The Final Stretch...

Camp has been FLYING by. From getting ready for the last banquet tomorrow, to sending people off to the trip today, to beginning the winterizing of camp, it seems that everyone is always doing something. It has been a bittersweet week knowing camp is almost over, but I think it's safe to say we are all making the most of each moment we have left together.

Staff Appreciation.

Yesterday was a great day. We did a first at camp: a picnic lunch banquet at the Nature Centre. Each cabin got to bring a few blankets down, and we all sat in the shade of some trees, listened to the sheep in the background, and ate our hamburgers. It was such a fun, new experience, and I'm sure next year it will happen more often!Afterwards, we had tuck and had a day-dance.

In addition to our banquet and dance, we also had our staff appreciation day yesterday.  We got to 'celebrate the day' by playing a baseball game. We had a great time playing against the Kiwanians, board members, and some of the Fergus Devils (a local hockey team).  The game was action packed and ended with a very close score! It was a great time for the staff to work together as a team in another very enjoyable context. To top it all off, we enjoyed a fantastic turkey dinner and homemade doughnuts. We were so thankful to get into bed, though, because everyone on camp property was pretty tuckered out by the time everything had finished.

As we look back on the last two weeks, we are very thankful for all the people who came to camp - weather it was for the first time ever, for the first time this summer, for the second time this summer, or for the 40th time in their life! The variety of camp 'experience' is something so beautiful to watch unfold. Hearing stories and seeing people experience BLC is something that we are truly trying to hold on to as the summer comes to a close.

Royal City!

Last night, we got to enjoy a beautiful performance by the Royal City Ambassadors. The most popular song by far was their take on a Beach Boys classic. In the first picture, you will see that many lodgers joined in to sing along with them! It was a great night. 

Some words from our Lodgers

Today at rest hour, I went around to a few cabins and talked to some of the lodgers and counsellors about camp - what they love, what they enjoy remembering, what keeps them coming back etc.

Here are some of the answers from lodgers Simon, Kevin, Darren, Jeremy, Charlie; and staff Jas, Connor and Neal:

Simon says that he loves doing the Games/Life Skills program with Alix. He is is coming back next year because "that's easy, I like it here!"

Kevin likes Archery the most. It was the focus of walk-and-roll-a-thon last year, so it's becoming more and more popular for sure.

Their floater Jas has some fond memories of Kevin always trying to sell her things to lodgers, staff and visitors who walk by the cabin.

Darren informed me today, he has been coming to camp since 1988. He just keeps coming back because he too, simply put, likes it. He also gets a kick out of when Simon gets the cabin-mates names mixed up.

This morning, counsellor Brian got to take his cabin to the mini-putting course. He says it was the highlight of his lodge so far. He and Connor always have fun when the games consist of playing against other counsellors - they can quickly become games where pride is on the line! Connor always loves to win against other cabins...To this, Simon says "good man, Connor, good man".

Neal says that the reason he keeps coming back to work here is because "it's the most fun job I've ever had in my lifetime". His highlights consist of being tickle tackled by the gang at centr field and seeing how long he can last without tapping out.


All in all, this lodge has been extremely fun. We have some more great lodgers here who continue to keep the spirit of camp strong. It's good to hear the things that the lodgers like so we can continue to improve camp!

Smiles all Around!

Please enjoy some of the beautiful smiles we get to work with here at BLC: 

Third Lodge!

Welcome to Third Lodge, everybody!

As the last lodge begins, we are getting very excited about celebrating "Spirit Week". With a good six weeks of camp behind us, we are able to look back at all the things we have appreciated about camp this year and continue to look forward to enjoying the created atmosphere.

Camp this year has had a very prominent focus on friendship. Our Open Rec program (the hour after rest hour) especially has focused around friendship building activities that include all cabins at once to encourage friendships outside of the ones made just in the cabins.

This lodge, we have many returning lodgers back with us, which is very fun! Opening day was great to see the familiar faces, as was hearing the returning lodgers greet each other after not interacting for a few weeks. I for one am excited to see how the friendships become deeper as the summer quickly approaches its end.

Belwood Cheer

The Games and Life Skills Club has been working on their cheer these past few days! Here is one of their practices. I hope you enjoy :)

Camp Around the World.

