Is there a group on this site of former campers from Camp Easton for Boys on Little Long Lake just outside Ely? I was there from 1967 - 1970 (Doug and Jean Bobo were the directors then), and would be interested in to know what has happened to the camp, the waterfront and facilities, etc. I'd love to spend time there next summer, and also to hear from former campers.

I was a cabin counselor and riflery instructor in 1965 and 1967. Badger cabin in 1967. I don't know a detailed history but know Doug sold the camp and it operated for several years as a church camp.
Doug and Jean have a cabin on Little Long and spend there summers there. We visit them when we are in the area but this year Jean had health concerns so they stayed in Hilton Head.
The other person we have had contact with was Ray Replogle (Rex and Ray of crafts). He also had a cabin on Little Long and retired there. They have moved to Colorado to be closer to Rex.
I have not been back to the camp since about 1973.

Neil

Thanks for the update. I was at Camp Easton in 1967 in the Eagle cabin, I believe. So Doug and Jean are in Hilton Head, as far as you know? I often wonder what happened to all the movies he took.

These postings about Camp Easton sent waves of nostalgia through me. I spent 2 or 3 wonderful summers at Camp Easton in the early to mid 1950s. Bill Easton and his wife still owned it then. It's principal purpose was to teach boys how to camp and canoe, and to imprint a love of the North Woods. The weekly canoe trips throughout the BWCA were the highlights of the summer. I have held a life long love of the outdoors that I am convinced was planted in me during those summers.

How nice that you should post here, Harry.

Camp Easton was very important to my husband, as his love for the canoe country was born there. And since he has been bringing me here for 42 years, and I love it, too, Camp Easton is very important to me, too. Our son (who was conceived on our first canoe trip) was rocked to sleep at times by his dad singing the "Camp Easton Song"--he would say "sing Camp E, Daddy!" when it was time to go to bed.

I am sure that there are many men in the world, all over the world in fact, who have fond memories of Camp Easton as you do. I hope you enjoyed your subsequent trips into wherever in the outdoors you ventured.

(Written from a cabin just outside Ely on the Echo Trail. We just completed a short trip in the BWCA.)

Harry, Thanks for your comments of Camp Easton. I was at camp there for 3 great summers, 1949,1950,1951. An incredible experience that has lasted a lifetime. I would love to hear from former campers, and learn more about the history of the camp, especially after my times.

Regards,

no wonder the BW is full of happy old campers!!

Ran across this thread and thought I would throw in some recollections.

I was a camper and counselor at Easton from 1958-67, took out trips. The photo posted by Spartan2 from 1967 shows several old friends. The red berets was a custom we started in 1964 when they sold them in town for the Ely canoe derby (now defunct). We started the counselor's trip in 1963 when we went from Rainy to Superior in ten days with a one day layover. Sig Olson helped us plan many of our routes and introduced us to some interesting people.

When Doug and Jean sold the camp I had mentioned to Doug that if he ever sold I might be interested in purchasing one of the canvas canoes. Bought the one known as the Red Rocket. Worked with Joe Seliga on restoring it. The serial number shows it was shipped to Winter's Camp (the name before Easton) in 1935. My wife and I have taken many trips in that canoe since. The last time it was out was a trip to Crooked two years ago with my son and daughter-in-law. Ran into a trip from the church camp that bought Easton.

Doug and Jean built a beautiful home on Little Long. Doug passed away several years ago. I remember walking on a trail by their home and seeing a wolf six months after he died. Figured it was Doug's spirit keeping an eye on things. Jean was up last year and doing fairly well. Their daughter Lynn stayed with her. This year she has not been up.

Try to get back to Little Long at least once a year. Will be going up again next week.
Hope all old Easton folks are doing well.

Hi oldguide2,

Welcome to the board

I think my husband would like to know your name. This is his counselor photo from 1967. He took his counselor canoe trip that year, and we became engaged later that summer, and married that December. We just spent ten days in the north country this August, but we no longer take canoe trips due to health concerns. We stayed for a week in a cabin, along with our granddaughter, and had a wonderful time.

I drove back in there in late May of '13 and it looked kind of abandoned and dormant. Of course it was early season. Hope they still use it.

Hi, That is Neil Childs, who was a great counselor. Jean and Doug mentioned you had stopped by several times. I guess our times in Ely never coordinated. Actually I planned that 1967 trip but did not go--it was our wedding.

Like Jean, I have never had the heart to go back. Too many memories. Have seen the place from the lake side and it looks ok. The camp is now called Rock Ridge and has a web site. When we ran into their trip, one of their aluminum canoes grated into the gravel shore. Always sends shivers up my spine. It was good to see the guide call them on it. On the other hand we had to show them how to put up a canoe. Reminds me of how the old camp movie used to end with a scene of me portaging a canoe when I was 13 coming down the hill from Wind to Moose.

