GBA 2023 - Spring Update

Camp Hurontario Hurontario is for boys between the ages of five and 16. Programs include sailing, swimming, kayaking, rock climbing, ropes course, fishing, archery, art, woodworking, and music. There’s even a northern outpost for senior canoe trips that take campers into Lake Superior. https://camphurontario.com/ Camp Queen Elizabeth Founded in 1953 on the north end of Beausoleil Island in Georgian Bay Islands National Park, YMCA Camp Queen Elizabeth (CQE) offers programs for campers 6-16 years of age. CQE partners with the YMCA Academy to offer an accredited Ontario high school credit within its Developing Excellent Leaders, Island LIT (Leaders in Training), and Venture LIT programs. DELs earn a physical education credit and Island/Venture LITs will earn a leadership credit. https://www.ymcaswo.ca/camps/camp-queen-elizabeth For the last 100 years, Kitchi providesðtraditional summer camp programs for youth in July and August and programs for all ages in the springðand fall seasons. https://ymcaofsimcoemuskoka.ca/ymca-camp-kitchikewana/ Camp Manitou, Bay of Islands A water-access-only facility located in the La Cloche Ridge Conservation Reserve, 12 kms west of Whitefish Falls – about 100 kilometres west of Sudbury. Originally founded in 1925 near Whitefish Falls, it operated as an “American camp for boys in the Canadian North” until the late 1950s, when the camp was turned over to the Anglican Church to be used as a youth camp. This included 10 camper cabins, large dining hall, and lodge complete with stone fireplace and names of long-time campers inscribed. There was a manager’s house and carpenter’s shop and the large Parent House – built to accommodate short visits by parents who came to see their sons who were in camp for the full summer. Manitou continued to grow through volunteer and financial contributions (including those who were campers in the 1940s under the American boys’ camps). Programs include four weeks of camps in July for kids aged eight to 15. https://manitoucamp.org/ Camp Tapawingo, Parry Sound Owned and operated by YWCA Toronto for more than 93 years. The Eaton family originally owned the property and donated it to the Association in 1929. With space for up to 120 campers, Camp Tapawingo offers an exciting program of arts, crafts, land, and water for girls and gender diverse youth aged six to 15. https://www.ywcatoronto.org/ourprograms/camptapawingo YMCA Camp Kitchikewana Located on the other side of Beausoleil Island is Camp Kitchikewana.

given soldiers of that war “land in the colonies.” Birnie wrote asking if he could purchase it. In the correspondence that followed, Kingsmill offered to send his brother, an Anglican Minister, to run the camp with him, but Birnie wanted to establish a camp with no religious associations. In another letter, Kingsmill said that he would come and partner with him. Again, Birnie declined, noting that he had a very clear vision for the camp. With that, all communication stopped. All For the Price of a Piano A year later, he received a letter from Kingsmill from his new home in Mexico. He had moved there to marry a Mexican woman, who would only agree to the marriage if she could have an English piano and lessons. That was what the letter said, nothing more. Birnie saw his opportunity and wrote back letting Kingsmill know that he would arrange to have a piano shipped from England, along with some money for lessons in exchange for the property. And with that, Birnie began to build his camp exactly as he wanted to – with a small-group philosophy, non-competitive atmosphere, and traditional camp activities that build self-confidence, strong skills, and lasting friendships.ð He hired a group of teenage boys and had them fell trees to clear what land was necessary. The trees were then floated to a sawmill where the logs were ripped into planks and beams and floated back to the site of the camp, where they were assembled into the first buildings, designed by Birnie himself. Lighting was with kerosene lamps, cooking likewise was with kerosene, and refrigeration was by way of tin-lined iceboxes – with ice that was harvested right from the Bay and stored in sawdust before use.

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GBA UPDATE Spring 2023

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