As you probably know, this week is International Week here at camp. We did some country-related programs over the past few days and had a gathering today with the theme of "Camp around the World".  A returning staff had some interesting things to bring to the table, as she was saying that on her trips she took to both India and Nicaragua included her bringing some old camp shirts and giving them to some of the people in need there.  It was cool to think about how Belwood Lodge and Camp has stretched its influence well outside of our boundary lines. 

I am currently trying to track down the photos. I'll put them up as soon as I can find them. 

The Half-way Point

So I've been putting off updating the blog the past few days because it hit me that this week marks the middle of the summer...meaning, we're half-way done camp...meaning, in just a few more short weeks, camp will be empty. I don't really want to think about that. It's much too sad. Today, though, I've decided I can brave the sadness and put my best foot forward to talk about the fun things that are happening in Second Lodge.

Last night, we celebrated everyone's birthday by having a Birthday Party for mass program. All of the cabins rotated through party games like Musical Chairs, Bouncing on the Bouncer, Balloon Games, Pin the Mustache on the Mario, Parachute, The Egg and Spoon Race, Apple Bobbing, Tag, and Ball Toss. To top it off, we all got Ice Cream to celebrate!

Please enjoy these pictures that were taken last night!

The memory of camp

For the past few days, we have been thinking and talking about camp memories. At Chapel on Sunday, a staff member told a story about how camp got to where it is. I guess you could say it was Belwood Lodge and Camp's memory. She described all different places on camp property that have changed and evolved over the years. I decided it would be nice to upload some photos of camp property and describe a little bit of it's memory - of how it came to be how it is today...So, here it goes! 

This is the Activity Centre. (As a side note, it is the focus of our Walk-and-Roll-a-thon this year). The AC is used for board games, puzzles, ping pong, air lites, air hockey, the bouncer and other fun activities like that.  It is a recent addition to camp - and by recent, I mean after 1970. Around a decade ago, though, the AC got replaced because of a fire. It is now proudly holds the "I love Camp" sign, and continues to be a favourite program place for many people - lodgers and staff alike.

The Nature Centre (2006) and the Barnyard (2011) are some of the newest additions to camp.  The barn was built before 2011, but was deemed unsafe. It reopened again just a few years ago and has been a hit since. This year, we have 2 sheep, 3 pigs, some rabbits and some chickens. We are doing a community garden this year at the nature centre. It's really nice to see the space there being put to great use, and it's also nice to see the project progress throughout the summer.

These are pictures of 'Pete's Place' - our camping destination! In 2008, we replaced the army tents with the tee-pees. It is much more of an experience with these tee-pees. The campfires and sounds of the water front make camping a nice getaway on the weekends at camp. Pete's Place is actually named after a previous staff member (as is Harry's Hollow, which is on the opposite side of camp). 

The baseball diamond was the recipient of Walk-and-Roll in 2006. This is the spot where every year we take on the Kwanians in a baseball match.  There's not much to say about this place, except that it is such an improvement from the make-shift diamond that used to be there. It's a fun program that includes benches for those who would prefer to watch the game as opposed to play. (I am included in that group of people). 

These are the cabins! They are beautiful! They take the place of the rickety white cabins some may remember. They were built in stages, and the new design is much more accessible. The colours coordinate with each other - Green, Orange, Red, Yellow and Blue on each 'side' of camp.


Camp has come a long way. We are proud of our past, as it has made us what we are today - and we love what camp has become! It's fun to think about where we might be soon. All of this has been possible because of YOUR support, so thanks for that. Many, many people have benefited because of the support you have all shown, weather it has been by sending people to camp to volunteering to donating. We have the best support system!

A Sunny Belwood Day

These are some pictures of how we are all enjoying the sun and heat here at camp! It has made some of us put on the bathing suits, while others are enjoying the heat in a little more of a relaxed fashion... :) Hopefully all of you are enjoying the week as much as we are! 

Hot hot heat!

Today...it is sweltering. As the thermometer rises, so do the creative ways we have had to discover to keep everyone cool.  From swimming in the pool to spraying the pigs to running through the sprinklers, everyone seems to be happy about the water games and the relief they provide. To get excited about our carnival tomorrow, we are going to be watching the movie Madagascar 3. It will also be nice to sit down and not have to run around in this heat.

Some of the lodgers got to go to the zoo today. They each got placed in animal groups. The team name corresponded with an animal that is held at the zoo. The teams were encouraged to learn about their animal and intentionally visit its exhibit.

