Track Meet at the Hoffman Estates Boys Club

The Union League Boys Club of Chicago once invited us to their club for swimming. In turn we invited them back to our club for a track meet on our large athletic field. The Union League kids were so impressed with our outside facility that one member said, “I’d like to trade our club for yours”. The reason why is that the Union League Boys Club that we visited had no outside facility whatsoever. The nearest park was nearly six blocks away. Our physical club could in no way compete with what the Union League Club had to offer but their kids liked our outside facility very much.

The kids competed in largely running events although we did have a running broad jump and discus toss. After the meet we hosted them for a hot dog roast and taught them Roof Ball and Tire Endurance.

Our club had a special relationship with the Union League Club in that their camp director had allowed our members access to their resident camp in Salem, Wisconsin, on a monthly basis and we could even send our kids to their summer camp.

Questions for ULBC Camp

I have a few questions for the Union League Boys and Girls Club camp located in Salem, Wisconsin. 

1.  Does the camp still operate year-round?

2.  Is the camp available for other youth groups by rental?

3.  Have the Kitchen Boys ever had a recognition day at camp?

4.  Has a building at camp ever been made available to serve as a history museum about the camp?  If not this would be an EXCELLENT idea!

5.  Do Salem school kids ever use the camp for outdoor education or just plain fun?

6.  Has the camp ever held a Christmas party over the holidays for the club kids?

7.  What has become of Tent City?

8.  Does the camp still hike to Bong?

9.  Does the siren still sound to awaken campers followed by patriotic music?

10.  Is Woodcraft Rangers still a part of the camp programming

Jay Markle of ULBC Camp

Jay Markle was th Executive Director of the Union League Boys Club operation based in Chicago.  There were four boys clubs and the camp in Salem, Wisconsin that he was in charge of during his tenure.  He was the CEO of ULBC the summer I was there in 1969 at the camp.  Once I became the Executive Director of the Hoffman Estates Boys Club in suburban Chicago, I met Jay gain at a regional conference in Chicago where I approached him about the idea of having my local club use the facilities of their camp.

Jay put me in touch with Al Mackin who was then the director of the ULBC camp and he allowed our usage of the camp both off season and even in season where seven of our kids attended camp one summer.  In the off season, my boyus club took monthy trips to the camp.

I found Jay Markle to be a soft soken gentleman whom I always respected.  He had a great love for his work and it showed.   Our photograph is of his summer residence when he was at ULBC Camp and it as not all that far from the dining room.    Thanks Jay for making the kids of the Hoffman Estates Boys Club even richer by their experiences at ULBC Camp.

The Bare Facts of Life

My Hoffman Estates Boys Club did many things with the Union League Boys Clubs of Chicago. We had home on home softball games, we hosted them for a track meet, and they hosted us for a games room tournament and swim in their pool.  Our club was also allowed to use their resident camp in Salem, Wisconsin, not only for off-season trips but for summer camp for our kids.

After a great games room tournament consisting of pool, air hockey, ping-pong, and fooseball, we were invited for a swim in their pool.  Yet our boys were in for a surprise as when they got to the pool they discovered that many of the Union League kids did not own a bathing suit so they went swimming in their birthday suits.  Of course this was back in the mid 1970′s. 

I told our kids that “When in Rome do as the Romans do” but that advice fell flat.  All but one of my boys opted for NOT wearing a swimming suit.  So that boy grinned and bared it and went into the pool quite naked.  Since he was one of our leaders not many of our kids mocked him.  He later shared with us all that swimming feels altogether different without bathing trunks.

It should also be noted that in the Union League Pool opening one’s eyes underwater was very much required as the pool had several large pillars that were found throughout its confines reaching all the way to the roof.  Had George of the Jungle swam there he would not have to watch out for that tree but rather pillars.  At least one of my boys knew what it meant to be a Roman after that experience!

In Memory of Al Mackin- Part One

Al Mackin passed away nearly 20 years ago. I first met Al through an invitation via Jay Markle the then Executive Director of the Union League Boys Clubs of Chicago. Jay was at a meeting near O’Hara Airport in Chicago that had to do with Boys Clubs of America that I had also attended as the Executive Director of the Hoffman Estates Boys Club. Jay had actually remembered me as a counselor at his camp in Salem, Wisconsin some ten years prior to that conference.

I asked Jay if my present club could use his camp in Wisconsin and he put me in touch with Al being the Camp Director.  Our initial meeting was great and Al informed me that the camp program had gone year round and that our club could not only utilize an off-season program but also for the summer.  Elsewhere in our category of both the Hoffman Estates BCA and ULBC Camp I speak of our first encounter with Al and the ULBC Camp white bus that turned my club program around in Hoffman Estates.

