Governors Project

2023-2024 WI-UM Kiwanis District Governor Timothy Lubinsky’s Governors Project is to remodel the women’s bathroom where female counselors and staff stay at Easter Seals Camp Wawbeek. The top floor of the castle is where female counselors and staff stay. They share one bathroom which has not been remodeled for many decades. The project would include removing the outdated bathtub, sinks, and toilet and replacing them with a shower, new sinks, and a new toilet. $10,000 is needed to accomplish the goal.

A Brief History of Camp Wawbeek
In 1897, Milwaukee attorney Horace Upham and his wife Mary purchased property for a summer home near Kilbourn City, now called Wisconsin Dells. They called the property “Wawbeek,” borrowed from Henry Longfellow’s epic poem “The Song of Hiawatha.” The Uphams built a huge mansion with a stone turret at the north end. Because of the turret, it was called “The Castle.”

The Northwestern train ran between Milwaukee and Wisconsin Dells, bringing Horace and Mary’s friends to the castle to stay, party and relax. Horace and Mary had two daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline, who inherited Wawbeek. On April 9, 1938, Elizabeth and Caroline donated Wawbeek to the Wisconsin Association of the Disabled (now called Easter Seals of Wisconsin).

When the association was established, its mission was to build camps for families with disabled children. The camps were designed so that disabled children could come together and provide respite time to their families. The Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Kiwanis District has been a camp sponsor for many years. Camp Wawbeek is the longest running Easter Seals Camp in the country.

If you, or your Kiwanis club would like to donate to the governors project, please remit a check, payable to the WI-UM Kiwanis District Foundation, c/o KDF Secretary/Treasury, 571 Center Street, Berlin, WI 54923.

To learn more, please submit the contact form.