CCA 2016 Award Winners
CCA is proud to recognize camping leaders from across the country who have made exceptional contributions to our industry within their own province and nationally.
Ron Johnstone Lifetime Achievement Award
Joe Kronick
Joe Kronick (second from left) with family and CCA Past President Jill Dundas (centre).
Joe Kronick has been a very active member of the CCA Insurance Committee for well-over 20 years and has made an immense contribution to the great policies that we are now so proud to offer to our CCA and Provincial camp members.
Joe was one of the prime members of an original group of camp professionals who saw that camps needed their own specially written insurance policies to fit their needs quite distinctly from any then available general commercial/business insurance policies.
When CCA made the decision to develop and offer proper insurance coverage to accredited camp members, we were able to benefit from a great deal of the work that Joe and his group had already done. We were extremely pleased when Joe accepted our invitation to join the CCA Insurance Committee and work with us to further develop and hone the policies.
As a committee member, Joe is a tireless worker and took on projects at virtually every meeting. He is the first to complete his tasks and is a huge storehouse of information and sage advice.
Jack Pearse Award of Honour
Mark Diamond
Mark Diamond (right) with CCA Past President Jill Dundas
As Chair of the CCA Government Relations Committee, for the past several years, Mark has devoted countless hours communicating with government officials and meeting with lobbying organizations as he and his committee worked on behalf of all camps affected by new government regulations. He has tackled boating and foreign worker regulations and the Child Care and Early Years Act. In addition, Mark is a member of the OCA Board and in 2016 spear-headed an initiative for Ontario camps to invite new Canadians to attend camp at no cost.
Award of Excellence
Howard Martin
For over 55 years, Howard has worked with children and youth in education and social services. Some of this work has taken him overseas to a South Africa Educational Management Project, an Educational Leadership Project in Trinidad and Tobago and closer to home, the Special Education Pilot Project with the First Nations Educational Council in Quebec. In 2005, he provided support and guidance to the Directors of Youth Protection in Nunavik for four years.
For the past 35 years, Howard’s passion has been Camp Weredale, in the Laurentians, a summer camp for children and youth at risk from foster homes and residential services of the Batshaw Youth and Family Centres in Montreal as well as other referring social agencies. Established in 1934, Camp Weredale is a summer camp for boys and girls, aged five to seventeen, who are receiving youth protection social services.
In the 1980s it became a special needs camp for both boys and girls from the Youth Horizons Reception Centre
In the 1990s (respite) programs of support to foster children and families were added to accommodate this growing category of children
Rob Tiessen
Rob Tiessen (left) with Paul Bailey.
Rob has been a constant example and inspiring leader and mentor for camping in BC for many years. As a counsellor, program staff and now an Executive Director, Rob continues to promote inclusive and traditional camping for all children while also creating space for diversity and progressive change. Rob has continued to push Camp Squeah to be a friend and ally to local Indigenous children, youth and families. Rob has been a long-time volunteer with FCC and BCCA including a number of years helping plan the annual BC Camping Conference
Nick Kitchen
Nick has helped run the, New Brunswick provincial canoe course for the past 15 years. This program has trained countless counsellors, thereby helping camps reach and exceed accreditation standards. Nick has also become the NB representative for Paddle Canada and the advocate for camping on that board. He now works permanently for Camp Centennial, encouraging the growth and success of camping in the province.
Kathy Koehler
Kathy and her husband Gary have provided leadership to the United Church’s Camp Kasota West for over 20 years. Kathy has served on many camping boards including the Canadian Camping Association Board of Directors. Currently Kathy sits on the Alberta Camping Association Board as Vice-President.
Kathy is a strong, calm and quiet leader that many in the camping industry in Alberta and across Canada can look to for wisdom, guidance and support.
Transgender Campers
In the past six years, on three separate occasions, Ted Lockie (Manager, Camp and Youth Programs, Western Canada, Canadian Diabetes Association) received a request from parents asking him if he would register a transgender camper. Ted shares his experience.
When Lockie was asked to register a transgender camper, he did not hesitate. Ted simply asked the parent to identify whether their child chose to live in a female or a male cabin. In all three cases, a female was transitioning to a male. Ted was confident that the child would not behave in any way to make the cabin mates uncomfortable as that would be difficult for themselves as well. In most cases, the other campers were unaware of the gender change. Only the camper’s counsellor and the medical staff were informed.
In Ted’s experience, no problems arose and he received no negative feedback from other parents. He states, “It is not a problem; don’t make it a problem.” Ted is a millennial and completely comfortable with the situation. He speculates that older camp directors may be less at ease because they have had less experience with transgender youth. He considers that the issue may be more of a challenge for those with strong religious beliefs that do not accept gender change.