Our club attended the camp nearly every month on a weekend that first year and then seven boys from our club experienced a summer of fun at that camp.  The camp was about seventy miles due north of Hoffman Estates.  Al was also gracious enough to speak at one of our Award Nights at Hoffman Estates as well as introducing our club members to the Woodcraft Rangers program.  That was added to our club program from that point forward.

I kept in touch with Al after I left Hoffman Estates and he shortly thereafter departed the Union League Boys Club for sunny California and that is where I will pick up tomorrow in Part Two.

Lasting Friendship with Gordon Payne Began at ULBC Camp

Gordon Payne probably never realized that his working career would commence with Boys Clubs of America serving with the Union League Boys Club of Chicago at their resident camp in Salem, Wisconsin, where I first met him when we were both tent counselors there.  My career would continue in that venue at five states including Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and Florida. 

Gordie also for a time served on my Board of Directors at my Hoffman Estates Boys Club n the late 1970′s and, for me, that also included being able to use the ULBC Camp for that club.  Gordon is a man of integrity and faith and I count it fortunate to be his friend of just over 40 years since the day we met at camp back in 1970.  The man is a political genius who is ahead of his genre in that arena.  I have been ever so lucky to have had him as an advisor and friend but his one area that he lacks is a good sense of humor.  I tried ever so hard to develop that one shortcoming of his at camp.

He is also an able communicator in regard to politics and a polished writer.  He would be a great political commentator on some radio or television network.  And, to think that it all began with our positions as tent counselors at the Union League Boys Club all those many years ago and still stands strong today in regard to our mutual friendship.  When God made Gordie, He broke the mold.

By the way, pictured is the camp swimming pool.  And, no Gordie, you can’t go tadpole boating even if your grandmother is a shark!  Remember that gem?  Or what time is 2:30 swim?

The Road Into ULBC Camp

I remember this road well as after one enters the narrow opening into camp, they cut through the trees on this windy road until the swamp comes into view.  On the left side are the infirmary, nature cabin, and chapel before you mount a hill and stand just outside the lodge that is heated year round.  It was on just this occasion when I was bringing seven young members of my Hoffman Estates Boy Club with one CIT (Counselor in Training) for a summer session. 

The seven boys were young Cadet members of my club (eight to eleven years old).  Even though they would be intermingled with kids from all ethnic backgrounds, those seven kids loved every minute of camp.  Our older member lasted one day as a CIT.  I had to come up and get him to bring him back to Hoffman Estates after only one day.  When asked if the younger members wanted to leave I received negatives from all of them as they were having a great time already. 

I used that main road many times in the offseason with my kids from Hoffman Estates in all seasons of the year and all were received well.  At times in the off-season we ould mingle with members of the Union League Clubs of Chicago.   I will never forget my experiences at the camp which began as a counselor there in 1970. 

Origin of the Hoffman Estates Boys Club

A full 16 years before I became its Executive Director, the Hoffman Estates Boys Club had a rocky history.  It should be known that I took over the reigns of this club from a friend that I had known in college, Tim Ramsey, who warned me about the football program that ruled the club in those days.  Even before that, however, the club’s history was difficult and long.

Hoffman Estates Boys Club initial plans told 7-20-1961.  This was the beginning of the club’s history.  A massive clean-up detail was formed to clean up this old community barn to make it ready to hold activities for the children of that area.   A kick off drive to raise funds came about in October of that same year.  Two months late the club had enough money to go ahead with their plans.

In January of 1962 a Founders Club was formed to carry on the necessary details to bring this plan into reality.  And, on March 14, 1962, new activities were scheduled for what was to become a Boys Club of America in the not to distant future.  In October of that same year , the Founders Club held meetings with the Village of Hoffman Estates to seek out their help and support.  A year later more money was raised so that the Founders Club could remodel the old barn structure to make it even more suitable for boys club activities.

For a time, the football program carried this club until Ramsey was hired as the clubs first real Executive Director through Boys Clubs of America.  He fought long and hard to make it a true boys club but it wasn’t until I took over the reigns that things really began to change.  I still had a lease with the village for the cost of $1 a year to operate the facility and by this time the Founders Club had given way to a Board of Directors. 

During my tenure a joint operation with the Union League Boys Club of Chicago brought off season and in season camping experiences to our club at the ULBC Camp in Salem, Wisconsin.  Another joint operation with the Schaumburg Public Library gave way to an arts and crafts exhibit of the boys work at that facility.  Club programs were expanded to include softball and basketball programs with the latter having a traveling team that played other boys clubs.  For more information on this club, check out our category, Hoffman Estates BCA on the sidebar.

Year Round Lodge

The building in the background was used by my Hoffman Estates Boys Club monthly during the off season and ULBC Camp Director, Al Mackin, was always on hand to provide the boys with great fun.  At times some of the Union League Club kids also were up the same weekend providing a joint camping experience.

