I remember spending a month at Camp Flying Eagle in the summer of 1967 (when I was 14) with my two brothers -- my twin, Robert, and my younger brother, Jonathan. I remember also that Alex Canja had come to our house in Ann Arbor to talk about the camp and show us slides of the camp. We had a marvelous month. My favorite and most memorable counselor was Phil, who taught us basic judo. I excelled at soccer and won that month's soccer award ...seems to me I got a trophy, but don't know where it is. I remember falling in love with archery there, too. I swore I'd come back as a counselor myself, but it never happened.

Hi all. I must apologize for the amount of time it's taken me to find the place that holds so many dear memories for me... my summers at CFE are, without a doubt, some of the fondest memories I have of childhood and into my teens and adult years. While spending time looking back at all the little life's lessons Alex, Tess, Dick & Gloria (hope my memory is right with Mrs. Black's name) instilled in me during those summers at CFE... I noticed a copper tooling I did with the help of Deb on the site and a pic of one of my many tribes...

Wow CFE! I very fondly remember camp and still tell stories to my kids, friends and family. I'd still love to see that pizza machine and bowling alley. The last year of camp I was one year away from getting the 22 rifle as my gift. Bummer. Shooing away bats in the showers. I broke my arm one year on the trampoline and Alex made sure my summer still rocked. One time on a blueberry exp across the lake, I saw what I thought was a Petoskey stone, kicked it and found out it was a bee hive. Ouch. Stung like 30 times and Tess and Alex comforted me.

I remember raiding the other tents---one time in particular we had knocked some stakes into the ground outside the tent entrance during the day when the other campers were not in the tent- possibly the Apache Tent? With the oldest campers? --anyway- late that night we stretched thick wire from stake-to-stake across the tent entrance, about six inches from the ground, and yelled at the campers to wake them up- then we squirted them with ketchup from the dining hall as they ran outside the tent and tripped into the dusty

Wow. In 1971 I was six years old and had two older brothers already at camp (Tom and Bob). Jim, (Jimmy then, a year younger than I) also came to camp. I was quickly given the nickname "Wavey" (thank you, Sue Black!) because I had a bit of trouble saying my own name. Little did I know that I would spend the next nine summers as a camper and then three more on staff until camp closed my senior year in high school, 1983- a total of twelve years (seems like 12 seconds!)

Wow, so many memories and all of them positive. I was exercising today and for some reason, CFE just popped into my head. The minute I got home, I searched t see if I could find any info and was I surprised! My most fond memories were of the wonderful friends and counselors at CFE. I loved crafts and thought I was the best lanyard maker of them all. I even sold what I made for candy store. I remember sitting on the butterfly chairs and listening to Pres. Nixon and all the trouble he was in.

Having grown up on a lake, I thought the lake swim would be easy - until Hal told me that as the Assistant Waterfront Director, I had the honor of swimming with one of the slowest kids of each group! Don't know about the campers, but I sure slept good the first 2 nights of each session. My best memories were the look of joy on the faces the moment one of the campers realized they could actually swim. Being on the waterfront for 3 years, first as Hal's assistant, then as the Waterfront Director, it felt like I got paid to play on the water, and to teach the campers how to do the same things that I loved to do. It was 3 great years!

I have so many great memories of CFE...memories that shaped the values of who I became. Among my favorite memories: Being woken up on a stormy night thinking it was a tornado, but it was the start of Color Wars. Sitting on the porch and talking to everyone about nothing. Riding to the store and buying a can of Coke (what a treat!). Fishing with Jeff Ehlers before anyone else was awake. Many great trips to Mackinac Island. PB&J's after Council Fire. Bingo on rainy nights in the rec hall (don't eat the noodles!)

Terry Black and I attended Aquinas College together in the mid-70's, sharing an enormous old frame house near campus with an assorted collection of would-be scholars; each of us infected to varying degrees with that sublime feverish insanity of youth. I could tell you stories about Terry, but then he might start telling tales about me and some of my current students may end up reading this. Suffice to say: Bluto, Otter and the Delta's had nothing on Hop Shro, Little Moe and The Boys of the Ponderosewood.

