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Day 14

Today was our second day building the Pirate Ship, and we made a lot of progress. This project has been particularly difficult, but moving through the challenges is helping the team build a stronger bond, and build better communication skills. We still have a lot of work left to go, but since the weather is cooperating a little bit better this week, and because everyone is getting into a groove I am confident that we will finish this project by our deadline! 

This morning I got to go into town to go one a Duck ride through Wisconsin Dells, and that was an amazing experience.The Dells is such a tourist attraction, so being able to go through the town and see all of the atrractions both on land and on water was one of the highlights of my day. Throughout the day, I was feeling a bit under the weather so I spent the afternoon resting in our lodging so I could be prepared to go to evening programming with the campers. The camp had a carnival set up on site, and we got to play games with the campers! There was a petting zoo, corn hole, field games, twister, and at the end the campers got to pie people in the face. Luckily, I wasn't one of the BAM guys that got pinned to get hit, but several of us did get hit. Despite feeling a little sick, this was a great day, and at the end of everyday I am a little bit more greatful that I decided to come on this amazing journey. 

Andrew Miller 

Social Media Coordinator 

Build America 2017 

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Day 13

We arrived at Camp Wawbeek yesterday to a warm welcome by campers and staff. The evening camp fire program really had me excited for our first day of work. With this camp being a kids camp, the atmosphere was very high energy and playful; I spent most my evening playing catch or singing camp fire songs. 
Today we woke up early, had breakfast with the campers, and went out to start the project. I was nervous about the pirate ship before arriving at camp, but construction has been running smoothly. There has been plenty of prepping boards and laying foundation but the team has been working together well.
I was sent to an afternoon program where I played some camp games with the campers, staff, and other BAM members. Encounters like that make the trip much more memorable as the times with campers are always worthwhile . Tomorrow holds more construction and camp programs and I am excited to start it.

Danny Linder

Build America 2017

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Day 12

We woke up bright and early at 6:30 in the morning in a Super 8 motel on the outskirts of Peoria, Illinois.  It was a pleasant change to sleep in a bed rather than on the floor, like we did for orientation and camp 1.  The comfort of the bed made it even more difficult to wake up for our sponsored breakfast which was at the West Peoria Fire Department at 7:30.  Guydeen cooked up a lovely breakfast that consisted of eggs, fruit, bacon, sausage and donuts along with milk or juice.  The breakfast was a much needed break from our normal routine of bagels, and a huge shoutout to Ryan and Alec from the Bradley University Pi Kappa Phi chapter for their hospitality.  After breakfast, we were on the road heading out of Peoria towards our second camp, Camp Wawbeek in Wisconsin. 

The road was pretty uneventful.  It was a short 4 hour drive to get to the camp and the team made a couple of stops along the way.  One of the stops, in Wisconsin Dells, we went to one of the largest and nicest McDonalds I have ever seen. After the quick Mickey D's run, the team stocked up on supplies that we needed for the next week at camp in the local Walgreens. Arriving at camp we were greeted by the staff and given a brief tour of the campus. When 5 o'clock rolled around it was time for dinner. The team filled into a huge cafeteria room and ate pizza with the campers. At Camp Wawbeek, the campers range from ages 10-25 and have high-functioning autism, otherwise known as Aspergers.   After dinner we sat around the campfire and sang camp songs as well as made some s'mores!  It was great meeting all the campers and counsellors, I'm pumped for the week ahead

Carson Leisy

Build America 2017

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Day 11

Today, I felt like a college freshman again as I woke up in the Sherman dorm at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. We grabbed a quick breakfast as we packed the van, then we continued making our way to Wisconsin Dells. To be honest, I napped for the first four hours of our drive, so I won't be able to tell y'all in detail about it. However, for the last four hours of driving, I took my turn as the navigator riding shotgun. Riding in the vans for these long trips has really allowed the team to get to know each other better, so I have really enjoyed that.

Once we arrived in Peoria, Illinois for the night, we met up with brothers from the Epsilon Mu chapter for a great meal. We enjoyed homemade pasta, then we were invited to a brother's house for some games and time to socialize with the brothers of Epsilon Mu. All in all it was a good day of travel and we are all excited to arrive in Wisconsin Dells tomorrow and kick off our second camp of the trip!

Jake Foster
AA800

Build America 2017

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Day 10

Today was fantastic but a little sad. It was our last day at our first camp, The Woodlands Foundation. It was so hard to say good bye to the campers. Over the week, I have made so many connections with so many great people. Serving them was such an honor and a life changing experience. We spent most of the day traveling to Cleveland. We got to enjoy a lovely sponsored dinner at The Melt, a Cleveland legacy. There, we got to meet some of Beta Iota's sweet hearts and then went to case western. There we had the opportunity to stay for the night and I made so many wonderful memories with my BAM brothers exploring the area around the campus. I'm so happy for the memories I've made and can't wait for the next camp.

