Meet Rick, a New Englander who has lived in Michigan for the last 50 years. Growing up in a rural area of New England, Rick spent much of his youth wandering the woods, developing an appreciation for nature. He was always drawn to water and ultimately bought his first wood canvas Old Town Canoe when he was 18. He has been in love with wooden boats ever since.

After a career in science and technology down state, he and his wife Donna, moved to Walloon Lake permanently, where they had had a cottage for 20 years. Upon retiring, he began building small wooden boats to be used on Walloon, while also maintaining their 1955 Matthews Cruiser in Cheboygan.

Rick and Donna were first introduced to Camp Daggett in the 1990’s as they watched the kids having fun on the waterfront while boating on the lake. Their oldest grandson first went to Daggett in the early 2000’s, and Rick participated in his first Kayak for a Cause a few years later. Since then, all of their grandchildren have attended Daggett. Some are now old enough to have become counselors. Rick joined the Camp Daggett Board of Trustees in 2019, after having spent 12 years as a board member of both the Walloon Lake Association and the Walloon Lake Trust.

When not enjoying the lake, Rick and Donna like to travel. Most years they head out in their camper van, with the Tetons and Yellowstone being favorite destinations. After having taken their Matthews cruiser to Key West in 2021, they took it to down east Maine, where they now live aboard every September.