I was there [at camp] when the US landed on the moon. I remember being able to stay up late to crowd around the TV and watch Armstrong take the first step, and I remember Alex telling us that we’ll be tempted to get excited and cheer, but to be very quiet because Neal Armstrong will probably say something important. Alex was right and Neal did (say something important) and if anyone asks me where I was when we landed on the moon, I’ll know. There is something else that might be worth mentioning:

I have fond memories of Tess and Alex and my experiences at Camp Flying Eagle. The camp experience clearly helped me develop as a person and it help shape my values in life. I feel blessed. I was a camper from 1959-1962. My nick name was “Pancake . ” I held the camp record for eating 22 pancakes at one meal. I also ate 9 bowls of ice cream at one meal. I clearly did not go hungry while at camp. My mother especially liked Alex because he was a graduate of the University of Michigan as was she. Unfortunately for her , all of her sons graduated from Michigan State University.

Well this year will mark 29 years since my first summer as a very young and nervous Waterfront Director, but all of the great memories that I have from 4 of the next 5 summers make it seem like only yesterday. The sunny days on the beach and pulling skiers around the lake. Creating (with the help of Jeff Ehlers) the swamp monster feet that we left tracks with all over camp to "prove" that the monster stories were true. Canoe trips down the Manistee loosing only one canoer who was found later having a snack at the cabin of a friend of Alex's.

I have a clock that I look at every morning. Above that clock is my Flying Eagle picture with Jeff Canja standing proudly in the center between Scott Winkelman and me. Also in the picture are Rich Ansell, Allen Salle (sorry if I spelled it wrong Allen) and others. I am so appreciative and fortunate to have attended CFE because of the positive and permanent impact it had on my life. At CFE I learned and tried to do things that I might not have tried otherwise. It was the first time I tried water skiing, riflery, archery,

I attended CFE for five years (1971-1975). (Got the five band radio as my five year gift). CFE made such an indelible impression on me that just last summer I took a "side trip" coming home from Up North with my 12 and 9 year old daughters and visited the camp. It was a beautiful sunny day like they always used to be. As I stepped out of my car the memories came flooding back. We walked the playing field and the path to the bon fire site.

I was 8 years old my first year, so this would have been 1973. I then came to camp every year through 1979, age 14. I did stay for the full 7 weeks, all but my last year. To this day, I have wonderful memories of that time. It made a very positive impact on my life. I really loved the water skiing, but also all the cookouts and overnight outings, 40 Pines, biking trips, the Manistee canoe trips.

I had two fantastic years at CFE! Besides all the Huntington Woods campers from my generation (including the Rotters, Mitch Front, Bruce Marwil, Doug Slotkin and my brother, Rich), some of the things I remember best are softball, both at CFE and at other camps; early morning runs with co-camper Andy Mourad and counselor Mike Sweeney; Mr. Black bellowing "First Period!", "Second Period!", etc.; award ceremonies around the camp fire; our tent's winning number, "Joy to CFE" (sung to the tune (or, something resembling the tune) of

I have a lot of memories... softball games against Camp Sancta Maria, Capture the Flag with the entire camp, the waterfront and mad sprints to be first to waterski with hopes of getting 2 runs in the same free period, bike trips, canoe trips, fishing and of course the Polar Bear swim in the a.m. -- Sue Black and Dave Steinbaugh always led the charge -- surprise packages from my older brother and sister in the mail ... filled with trail mix, forgotten equipment, Sports Illustrated (which Mr. Black always borrowed) and, of course, my siblings' creativity

The best days of my life were at CFE. I remember how sad I spent my first summer after Camp Flying Eagle was closed. This feeling knocks on my door every summer. In 2001 I was able to contact Tess & Alex. I had to let them know how important they were in my life and also thank them for the best years of my life. The Canja's and also the Black's are main characters in the story of my life. See you next Summer.

Summer of 71...Apache Eagles tent...after lights out...The Eagles come up with a plan to ring the bell at midnight. We vote for George Hammond to do it (he's the only one we could talk into it), but he is hesitant. He fears he will lose his candy store if he is caught. He becomes more receptive when everyone in our group agrees to give him our candy store for the entire session. He is finally convinced when we tell him that Merrill Falk is on tent duty and everyone knows that Merrill can't catch anybody!

Memories? I don't think that I forgot a moment of camp. Whether it was laying in the ballfield watching the Northern Lights, raiding other tents, trying to get into the CQ, or, most of all, the friendships that were developed at CFE. Hector Suarez and I had the pleasure of traveling back up to see Tess a couple of years ago and enjoying it all again. The memories flooded back! We actually swam the lake back and forth, how in the world did we do that when we were all young?

Looking forward to the reunion! We have maintained our friendship with fellow counselor Merrill Falk for 34 years. That gift, and the "teaching" experiences we had as counselors, paved the way for our careers as educators. The incredibly "positive" atmosphere of helping to create successes for young people at CFE carried over into our combined 61+years in the classroom.

