August LITs

On Saturday we said good-bye to our last group of LITs - the August LITs. They were an amazing group who had a lot to offer to the camp. Flare and Solstice again did a great job teaching this group skills in leadership and cabin counselling. The August LITs spent the first week of the program learning skills in session and then in K8 Kintail Express spent time in sessions and in half days with cabins. During K9 Sports Spectacular, the LITs spent the whole week with cabins learning from our excellent counsellors. Last week, the LITs had the chance to visit our sister camp, Cairn, in the Muskokas, and go on a hiking trip in Algonquin Park. We are looking forward to seeing many of them on staff next summer!

Hey, Kintail Blog Readers!

Hope you have enjoyed reading the updates throughout the summer. For me, the summer is over. I'm back in Toronto ready to help out with first year orientation here at York University. Although I'm happy to be here to prepare these first years for their time at school, I'm sad to have left Kintail early.I had an odd thought the other day. This will be the first time in seven years that I am not at camp to play the famous Mission Impossible (if you don't know what that game is, find someone who's been to Senior Co-ed and they can tell you about the best game ever invented.) I played it as a camper, played it as an L.I.T. and played it as a staff member. I even had a chance to be on the other side of the coin and be a sniper one of the years on staff. I love that game. I love camp.

Earlier this year, I didn't know where I'd be concerning camp. I randomly ended up back as Music and Drama Director, and looking back, I really couldn't see myself anywhere else this summer. These past few months have been amazing. From 30 - 130 campers, from wee little Sprouts to the WMS, from a huge rainstorm to bright sunny days, this summer has seen everything.

I would like to thank everyone who came and helped support Kintail, in any way shape or form. As a camper, as a volunteer, as a staff member or as anything in between, we appreciate you. Thank you for being a part of the love that is Kintail. Best of luck to the staff as the week comes to an end, and see you all around in the future.

Love,Monsoon

Hello Kintail fans!

Last week I had the opportunity to run the 1st ever Outdoor Adventure camp with Juniors, and it was amazing! We had a super fun week with 16 campers and 5 staff out at Tir-na-nog, where we lived and ate most of our meals.
Some of the highlights of the week were archery and shelter building. On Wednesday night we went out to the on-site tripping site and slept in tents for the evening. Throughout the week, we ate most of our meals outdoors at Tir-na-nog, and some of them we cooked ourselves over a fire! Some of the meals we made were macaroni & cheese, chicken noodle soup, egg and bacon burritos, hot dogs, pancakes on a stick, and oatmeal.
The Outdoor Adventure group also took part in regular camp activities such as Music and Drama, Arts and Crafts, Nature, Adventure, and Watercraft. Every evening we joined the camp for a camp-wide game. Each afternoon we spent some time at the beach swimming and playing in the sand. The water was super wavy last week, which made for some awesome swimming!
The second Outdoor Adventure camp of the summer, and 1st Juniors OA camp ever, was a huge success! Look for more Outdoor Adventure camps next year!

Peace, Vapour

This past week, Travis Allison of Subtlevox Photography was at Kintail taking photos for our new website and publicity for the next year. Travis is a Kintail alumni and a counsellor of mine from the eighties. It was great to have Travis and his wife, Beth Allison at Kintail, as they were also the long time directors at our sister camp, Cairn, in the Muskokas. Quasar, our resident photographer, spent the day with Travis learning some tips. We are looking forward to all her great pictures as well! Thanks Quasar & Travis!

Worship & FLASH

The centre of everyday at Kintail is our committment to worshipping together and studying Gods' Word together. Each morning begins with a chapel service. Before lunch, each cabin participates in FLASH (Faith, Learning, and SHaring). The staff also have a FLASH time after supper. Our week ends on Friday evening with closing chapel. This year we have been having closing chapel on the porch of Harmony House.

Cabins spend time in FLASH each day.

The staff gather in front of Glenview for FLASH each evening.

K8 VOK Jam

During Kintail Express - everyone at camp is creative - even the Volunteers of Kintail. Each week about ten VOKs work hard to get thirty hours of community service through work projects and dishes. They also take part in camp activities in the afternoons and evenings. During K8, the VOKs shared their many musical talents throughout the week. On Wednesday afternoon (Free Day), the VOKs took all their instruments to the glen for a massive jam session.

Kipper's Guest Post

Kipper was volunteering this past week. She shared some of her beautiful photos with us.

This week I have been fortunate to be volunteering at camp during K8 - Kintail Express! There is a lot going on at Kintail this week with two LIT sessions running, an offsite trip in Algonquin, VOKs and many talented Music and Art campers.

Thanks Kipper!

Music & Art Leader in Training Group

The Music and Art LIT group will be leaving tomorrow morning. They are better known at camp as the MALITs, and we will miss their energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. Pacific and Wooly Mammoth were amazing leaders this group. They had in-cabin experiences during Sprouts, Family Camp, and Day Camp. During Kintail Express Camp they have been leading music, art, dance, and drama sessions. They also had a short camping trip to the Knox Forest just outside of Auburn.

We are the MALITs of 2009,
We sing and we dance and we speak all in rhyme.
We have so much to share,
But we’ve few lines to spare,
So we’ll keep it straight to the point:

An experience like this
Is one you shouldn’t miss.
No doubt in our mind,
It’s one of a kind.

We grew with the children,
In faith and in trust.
We worked on our skills,
And that is a must.

It’s a month of guitars, singing, and joy,
And sandwiches of jelly, and butter of soy.
We made some food, we sang lots of songs,
We went on hobbit hunts – no matter how long.

We are the MALITs of 2009,
This month was ours to learn and to shine.
We leave you with a challenge, plain and true:
We are now leaders, how about you?

We will miss you! We are looking forward to seeing you on staff next summer!

Staff Candids

Beach Campfire

Last night we had an amazing campfire on the beach. Nothing like a Kintail sunset!

K7 Wrap-Up

After the Civic Holiday, Kintail hosts Day Camp for four days. It is a high energy camp with lots of campers from Goderich, Kintail, Lucknow, and cottages down the beach. Campers arrive each morning at 9:30 and leave at 4:30 and run for the entire time! Campers participate in all the camp activities, play a primetime game, have free swim, learn in FLASH (Faith, Learning, and Sharing), and enjoy everything Kintail has to offer. Campers learned how to build fires safely with Vapour in Camp Crafts.

Campers try out the adventure elements. This cabin is working on the zigzag.

Arts & Crafts with Dune is always popular.

One of the challenges for the campers this week was to build something to keep their egg safe when it is dropped from a height. This cabin named their egg "Tapanga" and kept her safe when she was dropped.

At the end of every day, the whole camp would gather around the flagpole for singing.

Eleckra and Gazelle with some campers.

Kamani is now a staff member, but she came to Day Camp for many years as a camper.

Doing all the actions for the song "Arustasha."

We close our singing the same way each day, with the song "Good-bye, My Friends."

Many of the campers arrive at Kintail on the buses supplied by Knox, Goderich. Thank you Knox for your generosity for providing the buses for all the children from Goderich!