Sitting on a bench at a picnic table in Camp Sweet Minihaha, it began to occur to me how precious and few good weekends are in a campground season. Lisa, the co-owner and manager, sat with me for a moment. Today was a perfect campground summer day: hot enough to swim and float in the Sugar River at midday, cooling at dusk, and in the low 70’s overnight. It was Saturday, July 12th, there were showers in the morning, but it all cleared up and got back up to mostly-sunny and hot. It was good weather for drinking a cold aluminum can of something pulled from an icy, watery cooler and inserted into a can-koozie.
I thought today was perfect, but yesterday, Friday, was stormy. A thin tornado touched down thirty miles north of here near the little town of Vienna, WI. The day and evening was fraught with weather-warnings from the robot-voiced guy from the National Weather Service breaking in on the radio while text versions of the same rolled through the cell phones of everyone in Southern Wisconsin.
That was all-day Friday. Lisa assured me that some campers – customers and vacationers – cancelled their reservations for the weekend, because of the scary weather on Friday, even though (when all was said and done and camped) Saturday and Sunday were perfect.
I looked around, seeing what looked like – to my untrained eyes – every RV hook-up site filled with RVs the sizes of which ranged from modestly medium to gargantuanly gargantuan along with the requisite chairs and firepits and awnings and coolers found and arranged therein.
“Wow, still looks full to me.”
“We’re off a little bit, we recovered some today when the weather cleared up.”
Weekends come in bundles, and there’s only twelve in the summer, eighteen total, if you’re lucky, in the season. That’s all anyone gets. And then here comes mother nature: she waltzes in and picks off… a third (?) with her shenanigans. Here come days in the high 90’s with even higher heat indexes, followed by overnights with torrential rain; your basic “Wait fifteen minutes” Wisconsin weather. I realized Lisa’s job – campground manager – requires a great amount of patience, good humor, and troubleshooting skills. Which, luckily, she has. And it also helps that Camp Sweet Minihaha is full up to the (figurative) rafters with character and, I kid you not, great vibes.
Speaking of rafters, the camp has both kinds: Sugars River Rafters (well, tubers and kayakers) and rafters in support of the high wood-framed roof of the Camp Headquarters. This building serves as a multiple-use gathering area with a camper’s supply store, a sheltered picnic table area, an occasional bar, and an open, like, lodge/rec room/small performance stage/hang-out area. It’s decorated with classic rock vinyl record sleeves, funny signs, taxidermy, and a collection of can-koozies that must number north of 1000 as one is hung next to another and next to another until every inch of viewable roof rafter and support beam is covered… covered with collectible can-koozies. The main shelter interior is basically decorated as though a very full American Pickers van backed in through the building’s large open doors and exploded. They have a pinball machine and an ATM in here as well.
Multiple-use facility is what it is. One weekend, this all could be dedicated to a wedding reception – the next weekend; a live band juke-joint. Sweet Minihaha hosts many events throughout the season. Today’s event is a yearly fund raiser known as “Boob Toob.” Hundreds of locals, family and friends filled the front parking area and joined with campers for an afternoon of tubing on the river, live music, arts and crafts, a raffle, and food provided by a half dozen food trucks. It’s a one-day fest with proceeds going to “Justice for a Cure” – a foundation created to help in the fight against breast cancer.
Let’s take a minute here to give Justice for a Cure their proper props. Begun in 2008 by Joan Kamholz who, at that time, was a Dane County law enforcement officer of 30 years, set to retire. After a diagnosis of breast cancer hit in conjunction with her retirement plans, she decided that, along with the fight, she could pull together several somewhat unrelated communities, tie them together in a pink bow (if you will), and have them relate. “Justice for a Cure” became that project and it continues to this day, 17 years later.
“Justice for a Cure” (“JFAC”) is a non-profit organization that enables the law enforcement community to get involved in the battle against breast cancer and all cancers. They hold frequent fundraisers (monthly – sometimes weekly!) in partnership with local Wisconsin communities and businesses. Events are listed on their website along with more complete information at “justiceforacure.org.”
