Get to know Greg: Camp isn’t the same without you!

Get to know Greg: Camp isn’t the same without you!

By: Greg Ratliff

That is not an understatement, camp is cold and a lot of work! Yep, that’s right, it

represents work to me, not just a special place nestled in the North Woods of Wisconsin. But

seriously folks, I am the luckiest person employed at the Milwaukee JCC! Being Camp

Interlaken’s year round full-time facilities director in my 10th summer, I have never been away

from camp for more than 10 days at a time. How lucky is that?!?

My job at camp encompasses whatever it takes to make this little place in the North Woods a

safe, clean and healthy environment for all. So I don’t get to see the fruits of my labor until

people come up and enjoy camp! That is why camp is a special place: the people.

Currently, at camp, I have been working on sailboat repairs and water reports to be sent to the

DNR about our water usage because we use wells to draw water from the underground

aquifers. Yes, at camp we monitor our impact on the environment! Those are just a couple of

the many things it takes to maintain camp.

People like to ask me what I do when nobody is at camp. Oh boy, where do I begin? Building

repairs, equipment upgrades and a plethora of other tasks; whatever it takes to maintain a small

village that has a population of hundreds of campers for 10 weeks every summer. The work

never ends: You finish the repairs from last summer and then it’s time to get ready for next

summer. Camp is a very rewarding place to work, I get to oversee many aspects of the

day-to-day happenings on the property all year round.

When not at camp I hang out with my girlfriend, one teenage son and his 20-something brother

and two sisters — they keep it real for me. We have lived up here for 21 years, prior to that I

grew up in the burbs of Chicago. Living up here is great — especially with my kids keeping it real

— so life is real good for me.