I am in grade 6 and this coming summer will be my 13th summer going to Camp Wabikon! I have been going to camp for a LONG time, and people always ask me questions like “What’s the very best thing about camp?”.

In all my camp years, the answer has always been the same. The people! Life-long friends from all around the world.

Now you might be confused, you might say that you have friends everywhere too, so why are camp friends so special? Because camp brings out the best in you. It makes you look past everyone’s fancy clothes, and the brands, and where they’re from, and leaves behind the real them.  That’s why camp friends are best!

My mom says “you are the best version of yourself at camp” and it’s true.  I love how the people at camp aren’t only from Canada. They are from all over.  And I mean ALL over! This year, I had friends from Australia, Israel, Mexico, and the United States! I also had counselors from Spain, USA, Italy and Australia.

At school this year I had to do a test of about 28 countries around the world, and I found myself remembering cabin 5′s fun rest hours where we would play cards. Except two of us spoke Spanish, two of us English and two of us French!  All in all, camp is an amazing experience where you can meet the most amazing people, and learn the most important life lessons.

I hope I never stop going to camp.

Bella Crysler, age 11

Ottawa native Dan Kanter is Justin Bieber’s guitarist and co-musical director.

Kanter’s also a big fan of summer camp, and always compares touring with Justin Bieber to his happy camper days.

“I always compare touring to summer camp,” says Kanter, who attended Camp B’nai Brith in Quyon, Quebec, near Ottawa. “There’s no privacy, just like summer camp. It’s life accelerated; just like camp, one week seems like a year. Everything’s more dramatic.”

Kanter, who works closely with Bieber on tour, writing and arranging, was speaking to me from Toronto where he was working on the Grammies.

On tour, Justin Bieber actually has 12 buses, for instance, a bus for lighting, a bus for video, and a bus for the management team – which Dan Kanter is on. “It’s just like a bunk at camp, we watch videos at night and we joke around. It’s very close quarters. My relationship with Justin is like a camp counselor. He’s my boss, but he comes to me for advice the same way my campers used to.”

A longtime camper, he was also a counselor at Camp B’nai Brith for three years and head staff for one year. “My dad was a camp director, and I was there when I was one month old.”

Attending Sir Robert Borden High School, Kanter had his own teen band and co-wrote a musical that was performed on the school stage.

While a student at York University, Kanter was working on his thesis for a master’s degree in musicology. Bieber was to appear on Much Music and needed a second acoustic guitarist; Kanter was recommended – and was soon on tour as Bieber’s guitarist and co-musical director.

Despite his busy life, Kanter is still in close touch with his camp friends. “When I meet somebody the only way I can figure out their age is ‘if I was CIT, then they were a senior boy.’”

Even the fabric of his musicality came from camp songs. “We have the same thing on the bus; when the bus pulls out of a venue, or pull in, we play ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ by Guns ‘n Roses. Our bus driver was named Axel. It reminds me of camp when my counselor Bram Rothman used to play ‘Trippin’ Billies’ by the Dave Matthews Band every morning when his alarm would go off. That must have been 15 years ago, and it still has so much meaning to my life. Camp and music are intertwined.”

Another comparison he always makes to his wife is that “when I used to come into the city on my day off from camp, I was still in camp mode. Now when I come off tour, I’m still in tour mode…The single most important part of my life, no question about it, was summer camp. I’ll 100 per cent want my kids to go.”

Madeleine, her sister Charlotte (a longtime summer camp attendee), and second-year staff member Jon Reed were at the Ottawa Outdoor and Adventure Travel Show recently extolling the virtues of the kids’ camp experience.

“Some of the more traditional skills you learn at summer camps are basic skills like tying knots, survival skills and orienteering,” says Jon, who looks after sports and canoe trips.

“There’s a good educational component to our summer camp,” says Madeleine. “We started out in 1981 as a water ski camp and now are a traditional kids’ summer camp with a huge variety of outdoor activities.”

Canoeing, swimming and arts & crafts are three very popular “traditional” activities at Camp Wabikon, a kids’ summer camp near Ottawa.

“Each year our staff breathe new ideas into programming for traditional activities, which keep them entertaining for our summer campers,” says Mari-Beth Crysler, director of Camp Wabikon.

Traditional camp activities at City of Ottawa summer camps include outdoor sports, games, crafts, story and song times, team challenges and relays, says Dan Chenier, general manager of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services.

