Four Star Fellowship: A Boys Summer Camp Story

North Star Camp for Boys runs on the ordinary rhythms of an overnight camp in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, with most days built around activities, cabin life, and time outside. Some nights carry more weight than others. On Friday, July 31, a first-year counselor named Ron stepped up to give the sermonette at Friday Night Service, and he told the story of how this boys summer camp became, in his own word, his sanctuary. To understand that story, you have to start with a program called the Four Star Fellowship.

The Four Star Fellowship started with a breakfast conversation

In the spring of 2018, a small group planned the Four Star Fellowship over breakfast. Andy Shlensky, along with Zach Kelly, John Wolf, Dar’tavous Dorsey, and Robyn Boehm, hustled to get a pilot program together for that summer. The idea was that high school students from Chicago’s South and West Sides would come to North Star with their in-school or community-based mentors for a one-week camp experience in the last weeks of August. The start was hard. Just days before the group was set to come up, one of the young men who was planning to come was shot and killed, and many of the boys then never made the trip. Twenty Fellows and five Mentors did.

When they arrived and stepped off the bus, they were nervous. Most of them had never been in the Northwoods, and most had never gone to camp, so they were scared of bears and wolves and the calls of the loons. A week later, when they boarded the bus back to Chicago, they called North Star home. That first group set the pattern for everything the Fellowship has been since, and one of the young men in it was named Ron.

Eight summers, from Fellow to counselor

Ron kept coming back. He returned to the Four Star Fellowship every summer, first as a returning participant, then as a CIT, and for the last few years as a counselor. This summer he took another leap and accepted a full-summer position on staff. His eighth summer at North Star is his first serving as a counselor, and it began, as he told the camp, because of one person. His mentor, Dorsey, invited him to the Fellowship eight years ago.

Ron was honest about how little he understood at the time. “To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” he said. “I didn’t know what camp was going to be like, I didn’t know what to expect, and I definitely didn’t realize how much this place would change my life. I just knew I was ready for an adventure.” Looking back, he described that single invitation as the thing that changed the direction of his life.

Why one word kept coming to mind: sanctuary

When Ron thought about what he wanted to share at Friday Night Service, one word kept surfacing. “People ask me why I keep coming back every summer,” he said. “The answer is simple. I love this place. Not because of the activities or traditions, but because this place has become my sanctuary. Every time I drive through those gates, I feel like I can finally breathe again.” For a stranger reading this, that is the thing an overnight camp in Wisconsin can quietly become for a kid: a fixed point that holds steady when the rest of life does not.

Ron did not shy away from why that word matters to him. In 2020, his father passed away, and he spoke about the love of sports and cooking they shared and about how often people tell him he looks like his dad. During that season of grief, he realized how much North Star meant to him, because it was a place where he felt supported and safe and where he knew he was not carrying everything alone. It was also why he wanted his younger brother to come to camp, so his brother could build friendships and find his own place here the way Ron had.

This past year brought another loss. After losing his girlfriend of four years, Ron said he struggled to figure out who he was and battled depression, and for a while he buried himself in work instead of facing how he felt. Eventually he decided he needed a change, and he needed this place again. “That’s why I decided to become a counselor this summer,” he said. “I came back because I needed to return to the place that has always helped me find myself.” He pointed to something simple that helps him here, the routine of a day with structure, healthy meals, time outside, and people who genuinely care about one another.

The power of one invitation

When Ron looked back on eight summers, he said he did not remember every activity. He remembered the people. He named the friends who are still in his life, and he named Ronnie and Bobo, who were his counselors at camp and his mentors back at school. He named the people he calls the Big Four, Andy, Dan, Glick, and Robyn, who gave him the opportunity and trusted that he could be part of this community. And now, for the first time, he is the one in a position to do that for someone else, which is what being a counselor means to him.

He closed with a challenge for everyone listening. “Never underestimate the impact you can have on someone,” he said. “Dorsey probably never imagined that inviting one kid to camp eight years ago would lead to me standing here today. One invitation. One conversation. One person believing in you. That can change a life. I know that because it changed mine.”

“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” — Jack London

The Four Star Fellowship is one of the ways North Star Camp for Boys works to make a summer in the Wisconsin Northwoods possible for more boys, and stories like Ron’s are why the camp keeps investing in it. If you would like to learn more about North Star, its programs, or how to visit, we would love to hear from you. You can also read about the scholarship work behind the Fellowship at CampForAllKids.org.

FAQ

What is the Four Star Fellowship at North Star Camp?

The Four Star Fellowship is a North Star Camp program, started in 2018, that brings high school students from Chicago’s South and West Sides to camp with their in-school or community-based mentors for a one-week experience in the Wisconsin Northwoods.

Where is North Star Camp located?

North Star Camp for Boys is an overnight summer camp in the Northwoods of northern Wisconsin, where campers spend their days outside on the water, on the trails, and in cabin communities.

How can I learn more about sending my son to North Star Camp?

The best first step is to reach out through the North Star Camp inquiry form to ask questions, talk through sessions, or arrange a visit. Families interested in the scholarship work behind the Four Star Fellowship can learn more at CampForAllKids.org.