Another Summer, another chance to keep up with blogging

If there is one thing that I have learned since I started running Nagiwa, it is that it can be pretty tough to manage all of the things that I need to do, and remember to update this blog...

Take this week for example. We have had overnight campers in camp all week, we have run the first week of our new full-season day camp, we have been on the first ever all-camp field trip, we have done a bunch of jobs around camp including weeding the Eaton's steps to restore them to their former glory and restoring the butterfly garden, we have run our first week of programming, and we have good sweet tans in the super-hot summer weather...and that is all just in one week.

Camp is rocking this week, even though we have a few less campers than we are used to. That said, this might be the best week of camp ever, and those campers who are here will leave saying how great Nagiwa is, how great the staff are, and what a great opportunity coming to camp is. This session we have campers from Canada, but we also have campers from Spain, and campers from Turkey!

Trips to waterfalls, all-camp canoe trips, delicious food, great weather...what could be better?!?

Big News

Now, I should probably start off by admitting, openly and to the world, that I am not a very good blogger.

Since blogs are supposed to keep people up to date with what is happening, and be consistent, I fully admit that I have failed at this in the past. I will try to do better.
In the off season, I will try to post once every couple of weeks. In the on-season, I will do my best to post twice a week. Feel free to bug me if I don't.

Today, aside from apologies, I have big news to share, and I will paste an email that went out today here:

Dear Parents and Campers,

I would like to take this opportunity to give you an update about what is happening with camp. The summer is long past, parents are back to the regular work schedule, most campers (and staff) are now back in school, and after a long adventure away I am back in the office.

I was hoping to be able to tell you all that the new brochure is available for you to see on-line and on paper, and that registration would be available as of December 1st for the summer of 2012. Unfortunately, I can’t say those things. What I can say though, is something very exciting!

For the summer of 2012 Camp Nagiwa will be running for 6-weeks!

That’s right; you have helped Nagiwa grow so much in just 5 years that we can now provide excellent programming for two additional weeks.
With this expansion, we will be seeing some new programming for the 2012 season. I am the most excited about the expansion of our day camp program which will potentially be running for 6 weeks, after a very successful pilot week at the end of the 2011 season. The day camp program happens along-side our residential program and the fees include lunch, but not transportation (sorry folks from Guelph, no buses to Nagiwa Day Camp). Along with the expansion of the regular camp season and Day Camp, this year should see three non-overlapping sessions of our Voyageur program, possible changes to the LIT program, and a change to the CIT program in order to accommodate more applicants.
I promise though, even with all of this expansion, we will continue to provide the same high quality camp experience that you have come to expect from us.

We are working hard on our end to make sure that registration is up and running as soon as possible so that you can start making your summer plans more concrete. We will be in touch as soon as we have a launch date for this year’s registration.

If you are looking for pictures from last year’s camp, they are still available on our website at www.nagiwa.org. Also on the website right now are the words to the Nagiwa song from the original Camp Nagiwa on the Severn River. We have the words, but we do not have the tune, so if you or someone you know might have that information, we would be very happy to have it.

This off-season should also see a re-vamp of the camp website, alongside the new YMCA-YWCA of Guelph website. This new website should provide a richer web experience for campers, staff, parents, and other people interested in camp, as well as a new home for Camp Nagiwa history. We have photos, old super 8 film, manuals, songs, and a great deal of other material here in the office that we would like to put online in order for everyone to be able to experience them. This will be an on-going project, but we are working hard to see it happen.

I am now in the office several days a week, so if you have questions or need to be in touch with camp, I encourage you to contact us either by email at campnagiwa@guelphy.org, or by phone at (519) 824-5150 ext. 251.

Hope you are having a wonderful fall, and I hope to see you again this year at camp.

Sincerely,

Luc Cousineau

Luc Cousineau
Director
Camp Nagiwa
YMCA-YWCA of Guelph

Am I able to tell you which 6 weeks we will be having, no. But 6-weeks of camp are coming this summer. Get ready to register!

