By: Jacklyn Spithoff, Volunteer
CAMP QUALITY – Good evening everyone! It was an adventure-packed day again here at CQNWO. We woke up a little earlier today because today was the day we ventured away from our campsite! We all had a quick breakfast of cereal and fruit, donned our blue CQ shirts and we were on the buses by 9:15 and on our way to our first stop of the day: Eagle Canyon Adventures! Our campers and volunteers conquered their nerves and crossed Canada’s LONGEST suspension bridge! I was especially impressed by the bravery of our campers. Most of them were eager to cross that bridge without even looking back, and even the ones who were a little nervous faced their fears and made it. Good job campers!
Once everyone had their fill of adrenaline, we boarded on the bus and headed for Thunder Bay, stopping for our annual photo with the Terry Fox Monument along the way. We pose with Terry every year to honour his fight with cancer – a cause and journey we’re all familiar with. Thanks for all you did Terry!
Next up was an awesome lunch of pizza and salad at Boston Pizza on Memorial. Thank you to the staff for accommodating our huge group and providing wonderful food for all of us! I heard nothing but good stuff from all the campers after they were filled up with some yummy pizza.
With full bellies, we made our way to the Canada Games Complex for an afternoon of swimming, sliding and most exciting…hot showers! A great stop for our UNDERWATER EXPEDITION theme of the day. Our campers enjoyed every minute of the swim time, making use of the famous ThunderSlide as well as the diving board and the first tower. Some were brave enough to fling themselves off that tower, and others chose to play it safe and cannonball from the diving board instead. Fun was had by all…thank you to the Canada Games Complex for hosting us again!
Once we were all squeaky clean, it was back out to camp we went, but not before stopping for a refreshing ice cream treat. Back at camp, with energy running low due to our adventure-packed day, we were all happy to enjoy some Toes Up time. We all crawled into bed for a snooze before our UNDERWATER EXPEDITION themed dinner!
Our supper tonight was donated, cooked and served by the incredible staff from Daytona’s and the Kiwanis Club. They prepared an awesome meal of chicken and cheesy pasta, along with coleslaw and drinks to finish it off. A big CQ thank you to everyone who came out for dinner tonight, including John, Andrew, Carol, Don, Kathy, Kelly, Lois and Paul!
Many of our campers and volunteers opted to dress up for the underwater theme as well. We saw fish, flippers and tons of goggles as everyone wore their best beachwear.
As well as an awesome dinner, our judges finally made a decision about the “Best Decorated Cabin” award after days of debate due to some STEEP competition. Drum roll please……….the winners were Cabin 3 with their awesome decorations that represented our themes for the week very well!
Following dinner, yet another annual tradition took place in the field just down the road from camp – the Harley Davidson motorcycle rides! The riders proudly showed off their bikes and took our campers and some volunteers on a ride down to the highway. We saw tons of smiling faces as some campers took their very first motorcycle ride, while some are motorcycle ride veterans and couldn’t wait to hop back on the seat.
As well as the rides, the riders always bring a special something for the campers. Each camper received a Harley Davidson T-shirt from one of the riders. Thank you to each rider who braved the potential rain and came out tonight!
When we got back to camp, we had a snack and then it was time for bed for our little campers. Some of our older campers stayed up around the fire or spent some time with their friends.
That’s a wrap on Day 4 at CQNWO. Tune in tomorrow for a play-by-play on the theme for Day 5 – DINOSAUR DIG! We have tons of cool activities planned and I can’t wait to tell you all about them. Goodnight everyone!
This is the eighth 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.
