CurrentTHE KOSHLONG

Spring 2017

Q: Sarah, tell us about your family’s experience at YMCA Wanakita.

A: I’m a single mom to a boy with cerebral palsy who loves to be in the water. My sister suggested YMCA Family Camp so I called Wanakita. I was worried about accessibility and the water temperature. If the swimming wasn’t going to work out, there would not be much point in going, but I learned that it wasn’t a problem.

Q: You signed up but you expected a few challenges?

A: We were so grateful to be able to come but yes, I was expecting a few challenges. My son uses a wheelchair. At the time there was only one accessible cabin. We expected a few stairs to overcome to get into the cabin. When we arrived I was completely overwhelmed; they had put in a ramp for us!

Most places that we go don’t care so much if it isn’t accessible. Wanakita is the opposite. They gutted the cabin to make it easier when we came back the following year. I’ve been approached many, many times asking if we have what we need and what they can do to make it better. It has made us feel so honoured and special. This will be our eighth year at Family Camp!

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Wanakita Community-Meet Sarah and her Son*

QA&

*Sarah wishes to share their story while respecting her son’s privacy by omitting his name.

It takes a village – of handy people!If you warmed by its woodstove during the first years of YMCA Wanakita’s year-round operation in the 1970s, you know it as the “Ski Lodge” or “Snowshoe Shack.” However, its history goes back much further – further than Wanakita itself. Today’s “Outlook Inn” was built in 1937 by Finnish carpenters for campers at Lagakelo, our predecessor camp. Now, thanks to a crew of talented and dedicated volunteers, a building whose history extends across generations will live on!

Today’s campers know Outlook Inn as the base for windsurfing and the source of foot stomping Beach Day tunes. It’s been known as “Lakeside” and “Waterfront Cabin.” To the hundreds of school children/passengers on Sunship Earth®, it’s been part bookstore, tinker’s shop, general store and country inn.

The log cabin would have been here when Mike Marriage first visited Wanakita for a Grade 8 trip with Hamilton’s W.H. Ballard Elementary School and it would have been there for the summer’s his son Dan spent at Wanakita. Ten years ago, Mike saw a notice for a Volunteer Work Weekend. He and his now grown son Dan decided to give it a go. “For us it was an opportunity to give back,” says Mike, who led the volunteers involved in restoring the cabin. “We found the people to be so warm and welcoming that I haven’t missed a Work Weekend since.”

Along with Ryan Biggley the two took a week off work to ready Outlook Inn for the crew that would join them for Work Weekend: Jordan Richards, Sam Mills, Cole Cummins, Frank Madden and of course Mike’s son Dan Marriage.

Wanakita’s maintenance gurus Eric and Dave also went to work ahead of the weekend, harvesting logs from the ‘back 9’ acreage. (They like it when we call them “gurus.”) Mike and his crew needed material to replace rotting sill logs and rafters to maintain the cabin’s original feel.

“Having never built with logs, it was a fun and exciting learning process” says Mike. With the repairs complete, the structure was topped off with the addition of a steel roof that extends over a deck looking out on Koshlong Lake.

It really does take a village, or at least a wonderful community like ours, to keep a traditional camp in shape for the future. Thanks to this group, this beautiful 80-year old cabin will be here for several more generations of Wanakita campers.

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Handyman’s Corner

Andy’s message Drip, drip, drip! Is the sap running today?“Are the buckets overflowing?” “Make sure it gets dumped into the barrel before it spoils in the heat of the mid day sun!” These were the hot topic conversations during late March and early April at Wanakita. Now the syrup season has come to a close and with it, we’ve got a fresh harvest of our very own Wanakita Maple Syrup!

There were no high production sap lines or automated evaporators. Ours was a slightly more old-fashioned production. We purchased a wood fired steel tank evaporator for the late winter program and tapped 25 sugar maples along the path through camp. Participants were able to witness the whole process in action from the clear sugary water sap dripping from the trees, to the slow evaporation over the wood fired burner. Forty litres of sap slowly boil down to one litre of syrup, so there was plenty of time for campers and staff to meander by the evaporator checking on the progress throughout the day.

Of course the best part came at the end, when campers poured Wanakita maple syrup on their pancakes during their final breakfast at March Break Family Camp. What a delight!

So here we are now on the cusp of another exciting spring and summer season. Camp registration is booked solid across both kids and family camp and we couldn’t be more pleased! As I mentioned in the last Koshlong Current, we will be auctioning off the old cedar canvas canoes soon. Please check our website: ymcahbb.ca/Wanakita/canvascanoes for a photo preview of the canoes and a brief summary of each boat’s sea-worthiness. The details and forms are all online, so please check it out – this is your last chance to own one of these old beauties!

