To get us started off, I’d like to share some of my own camp memories. My second last summer as a camper (just before I became a LIT) was in 1999. I started the summer at Girls Camp and ended the summer as one of the first-ever Pre-LITs. While at Girls Camp, my counsellors, Zazoo and Pyra, made everyone in my cabin a notebook so that we could write notes to each other and exchange addresses, emails and phone numbers. 11 years later, I still have my notebook. Here’s what it looks like:

It was an amazing week and although I no longer understand all the inside jokes written by my cabin-mates, I still remember most and find myself smiling when I read through them. Especially the parts about swing dancing. Karen and Holly taught us how to swing dance and I think that’s all we did that week. We had to be asked to stop swing dancing in the evenings because all the bouncing around in Whispering Pines kept other cabins up–even if we didn’t talk and only danced!

Later in the summer, when I returned for Pre-LIT, I brought this notebook along and asked my Pre-LIT pals to write notes in it, too. I also asked my Pre-LIT directors to write something. Here’s part of what Leaf wrote:

Interesting how what your counsellors say can absolutely come true… Thanks for the confidence, Leaf! And really, thanks to all of my past counsellors, cabin-mates, directors and campers; they’ve all helped guide me from Becky, the eight-year-old at camp for the first time, to Palais, the Cairn Co-Director. And I certainly cherish all the memories I’ve gathered along the way!

So, what are your camp memories? What have your counsellors said to you along the way that helped you out or made you more confident? When were those moments where you laughed so hard you cried or when everyone sang so sweetly it sent shivers up your spine? Let us know! Add your comment below.

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Director Rebecca “Palais” Jess

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Being a Leader In Training at Cairn is a wonderful way to develop leadership skills that will benefit you at camp, at school, in programs and activities and within your communities.

As a LIT at Cairn, you can spend a month living at camp and learning hard skills, such as canoeing, tripping and belaying, as well as soft skills such as leading TLC, running camp programs and nurturing campers.

This is definitely one month of camp that you do not want to miss! Plus, being a LIT is an important and useful step to take before applying to be a staff member at Cairn.

If you’ll be 16 years of age by December 31, 2010, you are eligible to apply to Cairn’s Leader In Training programme. Applications can be found on our website, or by clicking here. Applications are due on Friday, March 19, 2010, so if you’re looking to experience the best summer of your life, apply now!

Please also note that there is a mandatory LIT Day for all LIT applicants on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at Morningside-High Park Presbyterian Church in Toronto. Hope to see you there!

Mark your calendars! May 14-16 is our annual Work Weekend at Cairn’s Baysville site. This is a great way to come out and help camp while having a ton of fun! Come and meet new friends, work on new projects and even take some time to sit and sing by the campfire. No experience is necessary; we’ll find a job to suit your needs and abilities.

Bring yourself, your youth group, your choir, your friends, your mens’ groups, your ladies associations, your Sunday School teachers, your session, your elders, your family. . . join us to help make improvements to camp’s site. Some of our projects this year will include: woodchipping, canoe repairs, putting in the docks, fixing up the Thicket, building some kybos and painting the lodge.

Arrive when you can and we’ll hook you up with all your meals and a place to sleep. All you need to bring is yourself, your sleeping bag and, if you’d like, your tools; we’ll set you up with all the rest.

For more information, email Palais at palais@ilovecamp.org

Looking forward to seeing you there!

All of our staff for this coming spring and summer at Cairn have been hired! After an amazing Resource Hiring Day and an exciting Counsellor Hiring Day, we’re sure that Cairn has the best staff this side of Echo Lake.

Want to know who you’ll see where this summer? Click here to go to our blog and check out a list of our Cairn Staff of 2010!

Cairn is once again on the road and heading to a variety of churches in our Synod to lead congregations in worship, song and prayer, with a little camp spirit.

We still have spaces available, so if you’re interested in having us come to your church, drop us a line at admin@ilovecamp.org. This could be a great way to get involved and raise some money to help send kids from your church or community to camp with a special camp lunch or fundraiser after the service.

