From the Director’s Desk- Memories of Labor Day 

My June birthday is later than most of the kids in my class. That meant I had to wait a year to become a Counselor in Training. I wasn’t ready for my camper years to end, so I don’t recall being disappointed. I now know I needed another year to mature a bit. A year later, in the summer of 1986, equipped with a brand-new lifeguarding certificate, I became a CIT. At the end of the summer, that certificate earned me an invitation to volunteer for Friends Weekend, an annual Labor Day Weekend reunion and celebration of volunteers, donors, and former Summer Camp counselors. Besides the year my wife and I joined about 40 of her extended family members for a long weekend trip to Ireland centered around a Notre Dame & Navy football game in Dublin, I’ve attended or worked every Friends Weekend since.  

Our 2026 Friends Weekend gathering was attended by 391 guests, 86 of whom are children. Camp’s activity and service areas, including the swimming area, kitchen, health and sanitation, horseback riding, handicrafts, and others, were managed by our full-time staff and 55 summer staff members. Michelle Bretscher, our Guest & Event Relations Manager, who began attending Ondessonk Labor Day gatherings before it was called Friends Weekend, organized the schedule and “Viva Las Ondessonk” theme related features of this year’s gathering. Michelle’s skilled leadership was immediately and thoroughly noticed by this year’s guests, who loved the variety of new activities, including early morning Jackpot Java, a Lucky Yoga session, a birdwatching excursion, a sold-out Bingo Bonanza game in the Original Dining Hall, and a highly competitive Summer Camp style Mini-Marathon. She was partially inspired by the Friends Weekends of 1986 through 1990, the first Labor Day gatherings branded with the “Friends” name. Kathy Cochran Beine (Cocky) recalls the first themes as Gone with the Wind (1986), M.A.S.H. (1987), Western Round-up (1988), Woodstock (1989), and Fantasy Island (1990). Back then, some of the most devoted attendees stayed in character, costumes included, for big portions of the weekend.  

According to Cocky and others who were there, the earliest Camp Ondessonk Labor Day Weekend gatherings were called Family Camp. The Mushill, Fournie, and Wetstein families were among the first to attend, with the event growing modestly thereafter.  Cocky remembers horseback riding, organized campfire programs, a Sunday evening dance with live bands, and other activities being on the itinerary from 1961 through 1971. Recalling some of those earliest years in a phone conversation last week, Cocky said, “All the summer staff wanted to be at Camp for Labor Day Weekend, so it was a big deal if you were invited to work.” Jo Ann Mayer, who is one of Kate and Paul Wetstein’s nine children, proudly told me Family Camp was her family’s annual vacation. They often stayed in Tekakwitha with Paul and Marilyn Fournie’s family. They also had nine children! From 1972 through 1984, the weekend was scaled back to a camping only event for active Camp Ondessonk volunteers, with no meals or organized activities offered. Even so, the annual fun and fellowship continued. The audience, volunteers and their families, deserved a weekend at the place they helped build. I see it as an extension of the work-a-day, play-a-day arrangement that was often touted by Camp’s director at the time.  Apparently, 1985 was a transitional year. Cocky remembers former Camp Director Gene Canavan, then the Assistant Director, roasting a pig that was later served to staff and guests. She also recalls Dave Sullivan and others suggesting to Gene that Camp’s Labor Day gathering should be turned into “a thing”. Thus, in 1986, it became known as Friends Weekend. 

In the past, I’ve told my Camp friends that it’s a lot more fun to attend Labor Day than it is to work it. If you’ve heard me say that in the past, I’d like to withdraw such statements, as it now feels a little foolish. Friends Weekend is fantastic as a guest, and it’s fantastic to host. For me, the outcome is the same. Every year, on the afternoon of Labor Day itself, my face hurts from smiling. 

Please keep Camp Ondessonk and its campers in your life for the rest of your life.  

Sincerely, 

Daniel W. King 

Executive Director