By: Jacklyn Spithoff
CAMP QUALITY – Today was a good day. Why you ask? Because not a peep was heard at Camp Quality until 8:45 am. That’s right, sleep in day! Our campers and volunteers, with freshly rejuvenated faces, enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes bacon, and sausages yet again provided by our incredible and hardworking kitchen staff.
Following breakfast, it was time for the companions to leave their campers in the capable hands of Janice and the rest of the volunteers as they headed to the craft shack to make their camper awards.
While the companions worked on their “secret” crafts, our campers were lucky enough to get a lesson in spray-painted space art thanks to volunteer Janice. After a demonstration and the donning of gloves and masks, our graffiti artists in the making created some awesome works of art. Once this was done, the campers made cards for their companions and all of the other volunteers to make sure they know how appreciated they really are.
Next up came lunch, a long-awaited meal of mac and cheese. Campers and volunteers both enjoyed platefuls of creamy, cheesy macaroni and meatballs to fill their tummies. After lunch, we all headed back to our cabins for toes up time! Personally, this portion of the schedule is my favourite…it’s a great chance to recharge for our campers and probably more so, our volunteers…hehehe. When the bell woke us up, we all got our swimsuits on and headed down to the waterfront to cool down on this hot, sunny day.
When swim time was over, spirits were running high as we prepared for our annual capture the flag game. Participants in this game take it very seriously, as we could see by the buckets of sweat pouring down their game faces. The game was intense, and the winning team was heard far and wide with their triumphant cries when they captured the flag.
As we waited for dinner to roll around, we enjoyed some free time. Some went to cool off after the game in the lake, some made crafts and others played games or made puzzles. Tonight’s dinner had a candlelit theme and a hearty turkey meal complete with turkey, potatoes, stuffing, carrots, and buns. Yum!
Joining us for dinner were some of our donors and supporters, including Ellen and Trevor from KOA, Cori, and Phoenix from Mr. Lube, and Gladys and Jocelyn from Our Kids Count, as well as a past volunteer and member of Camp Quality Canada, Clara. They came out to visit for a few hours and eat supper with us, to give them a chance to check out just what it is they’re helping with their generosity. Cori, the owner of Mr. Lube on Arthur Street, revealed a grand total of $8,000 raised for Camp Quality from their customers’ donations, as well as the annual Car Wash for Claudia which took place late last month. Thank you to all of our donors and supporters for everything you have done and continue to do for our camp!
After dinner, we had our annual tradition of presenting the camper awards. As mentioned earlier, the craft is kept secret from the campers until the presentation. This year, all of our superstar campers were presented with their own unique version of the Nobel Prize award. These variations included the Nobel Prizes for “monkey climber” (Parker), “sweet tooth” (Ali), “new adventures” (Braeden), “bust a move” (Nevaya) and many more. The awards are an important way for us to recognize each camper for a special camp moment, experience and/or what they do best.
Our final activity of the day was Tie-Dye! Our campers were all given the opportunity to tie-dye a t-shirt with various vibrant colours. There were some styling shirts that I can’t wait to see worn.
Before bedtime, campers and volunteers relaxed by the fire watched a movie, and played games with their friends; a good way to wind down after a busy, hot day like today. Stay tuned to hear about our last full day at camp tomorrow – it’s sure to be a good one!