If you’d like to join us in worship, we’ll be at the following churches over the next couple months:

Sunday, March 28: Dixie Presbyterian, Brampton

Sunday, April 11: First Presbyterian, Collingwood

Sunday, April 18: St. John’s Milliken, Scarborough

Sunday, April 18: St. Andrew’s, Orillia

Sunday, April 25: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, Brampton

Photo: Travis "Zoic" Allison

We all know that camp creates lasting memories and lifelong friendships. Children come to camp, they engage and learn and grow and eventually step into new roles as counsellors and adventure programmers and LIT directors.

Inevitably, the time comes where many of us have to gather up the skills, knowledge and support we’ve received from camp over the years and move on to other jobs, other commitments and other places in the world.

But none of that means we have to disconnect ourselves from camp entirely! Once camp is a part of you, it’s hard to forget it. You can take the camper out of camp, but you can never take the camp out of the camper.

Cairn is pleased to announce that we now have a Cairn Alumni Committee. This committee  is excited to provide alumni from all four of our camp programs with news, events, volunteer opportunities and ways to keep in touch with old camp friends.

The committee is currently made up of mostly Glen Mhor alumni, so if you are Iona, Dorothy Lake or Presbyterian Music Camp alumni and are interested in joining the committee, or volunteering, please contact us at alumni@ilovecamp.org.

The alumni committee’s first kick-off event was Friday, January 22 at Elephant & Castle in downtown Toronto. It was great to see so many alumni out from a few different generations! We shared stories, learned camp names and caught up with old friends.

Missed out on all the fun and memories?! Don’t worry! There will be another alumni event for all ages in the spring. Stay tuned for more information.

Be sure to follow Alumni News in upcoming newsletters, on Twitter (cairnalumni) and join the Facebook Fan Group: CairnAlumni. We can’t wait to catch up!

For those of you who couldn’t open it as an email, make sure to click and check it out!

And if you’re not on our newsletter email list, send an email off to palais@ilovecamp.org and she’ll be sure to add you!

We thought you might like to know who will be at camp this summer and what they’ll be doing. We hope this will get you even more excited about making the journey to camp! So, without further ado, your Cairn Staff of 2010:

Resource Staff

Dolce - Assistant Director

Refleckta - Programme Director

Gerber - Administrator

Konk - Head Counsellor

Levy - Iona Director/Waterfront Director

Mauri - Integration Coordinator

Baya - LIT Director

Iscus - LIT Director

Fhyllja - Kitchen Manager

Matek - Assistant Cook

Razzle - Iona Cook/Adventure Programmer

Abrigo - Adventure Programmer

Suji - Adventure Programmer

Ferno - Adventure Programmer/Maintenance

Caso - Outdoor Living Skills

Tukon - Tripper

Meranya - Arts & Crafts Director

Tauru - Music & Drama Director

Burkz - Dance Director

Sagga - Waterfront Director

Tayne - Waterfront Director

Tagu - CYOB

Blox - Site Manager

Keel – Maintenance/Counsellor

Shoxz - Maintenance Assistant

Counselling Staff

A Message from our Synod Camp Board:

The fact that you have come to this website probably means that you believe in the benefit of the Christian Camping experience.  And you are probably inquiring on behalf of an important child in your life.  Just like you believe in taking good care of this child in your life, we the Synod Camp Board believe in the need to take good care of the Cairn Camping Programs.

We on the Synod Camp Board want to ensure that Cairn continues to be around for a long time, so that the important child in your life has programs to enjoy now, and so that the next generations are also able to enjoy camp.

We need your help to make this happen!

Maybe you have administrative, committee membership or fundraising experience.  If so, we could use your expertise and input towards future planning and fundraising endeavours.  Or are you a ‘born-fixer’?  There are a number of work weekends scheduled throughout the year where paint, hammers and elbow grease are the common bond!!
These are great ways to meet other members of the extended Cairn family and get an idea of what it takes to keep Cairn strong from the inside out.

Get in touch with us: we would love to get to know you, and have you help shape the future of this wonderful place called Cairn.

By the way, do you know what Sliced Bread and Camping in our Synod have in common?  They are both 80 years young this year.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SLICED BREAD AND CAIRN CAMPING!

To get in touch with our Synod Camp Board, send an email to Ruth MacLeod at ruth.macleod@sympatico.ca or Johnmark Roberts at johroberts@trebnet.com