I know it seems silly after all of these years, but I'd love to be able to bring my completed craft to our next reunion. This one brought back such wonderful memories, and I want to keep them, and you all, in the forefront!

Gail Armondino June 22, 2017 21:48:05 (EDT)

Please send reunion info. I attended MWL in '76 and '77. I loved it there. Swamp-n-dry was my favorite test. My own kids are off to their first summer at camp in Maine. I hope they have the same fun we did.

Shannon Graham June 13, 2017 21:02:48 (EDT)

I am so excited to see that there is a reunion planned for September! I do not know where it will be held, but I'm hoping to figure out how to get there! I went to MWL in the late 70's until the final year.

Susan Combs June 11, 2017 17:09:00 (EDT)

It was a great place. I attended for eight summers, starting at age seven in 1952...so sorry it doesn't exist. My posture is entirely due to MWL and getting a pine tree!

Janie Semple Umsted May 15, 2017 00:41:59 (EDT)

I was so excited to hear from Joyce Anderson Buckner that there was going to be a reunion in September. I want to come with Joyce. I was there as the Arts and Crafts counselor as well as sailing counselor /instructor the summer of 1967.it was one of the most wonderful times of my life.

Sarah Atherton April 18, 2017 21:04:03 (EDT)

My father worked at MWL during 1930 and 1931. Recently came across a photo album he made of those years. Some labelled, some not...what got me was a couple of photos marked "Nancy Wheeler in the famous ex-deerskin.” Surely long before the memories of anyone on this board, but I wonder if the legend of the ex-deerskin made its way down the years. Anyone know what the reference indicates? Too intriguing not to ask...

Mary Kirchoff February 11, 2017 16:55:01 (EDT)

We are having a MWL reunion and would love to send the information to anyone on this board, just write me at kirchoffmary@gmail.com and I will put you on the email list we have so we can contact you for information on this one and any other happenings in MWL world.
We are planning the reunion for 9/14/17-9/17/17

Harv Horowitz February 10, 2017 02:25:56 (EDT)

Hello..I don't know if this website is still active...if it is,could someone reply. I was a friend of Bob Hanna jr, and worked at Minne Wonka the first summer that the camp was purchased by his Mom and Dad. I have many fond memories of Dusty, Aunt Alice...remember counselors DeeDee Day, Martha Steinman, Kathy Guth, and others...
PLEASE REPLY IF THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE !!!!

Joyce Anderson Buckner July 1, 2016 17:34:40 (EDT)

I loved being a counselor for two summers at Minne Wonka! '66 and '67! I was teaching swimming but remember the waterfront director was crazy and got fired. So I got her job. Also played taps every night on a bugle and to the colors in the morning at flag raising. I remember teaching Butch, the Hannah's dashound, to swim! Borrowed JoAnn's car to go to Eagle River to see my boyfriend from Oklahoma before he left for Viet Nam. Scratched her car and had to sell everything I brought to pay to get it fixed! Even sold my Este Lauder to Mrs. Hannah! When I think of the places where I have been the happiest, I think of "the playground by the laughing waters! Oh and the 2nd summer, I brought my Theta sorority sister JanieSemple with me. She taught water skiing. Remember soap scrubs off the doc? Just the best memories!

Katie Burgess Noonan April 5, 2016 20:52:43 (EDT)

I think I was at MWL summer of 1970. Living at the south end of Puget Sound, Washington state. Anyone out there?

Alice Madura March 7, 2016 14:20:45 (EDT)

1959!!! Yikes. I found letters I wrote to my parents in 1959 when I was at camp at Minne-Wonka Lodge in Three Lakes, Wisconsin. They include my daily schedule of tennis, canoeing, archery, sailing etc.
Wish I could go to the camp again.

ELizabeth "Beth" Merena November 13, 2015 13:40:27 (EDT)

Like a few other people, I just bumped into this message board. I have extremely fond memories of MWL, but most exciting (and frustrating a little) is that I see a post here from May of 2014, from Jo Ann, the horseback riding teacher and she didn't leave her email contact. Jo Ann (and yes I remember your last name too!) you changed my life. Really. Thanks for all your encouragement and faith in me to succeed.
I have some photos, not right with me now, that I'll send to the webmaster. They are probably 1965 & 1966. Cheers, everyone.