“Swimming or water play is a favourite activity at most kids’ summer camps. Activities are constantly changing, making each day a unique adventure. “Among the traditional activities are cooperative games, sports, special guests, story time, singalong, board games, circle time, scavenger hunt, relay races, parachute games, Simon says!, tag, and all the great memory-making activities.”

Youth Enterprise Camp is a unique, week-long overnight camp, centered on entrepreneurship. The camp is for youth aged nine to 13 and is offered in French July 21-26 and in English Aug. 18-23.

“This camp promotes entrepreneurship as a viable career,” says Katie Burchart, youth entrepreneurship coordinator. “It gives kids valuable skills they can take with them in life and also gets them thinking about the future.”

During each week of camp, campers explore and learn about entrepreneurship through a variety of activities. Participants learn about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, how to write a business plan, finding suppliers and financing, marketing their products.

Youth meet with successful entrepreneurs, shop for their own supplies, and finish off the week by running their business for a day.
Running their business for a day, campers have the chance to show off their entrepreneurial skills and hard work by selling their products and making some cash.

There are plenty of other camp activities at the Youth Enterprise Camp, in addition to learning about entrepreneurship. Activities include volleyball, tetherball, arts and crafts, board games, swimming, canoeing, beach games, scavenger hunts, talent shows, camp dance, and campfire.

Facilities include a beautiful beach which is supervised by a certified lifeguard, comfortable cabins, a dining hall, covered outdoor space, and separate washrooms with showers for boys and girls. The camp offers a 24-hour on-site nurse, a small counsellor/camper ratio, and trained professional staff.

Participants learn about teamwork, life skills, confidence, responsibility and, most of all, build lasting memories.

For more information on the Youth Enterprise Camp, please visit www.yep.pej.ca.

By Louise Rachlis

Other parents fret about the number of letters received or demand to be able to telephone their child at camp.

How much communication and information is too much? What are camps doing to inform parents, and what should parents expect, while their child is away?

“For all campers and parents, I would let parents know that the adage ‘no news is good news’ certainly rings true at camp,” says Mari-Beth Crysler, director of Camp Wabikon. “We occasionally get calls from parents who are nervous that they haven’t heard from their camper and want to know if everything is okay. Quite often campers are so busy with camp life that they quite honestly are having too much fun to write!”

“We let parents know they can call us at any time to check on their children at camp,” says Jeff Brown of Camp Otterdale. “We check voice mail often through the off-office hours and our mobile devices make it very easy to reach us if anything out of the ordinary occurs at home.

We also use ‘Bunk 1’ service to provide one-way parent-to-camper email. It is a low cost service; parents buy a bundle and when we receive the email at camp it is all collated and easy to distribute. No matter how many parents email their kids, we receive one email, once a day. This is much better than when we had dozens of individual emails arriving at all times of the day.”

Camp Otterdale allows campers who have travelled to camp independently (such as via plane or train) to send home a check-in email, but otherwise the only form of camper-to-home communication is via pen and paper.

“This is difficult for some, as we are so comfortable with instant communication. Our rules include no cellphones or other mobile devices with the deliberate purpose of encouraging kids to be in the moment and with the people surrounding them. Of course there are exceptions with special occasions such as birthdays, which befit a call home. The almost forgotten art of letter writing is what we encourage most!”
There is another set of guidelines for staff at Camp Otterdale. “We allow staff to have cellphones but the rule is that they are ‘invisible’ and only used in specific locations at specific times. Staff are at camp for a minimum of nine weeks and my oldest staff in our Leadership Team are at camp for four months.

They need to communicate with home regularly and many need to communicate with their schools for course selection.”

Mari-Beth Crysler says that “good old-fashioned ‘snail mail’ is a highlight of being at camp. Campers receive mail on weekdays just like in the city.”

Rest hour or free time — 45 minutes before each meal — are good times for campers to write letters to friends and family, she says.

“At Wabikon — located on an island — we do a daily boat trip to the mainland to meet up with the ‘mail lady’; a representative from Canada Post who delivers mail to the lake residents by delivering to the mailboxes at the landing each day.”

International campers get another option for speedier delivery.

“Understanding that mail service for our international campers can take much longer than our Canadian and U.S. campers, we do offer the use of our fax machine as well as email for these children to stay in touch with their families.”

