15 Years On, Ogichi Buildout Nears Finish

By Kathy Dix

Fifteen years after our first season at Rainy Lake Lodge, the buildout of Ogichi’s campus is nearly complete.

Remarkably, we now have eight camper cabins, home to 122 campers and staff members each session. The last of these cabins, Snowshoe Hare, will be finished and ready for full occupancy this summer.

On Lookout Point (look out!), the ridge above our main entrance, two newly built cabins for our young leadership staff will have their interiors finished. The boat dock will be extended to better accommodate our own boats and visitors who arrive by water.

Other projects on the agenda include a new boatbuilding and woodworking classroom across from the maintenance building (Bart’s garage), and an enclosed canoe rack nearby. The covered deck of the Arts & Crafts building will form a new classroom space, and a pickleball court will occupy one end of our field.

Our Great Lodge is entering its sixth season, and so the maintenance has begun. The dining room floor will be refinished, the tables repaired, new tablecloths sewn, and new carpeting laid in the lounge area.

In the Trip Center, a new freezer will replace our original unit from RLL. Finally, a new computer will surely please our office staff.

Preseason volunteers will, of course, have ample work: repairing canoes and gear, applying fresh coats of paint, sweeping out the cobwebs, and providing good company to Bart Vollmer, our builder extraordinaire!

This article was originally published in the Spring 2019 issue of Songs of the Paddle.