Lewis Reimann Lewis Charles Reimann ( 1890 – August 20 , 1961 ) was an American author , camp operator , politician and football player . A native of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan , Reimann played college football for the Michigan Wolverines in 1914 and 1915 . He founded the University of Michigan Fresh Air Camp for underprivileged boys in 1921 . Six years later , in 1927 , he founded Camp Charlevoix which he operated until 1948 . In the 1950s , Reimann wrote several books on the history of the Upper Peninsula and the Gogebic Range . He also ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic Party candidate for the office of Mayor of Ann Arbor , Michigan in 1951 , and for a seat in the Michigan State Senate in 1954 . Early years . Reimann was born in Michigan ' s Upper Peninsula in 1890 . A descendant of German immigrants , he grew up surrounded by the lumber and mining booms in the Iron River district , and played football at Iron River High School . University of Michigan . Reimann subsequently enrolled at the University of Michigan where he was a lineman on Fielding H . Yost ' s Michigan Wolverines football teams in 1914 and 1915 . In Michigan ' s 1914 victory over Harvard , Reimann made more tackles than the rest of the Michigan team . He was selected as a second - team All - America at the conclusion of the 1914 season . In 1915 , Reimann also won the Michigan and Big Ten Conference heavyweight wrestling championship . An injury limited his playing time during the 1915 college football season ; he appeared only briefly in one game . While attending Michigan , Reimann also became a leader in the " clean athletic movement . " Reimann was an outspoken advocate of banning alcohol from college campuses and in 1916 published an article in the YMCA publication " Association Men " on the topic of alcohol and athletics . He noted the prevalence of alcohol on Michigan ' s campus : " It was customary after a big victory and when thousands of visitors were in town for the average student to go downtown to celebrate . He got filled with ' spirit , ' but not the kind that helped his university ' s reputation . Scenes were enacted that caused the loyal and serious minded student to hang his head in shame . The visitors were not slow in spreading their impressions of the school . " Reimann was also a member of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity . He later served as the fourth national president of the fraternity , serving in that role from 1925 to 1927 . Fresh Air Camp and Camp Charlevoix . Reimann graduated from the University of Michigan as part of the Literary Class of 1916 and married Pearle Shewell on June 2 , 1917 , in Genoa , Ohio . At that time , he was employed as the YMCA Secretary for Barry County , Michigan . In the late 1910s , he became involved in YMCA camps , the Intercollegiate Prohibition Association , and the Student Christian Association . In 1921 , he founded the University of Michigan Fresh Air Camp for underprivileged boys . The Fresh Air Camp was located on 4 , 200 feet of wooded lake front 10 miles north of Port Huron , Michigan . It providing recreation and camp activities under the guidance of Michigan students and alumni for boys from poor homes , the juvenile court , and the detention home . In 1921 , Reimann described the first Fresh Air Camp in " The Michigan Alumnus " : " Three sections of ten days each , beginning July 12 , were crammed full of happiness for these street urchins , who indulged in swimming hiking , baseball , nature study , campfire stunts , songs and talks . . . . Most of the boys returned home heavier , and surely healthier and happier , because Michigan men and women proved themselves unselfish . " One author has described Michigan ' s Fresh Air Camp and similar programs as " the country ’ s first attempts to conceptualize and intervene in the lives of ' at risk ' youth populations . " Reimann served as the chief counselor and camp director ; he continued to work with the Fresh Air Camp for four years . Based on his success in running the Fresh Air Camp , friends urged Reimann to develop a private camp . In 1927 , Reimann founded Camp Charlevoix . He first opened the camp in a temporary location in Ironton , Michigan in Charlevoix County . In 1928 , he found a site on the shores of Lake Charlevoix . The site had 170 acres and three - quarters of a mile of lake frontage . Reimann personally drew the plans for the camp ' s 23 buildings . The permanent camp was completed in 1929 . Reimann operated Camp Charlevoix for more than 20 years . In 1937 , he expanded the facilities with the addition of five new log buildings . Reimann sold Camp Charlevoix in 1948 . Reimann became a consultant for some 150 camps across the United States , worked with the American Camping Association , and founded National Boys and Girls Camp Week . In 1958 , the University of Michigan Press published Reimann ' s book , " The Successful Camp . " Author . Reimann became known as an authority on the history of the Upper Peninsula and Gogebic Range . His first book , " Between the Iron and the Pine : A Biography of a Pioneer Family and a Pioneer Town " was published in 1951 . " Between the Iron and the Pine " contains Reimann ' s personal reminiscences , local folklore , and descriptions of " memorable local characters . " With the success of his first book , Reimann wrote several other books on the region ' s history , including " When Pine Was King " ( 1952 ) , " Incredible Seney : The First Complete Story of Michigan ' s Fabulous Lumber Town " ( 1953 ) , " Hurley — Still No Angel " ( 1954 ) , and " The Game Warden and the Poachers " ( 1959 ) . Politics . In his later years , Reimann also ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for Mayor of Ann Arbor , Michigan in 1951 . He ran as a Democrat and was defeated by the incumbent Republican Mayor William E . Brown , Jr . He also ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Michigan State Senate in 1954 . He had previously served as a " dry " delegate from Washtenaw County to the 1933 Michigan Constitutional Convention to ratify the Twenty - first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealing Prohibition . Family , death and honors . In August 1961 , Reimann died at his home in Ann Arbor , Michigan , following a long illness at age 70 . He was survived by his wife , Pearle , a daughter , Mrs . Lawrence S . Smith , and three grandchildren . He was posthumously inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 .