Boob Toob on July 15th 2025 and, with luck, in 2026 & 2027 etc. July dates TBD (ratzin-fratzin Wisconsin Weather permitting) is a fundraiser held in partnership with rock radio station 94.1 WJJO, Sweet Minihaha, and “JFAC.”
The phrase “Boob Toob” lends itself nicely to several graphic-design possibilities. These adorned T-shirts and signs around the campground the day I visited. Attendees on this day paid to tube, purchase raffle tickets, and were invited to stay into the evening for prize giveaways and entertainment. Note: you don’t have to camp overnight here to tube the river. You can park at the campground entry any day of the summer season, buy a wristband, and rent a tube or kayak, and then ride in the Minihaha Bus four miles north where you plunk-in in downtown Albany. (Downton Abbey? … Again, no.) Of course visit “sweetminihahacampground.com” for all the details.
A half circle of five or six food trucks faced the main shelter, I had a tasty BBQ pulled pork sandwich from “Porkin’ Around.” Another truck served “Chocolate Shoppe” Ice Cream. Another served Coffee. Another served Brats and Dogs. A few dozen yards closer to the campsites, a vendor tent sold handmade jewelry and such, while a nearby table sold local CBD oils and products. Many of these food trucks and vendors are local and well known.
Albany is a small town; Brodhead is a little bigger – like a town of 1000 compared to a town of 4000. Boob Toob is the place to be on this particular weekend. Inside the can koozie shelter and HQ, a solo guitarist did a set of “unplugged” outlaw blues and hard rock style music, he was a lot of fun and bear-growly. Later, outside at the camp’s “main stage,” a pair of women did a set of folkier, “Indigo Girls” and “Pat Benatar” style tunes. Strings of lights encircled the stage and the sun set into the trees lining the Sugar River behind them. Some kids ran around. A kid’s play area is clustered in with everything else. But mostly the campground clientele were a mix of younger and older middle-aged couples. Shorts and T-shirts and flip-flops is what everyone wore. You could be a Hippy here. You could be a Road Warrior, you could be an ex-cop. It’s all good. I mean, some people had money invested in their RVs for sure. Did you know people tow in golf carts with their RV’s? I saw six/eight golf carts motoring around and parked by the HQ and I asked Lisa, “Wow, you guys rent golf carts here too?”
She said, “Nope. They bring ‘em in.”
“Wow.” I started picturing the back of some RV’s opening, unfolding, and lowering a ramp whereby golf carts could speed out like they were Batman and Robin on a motorcycle with a sidecar. Still, I would say the vibe is more like: Sweet Minihaha is the place you stay before you road trip to Alpine Valley for a Dead and Company show, or, if you prefer, before you bus to Summerfest for… I don’t know. They got Garth Books and Ed Sheeran booked for 2026.
Driving home in my car I started singing “Swee-ee-eet. Sweet Minihaha.” To the tune of “Sweet City Woman” by The Stampeders. (Search YouTube for it, kids.) You gotta imagine it with that peppy effing banjo playing in the background.
“Swee-ee-eet Sweet Minihaha
I see your sign – with the big canoe – cause I’m going to Boob Toob.
Swee-ee-eet Sweet Minihaha
Even Bigfoot knows – you don’t bring glass – when you’re floating on the river.*”
Then the “Bon C’est Bon” part is the same because I don’t know what to do with that part, lyrically speaking. But, you know, Camp Sweet Minihaha has a karaoke night every other week. Next season, I could show up, hang out, (you don’t have to camp there to hang out – at least until 10pm) and try out the new lyrics.
“Well I’m on my way – to the campground where
Can-Koozies fill the shelter rafters like the stars in the sky.
And I gotta put my tube in – gotta jump in around 2
Tubing the Sugar River takes about four hours to get back to you.
(Repeat Chorus Above)
Thanks for reading. Check out the links and websites.
- Credit to Lisa Josephson for the Bigfoot line.
Writing and Photos by: Matt Schumann