By Louise Rachlis

“We started the English as a Second Language portion of the camp six or seven years ago,” says Marie Tubby, camp director.

A family operation, Frontier Trails is a non-profit inter-denominational Christian camp operated since 1976 by Marie and her husband Dave, along with their children and summer staff.

“Pam Murray of Execuform.com, who was teaching English to executives in Montreal, moved back to Eganville, near her hometown of Killaloe and started sending her kids to our camp,” says Marie. “She and I realized that a lot of people send their Quebec kids to Frontier Trails to learn English informally, and so we started a more formal program for those children.”

With the availability of the Internet, the ESL program spread in popularity. “We’re now getting ESL kids from China, Mexico, Colombia, France, Germany and South Korea. There have been quite a few. Last year four children ages six to 11 from China came together. The younger ones knew hardly any English.”

Frontier Trails usually does a one hour English class a day, and then the campers go through “the usual activities using as much English as they can.”

To advance their language skills, they are encouraged to talk about something they’re particularly interested in. One French 14-year-old didn’t want to learn until his instructor started discussing music. “He loved it!” says Marie. “She is very good at pulling their interests out of the kids.”

The English-speaking children in turn learn about the different cultures, and there are also international English-speaking campers from Australia and elsewhere. Many continue the friendships on Facebook throughout the year.

For more information, view www.frontiertrailscamp.com.

By Louise Rachlis

Camp souvenirs have a special place in campers’ hearts.

“Gymp and hemp bracelets often stay on camper’s wrists long after they leave camp,” says Mari-Beth Crysler, director of Camp Wabikon, “sometimes even until the following summer. A favourite cabin-group activity is to get matching coloured gymp or hemp and create a cabin bracelet. One can understand the significance of such a creation and why it would stay on throughout the year, reminding campers of their home away from home.”

Banners are another great souvenir. “Throughout the summer we create many signs and team banners for special programs and theme days. We try to save many of these to use as decorations at our annual camp reunion in the fall (in the city). Once reunion is over, there are always campers who are thrilled to take home a sign that has special meaning to them. It’s great decoration for their bedroom!”

Camp clothing is also a great souvenir, Crysler says. “Having that ultra-comfy camp hoodie or pair of baggy sweatpants helps campers bring a bit of camp back to the city with them. Many camp alumni still have their camp clothing tucked away in their closet for weekend wear and a reminder of camp memories from their youth.”

At Camp Otterdale, there is a core of projects offered in their Arts and Crafts program. “Kids seem to love the bead work, and projects with paint … timeless stuff,” says camp director Jeff Brown. “We also have a glass etching arm and this past summer we started a new program — pottery.

Pottery was very popular and it was amazing to see the amount of high quality projects that were being produced by campers and staff.”

Val Willis, a former camp owner, knows that camp souvenirs last a lifetime. Now in her nineties, she still displays a hardwood plaque with a picture of a tent and canoe, underneath a shiny gold label, Quebec Camping Association 40th Anniversary 1977. And over her apartment’s front door hangs a full-sized canoe paddle given in appreciation of her presidency of the Quebec Camping Association.

By Louise Rachlis

David Rostenne, Hilary Porter and Di Bethune, staff members of Books On Beechwood independent bookstore, 35 Beechwood Ave., put together some recommendations for books to toss in the duffel bag:

For older readers:
Dazed but not Confused: Tales of a Wilderness Wanderer, by Kevin Callan and James Raffan

“Kevin Callan presents his best adventures — and misadventures — in the wilderness. Entertaining, yet enlightening, the stories are full of enthusiasm and are designed to get people to explore the wilderness on their own, and it’s hoped, be inspired to protect what’s still left.

These captured moments of a life spent travelling in secluded areas and promoting their importance
to all of us aren’t just for outdoorsy types.

The stories relate to a much broader audience; readers who have pondered sleeping under the stars or paddling a canoe across a calm lake or down wild rapids, or even venturing into the winter woods.

After reading this book, they’ll want to pack up and go the very next day.”

For younger readers:
Nerd Camp, by Elissa Weissman

“Pack your sleeping bag, grab your calculator, and celebrate geekdom with this humorous and empowering middle grade novel by the acclaimed author of Standing for Socks.

Ten-year-old Gabe has just been accepted to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment.

That means he’ll be spending six weeks at sleepaway camp, writing poetry and perfecting logic proofs.

