Three recent Augsburg graduates and one senior are spending their summer working as guides for canoe and backpacking trips around the heartland of Northern Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Erik Hinderlie ’07, Ted Fabel ’07, Brett Cease ’07, and David DeBlock ’08 (left to right) are guides at Camp Amnicon, an outreach of Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis.
“What makes Amnicon so unique is its strong commitment to getting the majority of its campers from at-risk groups throughout the states, whether from inner-city,
reservation, or foster agency programs,” says Cease. “Many of these kids have never had the opportunity to spend a week of their lives outside before … I have never seen such profound change and positive growth come out of a week of a young person’s life than the work I get to take part in at Amnicon.”
The groups visit sites including Voyageur’s National Park, the Sylvania Wilderness, and the Apostle Islands. “Being canoe guides in undoubtedly one of the most inspirational havens in our lives,” says Cease of the experience he and the others have had. “It is because of places like Amnicon that I am continually reminded of the importance of building an intentional and caring, supportive community, like that which was modeled at Augsburg.”
To read more about Camp Amnicon, visit www.amnicon.org.