By Samantha Stovel
THUNDER BAY – Today marks day one of the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, CQ summer camp edition. The day began with all the campers being dropped off by their families at the Landmark Inn. While boarding the Hogwarts Express, all campers had their tickets punched by the drivers, Edith and Nadine from First Student Canada. The Express bus then headed out to Camp Duncan located on East Loon Lake.
Once the campers arrived on site, they settled into their cabins, made their visit to the medical trailer and decorated their name tags. With a few minutes of free time before lunch, the kids found themselves exploring their game options on site. With all the excitement here at Hogwarts, there were many rumbling tummy’s waiting to be fed. The lunch bell rang, serving up delicious grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato and chicken noodle soup by our wonderful kitchen team.
After lunch, there were so many excited faces ready to start their week-long adventures at Hogwarts. Before the kids were able to head out and enjoy the beautiful sunny day, some rules and some Harry Potter 101 needed to be addressed by our headmaster Dumbledore, otherwise known as the Director, Ashleigh Quarrell. After the safety and rules concluded, we were ready for free time!
Some of the campers chose to head over to the Craft Shack or down to the waterfront for swimming, a boat ride or tubing. Thanks to our Loon Laker friends Bruce and Gary for stopping by with their boats. Others chose to play in the game tent or to use their imagination and create their own game. With nothing but smiles, you could say the afternoon at Hogwarts was a great success!
After so much activity and excitement, everyone was so excited to restore their energy with a delicious dinner prepared and served by the staff at McDonald’s. Not only were all of our tummies so full, but some of our campers said the meal was one of their favourite parts to day one at Hogwarts.
After supper, each cabin was given their craft supplies to use their creativity and come up with their house names and house flags, to be presented to the group tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Director Ashleigh and campers Taylor and Quinn joined in for the Closing Ceremonies of the Staal Foundation Open to celebrate $271,500 raised for the three recipient charities: the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation, Smile Zone and us at Camp Quality! We are so very grateful for the ongoing support of the event and the Staal family. Stay tuned for photos tomorrow!
Once everyone was back at camp and the evening started to settle in, it was time for the CQ memorial moment. Our campers and volunteers gathered together in our Place of Solitude to remember the campers and loved ones whom we have lost.
Some time by the campfire followed and everyone has now gone to bed and to rest up for tomorrow afternoon’s big Tri-Wizard Tournament!
This is the sixth year that NetNewsLedger.com have hosted the Camp Quality Northwest blog. NetNewsLedger is pleased to support the work of Camp Quality, and the ongoing battle to beat cancer. On a personal note, cancer has taken both of my grandparents, it tried to take my mom. There are few people in Northwestern Ontario who are not impacted by cancer.
When cancer takes on children, it is time for us all to rally to help them.