Kappy Riker August 11, 2015 17:51:56 (EDT)

I loved MWL,,, I attended for four summers, 69-72. I still sing the songs I learned there today. And, sang them to my daughter when she was young.....I remember two camp counselors, Katie Burgess from Picayune MI, and also Craig, from somewhere back east, I think. Boy, that water was cold!! Loved it all!! Best summers ever.

Mollie Baldwin Ede (Dunn) July 17, 2015 07:53:34 (EDT)

Camp Minne Wonka Summers were the highlight of my childhood. I flew from SF Calif to join my cousins there for many Summers in the early 70's. I remember to this day how to tie many knots and put up a tent! I remember many of the songs I learned there and have shared with my kids. I remember going to church services in the outdoor amphiteater. Morning dip and taps at the end of the day. My first cabin was Windsong... "Oh swing along with me, theres a camp in Wisconsin that I long to be..."

Chris Kragh April 15, 2015 08:12:01 (EDT)

Oh, wow, just came upon the site. I have pix! Who do I send them to? My mom was the cook for a year...and I always tell the story when she made liver for dinner, and wrapped all of them in reynolds wrap, so no one knew what was coming until they opened the package. We laugh about that even now. It was a wonderful time with wonderful girls. I don't remember the names. I just remember having a phenomenal summer.

BJ Mason March 22, 2015 20:53:47 (EDT)

Found my 1963 yearbook...also 1961 yearbook. Sweater, scrapbook, and other yearbooks and wonderful memorabelia lost in basement flood...so sad. Was CIT with Craig Clark, Mary Belfer, Martha Steinman, Mary Heitman, Kate Niedner, and Helen Martin. Love to know where any of you are living!

Betty Mason Wells August 29, 2014 13:26:34 (EDT)

Saw my Red Pine friends had reunion this summer and decided to find site for Minne Wonka!! What memories I have of my many years...Pine Knot (1st cabin) all the way to Counselor in Training. It was a 2 month camp then. Lost my awards in basement flood, but have MANY photos. Attended from 55 on. Yes Remember the memorial...how beautiful. Best friend was Craig from Louisville. Would love to connect w/many friends.

Emma Jean Maxwell Moulton August 18, 2014 16:28:03 (EDT)

I just found this site, and it has brought back such happy memories. I was music counselor '62-'63 and loved every minute of camp. Broke my 5th metatarsal on my right foot 2nd yr. going to the loo. Had to adjust my college senior organ recital...

cyncie Hadley August 8, 2014 15:01:03 (EDT)

I attended MWL in the mid 50s.
Does anyone remember the memorial in the woods with a view of the lake?
There was a cross in honor of someone and a circle of log benches around it.
Is it still there?
Who was the woman it honored?

Nicolette Webb Angieri August 4, 2014 17:18:35 (EDT)

Hello, former campers. I attended MWL in '65 and '66 as a 12 and 13 year-old. I remember a fellow camper by the name of Nancy Detweiler (sp?), another nicknamed Toogie, and a Susan with whom I was pretty good friends.
There was a show that was put on one summer, a lurid melodrama in which I played a murder suspect, I believe... The protagonist was played by a girl named Julie, if memory serves.
There was also a handsome young male counselor who dubbed me "the girl with the closed-lip smile" because I refused to show my braces! I wish I could recall his name - I had a serious crush on him! (He probably had boatloads of admirers.)
One year I was there, a counselor in my cabin read to us from A Wrinkle in Time.
Anyone remember any of the above? What about the cinnamon toast? And the leeches in the lake?!
About 14 or 15 years ago, my husband, children and I drove through Three Lakes; this was my first and only visit to the area since the mid-sixties. We found the camp and learned that MWL had recently closed. The approach to the camp, the main building, the lakefront, and the place in general, seemed much as I remembered them. A beautiful place.
I would enjoy hearing from anyone from '65-'66.
Nicolette "Nicky" Webb (Angieri)
St. Louis, Missouri