot of inside jokes and letters in jest (if you're ever bored, I strongly suggest reading some of the old Bugles! Read below for some of the 1961 and 1962 highlights!

Cabin time in the 60s.

In 1955 when Cabins Kadikomeg-Shignwako for the oldest campers were opened they were outfitted with new 6 foot beds, the standard length, which was considered quite ample six years ago. This year Kadikomeg-Shingwako will be equipped with 6 ½ foot beds. A sign of the times? It sure is! The average camper is getting taller thanks to the research in nutrition and the field of vitamins. Mingo-Wahtassa will benefit from the Sioux cabins’ beds. Before our oldest boys lived in Mingo/Wahtassa, it seems that they lived in Kad/Shing way down on the end of the boys' side. It also appeared that boys went through a collective growth spurt in the late 50s early 60s. 

60s ski boat.

A new waterski boat will be in order for ’62 as fiberglass fatigue has afflicted our old boat after six years of hard use. No boat gets more use, running five to six hours a day consuming about 600 gallons of gas a summer. Surprisingly, we think that our three boats use about the same amount of gas that one boat used in 1961! Snaps for technology forever improving gas mileage in ski boats!

60s meal time. 

Prepare yourself for the hilarity of the following joke found in a 1961 newsletter: Letter Home – Dear Mom: Please send food. Lots of food. All the give us here is breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Your loving son.

The American Camping Association says that over five million boys and girls will attend summer camps this summer. It is estimated that 11.5 million children will attend summer camp in 2013.

Two docks: so close yet so far...

Quite possibly the most entertaining tidbits from the 1962 newsletters is the first mention of a Swimdock/Marina rivalry at Foley. It's no secret that every summer the Swimdock and Marina staff have a healthy rivalry in good fun, let's hear how it all began...

Rivals Clash on the Waterfront

The staff of Camp Foley has suffered occasionally from dissension in the ranks. This year proved no exception to that state of affairs, John Dinges’ ‘Happy Boat Dock’ and Jack McCoy’s ‘Friendly Swim Dock’ had some times of rivalry… 

(As explained by the Swimdock:) I can’t say what motivated those men to break the treaty. In a flash their heads swelled with a superiority complex and they attempted to show how much better they were (ha-ha)… They even invented some story about their owning the Waterfront and how they have generously leased the swim dock area to us. Everyone knows that when Father Foley first came to the north woods he went swimming as soon as he could get his suit on. Then he marked off the swim dock area and after that the boat dock area. Since we are a friendly group, we aren't going to say any more about the rivalry. We know you know who your real friends are and we hope the men of the boat dock realize it soon.

(As explained by the Marina:) It is common knowledge that the stalwart men of the boat dock are not only your friends, but are also the happiest and most efficient unit of your Camp Foley staff… The Happy Boat Dock rang with the continual peals of laughter of the campers whereas the Swim Dock gave forth mainly with the groans of campers undergoing the tortures inflicted by their instructors – that is, when the swim dock was still standing… You campers can attest to the wonderful treatment accorded to you at the boat dock...  Compare the range of activities you between the boat dock and the swim dock? … It doesn't seem necessary to say any more.

Local Minnesota Teen Does Good!

Waterskiing at Foley
Summer 2012

Did you know that the most popular water sport at Camp Foley was invented by two teenagers from Minnesota?  That’s right!  In 1922, 18-year old Ralph Samuelson theorized that if it was possible to ski on snow, it should be possible to ski on water too.

Minnesota Water Ski Inventor Ralph Samuelson

Ralph convinced his brother Ben to pull him across Lake Pepin, Minnesota in a power boat with a clothes line.  Ralph started out by trying downhill snow skis, cross-country snow skis, and even wooden planks which he strapped to his ankles with a window sash.  Eventually Ralph learned that by leaning backwards to keep the front tips of the skis above the water, and by making sure Ben kept the boat running fast enough, he could ski across the lake.

Ralph with the seaplane
that pulled him at 80 mph!

Ralph and Ben began custom building skis specifically for the water from wood planks.  They learned that wider skis worked best, and before long they were holding public exhibitions in the summer on Lake Pepin to show off their new skills.  People began coming from to the lake from nearby communities to watch Ralph, who soon learned he could slalom around buoys on water skis too.  By the time Ralph added the first ski jump over a floating ramp to his exhibition, people were traveling to Lake Pepin each summer from miles around to see this fascinating new sport.

By 1937, Ralph was performing water ski exhibitions in Minnesota, Michigan, and Florida.  One of his most famous variations was to have himself pulled with a long rope by an airborne WW1 seaplane at 80mph.  Audiences loved it.  And by doing so Ralph became the world’s first speed skier.

This wild, new Minnesota activity caught on with vacation resorts across the country in the 1950’s, and soon Hollywood was including elaborate water ski “stunts” into their big budget, widescreen, color musicals into their teen beach/surf romantic comedies.

Elvis Presley water skiing in 1955

A water ski exhibition
for a resort in the 50's

Hollywood water ski
movie poster

Camp Foley began teaching water skiing in 1956 and joined the National Waterski Association in 1958.  The activity quickly became a camper-favorite, and we continue to expand and improve our classes, programs, and equipment – adding knee-boarding, barefoot skiing, and in 2004 wakeboarding too.  This year we made another impressive addition to the program with the purchase of a powerful 343-horse power Centurion ski boat.

Camp Foley's powerful new Ski Boat makes learning to ski even easier!

Foley Camper Wakesurfing like a pro!

Here at Foley, waterskiing instruction is open to boys and girls of all ages that have passed their swim test.  Our certified lifeguard waterskiing instructors teach campers all they need to know to learn the basic and expert tips to improve their skills. Campers can earn their Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert Camp Foley Ski Awards.

If you haven’t tried waterskiing at Foley yet, you should!  With a little help, you could be out there speeding across Whitefish Lake having fun in the sun.

For more info about waterskiing, check out the USA Water Ski Association, this cool History of Water Skiing link, or our Water Skiing at Camp Foley video.