Camp Whatever-it’s-Called: A Year-Round Summer Camp in Elizaville
Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, if you come knocking on Josh Kowan and Janna Cohen Kowan’s front door in Elizaville, you might not get an answer. Instead, to find either Janna or Josh or one of their five kids, head out back—past the basketball court, the too-narrow skateboard halfpipe, the hammock circle, the fruit trees and the veggie garden—to a trailhead snaking through woods and wetland. Follow the sound of splashing and shouts (you might even hear snatches of the Meatballs anthem) to the family’s summer outpost along North Twin Lake. “We live here year round,” explains Janna of the lakeside property the blended family has christened Camp KoCo. “But when Memorial Day weekend comes around, it’s time again to officially begin camp season and the lake looms large.”
Yearly camp traditions begin early, with a mid-spring cold plunge in the icy lake. “Then everyone pitches in,” says Janna, founder of the home design and staging business JannaHouse. “We have to clean and rake and weed and wash and ready the lake and docks for the season. We all work together to open and close the lake, and everyone does the ritual plunges at both times.” Camp KoCo’s motto—“you gotta earn it a little”—expresses the DIY spirit, encouraging all-in participation, whether it’s KP duties or rites of passage. These include a camper’s first swim across the lake (earning them “Whale” status), and the first daredevil plunge from the rope swing—rope burns and all—into the 100-foot-deep kettle lake.
Besides being co-head counselors, the couple also work together flipping neglected homes. But their main job is weaving together disparate family threads—from Janna’s oldest, grown son who lives nearby, down to their two high schoolers—into their own eclectic blend of Camp KoCo camaraderie. By the time the Fourth of July rolls around, the family’s combined efforts will have paid off. “Mid-summer, when the fireflies are out, and the sun is setting, the kids are taking turns swinging into the water on our colossal rope swing, burgers are grilling, and the campfire gets going on the dock,” says Janna. “It’s impossible not to feel the summer camp magic.”