Hi fellow Kawagamites,
My name's Jim Heller and I was a camper, CIT and finally Junior Counsellor for Kawagama's last eight years. I only left when Kenny Gertner confronted me for etching my name in the office wall and demanded that I clear off not just my own but all the rest. Yes, I did it. My one-and-only act of public graffiti art and likely the only wrong thing I ever did in life. I think I did it coming back from a day off a litle tipsy. Anyway, I didn't know that I was the only counsellor whose name was up. The rest were campers and Kenny fairly enough drew that distinction. Ronnie Silver and I were playing ping pong when Kenny walked by. I probably would have acquiesced but Ronnie goaded me on, "You're not going to take that shit, are you?" What could I do? The ultimatum was to clear off all the names or clear myself off the island that night. After eight full years, I guess the outside summer world beckoned. Yes, it was reckless leaving without knowing how else I could make a full $25 for eight weeks' work (or was it $50?), but I was an artist. Hey, we were all artists then, weren't we?