Dave Hibbard-Rode Puig Memorial Campership

History and Background of Campership

Dave Hibbard-Rode Puig was a beloved member of the Widji community and was a camper and counselor for six years apiece. He completed a Voyageur trip in the summer of 2004 (Kazan and Kunwak Rivers) and returned to camp as a counselor during and after college, leading a Voyageur trip of his own in the summer of 2010 (Coppermine River). Dave’s experiences on his Advanced Trips - as both a camper and a counselor - changed his life forever. After discovering at Widji his love of immersive wilderness expeditions, outdoor leadership, and working with young adults, Dave became a professional outdoor educator. While in his twenties, he honed his craft at Voyageur Outward Bound and created the Land Ethic expeditionary tripping program at Youth Initiative High School, in Viroqua, Wisconsin, which still runs today. He returned to the BWCA for personal trips with his wife, daughters, and friends each year.

In addition to being a passionate educator, Dave was a beloved husband, a devoted father to two little girls, a loyal son and brother, a rare and dear friend, and a treasured community member. He died in a work accident in 2024, at the age of thirty nine.

Dave was as deeply loved by his family, friends, and students as he is now terribly missed. To honor his memory, a scholarship has been created to enable other young adults to enjoy the same experiences that had such a profound impact on his life. Through it, we give him some of the future he has lost by allowing him to live on vibrantly through the lives of others.

Essay Question for the Dave Hibbard-Rode Puig Campership Application

Dave felt strongly that leading wilderness trips brought out his “best self,” and that Camp instilled in him the values and qualities that he held for the rest of his life. He once said that during his very first trip, at age 13, he “woke up” to new possibilities for his life, forming a clearer image of the kind of person he wanted to become. He would later write, “When I’m a trip leader, I find the gap between the person I want to be and the person that I am grows smaller. I think hard about my every action, my every word, even my posture with an end goal in mind. The goal being that after the seven, fifteen, or forty days we’ve spent together, a young person’s life will have been affected positively by my presence and that they will grow into a person they otherwise maybe never would have become, into a person who perhaps never would have existed.”

Application question (500 words or fewer): How have wilderness trips at Widji helped you narrow the gap between the person you are and the person you want to be? Who is the person you want to be?

Please submit applications by February 1, 2026 to Info.Widji@ymcamn.org.

Questions? Contact us at Info.Widji@ymcamn.org or 612) 822-2267.