Just a few of the amazing staff and volunteers that make OFAH summer camp a success.

OFAH Get Outdoors Summer Leadership Camp! Welcome to a place where kids can be outdoor-fanatical-kids, and so can OFAH camp staff and volunteers who enjoy every minute of camp with them. Here, camper’s get loud and proud about their hunting and fishing fascination. Over three, four day long programs, campers get hands-on experiences in 3-D archery and .22 caliber target shooting, night hikes and wolf howls, kayaking and canoeing, flying tying and bass fishing as well as the highly popular moose, deer and turkey calling contest.

OFAH campers come from all parts of the province and from all walks of life. One year we asked a camper to tell us about his favourite part of the OFAH Get Outdoors experience. Expecting to hear bass fishing or archery, he said his favorite part was the first night. He said it was the first time he’d gone to bed without falling asleep to the sounds of sirens from the streets of his downtown Toronto home. Although no one has ever directly said it, I’m confident that, for some campers, the best part of OFAH Get Outdoors Summer Leadership Camp is spending time with adults who listen. We have the world’s greatest staff and volunteers!

In between casting lilly pads and reaching for a net, it’s amazing how many insightful questions and heartfelt stories a young person is prepared to share aboard an aluminum fishing boat. Perhaps that’s the key to the OFAH camp’s success… we only let meaningful distractions (such as the shout of “fish-on”) get in the way of quality time.  OFAH Get Outdoors Summer Leadership Camp is a place where the terms Play Station III, Facebook, texting and “I’m bored” never enter our 160 camper’s minds let alone exit their vocabulary. I guess they are far too distracted with activities called fun.

Robert

PS.  We have the world’s greatest staff and volunteers! Camp coordinator, Alesha Caldwell, and Camp Cook, Vanessa Vidler, would agree that there are too many “shout-outs” required to fairly acknowledge years of staff and volunteer service. You know who you are and how much we appreciate your support.

PPS   It’s Day 32 and I’m home from camp. Looking forward to seeing (and blogging about) the framing progress at Pye Acres.

Photo credit: www.jadphotography.me