Camp Traditions

Here you will find things that have been passed down from one staff to another. These could be longstanding traditions or things that have been repeated only for a short period of time. Current and dead traditions will also be found here. Note that a tradition is different than "the way things are done."

Long-Standing Traditions
These are traditions that have been in place for a long period of time, generally over ten or so years

Staff Bracelets
Having a staff bracelet is a status symbol, showing to the world that you survived a summer at NABS. These bracelets are made up of climbing rope sheath, that has been gutted of it's innards and flattened out. This length of rope is then cut and measured to the wrist or ankle of the receiving staff-member. Heat is applied to the rope by a rope-cutting gun to seal the bit of rope onto their body "permanently" (until cut off). Some individuals are burned in this process.

Traditionally, the Ropes Director is the one in charge of applying the bracelet onto the staff (generally in the 6th week of camp), but there have been some cases of others applying it for themselves or others. The Ropes Director is also traditionally in charge of choosing the rope that is used for the entire staff.

This tradition was started by Tik, in the early 2000's. She herself was the first recipient, and North was the second, then followed by the rest of staff.

Boom-Goose Ooh Ahh Ahh!
This is objectively one of the best games at camp. On Mondays, counselors are not to drink with their dominant hands during meals. If they drink with their dominant hand during a meal, any camper or counselor is allowed to yell at them, "Boom-Goose Ooh Ahh Ahh!" There is then a process for punishment. The first time a counselor gets Boom-Goosed, they must reverse the direction of their shirt. The second time, they must then reverse their pants. The third time, they must flip their shirt inside out. The fourth time, they must flip their pants inside out. This change in attire must be kept all day. If the Boom-Goosed changes clothing, it must adhere to the punishment. If a counselor gets caught five times, they must get thrown in the lake, publicly.

Camp Names
This tradition was started by North when he became Camp Director in 1998. The premise is to have a separate name from your own name, for which to use at camp. This name is then associated with memories of camp for most, and has it's own personality for others. This is the camp you. Names are most often given to you, but must be accepted by you. There are many different ways a person gets their name, which adds to their uniqueness. Most camp staff get their name during CIT Trail, but some are given before, and a good chunk are given to those who never went through CIT, and were hired after they were 18.

Chasing the Bus
Friday afternoons, parents show up to collect their kids, campers shuffle onto the bus after lunch, and counselors prepare for a sprint. They line up by the Welcome Center, behind the large pine tree. When counselors see brake-lights when the bus stops at the stop sign on Okonto Lane, they are gone. Sprinting or jogging after the bus, they follow along side for as long as they can. A few counselors brave poison ivy as they run uphill past the dining hall and around the dumpsters to cut through a short cut. Maybe one of them dares make it as far as the stop sign at the end of Waubee Lake Drive.

Gee Mom
This song is sung every Friday at lunchtime. The last organized camp song campers will hear before they are shipped off to Appleton on the bus. It recounts the process of a camper going to camp and hating it when they get there, to never wanting to leave, and regaling to their mother to let them stay.

Staff Songs
On the final campfire for the week, the staff have a special set of songs that they prepare and all (hopefully) know by heart. These songs are sung back-to-back as the staff line up on the porch at the campfire ring.

Camp Letters
Each year, staff sends out post cards to each of their campers. Some years birthday letters were also included.

Flaming Arrow, Golden Bullet, and Silver BB
These three awards were given away to one camper a piece per session. A small tournament was held each week during advanced instructionals, with the highest scoring camper winning the appropriate award. Sometimes these awards were broken up into age and gender brackets, and multiple awards were given out. These awards were hand-made by the counselor that ran the particular tournament, and were often kept by campers for years after they were awarded. This tradition fell out of practice when advanced instructionals were dropped in favor of more structured weekly schedules.

Mid-Length Traditions
These traditions have been passed down for generally five or so years, and span one-to-two generations of staff.

Sandwich Punching
If a sandwich is left unattended, it may be punched. It may not be punched if a non-food item is placed on top of it to protect it.

The Earl of Sandwich is the ruler in charge of the rules of the punch.

Short-Term Traditions
Included would be traditions that have been in place for a short period of time. Traditions that have been started and were only passed down to the next year or two, or traditions that are fairly recent and haven't had chance to take hold for a number of years.

Assassin
If Boom-Goose is the most fun game involving camp staff, Assassin is closely followed behind. This game/tradition involves the use of ranged (nerf guns) or melee (spoons/markers) weapons to "assassinate" your assigned target.

Each participating assassin would get a slip of paper or buddy tag with the name of another assassin on it. They would then need to shoot/stab the target without campers seeing. If an assassin killed their assigned target, they would then receive their target's target and go after that next target. Assassins could only make one attack per 5 minutes, and targets were allowed a rebuttal shot if they saw their would-be assassin with their weapon drawn. Assassins that have been shot/stabbed by a rebuttal shot would then have to wait until the next midnight to be able to make additional attacks.

This tradition was started by Grylls in 2016, and was then facilitated by Grylls and Dandy in 2016 and 2017. This tradition continued into 2018 as well, presumably under Grylls.

Foot Awards
Foot awards have been a recent tradition, started by Chip in the summer of 2016. Counselors from each cabin gave specific awards to each of their campers, for something specific relating to that camper.