I remember on one trip I met an older Greg Kokines.  I had his younger brother, Mike, at Tent City when  was a counselor at the camp in the 1960′s.  Our kids made great use of the forest around now Fox Lake playing Hound and the Hare with both Al and myself as the hares.  Once when it snowed several boys camped out in the snow for a night and had a great experience doing that.  I chose to stay in the heated lodge.

I wonder if this lodge is still used by present campers today in the off season?  Is the present camp director hired year round?  Let us know by way of a comment.

The Hoffman Estates Boys Club Outside Facility

This was the outdoor facility for the Hoffman Estates Boys Club which, in the fall, consisted of our tackle football program involving three teams of varying ages competing in an outside league. Our Torch Club provided the flag ceremony for home games and our broadcasting club announced the game over the club PA system which included the playing of the National Anthem.

Around half of the club was a blacktop area which staged bicycle races including the Hoffman 300, pit stops included. Around the back of the club was the area for Tire Endurance which consisted of stacking five tires straight up and the object was to move your feet inside and out five times in the quickest time possible. If the tires fell they had to be restacked as the clock ticked on.

On the eastern back side of the club, where the roof angled three different ways, Roof Ball was played with a sort of beach ball that floated in high winds. The object was to hit the ball in sequence back onto the roof until the ball hit the ground. That was a point for the oppositon. This game became quite popular with the kids.

In the summer our club held softball leagues for the boys on the lower diamond in the picture. The championship game was played on the upper diamond. Bubbleball was also played on either diamond using the same ball we used in roofball. On windy days it was hard to hit and catch. These games consisted of seven innings with two outs per inning and once hit the ball could be tossed under the neck at a player in order to get them out.

Springtime had our traveling track team hosting various boys club and even some junior high schools. The events were largely running and jumping. Also in the spring a frisbee golf course was set up using old tires as holes. This also became very popular even in the summer and fall.

The field behind our club was used for pick-up soccer games. The entire area was also used for sketching in our arts and crafts programs during the summer months. This was largely our outdoors schedule for the Hoffman Estates Boys Club.

As part of our outdoor program, our club had a unique relationship with the Union League Boys Club of Chicago as our club traveled to one of their Chicago clubs for swimming and they came to our club for a track meet followed by a hot dog roast.

Our club, through the graces of Al Mackin and Jay Markle, was allowed to use the Union League Camp in Salem, Wisocnsin, for trips on a monthly basis in the off camp season as well as send campers to their summer camp during my tenture there from 1978-80. A Woodcraft Ranger program was even established at our Hoffman Estates Club.

Union League Boys and Girls Club Camp Info

This is a picture of the camp lake and docking area.

The Union League Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago began in 1919 in an effort by the Union League Club of Chicago to provide safe place for disadvantaged youth in the city.

In 1924, with the purchase of eighty acres, the residential camp was established on its current site in Salem, Wisconsin. In 1941 camp grew to two hundred acres after acquiring one hundred and twenty. Our piece land includes League Lake along with a lagoon, fields, trails and many more beautiful and natural settings. The addition of thirty three acres in 1966 enabled camp to continue to grow.

During its early years, and up until 1978, camp was a boys only operation, the name in fact was The Union League Boys Club Camp. In 1978 a big change occurred and camp became co-ed., thus changing its name to the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs Camp (ULBGC). The ULBGC Camp continues to provide youth with a wonderful experience and in 1988 the American Camping Association recognized its efforts in selecting the ULBCG Camp as the recipient for the Award for Program Excellence.

The ULBGC Camp has seen many things throughout the years and continues to provide quality programming and lasting memories to its campers.

The ULBC Dining Hall

The Union League Boys Club Camp had a wonderful dining hall with all the atmosphere of a great camp. It was the finest of any I’ve seen. This camp had memories for me not only as a counselor but also many years later as an Executive Director of a club in Illinois. By the way, their breakfasts were fantastic and their apple raisin pie superb.

I had went to a boys club regional meeting and happened across JA Markle, then the Executive Director of the Union Leauge Boys Club. I sought him out and inquired as to the possiblity of using that camp for our local club and he not only remembered me from years before as a counselor at that camp but agreed to let us use the camp.

I contacted Al Mackin the year round camp director and immediately our local club was allowed to use the camp on a monthly basis in the off season and also to send our kids to that summer camp. Our monthly off season trips were great and the kids really enjoyed the woods, lake, and other acitivities afforded them during their stay there. One time in particular some of our kids opted to sleep out in the snow by a warm campfire.

We played hound and the hare many times where the kids would chase both Al and me after a headstart of about five minutes. Thus, this camp was utilized by me both as a counselor and many years later as an asset to my local club.