Ted believes that because camp is an inclusive, accepting, supportive environment, it is a great place for transgender youth to learn how to navigate society. They become accustomed to using a different washroom, have the opportunity to play on a different sports team or even start talking about the changes that they are experiencing.
Camp’s a Success for Syrian Newcomers
During World War II, Mary Edgar, Founding Director of Glen Bernard Camp for girls, organized a group of alumnae to offer a camp respite to girls from the UK to escape bombs and horrible air raids. The camp was called Shangri-La. To celebrate their 95th season in the spirit of May Edgar, the camp decided to invite twenty-four Syrian girls to enjoy a Canadian camping experience.
Throughout the winter of 2015/16, Director Joc Palm and Associate Director Kim Graydon began their research and preparations to launch GBC for Syria. After meeting with various organizations and agencies, they began to receive applications from several Syrian families new to Canada. With an album of camp photographs showing the site and the activities, they visited each of the applicants’ families across the province with one or more of their sponsors and when necessary with the assistance of a translator. They spent hours with each family, answering questions and building trust.
One incident was memorable. Kim had answered “no” to one girl’s question, “Is there electric?” because at GBC the girls do not have hydro in their cabins. All of a sudden, the two sisters looked at one another, began speaking quickly to their father in Arabic and rolling their eyes. The father then spoke to them somewhat sternly. When Joc and Kim asked the translator what he had said to his daughters, he replied, “He told them if they could survive a year and a half in a refugee camp in Jordan, they could survive a week at Glen Bernard without electricity!” Amused, Joc reassured the girls that yes, there was hydro to the main buildings around camp just not in the sleeping cabins.
Giving consideration to the language barrier, GBC decided it was not necessary to have translators at camp. Campers learn by seeing and doing. They knew that the Syrian campers with better English could help the girls with little English.
Swimming ability was a barrier. Of the twenty-six girls, only two could swim. Fortunately, the camp waterfront has a sandy beach and a long stretch of shallow water. The girls were advised that if they were concerned, all they had to do was stand up. The waterfront staff discussed how to help the newcomers feel safe. In some cases, everyone wore lifejackets to play in the water.
The Syrian campers lived for their week’s stay with GBC campers in various cabins during all sessions. The veteran campers discovered that the new campers were friendly and enjoyed camp as much as they did. However, one afternoon they were reminded that these girls had experiences foreign to them During a thunder storm, one Syrian camper remarked, “The thunder sounds just like bombs exploding.” Nevertheless, nobody dwelt on this graphic comparison, and the girls continued happily with their indoor play.
The experience was a great success for both the newcomers and GBC campers. It is the camp’s intention with support from alumnae to invite all the Syrian girls to return if they choose for the length of time appropriate to their age and also to bring a friend.
Kudos to GBC and the many camps across Canada that welcomed Syrian newcomers to their camps last summer!
Camp Size Doesn’t Matter!
In 2016, 23 camps with food budgets ranging from $10,000 to $323,000, raised almost $9,000 in the CCA Foodbuy Program.
Half of this money goes to help fund CCA projects such as marketing and lobbying; half goes to help fund provincial projects; and in this Win, Win, Win scenario, the 23 camps both save money and receive rebates.
If your camp, whether big or small, joins the Foodbuy program, your camp, your provincial association and your national association all benefit.
Email foodbuycamps@foodbuy.ca today and discover out how Foodbuy can serve and benefit you.
Canada Summer Jobs
Canada Summer Jobs provides funding to help employers create summer job opportunities for students. It is designed to focus on local priorities, while helping both students and their communities.
Canada Summer Jobs:
- provides work experiences for students
- supports organizations, including those that provide important community services; and
- recognizes that local circumstances, community needs and priorities vary widely
Canada Summer Jobs provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees to create summer job opportunities for young people aged 15 to 30 years who are full-time students intending to return to their studies in the next school year.
By way of five national priorities, CSJ also supports the following:
- employers involved in the welcome and settlement of immigrants (including Syrian refugees) in Canada;
- employers that hire Indigenous peoples;
- opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Information, Communications and Technology (ICT);
- employers involved in activities celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation; and
- small businesses, in recognition of their contribution to the creation of new jobs.
More information is available on the Employment and Social Development Canada website.
The deadline to apply is January 20, 2017.
Call for Presenters – International Camping Congress
The International Camping Congress is calling for international presenters for the upcoming event.
The ICC (hosted in association with the International Camping Fellowship) is being held in Sochi, Russia from October 15 – 19, 2017.
The deadline for proposals is January 31, 2017. More information is available on the ICF website.