Matthew Fielder

Build America 2017

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Day 10

Today was fantastic but a little sad. It was our last day at our first camp, The Woodlands Foundation. It was so hard to say good bye to the campers. Over the week, I have made so many connections with so many great people. Serving them was such an honor and a life changing experience. We spent most of the day traveling to Cleveland. We got to enjoy a lovely sponsored dinner at The Melt, a Cleveland legacy. There, we got to meet some of Beta Iota's sweet hearts and then went to case western. There we had the opportunity to stay for the night and I made so many wonderful memories with my BAM brothers exploring the area around the campus. I'm so happy for the memories I've made and can't wait for the next camp.

Matthew Fielder

Build America 2017

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Day 9

We woke up this morning at 7am. Breakfast was the usual, assorted bread, cereal, coffee and juices. After breakfast we split up into our respected groups: the patio crew and the painters. The patio crew was very close to finishing up our project at Woodlands camp, but unfortunately there was a large rain delay that stopped us before we were able to finish leveling and paving the last 30 stones of our project. Overall the patio looks fantastic; a beautiful stone fire pit on the middle surrounded by pristine pave-stone. A 22' by 16' retaining wall encompasses the patio to make sure the stones stay in place. The painters finished up the sides of the barn with white paint.
Tonight was our last night at Woodlands. We had a dance party which was a blast. There's nothing more satisfying then seeing the smiles on the campers face when we are all getting goofy since none of us know how to dance. We did the Cha Cha Slide and so many more. We closed off the night with a solo piece sung by camper J.J. He sang My Way by Frank Sinatra and blew away the crowd with his vocals. It was a great way to end the day

Jon Erbstoesser 

Build America 2017

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Day 8

We were expecting rain to roll in sometime in the afternoon. To avoid the rain affecting our painting, I and another team member woke up early to get the prep work done on the back side of the Wellness Center. We got a little bit of painting done before we had to go to breakfast.

After breakfast, we walked back to the worksite and I was assigned to continue painting on the roof. Luckily since it was in the morning, I was in the shade. I was looking forward to making further progress on the roof since I was the main person who'd been painting in the roof. Even though I was by myself when painting on the roof, the group we had painting different sides of the Wellness Center worked very well together. We were able to split up responsibilities and maximize the efficiency of painting.

After an afternoon of the same thing, we got to spend our evening with the campers for the daily evening activity. As part of the activity, opera singers came to talk about opera. At one point, one of the singers asked for a volunteer to come up and conduct him singing. An older man in a wheelchair was selected. The pure joy on his face and the audience's applause afterwards brought me to tears. It is experiences like this that make Build America so special.

Creighton DeKalb 

Build America 2017

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Day 7

Today was the Fourth of July and I could not think of a better way to spend my day than serving those with disabilities. We as a team woke up at 7 a.m. then proceeded to eat breakfast. The project we are working on is a retaining wall. Also with a patio and fireplace that we have to build. We have made great progress on the wall so far and plan on starting the paving for the patio around the fireplace tomorrow. It is located down a short trail from Camp Woodlands in which another team almost finished the path to the patio area. I am currently the lead on the on the project and have been helped greatly by the understanding of my brothers.

Lunch rolled around and we had hotdogs with beans to celebrate the nation's anniversary. Then we went straight back to work on the retaining wall and the path. We finished our work early in order to serve and have dinner with the campers. In which a met a camper named Anthony who had a ton to say about his activities. I found out he loved to play drums and comes to the camp at all times of the year. He seemed so enthused and was extremely polite. I met another camper while we were in line to get dinner and his name is J.J.  He told me the coolest story that he works security for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Then I told him how big of a Steelers fan I am. We continued to bash the Cleveland Browns as I helped carry his food back to the table.

After dinner we went to Sound Effects Program in which we read stories and played instruments when a certain word was said. Like in a story with sharks we used the drums and when we heard the word swim we used tambourines. The evening finished with the campers singing songs.

The two that I liked the most were by a camper named Amber and George. Amber sang a song she wrote about her best friend. Then George wrote a song about his nephew. George's song was to his niece that she was getting a little brother named Wyatt Andrew because she wouldn't understand. Then it turned into a giant dance party of Taylor Swift songs. Getting to interact with campers is one of the best feelings on this trip. After a long day of work it is great to go hangout with them and put a smile on their face.