Forty years of laughter, memories, and friendship in Chelan

CHELAN – The Chelan Girls have been coming to Lake Chelan every summer for 40 years. Each year, the eight women take time to set aside their many obligations and prioritize their friendships.

Deanna Cratsenberg, Lori Hill, Kathleen Merriam, Kay Nelson, Kelly Rutledge, Lori Rutledge, Michelle Smith, and Cheri Oppliger made the choice to invest in their friendships early on.

It all began in 1984, their senior year in high school. Nelson's family owned a trailer on the lake, and for the first 15 years, that was the home base for their Chelan trips. A big part of what helped them establish the tradition was that they had a free place to go when they were younger and short on money.

There were times when it would have been easy to say no, especially when their children were young. And there were some who couldn't go every year. But it was the commitment they made and continue to make that has made their trips an enduring tradition.

"I think it was just important, and so we always made the effort," Nelson said. "And we still make that effort. And we love it. But it's also at some point, you know, you're choosing whether to do it or not to do it. And we just chose to keep doing it because it was so important to all of us."

The women do not bring children or husbands on the trips. 

"That's only us girls, and we call ourselves the Chelan girls," Cratsenberg said. "So over here, everybody and all spouses and all people know that we're the Chelan Girls because we don't go anywhere else. We've never gone anywhere else. We've always gone there."

The women, who are now 58 and 59 years old, all went to high school together in Federal Way. Five live on the western side of the state, one in Spokane, one in Arizona and one in Hawaii. 

"I would say, well, we all love each other," Kelly said. "But we started in Chelan. Well, we went to high school together, but we became really close friends in Chelan. And then we just never didn't go. It was just strange. Every year became a tradition."

"Life has seen us through everything from marriage, children, jobs, illness, and grandchildren," Cratsenberg said. "During the last 40 years, our friendship has grown and stayed strong, with the one consistent always being our trip to and love of Lake Chelan."

Through the years they have forged and maintained bonds, helped heal heartaches and stocked up too many memories to count. But everyone has some standout memories.

"Shirts seemed to be the theme of our trips," Cratsenberg said. "One year we painted shirts, One gal brought everyone shirts from Boston one year, another year one of us coordinated purchasing shirts that were imprinted with 'Chelan Girls est 1984', and yet another time someone bought everyone hand embroidered sweatshirts that said Footloose and Forever Young. Footloose was a popular movie at the time."

Several of the friends mentioned the Sea Dos incident as one of their favorite funny moments. 

"The year we rented Sea Dos with the promise to one of the gals that didn't want to get on, that it was almost impossible to tip it over," Cratsenberg said. "Of course, it tipped over right as we were getting on it."

And everyone still laughs about the night they went skinny dipping. 

"The year we came back from town late at night and decided to go skinny dipping," Cratsenberg said. "Somehow, there was a camera involved. There were many threats that those pictures would never see the light of day. That was back when you took your roll of film in to be developed."

"There are a couple (memories) that pop out, I mean, you know, like the skinny dipping night, but of course, you know, a bunch of girls we're gonna do that at some point," Nelson said. 

One year someone put the wrong liquid detergent in the dishwasher, Kelly said. 

"The bubbles were everywhere," Cratsenberg said. "There was uncontrollable laughter during and after the cleanup process."

One summer, one of the women was on an air mattress that floated away from shore. It was too windy for her to get back, so she floated away, and the friends had to drive down to Lakeside Park and pick her up, Nelson said.

Another standout memory for many was in the infamous pictionary game.

"I can't even remember the word that set the world on fire, but it was the closest we came to a real argument over the last 40 years," Cratsenburg said.

After Nelson's family sold the lake property, the group had a series of rentals. Organizing dates that worked for everyone and finding a rental could be challenging, but they made it work.

"It is hilarious to think about now, but at the time, it was a little crazy," Cratsenberg said. "One house had bugs. Not just a few, swarms of them. They were everywhere, from in our toothbrushes to our bedding."

The other house had a small casita up a long flight of stairs with a bedroom and a bathroom. 

"Well, the plumbing started backing up on the first day there, and by the second day, the two bathrooms in the main house did not work," Cratsenberg said. "After many lengthy phone calls, there was still no sight of a repair company over the entire time we were there. The walk up to the only bathroom for eight women was comical."

There have been many times through the years when the women have needed to lean on each other through the hard parts of life.

They have supported each other through pregnancies, miscarriages, divorces, job stress, and more. 

"We have been there for each other over the years," Cratsenberg said. "All of us have had a year or two where things have not been going good and we know that we have seven "sisters" that are there for us."

"I look at our group of eight that we have supported one another through thick and thin, through marriage and childbirth, divorces, supporting each other you know, in college," Smith said. "I just think we're unique in that way."

When it comes to friendship, the Chelan Girls have a lot of wisdom to offer.

"Make it a priority," Merriam said. "So many priorities and people come and go through our lives. Maintaining true friendships does take some commitment, but it is well worth it. The beauty of long-standing friendships like this is the history we have together, the trust we share, and the love we have for each other."

This year's trip was their 40th year.

"It was amazing. Seven of us made it; one couldn't last minute, but for good reason, her brother was in the dying phase of life," Merriam said. "We spoke to her throughout the weekend. I remember one year I couldn't make it, and we Facetimed. We find a way to make sure all eight of us are there somehow." 

"Don't ever talk behind each other's back," Lori Hill said. "Our group of eight doesn't ever talk among themselves about each other. We share in each other's joys and sorrows with no jealousy or pettiness. We are closer than sisters."

"Though we come from various parts of the United States, with different religious and political backgrounds, we can pick up right where we left off," Hill said. "We all deeply care about each other and are never competitive. There is so much laughter on these weekends."

"Women, oh my gosh, we need each other," Kelly said. "I mean, I tell them everything. I think they do the same, and they're my buddies."

"They're like, I mean, they're all like sisters, we can be just brutally honest," Nelson said. "I mean, we'd never be mean, but we just were like, we don't, we don't hold back. We don't feel like we have to be polite."

"There's a bond there that it's interesting because I'm 58 years old, and I've had friends come into my life, and they've become really good friends, but you know they've moved across country," Nelson said. "And there were friendships that I would never have thought would have dwindled, and yet they did. But this group of friends, you know, even with three people not living in the area anymore, it's kept really close knit."

Quinn Propst: 509-731-3590 or quinn@ward.media.