As I mentioned in previous posts, I’ve never had the Deaf experience growing up. I was raised oral, placed in an oral program until I entered middle school, and any signing skills I acquired was strictly through recess (other than the basics I learned from my parents).

So, needless to say, I never went to a Deaf camp. The closest one was approximately four hours away, and cost far too much money for too short of a time. As friends regaled me of summers spent at Camp Mark Seven or Camp Isola Bella, I spent hot July days running through garden sprinklers and my Slip’N’Slide, only to be pried away from watery fun for at-home speech therapy.

This isn’t to say I had a traumatic childhood – far from. But as someone who understands the value of a Deaf identity – and knows firsthand what it’s like to discover their Deaf identity long past due – it is easy for me to say that upon arriving at Camp Lakodia in Madison, South Dakota, I immediately felt like I was in heaven on earth.

The combination of bright autumn leaves, the crisp air signaling the coming of winter, the smell of fresh wooden cabins and the seemingly miles of placid Lake Herman that bordered the campgrounds were almost too much to bear. Newly renovated just a few years earlier, Camp Lakodia – also serving as a four-seasons resort – was breathtaking. We met up with Jeff Perri – known to many as Chef Jeff – who serves as Director of Food Service Operations, for a tour of the grounds.

Sprawling over seventeen acres, Camp Lakodia has twelve cabins total – not including legendary Deaf icon Frank Turk’s previous home, which he donated to CSD. Appropriately described on the Camp Lakodia website as a “piece of pine heaven”, the Turk Lodge can house up to 18 people, with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and an extensive master suite. But bar none the best part of the Turk Lodge is the absolutely divine view of the lake, which is easily seen from any of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor.

The camp hosts a motley assortment of events on the campgrounds – weddings, family reunions, and corporate functions, but that’s not all: Camp Lakodia also hosts Lakodia Outfitters (http://www.lakodiaoutfitters.com), which offer hunters a comprehensive pheasant-hunting package, with everything from prepared meals to hunting dogs, bird cleanings to a weekend stay in a lodge – with all of the net proceeds going to support Camp Lakodia’s Deaf summer camps: the National Leadership and Literacy Camp, which is a camp to “prepare, through a challenging learning environment, each child for a meaningful and productive life in a competitive and ever-changing world” (http://www.nllcamp.com) and a basketball camp.

Camp Lakodia is owned and operated by CSD, LLC.

Related posts:

1. Great Faces, Great Places