Luc

Session 3 - and we all fall down...or the tent at least

So I have discovered something this summer...blogging is maybe not my bailiwick...

It isn't that I can't do it, it is just that I don't think about it all the time. It is a shame really because there are a great many stories that I could be relating to those of you who stay connected to camp using this method. I have gotten better with posting the pictures, and we are doing well now at not only getting them up, but getting them up promptly (like I have already posted pictures of tonight's evening program for your viewing pleasure - high five for me!). But, the blog seems to have slipped through my fingers a little, and for that I am sorry.

I can tell you a few things about this week, now that I am thinking about the blog. We started week three with some new stuff this year. We had the beginning of our very first second session LIT group. Smaller by half than our first group, they are still equal to our largest group any year prior to this one. I am very proud to be a part of this year of such large leadership development, and I have been pleasantly surprised throughout by their commitment to both camp and themselves. We also welcomed our largest voyageur group of the year this session with 11 participants. It is nice to see this coed group ready to take on the wilderness challenge of canoe travel. We also have our largest regular camp session ever with these groups busting at the seams.

Sunday night, after a very long a humid day, we had a huge storm. So big was this storm that it took our tent down like it was a pop tent from my youth. The intrepid RLC support staff were on it though, and they had it ready to be set up again (in a slightly smaller version) before we were even ready for breakfast. We now have a slightly smaller version of our original tent, which we have named tent 2.0. This week has brought with it the hottest weather of the summer so far, and tomorrow we are set for the hottest day in a very long time. They are calling for in the 40s with the humidex here! We are ready for it with a modified schedule which will include extra dips, lots of water breaks, a modified Nagiwa Games, and more sunscreen than you can shake a stick at! I will repeat again and again my message to them: "Today is going to be HOT! So wear a hat, put on your sunscreen, carry your water bottle, and empty it into your face a bunch of times!" Just for reference, this is a message that has been working so far, and we have only had one young person visit the nurse with heat-related symptoms...they are fine...

Tonight, we had a brand new game set up by one of our staff. Four challenges, a big mess, and a lot of fun for the kids and staff. There was chocolate sauce, toilet paper, oatmeal, and oil involved, along with much laughter and friendly competition. There are tons of pictures online, but this should give you a good idea of what it looked like:

Things like this really make me admire the commitment of my staff to the campers, and it makes me think of all the crazy stuff I did when I was a counsellor (and maybe some of the things that I still do) ------>

I know that I have a great staff working for me, and that each of them is committed to helping and bettering each of the kids they come into contact with.

In the end, I can say this about the summer so far. The campers are leaving camp happy, and I think better youth than when they arrived. That is what we are trying to do at camp, build better kids, so that they can help build better families, and better communities.

I would hope that we are accomplishing that goal, and I would invite anyone with comments to let us know. We are always interested in how we are doing, and if we are accomplishing our goals. You can be in touch with us any time through facebook, this blog, or directly by email at campnagiwa@guelphy.org. We are always happy to hear from you.

Be well during this heat wave...we are thinking of you while we swim in the lake!

Luc

My my...how a week can fly by...

Well, already at the end of week 1 of camp for 2011...Crazy!

What a week it was. We had almost all amazing weather, with the exception of one morning where we had some rain. We had about 80 people in camp, including staff, and that is more than we have ever had before in Session 1. Our giant 16-person LIT group helped, but we had over 40 regular camp campers as well.

We week ran as smoothly as I could have expected, being my first week running Nagiwa and with a senior staff entering into all-new positions, but on Friday I saw a ton of smiling faces, and a few who were very sad to be leaving; this says 'job well done' to me. I can't say enough good things about the staff we have at camp this year. They are committed to the kids, and to making sure that we all have an excellent time while we are here at camp. I need to give a special shout-out here to Andrew who came to camp this week to help us out and really made a huge difference in the lives of campers, one in particular. I could not have picked a better person to fill that roll. If you see Andrew hanging around at day camp this year, give him a high 5 for us!