SCGE has been a summer home to some legendary middle-school smarty-pants (and future Jeopardy! contestants), but it has a reputation for being, well, a Nerd Camp. SCGE = Smart Camp for Geeks and Eggheads.

But is Gabe really a geek? He’s never thought about it much — but that was before he met Zack, his hip, LA-cool, soon-to-be stepbrother. Gabe worries that Zack will see him only as a nerd, until a wild summer at camp — complete with a midnight canoe ride to Dead Man’s Island — helps Gabe realize that he and Zack have the foundations for a real friendship.”

•

“A few others come to mind, also classics,” Rostenne says, such as The Hobbit, “an appropriate story for someone who also might be on their first adventure ‘there and back again.’ ”

“Another good one, though maybe a bit chunkier, is Wildwood, by Colin Meloy,” he says. “That would be a good fantasy/adventure story for the eight- to 12-year-old range.”

Rostenne also says that “for that same age group, the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer would be a great choice. He’s up to Book 8, but the first book is simply titled Artemis Fowl.”

By Louise Rachlis

Group living and sharing of “housekeeping” duties are useful skills children learn at camp, and often carry over back home.

Cabins at Camp Wabikon house eight to 10 campers and two staff members. “Upon arrival at camp, campers choose a top or bottom bunk and unpack

Photos: Camp Wabikon

their belongings onto nearby shelves,” says Mari-Beth Crysler, camp director.

“The porch railing and clothesline are in constant use to dry wet clothing, bathing suits and towels outside of the cabin. Paddles and PFDs are kept outside on the porch in order to declutter a busy cabin.”

Before campers arrive each session the staff members of each cabin prepare a “duty-wheel” consisting of the names of all of their campers and a matching number of cleaning duties.

Each day the wheel is rotated so that the jobs are equally shared by the whole cabin.

“Cabin cleanup happens after breakfast each day before the start of the first activity period,” she says. “Every camper makes their own bed, tidies their own shelves and performs their daily duty: sweep porch, sweep cabin, empty garbage, and tidy the clothesline.”

By Louise Rachlis

One of the best things about summer camp is moving around; getting away from sitting at a desk or in front of a television set.

“It’s so important to keep your kids active,” says Randy Cooligan of Cooligan Martial Arts.

He says “less gym time in schools, the growing popularity of video games and the limitations of some competitive sports to allow for equal play time — and therefore equal exercise time — have lead to a rise in obesity and diabetes in children.

Martial arts is a great first step in changing your child’s and even your family’s outlook on life, he says. “The health benefits are only the beginning. By becoming active, children develop the mental discipline and confidence to make positive life decisions.”

Cooligan has seen that happen firsthand. “Sometimes taking martial arts can be a life-altering decision,” he says. “The kids have great role models in the school, demonstrating a good active lifestyle and mental attributes such as leadership skills.”

At the Cooligan Martial Arts summer camp, children learn basic martial arts skills, how to interact with other kids, social skills “and we’re building better coordination to become better athletes,” he says.

For more information, view www.cooliganmartialarts.com.

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There are so many ways for children to move with style.

At OYP Theatre School, all camps end with a performance with lights, costumes, sound “and
a great deal of fun.” Photo by OYP Theatre School.

For instance, Orléans Young Players Theatre School campers are active all summer long learning performance skills to think fast on their feet.
“OYP Theatre School teaches theatre by doing theatre,” says Kathi Langston, artistic director of the OYP Theatre School, a non-profit, charitable organization providing theatre training to students of all ages.

“Theatre is healthy for mind and body. And all camps end with a performance onstage with lights, costumes, sound and a great deal of fun.”

At the Theatre School summer camp, Monday through Thursday students work and play in the studio learning about drama and theatre as they prepare for their Friday performance in the Shenkman Arts Centre Richcraft Theatre.

For more information, view www.oypts.ca.

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And for girls who want to move at a day camp, the RA Centre has a new “Girl-centric Camp.”

“What used to be solely Multi Sports Camp for Girls has morphed into a program with a wider variety of activities all focused around ways to move,” says Jane Proudfoot of the RA Centre.

“On the lineup are zumba, drum core, yoga, spinning, boxing, swimming, beach volleyball and more.”

She says that girls will learn the benefits of maintaining good eating habits and will participate in rewarding team building that challenges the girls both physically and mentally.”

For more information, view www.racentre.com.