Stop the presses! For the first time in Letter From Elba history, I am benching a post! I am sending in a substitute. The post that was supposed to run here today is entitled “Tattoo You” and it’s fun. But due to the landslide of attention that Sunday’s post stirred up, I’m making a change in the roster. “Tattoo You” will run this Sunday. Don’t miss it. And now Play Ball!
(Oh and if any or all of you got two email alerts this morning, don’t tell me. I made a change and couldn’t remember if I hit the “Notify Subscribers” button or not. That’s what happens when you’re still editing at 1:27 a.m.)
When I wrote the post called “Rite of Passage,” I knew that it would draw a lot of responses. Ojibwa guys are many and vocal. (That’s a quote from one of them.) And they are crazy- and crazy about their camp. (Another quote.)
But I never expected to be snowed under.
Some comments came directly to me by email. Some guys posted comments on the blog itself, and then teased each other on my Comments page. (Hey guys, settle down. This ain’t Facebook!)
Still others went directly on Facebook to comment and contact me. And still others forwarded on comments that they had received via their own email.
It’s been a great Round Robin. And now- also precedent-breaking- I am asking all my readers to go back to Sunday’s post (the one below this one) and check out the comments.
That’s right. This post is interactive. Just scroll down to where it says “Comments” and click or touch depending on your device. You don’t have to read the post again unless you want to. (I would be flattered, of course.) But to follow along, you have to have read the Comments. Are you with me, campers? Okay. Go. Read.
Okay. You’re back. And wasn’t that worth it?
And because the comments were so great, I have decided to award prizes.
After all, Ojibwa was/is a highly competitive place. Al did not believe in the modern politically-wussy doctrine of “Nobody wins. Everybody is just the same.” He knew that Life holds some high-stakes jokers up its sleeve and you better be able to handle the triumphs and tragedies with dignity and courage.
And besides, these camp guys just love to mix it up on the playing field. They ALL wanted to win Collegiate Week, remember? Who ever was “first pick” was a BIG deal.
So in honor of Camp Ojibwa’s true fighting spirit, I hereby award prizes for the Best Guest Comment Contributors to a Brand New Blog. And the winners are:
For The Ojibwa Family Relay Race: The prize goes to the Mall/ Lind/ Nemerovski/ Koppel clan. Sorry guys. You might think you have an all-star gung-ho Ojibwa family, but these guys were first to cross the Comments page finish line.
Nice going, Terri! 8:17 Sunday morning her comment hit my email. This girl is fast, folks. Let’s give it up for her. And right on, rest of the MLNK clan. Neal, (who gets a special mention because he ran it twice. That’s what I’m talking about!) Nemo, (again extra points because he sent the post around by email and posted it on his wall. Good hustle.) And Sherry at anchor. (Intellectual musings, but still, it counts.)
The Otto the Baker Gold Medal Award for Most Helpful Camper goes to Jim Rubens. Signed up for the blog without being asked, wrote a great comment, sent the post around town, and recruited his brother, Arnie, as a new subscriber. (And Arnie writes a pretty mean email, himself, by the way. Thanks for the comment on “Big Deal on Prytania Street,” bro.) Jim made me laugh with several funny emails. And, if/when yet another marriage of mine goes south, he can get me a divorce at cost. This guy’s a keeper. Bravo, Jimmy!
The next award for Miss Congeniality goes to Lili Ann Zisook. This was a lock. Just see my November 18 post “Her Honor” to find out why. And her comment was great. Thanks, Lil.
The Golden Globe Foreign Correspondents Award goes to Leslie Usow. Her perceptive comments mean all the more because she never met Al Schwartz. And he never had the privilege of knowing her. Thanks for joining the team, girlfriend.
The Marx Brothers Double Trouble Award goes to Rick and Rob Paddor. Of course. From the moment this post hit, I got mugged by the twins. First Rick assaulted me. Then Rob called me out on Facebook to correct the spelling of “Robbie” to “Robby.” (He was completely correct in doing so, by the way. I do not like to make mistakes. They just kill me. I had just never seen his name spelled out before.) Then they both confused me with emails. And Rick swore that Rob stole the rented fern from Kenny’s wedding. Or Rob claimed his brother did it. And then Rick posted a super comment. And Rob friended me on Facebook… Whew. I feel like I just got run over by a clown car. Excuse me, a clown Subaru. And why do I get the funny feeling they’ve practiced this routine before? Hmm..
The Perle Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Allan Klein. I’ve never met Roadrunner but from his comments, I gather he has a corner on the Ojibwa long view. And even though he emailed me to ask Kenny out on a lunch date (!?!) , I’ve got to give him the award for the guy who has seen the most Ojibwa summer night skies. Our distinguished Life Master and camp elder statesman.
The next award is called The Bernie. It was given to the great Bernie Kerman for the most “colloquial” post. His comment really added flair and true camp flavor to the page because he used a camp nickname. And because he is Bernie.
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award goes to Gary Wolfson of Camp Menominee. All I can add is “What a prince!” and “Please, guys, don’t beat him up,” for coming on to Ojibwa turf. I need all the subscribers I can find.