It was the last day of our last session. All of the campers had gone home when a station wagon drove up with five children of various sizes inside, chattering and excited. When the driver, their father, got out of the car, he turned out to be Joel Penoyer, one of our very first campers, 28 years before. Now he was a doctor in Fairview, Washington. “We were back in Michigan,” he said, “and I wanted to show them where I used to catch snakes.” This we had to see! “Go ahead,” Alex said. So the kids all dashed out of the car and followed their dad down the hill toward the other side of the swale. Within 15 minutes they came back with a snake.

I never saw ferns before, and maybe just a few birch trees. I remember lying still under the ferns during the camper-counselor hunt, hoping not to be found, but afraid I’d be stepped on. Wondering if time was up yet. Hearing counselors yelling “candy bars!” Did that mean the hunt was over and I had won? Or were they calling us candy bars? I didn’t move. My counselor walked right past me but didn’t see me (right!). The bell. I won a candy bar!

At camp I remember one time that some of us put too much toilet paper in the toilet. It backed up and Alex got quite mad about it. He called us all together . . . told us all we needed to use was three sheets of toilet paper, not all at once, but one at a time.. Alex: I’m sorry to say, I’ve tried to use only three sheets. But I have not been able to use less than nine, using two or three sheets at a time. (This memory gave Alex a good laugh, shortly before he died.)

Not only is it true that we wore our Flying Eagle t-shirts under our tuxes at my wedding, but I still have, carefully put away, two CFE t-shirts. I also have very carefully put away, my sash from each of the six years at CFE, along with trophies for soccer, fishing and camper of the year.

Reading the other memories certainly gave me some goose bumps. What a great feeling to rush back to being 11 years old and all the fun we had. I loved the color wars, the baseball games, swimming the lake, long overnight bike rides, apple fights, boxing matches with the giant gloves, shooting .22 rifles. Wow. We certainly had too much fun. Now that I have kids of my own, I am concerned about being able to find them experiences like we had. I was also happy to remember the Korroch brothers and Chris Nugent from my time at CFE.

I just remember always wanting to become a camper at Camp Flying Eagle and was finally able to do so as a surprise from my mom, dad, the Blacks, and, last but not least, the Canjas. On my many visits to "the North Country" with the Blacks I always wondered what it would be like to be a camper. That was one the most memorable summers of my life. Thank you all.

From the age of six, I have so many fond memories of spending 11 consecutive summers at CFE. From pink-bellies at morning cals, to PB&Js at night. From bus trips to Mackinac to canoe trips down the mighty Manistee. From Color Wars to Camper-Counselor hunts. From the sugar shack to the CQ to the KBQ. From the pre-meal formation report “all present and accounted for, sir" to bug juice and tuna-loonies. From the ringing of the dinner bell to the singing of “Taps.” I could go on and on and on and on.

The bus trips into the UP with campers still remain one of my fondest memories. I have been north several times with my family and always tried to retrace our bus route through the southern shore of Lake Superior. Remembering the swims at the Lower Tahquamenon Falls, hikes back to the upper falls and side trips to Paradise and Whitefish Point. I never spent a night again like we did in those days when we just threw our sleeping bags on the sand and slept under the stars.

Wow this brings the memories flooding back. Council Fire, PBJs, trips to Mackinac Island, Canoe trips, Color War, swimming the lake, the KBQ, Talent night (whenever one of those songs comes on the radio and I start singing it with the campers words, my kids think I've gone crazy), finally beating CSM at softball, night raids on the Apaches. Can't Wait for the reunion.

Alex talked to me over the phone one evening and hired me.  A week later I pulled into the parking lot at camp.  I will always remember the first thing Alex said to me when we met.  In a boisterous voice, with a big smile and a hearty handshake he said, “You’re the guy I hired over the phone!”As a result of working at Camp Flying Eagle I became a teacher.  I am just finishing my 28th year.  In 1984 I became the president of the Detroit Metropolitan Area Physics Teachers and then a Physics Teacher Resource Agent for the

Gale and I wanted an experience working at a camp, so when Alex came to CMU for “camp day” we went and filled out applications for several camps. On the CFE form there were many boxes to check for experience doing certain things. I told Gale to check them all and we will learn what we don't know. Alex called to invite us to join him and Tess and Dick and Gloria Black. Gale was sent to school for two weekends to be certified as a state-registered camp health director and I finished my WSI (water safety instructor certification)