Red Pine Camp

Red Pine Camp is a family camp situated on Golden Lake in Ontario, Canada. It is divided into two major sections by Island View Drive, and backs on to Ontario Provincial Highway 60. The camp is attended by people of all ages, and is shareholder-owned. However, campers do not have to be shareholders in order to attend the camp.

The camp is in operation annually from the Friday before Canada Day to the Canadian Labour Day Weekend. On the off-season, the camp is rented out for weddings, retreats, organizational training sessions, and other activities. Volunteers and Operating Committee members spend a weekend or two on the camp grounds each spring, preparing the camp for the summer season by carrying out activities such as cleaning cabins, making repairs, and re-installing the portion of the waterfront dock that is removed for the winter.

History

Originally the site of Camp On-Da-Da-Waks, a YMCA Boys' Camp founded in 1908, and the largest YMCA camp in Canada, Red Pine Camp began as the YMCA Red Pine Camp for Young Adults and Family Groups in 1925. As the On-Da-Da-Waks camp only ran during the month of July, the Y.M.C.A. decided to create a camp for adults and families during the month of August. This was the "first real attempt by the Y.M.C.A. to organize a family and adult mixed camp -- a first not only in the Ottawa area, but in the whole of Canada" (Nicholson, 13). Red Pine Camp lost money for the first two summers of its existence, and did not open for the 1927 season. However, those two summers inspired "an entirely new conception of how a family camp might be organized" (Nicholson, 13). A group of campers proposed a new model to the Y.M.C.A., where Red Pine Camp would be "a community camp financed and operated by the campers themselves" (Nicholson, 13). It was agreed that campers would "hold themselves responsible for any deficit that might be incurred in the operation of the camp. With fifty prospective campers agreeing to subscribe up to five dollars each towards any shortage the financial success of the camp was assured" (Nicholson, 13).

At one point the YMCA wanted to sell the camp, so campers purchased the camp as a series of shares. Many of these shares, to this day, are owned by current and former campers. The camp also had a mortgage for many years, which was paid off in the 1980s.

Facilities

When the camp first opened, campers slept in tents on platforms located throughout the camp. Eventually, the platformed tents were replaced by compartmentalized cabins of various sizes. Other changes to the camp over time included the building of "flushies" (flushing toilet facilities), and the installation of electricity.

Campers eat in a communal Dining Hall that was brought over from another location several decades ago. Other communal buildings include the Chalet, Hearth House, and Rec Hall. There is also a camp Tuck Shop where goods not included in the camp fees, including convenience items and between-meal snack, are sold.

taff

The camp is run by an Operating Committee that works to maintain the camp as an organization all year round. The camp's grounds are cared for throughout the year by two caretakers that live nearby to the camp.

The Red Pine Camp staff is hired annually, and is divided into Junior and Senior levels. The Junior Staff Departments: Waterfront, Wait, Tuck Shop, Junior Program, Property, and Slop or dish washing. Red Pine Camp also has a Leaders-in-Training (L.I.T.) program for children aged 13 to 15 years. This program includes leadership activities and practical experience intended to prepare campers for a future camp Junior Staff position. Junior Staff must be at least 16 years of age by July 1 of the summer in which they will be on staff.

The camp meals are prepared by an independent catering company, with meals rotating on a bi-weekly cycle. Weekly special dinners include a buffet, a barbecue, and the Friday Night Banquet.

Activities

For virtually all camp activities, participation is optional. Long-standing, traditional, weekly activities include the Regatta, the Triathlon, a trip to Hoffman's Beach, Folklore Night, the Campers' Show, and the Friday Night Dance. Both staff and campers contribute to the daily programming on a week-by-week basis, implementing activities such as carnivals, campfires, and camp-wide games. Sports facilities include a ropes course, a fitness trail, equipment and courts for shuffleboard, paddle tennis, table tennis, tether ball, mini-putt, basketball, and badminton. These and other camp facilities and buildings have been established by Red Pine Camp Inc., or some by campers themselves on a volunteer basis.

ongs

Though a secular camp, graces are sung before every meal:

Breakfast:

Holy, Holy, Holy, by Reginald Heber (first verse only)

:Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!:Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;:Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!:God in Three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Lunch:

(title and author unknown)

:Our Father for this noonday meal,:We would express the praise we feel.:For health and strength we have from thee,:Oh, help us, Lord, to thankful be.

Supper:

(title and author unknown)

:We thank thee, Father, for thy care,:And for thy bounty everywhere;:For this and every other gift,:Our grateful hearts to thee we lift.

Red Pine Camp Song (author unknown):

:Here's to dear old Golden Lake!:Shout 'til the rafters ring!:Red Pine Camp, for thy dear sake!:Let every loyal camper sing! Sing! Sing! Sing!

:Here's to all the happy days,:Here's to the fun galore.:And to thee we pledge our ways:When back to the city life once more!

:To the trees! To the sky! To the world in its glorious happiness!:To the lake! To the fire! To the life that is moving and calling us!:To the chief! To the staff! To the campers that rank with the best of them!:To the cook! To his men! To the neighbours that help once again!

:Here's to dear old Golden Lake!:Shout 'til the rafters ring!:Red Pine Camp, for thy dear sake!:Let every loyal camper sing! Sing! Sing! Sing!

:Here's to all the happy days,:Here's to the fun galore.:And to thee we pledge our ways:When back to the city life once more!

Interesting Facts

* There have been informal, off-season activities infrequently throughout the years, such as Thanksgiving weekends and New Year's overnights.
* Red Pine Camp was the location for the filming of Red Pine Days, a sketch on the television show Teen Machine.
* Jack Pearse, the host of the 1960s Canadian Broadcasting Corporation children's television series "Jack in the Box," was, at one point, the Camp Director.

References

Nicholson, G. W. L. "Keep Your Forks: Fifty Years at Red Pine Camp,"Ottawa, Canada, Red Pine Camp Inc., 1979.

Red Pine Camp Web Site: [http://www.redpinecamp.org/menu.html]

1994 ACA Awards review - American Camping Association. "Camping Magazine", American Camp Association, May-June1994.Retrieved on Feb. 24, 2008 from http://findarticles.com/ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1249/is_n5_v66/ai_15262699]