Tomorrow marks the first mini-banquet of 2013.  For the people who are staying just for the first week, we are going to celebrate by having an outdoor dinner, awards and dressing up included. It will be sad to see our short-term lodgers leave, but it has been a fun time getting to know each other, and we look forward to meeting the next week's lodgers who will come on Monday!

Back at It

I just found some breathing time on opening day for All Ages Lodge.

I first would just like to thank everyone who was involved in any capacity. If you came to camp as a lodger, if you brought a lodger, picked up a lodger, called a lodger, volunteered, visited or donated to camp, we sincerely appreciate it. It's a cliche statement to make, but we could not be where we are without you wonderful people. From the bottom of all of our hearts, thank you. Thank you a hundred times over!

As first lodger ended, all the staff had the weekend off to rest up, reflect on how it went, and get prepared for the younger crowed who are currently registering. Opening days are always a little hectic (as most of you who are reading this know), but the business is closely accompanied by excitement and anticipation for the next two weeks. The forecast looks a little sunnier and warm this week, which brings its own set of excitements and challenges.

This lodge we feature carnival and fantasy week. We have some fun program ideas up our sleeves and a lot of costumes that will help to boost camp spirit and excitement.

We're excited to get this lodge under way as well.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, you can email info@belwoodlodgeandcamp.com.

Thanks again to all!

Be Our Guest

Today is a day for guests! 

     We are very much looking forward to evening program tonight. We will be enjoying music from some visitors called Grand Harmony.  They are a group of women who will be gracing us with their beautiful voices. Weather permitting, they will be putting on their concert/show at the amphitheater. The sun is now shining, so our fingers are crossed for better weather than last night. 

     We also had some of our lodger's relatives come visit today. It's always a nice surprise for the lodgers when they get to see a familiar face as the lodge starts to slow down. 

     Also today, we had a very special guest all the way from overseas! The old cook, known by many as "Yeti" recently came back to Canada from England, and visited us today, distant English accent included. 

    We agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson in that we believe that "The ornament of a house is the friend who frequents it."  Thanks to all the visitors who have made time in their day to make ours better! 

Full Steam Ahead!

Today we welcomed all the lodgers who are staying with us for one week. 

Now that all the cabins are full, things are going full speed ahead into a wonderful summer.  We had a nice amount of sunshine, tuck, and are having Kangaroo Court (a "fun-rule-making" game) today, making today one of the highlights of first lodge so far. 

As I sit down to write this blog, I'm trying to go through all the events of today to pick something to elaborate on, but it's proving to be a difficult task. One exciting thing that comes to mind is the Lodge Newspaper. As this gets underway, it's fun to hear what things the lodgers enjoyed the most so far about camp and what they are still looking forward to. It's also fun to act as reporters and photographers to capture the highlights of day-to-day camp and attempt to put into words the special moments that happen while we're here; one of which being the Chapel that we held yesterday morning. Our theme was "I <3 camp", and it was very fun to hear from the lodgers the reasons they love camp. The theme of friendship often camp up - it is a place where friendships are indeed made, it seems. 

One other thing I have been noticing these past few days is the unique relationship development that is happening between lodgers and staff, lodgers and lodgers, and staff and staff. It's almost like a self-discovery camp here at Belwood, finding out the different ways in which we thrive. I feel like the statement often said about camp, that "there truly is no place on earth like it" is indeed a truth I've come to learn about Belwood. (My apologies if these blog entries sound the same. I seem to talk a lot about how special camp is, but I honestly couldn't think of something more heartfelt and sincere to say about this place.)

It's raining, it's pouring!

We're at it again: playing in the rain! 

It's been VERY wet these past few days, but that hasn't stop the camp festivities! Thankfully, our staff and lodgers packed for any potential weather. Armed in rubber boots and rain jackets, everyone at camp braved the weather and made the best of what Mother Nature gave us.  Earlier this afternoon, a few of us were discouraged by the sad, rainy weather; so our Director and out trip director saw an opportunity to make us all laugh: by inventing a spur-of-the-moment mudslide. Staff and lodgers watched as they ran through centre field, dripping wet, and slipping everywhere. 

For those of us who are less brave, we took to blowing bubbles, takingshelter under the treehouse, sitting on the porches at the cabins, or taking pictures of the fun.

It's a returning pleasure to notice that camp spirit is not weather permitting!  We've got enough smiling faces around to keep our spirits high. 

(That's not to say we wouldn't appreciate some sunshine for the weekend...)