I just stumbled across this board while nostalgically surfing for info on Camp Easton. I attended there for five years in the 1970s. The owners were Bernie and Mary Kukar (Bernie, a high school teacher (I think) and sports referee, advanced through the ref ranks and became a respected NFL referee, working at least one Super Bowl that I remember). Growing up in Kansas City, my folks learned about the camp from Chris Sirridge, the son of one of my dad's doctor friends, who was a guitar-playing counselor my first two years. I was there from '72-'76, started out in Eagle cabin, ultimately spending my last two summers in Moose. Bernie used to bring his 16mm camp movies to our house in Kansas City trying to get new campers. At Camp Easton I learned how to water ski, scuba dive (counselor David Hazelett was a certified instructor), got my NRA(!) marksman 1st class certificate, and went on an amazing 75-mile canoe trip through the BWCA with a counselor named Cyril. The name Ray Replogle earlier in this thread does sound very familiar to me. The experience of a walking out of that amazing waterfront sauna straight into the lake was unforgettable. My summers on Little Long - "where towering pines do stand" - were some of the best of my youth.

The property is now owned by Camp Shamineau and is run as Rock Ridge. I worked two summers for them and still keep in touch so I can provide a couple updates for those of you who have made mention.

When the camp was sold, it was split in half with the majority of the old lakefront/chapel/sauna/dining hall and so on going on to become Rock Ridge. It ran really good at the start and then grew very slow in the middle there. In the last 5 or 6 years it has had a huge resurgence and they are going a really good direction now. They run youth programing with guided canoe trips, rock climbing, mountain biking, and some other adventure stuff. As for the camp, they have been fixing cabins as they can, building some new spaces, and winterizing old ones. Most of the old spaces the Easton folks would remember still stand (though, from my understanding, a few were just barely still standing when it became Rock Ridge.) The old chapel got shored up, but needs some major work which is still planned for the future. The dining hall has plans for an expansion of some kind. A few of the cabins have gotten redone and winterized and there is a new staff cabin now (there's also a new shop since Easton days.) The rifle range is gone as of 2018. The most major change for all of you happened in 2016 when the big storm rolled through and brought hundreds of trees down in camp proper. I wasn't on staff at the time, but a huge number of the big Red Pines went down including the signature one early in the driveway. I did a big replanting in 2018, but the character of the place evidently changed quite a bit.

Thank you for the update TreeBear.
Sorry to hear about the Pine tree in the driveway. It was the turn around for races.

Neil

Sorry, should have been more specific. The big pine next to the dining hall in the parking lot is still standing! There was a huge on it the way up the drive that used to have a sign on it. That one came down.

TreeBear: "Sorry, should have been more specific. The big pine next to the dining hall in the parking lot is still standing! There was a huge on it the way up the drive that used to have a sign on it. That one came down."

The one on the way in was the one I was thinking of.

Neil

Amazing. Thanks for the posts, everybody! They brought back many memories from my days at Camp Easton and Bernie and Mary Kukar. I attended for many summers in the early 80's. The very first cabin that I shared a bunk bed in was for the youngest age group.
During my second summer, I woke to the uncomfortable need to urinate. My adventure of getting to the biffy had me scared, but I went. As I crossed the tennis court, I looked up at the sky and was overwhelmed by the majestic presence of the northern lights! I was a child, 1000 miles away from home. I did not know of such a phenomenon, and there I was. Alone. In the dark. Staring at the sky. It forever changed my life!
Trying to get back into bed but wanting to share my experience with my friend, I accidentally woke up our counselor. To my delight, the whole cabin of kids ended up spending the rest of the night laying on the tennis court and staring at the sky. It forever changed my life. FOREVER.
My life has grown with these defining and unforgettable childhood experiences. It grew into a quest. I developed a lifelong passion to be outdoors and part of nature. All of my thanks go to the beginnings with Camp Easton and the Kukars. SO much that I have followed Bernie's path of giving back in the ways that experiences in nature only can. Most recently, I have found the opportunity to connect back to this amazing part of my life (Camp Easton) by creating similar nature opportunities for children in the Sangre de Christo Mountains.
(Granted, I am posting to share my story of Camp Easton's influence, not solicit or raise funds...but if anyone is interested, please ask!)

One sad bit of recent news to add to this thread: Jean Bobo died this past winter. She had sold the cabin she and Doug built and their family enjoyed for so long. Karen, Lynn, and Richard brought her ashes back to scatter on the point. It is the end of an era. Took a boat ride down to the camp a few weeks ago. Much of it remains as it was in the 1960s. The Lodge and the sauna were still there along with the swimming dock. The campfire area is still there along the shore. Not seeing any people there heightened the feeling of loss.

Thanks for posting this, OldGuide2. We had always heard from Jean at Christmas time until the past couple of years, so I can't say this was a surprise, but it is still sad news. Jean was a lovely lady, and we visited her many times when we would return to the canoe country for canoe trips, and later, for our cabin weeks.

Camp Easton had a part in making Spartan1 the person he is today. I am sure that a number of counselors and campers feel that way. Doug and Jean were very special to us.

1973, 1979-1982 camper
1984-1987 Counselor

Best years of my life. THE TAIL END OF THE EASTON YEARS BUT WE WERE STILL HARDCORE, RESPECTED TRADITION, MADE LIFE LONG FRIENDSHIPS, SHARED LAUGHS AND GREW.
I LOVED THE SMELL OF THE CABINS, KNEW EVERY ROOT IN THE STAIRS IN THE DARK, LED ALL TRIPS, SANG, LOVED, CRIED/HURT, DISCOVERED, SHARED.
ANYONE OUT THERE REMEMBER 'PLUMEY?