We’re eagerly looking forward to the sun and fun-filled months ahead at YMCA Wanakita.

Yours in camping,

Andy Gruppe, General Manager YMCA Wanakita

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Help us say yes to a child!Your generous gifts make such a difference for children and youth and are so appreciated! Gifts can be made online at ymcawanakita.ca or by using the enclosed gift card. You can help us say yes to a child!

Parent Tip - HomesicknessHomesickness can be normal at any age, especially for first-time campers. It’s all part of growing up. Children usually work through this experience quickly. Promising a child that they

can be picked up early if they want to come home, is meant to reassure a child, but it actually can hamper their adjustment into camp life.

We’re here to support them along the way. When a child overcomes homesickness and attains a degree of independence, they feel really good about themselves and they end up having a wonderful time! Please allow campers to try camp and deal with their homesickness before resorting to picking up your child early.

The canoe auction is online at ymcawanakita.ca. See photos and bid on an iconic piece of Wanakita history.

Thank you 2017 campers for your online Tuck Shop orders. Despite wanting to provide the quality products you want and give parents more opportunity to be involved, we were unsure if there would be enough interest to meet manufacturers minimum order requirements.

We just wanted to thank you for your enthusiasm and welcome your feedback.

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Q: Tell us how you spend your days? What are your favourite things to do?

A: My son absolutely loves sailing, the wind on his face and the water splashing up onto him. Three of us will go out together, one sailing the boat and the other one holding my son, because he loves to hang over the side! We also really enjoy our morning kayaking. The water staff are fantastic, they help us into the double kayak then it’s just the two of us. The lake is very quiet. Sometimes we sing, sometimes we just chat. That is very special.

They also approached us that first year to see if he wanted to do the Flying Squirrel. They arranged his own special time. At lunch they put out a call to ask for a few strong volunteers -- family campers are wonderful -- and off we go. We’ve done it every year since.

They harness him in and lift him by ropes and pulleys. When he is ready the volunteers run backwards zipping him to the treetops. He loves it! It’s become a bit of an event for Week 9.

Q: Camp is special for many people. What does it mean for you and your son?

A: Our week at camp is supported through the YMCA Strong Kids campaign. We couldn’t go otherwise. I know that Family Campers are amazing in their support for the campaign. We are just so appreciative!

It is such a special time for us. In the water my son feels free. He loves being out of his chair! He’s independent and people come up and interact with him! From my first phone call to Wanakita we felt like they really wanted us to be able to come. That feeling has never gone away.

There are very few places out there that are accessible. We couldn’t afford a cottage, but if we could, it wouldn’t come with all the activities. There would be a cost and you would have to drive to them and we would not have the help getting in and out of the boats. Plus at Wanakita the prepared meals give us a huge chunk of time back.

Here I can just be his mom. I don’t have to be at work. I don’t have to be on email. For that one week it’s just him and I reconnecting with friends we’ve made over the years. I’m just so appreciative. My son has a big smile on his face all week long.

Meet Sarah and her Son* continued

Strawberry Social Open HouseSunday, June 25, 2017 12:00 - 4:00 pm

Join us for a host of free fun activities.See website for details.

Tuck Shop

“My son has a big smile on his face all week long.”

YMCA Wanakita | 1883 Koshlong Lake RoadHaliburton, Ontario Canada K0M 1S0

YMCA Wanakita, a branch of YMCA of Hamilton| Burlington| Brantford, is a year-round camp for children and youth, families, school groups and anyone else wanting to breathe fresh air and explore their limits.

YMCA Wanakita | 1883 Koshlong Lake Road, Haliburton, ON K0M 1S0 | Wanakita@ymcahbb.ca

ymcahbb.ca | ymcawanakita.ca

Follow us on Charitable Registration # 10808 3825 RR0001

Coming up: Father-Son Weekend June 16-18Make memories this Father’s Day weekend with your father or son(s) outdoors at YMCA Wanakita. Enjoy that classic outdoor father-son getaway with delicious prepared meals and the comfort of our rustic cabins. Paddle Koshlong Lake, explore our extensive trail system, learn wilderness survival skills such as building a one-match fire or a shelter in the woods, and top it off with an evening campfire with new found friends.

Like all YMCA Wanakita programs, the weekend is led by qualified, enthusiastic staff ready to give you an exceptional experience! Novices and experienced campers of all generations will find plenty to enjoy.

Learn more and register for Father-Son Weekend or one of our family camps and getaways offered throughout the year at ymcawanakita.ca.