A Place to Hang Your Towel—and a Lifetime of Memories
One of the most powerful things YMCA Camp Eberhart offers isn’t just time outdoors—it’s a foundation.
No matter where a camper comes from or what their background is, camp becomes a place to build character, kindness, friendship, and a sense of self. It’s where hobbies are discovered, friendships begin, and confidence grows alongside others who are learning who they are, too. Camp gives young people a place to try, to belong, and to become.
For Phyllis Rasmussen, that foundation was built over decades. She spent nearly ten summers as a camper beginning around age six, returned as a Counselor-in-Training in her late teens, and then went on to serve on staff for several more summers—her final season in the mid-2010s. Camp didn’t just shape a few seasons of her life; it shaped who she became.
One of the places where that growth unfolded was the Mittler Hickory Limb Bath House. As YMCA Camp Eberhart prepares for updates to this longtime camp staple, Phyllis shared her memories in her own words:
“Hickory Limb has been a camp staple for as long as I have been a camper, I want to say I was probably 5 or 6 years old when I begged mom to let me stay the night at sleep away camp. I had tried day camp but hated that the older kids got to stay and I had to be picked up. So, the parents finally caved, and I was placed in 1+2 cabin.
My parents walked me down to the waterfront and my dad pointed out some of the buildings he worked and lived in as a counselor and camper. I was headed down to the waterfront for my swim test, and dad said okay go hang your towel up in Hickory and take your shoes off. Mom and I will be right here.
Just a taste of independence as a young little kid.
Every summer I repeated the same: Waterfront, Hickory Limb, shoes off, towel hung up, get ready for my swim test. I got stronger as a swimmer, yet I will forever remember those first day jitters of the swim test. I would pep talk to myself in Hickory, so I wasn’t so nervous.
As I got older and started to work at camp, I loved Hickory Limb. Hickory Limb sat under a big tree; many times, tree debris would fall on and stain your clothes. Kind of like an annoying little brother of a problem, not enough to make you care but always noticeable. You could always hear campers laughing over the wall. Always brought a smile to my face.
I spent many hours washing paint brushes in Hickory Limb bathrooms as a counselor with Katie Bend and then Kate Long while I worked as arts and crafts head. Many tie-dye stained hands rung out tie-dye shirts at Hickory in my time at camp. We sometimes would take the shirts to the changing areas when we had too many to let them dry.
I always loved the last day of camp when parents would come down to arts and crafts with their kids and see the artwork they had made. Kids would light up and introduce me to their families. I would always remind them to double check Hickory Limb, in case they had forgotten anything throughout the week.
A funny memory is always the forgotten items of Hickory. Kids would leave towels, suits, water bottles…all kinds of stuff. We would lay it out on the lawn and as parents were just about to depart, I’d see a mom or dad pull over and say, ‘hey isn’t that yours?’ Kids would bolt out of the car and say, ‘oh yeah!’ Like, good thing mom or dad stopped!
I wanted to keep a piece of old Hickory Limb before the newly updated one arrives. I have toggled back and forth about what to do with the couple of changing room metal bars. Maybe use it for a garden to grow around? Maybe put it at the lake to use for my own towel and shoes? Maybe I will see if the alumni can use them somewhere else at camp as an antique memory…
One life lesson that I have learned is a sure thing—is, nothing stays the same. Change is a welcome presence in my life. Rejection is redirection, and failure is just one way to figure out how to not do something. So, try again, try 100 times more.
Thank goodness for change. Thank you to Camp Eberhart for helping me change from kid to teen, to young adult. Seeing the timeline of who I was and where I’ve landed is so beautiful. Many years of hanging up my towel at Hickory Limb but never hanging up the towel on my love for camp and the outdoors. Keep the love for nature alive, never stop exploring or learning.”
When we are young, we assume that everyone older than you has life all figured out. Once you get command yourself, you realize we’re all just the same kids wearing older bodies. - Brandon Sanderson
Phyllis has watched YMCA Camp Eberhart evolve through seasons, buildings, and generations of campers. But camp teaches something deeper, too: While physical spaces may change, the meaning we attach to them does not fade.
Just as campers once received small tokens to mark milestones, such as a piece of a paddle or life jacket, Phyllis sees these saved pieces of Hickory Limb as a photograph of time. A tangible way to hold onto what shaped her.
YMCA Camp Eberhart endures in the ways that matter most: Building kindness, confidence, friendship, and a sense of self for campers. Those foundations outlast any structure.
And just like Phyllis, campers will keep finding places to hang their towel—and begin becoming who they are meant to be.
