Clearwater Camp for Girls

Summer Camp
Minocqua, Wisconsin

For More Information, Contact
Sunny Moore
Clearwater Camp
7490 Clearwater Road
Minocqua, Wisconsin 54548
715-356-5030
Fax: 715-356-3124
http://www.clearwatercamp.com

Type of Program: Traditional camping, sailing, waterskiing, aquatic sports and horseback-riding programs, overnight wilderness trips, extended trips
Participants: Girls, ages 8–16
Enrollment: 120 per session
Program Dates: Two 3½-week sessions, June 18 to July 12 and July 14 to August 7, or a full seven-week session, June 18 to August 7, 2008
Heads of Program: Sunny Moore, Executive Director; Laurie and Perry Smith, Co-Directors

Background and Philosophy

Clearwater was founded in 1933 by Mrs. John P. Sprague, who owned and directed the camp for thirty-eight years. The current director was a camper during this period. Sunny Moore, who has directed Clearwater since 1970, became the principal owner in 1975.
The camp is dedicated to providing an environment that will stimulate the most healthy and purposeful growth toward maturity possible. It is a place where a camper may learn to interact with her peers, to develop new skills, to venture into the unknown, and to succeed in her pursuit of new goals. Considerable effort goes into structuring the program to ensure a proper balance between scheduled activity instruction and the free use of time to enjoy the beauty of the Northwoods with new friends. The wonders of a summer at Clearwater are many and varied, but perhaps the greatest of all is the joy of learning to know oneself.

Program Offerings

Campers participate in 18 hours of instruction per week in the following camp activities: archery, arts and crafts, campcraft, canoeing and canoe trips, drama, English riding, kayaking, nature lore, pioneer camping, photography, sailing, swimming, tennis, tumbling, waterskiing, and windsurfing. Each week, every girl receives a new schedule of activities. Each girl’s program, built upon activity preferences and parent requests, makes the best use of staff members’ skills and available equipment.
    The activity program at Clearwater is designed to allow for the growth of the camper not only at the activity level but also in her relationships with others and with herself. Weeks in camp are a time to explore, to develop new hobbies, to have fun, and to learn the satisfying use of nonscheduled time.
    Clearwater does not have awards for achievement in activities. Instead, if competition is to develop among campers, it is the decision of the campers to compete. Clearwater relies on a camper’s natural enthusiasm, on its staff, and on its flexible yet determined program to provide the initiative that leads to success in and mastery of activities.
    Each activity is governed by rules and procedures designed for the safety of the campers and for the proper learning of the activity. Water safety is a very important element in the camp’s many water-oriented activities. Each camper must pass a swimming safety test before she may go out in any boat without a counselor or participate in sailing or waterskiing activities.

Daily Schedule

Clearwater Camp’s daily schedule features four instructional periods as well as scheduled portions of free-choice time. Three times per week, larger blocks of time are left unscheduled; these time blocks may be used to pursue individual nonscheduled interests, to clean cabins, or to spend extra time perfecting skills in the principal activities.

Extra Opportunities and Activities

The out-of-camp trip program fulfills an important and unique role in the total Clearwater experience. Trip groups are small, usually consisting of 8 girls and 2 counselors. Trips are unhurried, as it sometimes takes a slower pace to respond to the beauty of nature and to realize that a person can cope and be comfortable in an environment markedly different from any encountered before. Such discoveries build self-confidence and expand a girl’s knowledge of herself.
The type of trip, its destination, and its length are determined by camper desire, skill, and previous experience. Some trips are by canoe for two or three days along one of the many northern Wisconsin waterways.
For the skilled, older campers, trips of up to ten days are taken with backpacks or by canoe to Isle Royale or the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Facilities

Campers live in three main cabin units: Harbor, Cape, and Point. These are organized according to age. Many cabins are enclosed, while many, especially for the older girls, have 3½-foot canvas flaps over screens on four sides. For younger campers, each cabin is equipped with bathroom facilities. The two older units have central toilet and shower facilities.
The three units are geographically separate from one another. The youngest girls live near main camp buildings such as the dining room, the office area, and general meeting areas; the Cape and Point girls live out on the 5-acre island, which is reached by a footbridge and walk along wooded trails from which the lake is always visible.
For the sailing program, Clearwater has thirteen boats—one E-scow, seven C-scows, three X-boats, and two Sunfish. The Sunfish are excellent training boats because of their small size, while the E, X’s, and C’s can accommodate larger classes for teaching and require greater skill from the sailors.

Staff

Each member of the Clearwater staff is selected not only for her maturity and skills in an activity area but also for her commitment to young people and her belief in the value of a camp experience. On the staff are counselors who have previously been campers at Clearwater as well as returning and new counselors. Each summer a few staff members are 19 years old; the majority are older, with all having completed college work. The ratio of campers to staff members is 4:1.
A registered nurse is a full-time member of the staff. She determines when it would be in the best interest of a camper to be in the infirmary or to be seen by one of the physicians in Minocqua, 10 minutes away.

Costs

Clearwater’s tuition for the 2008 season is $5900 for the full seven-week session, $3200 for the first 3½-week session, and $3400 for the second 3½-week session. When 2 or more children from the same family register, a reduction of $100 is allowed for each full-season registration, $75 for each single session. Tuition includes all phases of the camp program in which a camper is able to participate, including living expenses, laundry, out-of-camp trips in Wisconsin, sailing and basic riding instruction, and use of all equipment. Not included are transportation to and from camp, strictly personal expenses, and extended trips.
For campers who enjoy more riding and want to perfect horsemanship, an extended program is offered with more riding hours, more advanced instruction, and trail rides. The charge is $375 per session. An extended waterskiing program for campers in grades 7–10 is also available for $350 per session.