Youth camps have returned to Bryerswood Youth Camp this summer and they have proven to be very popular.
The most recent camp was last week’s “Camp Chaos” with themes throughout the weeklong camp being based off television shows or adapted from television shows such as Survivor, Minute to Win It, the “Not So Fearful” Factor and the “Great Camp Race.” There was also a field trip to Point Pelee last Thursday.
“It’s been very busy, very warm but very active,” said Pam Zeman, a camp director at Bryerswood along with Caitlin Gonneau. “We have a total of about 40 kids this week.”
The total is an estimate with some children coming for the week while others came for a few days during the week.
“We managed to deal with the heat with a lot of water and freezies,” she said.
Zeman added the camps have done well with most selling out over the first three weeks with more sell-outs anticipated over the final three weeks. There are six weeks of summer camp at Bryerswood with previous weeks carrying themes of “Fun Factory and ”So You Think You Can Camp?” with this week’s theme being “Superhero Training Academy.” Weeks five and six of summer camps, running the weeks of Aug. 12 and Aug. 19, see themes of “Fizz Bubble and Pop” and “Fun in the Sun.”
“We’ve had weeks where we’ve averaged 60 campers every day,” said Zeman. “We’ve doubled our numbers. Right now, this is our best year ever.”
Campers can earn beads signifying good deeds and accomplishments.
“It’s really important to them,” said Zeman. “We’ve had really good groups.”
Some campers even brought relatives to one of the camps, with young people from Denmark experiencing Bryerswood Youth Camp as part of their vacations.
Many of the young campers come back for several weeks, Zeman added.
Grant funding has allowed the hiring of eight camp counsellors, with most having some sort of educational schooling or training. Some are working towards being an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) or teachers.
Zeman added both her and Gonneau have tried to push the word of camps at Bryerswood through word-of-mouth, social media and on their website.
Summer camps at Bryerswood cost $225 for a week or $50 per day. They are from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Bryerswood Youth Camp is located at 6480 Texas Road and more information is available at www.bryerswood.com or by calling 519-726-6266.
Bryerswood hosting popular summer camps
By Ron Giofu
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