The Harry Cohn Award for Holding a Grudge against Elliott the Longest goes to Steve Wolff. Steve, give it a rest. You have a gorgeous wife, you live in f***ing paradise, and you can cook a mean turkey. Enough already. I officially declare that third strike a ball. Now can I come visit in January?
The Mr. Congeniality Award goes to that fine gentleman, Bob Boehm. Great comment. Great guy. No contest. The judges’ decision was unanimous.
The D.B. Cooper Award goes to Andy Wineburh or Wineburgh. WTF! This was the camper with the best comment who was most off the email reservation. Both his name and email address were messed up on the Comments page. Nice going, Droop. I tried to call him to thank him and ask if he meant Denny Rosen, the current director of Ojibwa. I was forced to navigate a bigger security clearance check than General Petraeus’s replacement. Hold on. I just got another email delivery failure notification! I give up.
The Frank Capra “It’s A Wonderful Life” Memorial Prize goes to Mark Fishbein. No jokes here. This one made me smile and cry. And any time he wants to step in as DH of Letter, it’s fine with me.
And last but not least, The Irving Thalberg Award goes to Bill Schwartz. Because of his beautifully-crafted comment. Because of his wonderful, thoughtful, touching emails to me. And because his family was the original producer of the whole show. Take a bow on behalf of your grandfather, Billy. Look what miracles he hath wrought.
Let me close by saying that because I was on deadline, if any more comments come in and I do not acknowledge them, I’m sorry. Each and every one of you has made my job a joy this week. You wrote it yourself, guys. I never had it so good.
See you around the mess hall. Thanks from the bottom of this blogger’s heart. And, as always, feel free to comment.
Ellen,
That was a lot of fun! Thanks for acknowledging my family in the first award. You certainly made us all enjoy Camp Ojibwa one more time. By the way I forgot to mention, our brother Jay, was a camper, a counselor and then camp doctor. Yeah for our team. Keep up the great work; you make us smile. Happy Holidays.
Love,
Terri
Ellen…you get the Willa Cather Award. She wrote with such description and adventure and held my teenage interest completely. Some authors are eloquent, exceptional, engaging and funny. You are all that and more . I love all your character sketches and all your twists and turns. Sign me up for the Ellen Ross book club. By the way…I am printing out all the blogs and saving them to reread again and again. A+!!!!!
Very funny. Posting a comment about Camp gets me excited for Post Camp 8-8-13!!!
Thanks, little brother. This is high praise coming from you. And I think you’re going to have to put an extra bunk in Cabin 12. Looks like I’m coming with you next year.
Love, Miss “He speaks Portillian”
Ellen – Wow! You were right. Totally worth it. This is another great piece. What can I say, other than, I’d like to thank my campers and counselors for a great summer (for those non-campers – these are the words uttered by virtually every camper or counselor on their birthday when making a speech in front of the camp). I’d also like to thank you again for Prize Day and Rite of Passage and all of the comments and e-mails that were a result of those articles. There is nothing better than hearing from Ojibwa people about their camp experiences. The awards were hilarious and appropriate. I am honored to be the recipient of the final award. If I could gather all of the campers and counselors who have read this, I would start them off with an Ojibwa hand clap in your honor. Clap clap clap clap, clap clap, clap clap….
Thank you also for postponing the regularly scheduled article so that this one could get posted.
Are you sure you never went to Ojibwa as a camper? I am astounded at how you have once again succinctly nailed one of the main tenets of Ojibwa. “Al did not believe in the modern politically-wussy doctrine of “Nobody wins. Everybody is just the same.” He knew that Life holds some high-stakes jokers up its sleeve and you better be able to handle the triumphs and tragedies with dignity and courage.” Just incredible the way you wrote this. This is something I was taught at camp (although it took a few years to sink in- I hate losing), and something I always taught my campers and kids. You have to know how to lose with dignity and courage. You never want to have that losing feeling, you fight as hard as you can so that it does not happen, you work harder than the next guy so that it won’t happen, but still, it happens from time to time.
Once again, my sincere thanks for your terrific writing….. and for my award.
For those of us who haven’t given a moment’s thought in decades as to what the hell the “Ojibwa Hand Clap” was, thanks Bill … comes back pretty quick.
Maybe not as quick as the Warrior Poem. You stepped into Mick’s shoes pretty good to lead it on Warrior Night. I, of course, had a much tougher act to follow on the drum since nobody can look as good as Elliot in a loin cloth.
You put me right back into the Ojibwa mystique, which I often enjoyed vicariously through your stories. The celestial alignment which culminated in the Frakmoose-Rocket-Celtic Snowmass connection cannot be explained and probably never believed. Rocket would be a shoe-in for the Luis Apariciostern Coaching Award if only he could have brought Frakmoose to a single base hit at camp. Understandably, he would first have to get the Moose through that pesky rapid left-right, left right running project before addressing eye-hand coordination, bat-ball contact, or physical movement (any one of which could have torpedoed the Frakmoose athletic ship). Thanks for the memory.
Pingback: google