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.