Camp Arowhon

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September 13, 2013

Arowhon paddlers enter the longest single day paddling race in the world

Representing Camp Arowhon in the longest single day paddling race in the world – Assistant Director Max Muszynski and former Head Canoeing Instructor Ben Kates. The race starts tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 7 am and goes from Huntsville to Bracebridge and back – 130 km with 19 portages. There’s no stopping on the race, so […]

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September 12, 2013

The Red Gods Live!

It’s been a tough few weeks here on Teepee Lake. First the Main Lodge was emptied out. Once the plaques and the chandeliers and the sinks were all gone, our beloved ML looked almost dead. Then, on Tuesday of last week the “big claw” destroyed the ML. Mara and I stood there all day, in […]

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September 11, 2013

A camp director’s thoughts on sexting

Sexting is bad. Our kids know – because we’ve told them –  that any image they transmit over the internet will take on an uncontrollable life of its own, may go viral, and could do them irreparable and lasting harm. This is old news – so old that we need to figure out another way […]

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September 5, 2013

The Main Lodge is down

and the good news is…. that camp really DOES change children’s lives for the better. A new study from the University of Waterloo found as follows: WATERLOO, ON – The positive development that children and youth experience at summer camp results in sustained behavioural changes at home, school and in the community, says a new […]

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August 28, 2013

ML Demolition Diary – the day the trees came down

Fred is cutting down all the big trees around the ML. So sad!    

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August 27, 2013

Farewell to the ML

It’s an incredibly sad day at camp: The plaques came out of the ML last week, and now we’re taking out everything else: the sinks, the windows, the shelves, the doors, the sound system and the chairs, benches and tables… Everything is being taken out of the kitchen too… and next week our beloved ML […]

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August 26, 2013

CBC Radio interviews Arowhon director Joanne Kates

CBC Radio did a show yesterday on the impacts of summer camp, and they interviewed me about how our campers are changed by camp. We talked about how people turn into their best selves at camp – hear the interview at  www.cbc.ca/freshair But what we didn’t talk about was the sheer fun of it all. The ear-splitting yelling and cheering, […]

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August 21, 2013

Camp is silent…. almost

They say the two happiest days of a camp director’s year are the day camp starts and the day it ends. My deepest happiness yesterday – as every year on that day – is from the simple fact of sending everyone home in one piece. That they grew and learned and had a ton of […]

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August 19, 2013

A bittersweet day

Lots going on today: Bronze Medallion and Cross exams, most everyone passed…. tonight was the staff show, with every section plus the instructors singing in homage to their campers…. and then the whole camp walked together to the Main Lodge, where two campers sang a song they wrote about the campfire embers under the moon… […]

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August 18, 2013

What is the true meaning of summer camp?

Just before 7 this morning I was on a swim dock to test a small group of style swimmers for their Arowhon A. How important is the Arowhon A at camp? Here’s one way to know: I have my Arowhon A framed on my office wall – in Toronto. My daughter has hers on her […]

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