courtesy photo Logan Blair takes part in the annual prank against the girls' cabin at Camp CoHoLo near Papillion.

by Theodore Wiesehan

    Asking Logan Blair about Camp CoHoLo is like an invitation to show-and-tell. The seven-year-old Seward boy talks of water-slides and paint-ball shooting, all while racing back and forth to his room to proudly display crafts he made and other camp memorabilia.
     His favorite part was the annual pulling pranks at the girls' cabin with toilet paper and shredded paper products.
     "They trashed us (our cabin) first. They always do it first," Logan said. "We always do it on the last day so they can't get us."
     While it all sounds like traditional summer camp fare, CoHoLo campers share a common bond - they are all children between the ages of six and 17 who are either battling cancer or survivors of cancer.
     Logan was diagnosed with Burkett's Lymphoma in his small intestine in April 2003. Burkett's Lymphoma is a rare form of cancer characterized by rapid-growing tumors.
     Logan spent the next five months in chemotherapy at Children's Hospital in Omaha when he was just four-and-a-half years old.
     Logan lives in Seward with his grandparents John and Sue Craig.
     "The biggest part that upset him was the day when he started realizing he was losing his hair," Sue Craig said. "He woke up in the hospital one day and his pill-ow was covered with hair. Then we told him that was from the medicine and he started crying."
     Craig said that Children's Hospital sees only about three cases of Burkett's per year. Patients with the lymphoma tend to have a high rate of recovery if the disease is diagnosed soon enough.
     Fortunately for Logan his doctor caught the tumors very early, and he is now three years in remission.
     "We do the cancer walk (Relay for Life) every year," Craig said. "This year was his fourth year."
     The July 16 through 19 session at Camp CoHoLo was Logan's second visit to the camp, and he saw a few familiar faces from last year.
     He is already looking forward to attending the camp next summer.
     Many children come to the camp year after year, developing friendships with other campers whom they see each summer, Craig said.
     The camp, located at a 4-H camp near Papillion, is funded by donations from area individuals and businesses and staffed by volunteers.
     "Some of them that go through (the camp) do come back and become counselors," Craig said, "and I'm hoping he'll do that because he likes it so much."
     There was one disappointment for Logan at this year's camp.
     "They were supposed to go up in a tethered hot-air balloon," Craig said, "but it was too windy."
     "Why did it have to be windy that day?" Logan complained. "It didn't seem that windy."
     Hot air balloon or no, it's obvious that Logan treasures the activities and friendships at Camp CoHoLo and nodded his head in eager anticipation when asked if he planned to attend next year.