As I look forward into the summer, I can see some things pretty clearly. This will, once again, be the busiest summer we have ever had a Nagiwa. We will have difficulty making sure that everyone has beds there are so many people! Session 2 if full to the brim, as is session 3. Session 4, although not full yet, if getting closer to that mark every day, and we expect it to be full as well. Also, I see our Nagiwa Day Camp taking off for its pilot summer. Day camp this year will run the last week of July, to make sure that it works well with our residential camp. If it does, we will look to a larger launch for next summer. Call us if you want more info.

I hope that you are all having a safe and happy summer. I know that we are!

Enjoy the season!

Luc

And so the summer has begun...

Good evening all!

You have found us on our second evening of camp for the 2011 season and things are really looking good for this year. So far (although 2 days is only a fraction of our season) the weather couldn't be any better, and we have an enthusiastic and energetic bunch of campers.

As Nagiwa grows and expands, we have been very lucky to expand our horizons. This year, we welcome staff from two countries in Europe, as well as campers from all over Ontario, some from Europe, and even campers from Africa! We continue to grow the Nagiwa family, and that makes this place better and better for campers, staff, and our communities.

Speaking of growing the Nagiwa family, this year is our busiest ever! I know that we get to say that every year, but this year is particularly notable because we are on track to fill not one, not two, but three of our four sessions, with session 1 being nearly full as well. Also, we have had to create a second LIT session this year, in order to accommodate all of the young leaders who wanted to join us for training this year. We feel a little like we are busting at the seems, and cabin placements with this many campers are a challenge for the senior staff.

We have lots of great activities planned for the rest of this week, as well as the rest of the summer, and we are very happy to know that there will be many smiling faces to share those with in each session.

Also, this year we are piloting a day camp program for children in the Rosseau Lake area. This day camp will run from July 25th through July 29th, and will provide a day camp experience comparable to our overnight experience. We do not provide transportation, but we do provide lunch, so if you live or cottage in the Rosseau area, why not think about having your camp-aged child join us for day camp?

For those of you still wondering, everyone arrived safely, and we are all having a great time. Today is just about over, and I should hurry off for our end-of-day flag lowering.

Be well and enjoy your summer!

Luc

Spring...always an interesting time

Spring time in the camping world is ramp-up time. Forms are coming in, we are starting to look forward to programs, and staffing should be finishing up. At Nagiwa, we are right on track. We have forms coming in (if you have registered for camp, make sure to get your supplementary forms in by June 1st), we are still getting registrations for camp, and I am beginning the process of looking at our programs for the coming summer. Our staffing is also almost complete, but we are still looking for a couple of people to round out our staff team. These folks would be a little older (University age), have residential and youth leadership experience, and would be part of the team which will be teaching our LITs for the season. If you are interested, or you know someone who might fit the bill, send me an email. Things can also start to get a little busy around the office this time of year as well. Please know that I will get back to you as soon as I can, but I am only in the office 2 days a week and that limits when I get your messages. Thank you all for your patients so far! We will have Nagiwa clothing on sale this year, with details and pictures to come. This is a great way to remember camp, or to feel like you are a part of the action, even if you aren't able to attend. I will make sure to post about that stuff when it all comes together. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to get a hold of me. You can find my info on the website at www.nagiwa.org. That's all for now, Luc

Early Bird Reminder!

Greetings all!

I have one very important announcement for this brief post, and that is that you only have one week left to get the early bird discount for Nagiwa this year! The last day to access this discount is the 28^th of February, so make sure that you get registered before then to save 10%!

Hope everyone is having a great end of winter, and that you are all counting the days until camp for 2011!...131…in case you were wondering.

That's all for now,

Luc