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End of Summer!

August 29, 2013, 2:25 pm
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Hello Friends!
The Summer 2013 Residential Camp has wrapped for the year, and I would like to pass along a big thank you to our campers, staff and parents for their support this season. The 2013 summer brought with it many cool opportunities for our campers, and we believe we had a successful summer. We believe this based on the feedback we have received thus far from some of our campers and parents, but we would appreciate more input.  
To those who have already spent the few minutes to fill out the survey, thank you very much, to those who have not, now is your chance to give us feedback based on your Wanakita experience. From start to finish: How did you find registration this year? Were the transportation arrangements satisfactory? Did you child get into the PCA of their choice? How was the overnight or out trip? Were the counsellors attentive? Were the games fun? How was the trip home? Will you be returning?
Please fill out the survey below, and help us improve our campers, and your experience.
YMCACamp2013.questionpro.com
Thank you for taking the time.
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Thans for a Great Time!

September 26, 2013, 1:41 pm
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To all the Wanakita Family who attended our 60th Anniversary we would love to say thank you and thanks for coming out. For those who were unable to attend, we hope to see you around as much as possible in the future!
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Fall is in Full Force!

October 3, 2013, 12:28 pm
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Fall at Wanakita is such a treasure! Its unfortunate that most of our clients don't get to experience the beautiful colours, crisp mornings and warm, breezy days that we've been having lately. However, we've had many schools up here so far this fall season, and they've been loving every minute! Below are some images from site! We're enjoying it now, because we know it will fade fast as nature makes way to welcome another beautiful season here at camp.

 The road to the Core!

 Day Camp Central!
 The swamp and WIC (Wilderness Interpretive Centre) building

 Lots of red at camp!

Clear skies and beautiful reflections!

The shores of Koshlong in the fall!

We have a HUGE West beach right now!

Beautiful sunsets in the fall here at Wanakita- East Beach
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Fall Work Weekend was a Huge Sucess!

October 29, 2013, 11:58 am
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This past weekend, while many were indoors, avoiding the cold, wet snowy weather, some of Wanakita's most dedicated past and present staff and campers, friends and family were dedicated to being outdoors, spending their time cleaning up our site! We rely on these wonderful volunteers every year to help us prepare our site for winter. A big thank you to everyone involved!

We put away boats and summer equipment, put out winter equipment, chopped and stacked lots of wood, sanded and painted paddles and show shoes, raked leaves, and lots more! Thanks to the almost 70 people who participated in this fun annual work weekend! We couldn't do it without you! Lets do it all over again in the spring!















 We ended the weekend with some beautiful weather- blue skies and calm water!


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Wanakita Winter Wonderland!

January 13, 2014, 6:57 am
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Many people know Wanakita as a summer camp- and only get to see our site in the summer (warm sunny days, an active waterfront, bugs, and long daylight hours). However, we're actually open almost all year long, serving school and other community groups in outdoor education, leadership, recreation and fun! This means cool (or COLD) days, changing leaves in the fall, new spring life, lots of snow and ice in the winter, shorter daylight and learning new skills like cross country skiing, pond ecology, winter ecology etc. All three seasons provide a fun, cozy, beautiful time of year. 

Right now, winter is in full swing here at Wanakita in the Haliburton Highlands! 


January is a busy month for us, and we've had a great mix of groups visit our site!

 Here's a list of some of our highlights:
  • New Year's Family Camp - We had about 60 people (from babies to grandparents) visit for 4 days of traditional winter programs, and a night of dancing and celebrating the new year together!
  • Fleming College - Residence Life re-treat. The don's from the college (Peterborough and Lindsay) visited to partake in some team-building and traditional winter programs (skiing, snow shoeing, broomball, skating on the lake)
  • James Cardinal McGuigan Collegiate High School - The L.E.A.D program came to Wanakita for some team-building and winter programming. They had great fun in the evenings too, letting loose, dancing and having fun, silly times!
  • Alive Outdoors Inc. brought in their first group of the season, the Grade 8's from St. Micheal's College, to our site for a three-day winter program. The group of 120 boys had a great time playing in the snow, as well as doing some team-building and goal setting. They have been bringing their grade 8 boys to Wanakita for over 10 years!
  • Heartlake Secondary School - A new group to Wanakita, they were group of high-school students focusing on outdoor adventure, and even built and slept out in quinzee's (snow shelters) for one night. 





        The Wanakita Staff Team: We are fortunate to welcome 16 experienced, and enthusiastic staff to Wanakita this winter, as well as some new senior management. Returning after several years in the outdoor world elsewhere is Andrea Pepe as the Outdoor Centre Director. Returning this winter as well, in the role of Lead Facilitator, is Elspeth Strain. As well, a long time seasonal staff member, Mike Thaler, has joined the full-time team here at YMCA Wanakita in the role of Program Coordinator.


        We have lots more groups to visit us this winter season, and we are looking forward to all of them! If you have any questions about bringing a group of your own here to Wanakita, contact us at wanakita@ymca.ca!






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        Transportation Update- Friday Feb 21, 2014

        February 21, 2014, 7:03 am
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        This is to update folks who are trying to get into YMCA Wanakita today: Our camp road is extremely slippery, which may cause a delay in arriving at camp or leaving.

        If you are a bus driver or teacher from a school arriving today, please let us know if you will be arriving later than expected (call Andrea Pepe at 1800-387-5081 ex 236), or if you have trouble getting here.

        If you are a parent expecting your children either home or to arrive at camp today, we will post on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/campwanakita) when everyone is safely here or have left. Your school should have more information about the status of their bus.

        Also note that we have limited staff in the office today because of the road conditions. If you need to speak with someone, call Andrea at the number above, or email andrea_pepe@ymca.ca






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        Family Celebrations!

        February 26, 2014, 6:51 am
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        Wanakita hosted a Family Day Weekend camp this past holiday weekend!
        We had 40 people up here to camp to celebrate family time with their families.

        Activities included cross country skiing, snowshoeing, high ropes, low ropes, fort building, skating, the ever popular broomball, and indoor activities like crafts, group games and yoga. We ended it off with a wonderful campfire with songs and stories, and we all had a fantastic time! Thanks to everyone who joined us! We hope to see you all again. To those who didn't attend- perhaps next year!


















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        Goodbye Winter!

        March 26, 2014, 1:56 pm
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        Well, we've had a wonderful winter up here at camp these past few months! With record temperatures, and record snowfall, all of our participants had their fair share of winter conditions.

        We had many different groups here this winter, including international students from all over the world, adult team-building weekends, grade school recreational experiences, high school leadership classes, family camps and more. With over 20 enthusiastic, experienced and knowledgeable program staff, and hard-working kitchen, maintenance and office staff behind it all, we pulled off a great winter 2014 season! Thank you to everyone who visited our site this winter- you made it a memorable one!


        The winter program staff team! 


        Here are some photos from the past winter we'd love to share with you! 



        The broomball court early on....those banks haven't quite built up yet!

         We had a great lake rink this year!

        New Year's Family Camp was a blast! 

         Skiing across the lake, tracking a fox!

         Family Camp (east) Beach with quinzee sleeping shelters!

         A rare view from the east dining hall porch.

         Sunrises are always worth it, when you have scenery like this!

        One of the first big snows of our winter season...snowshoeing to breakfast! 

         Broomballl!

        Everyone loves a ski across the lake to the ice wall! 

        High ropes in the winter...an added challenge of more clothing and clunky boots!

         A group of families at March Break Family Camp on a snowshoe trek.

        Hot chocolate, marshmallows, and a fire: a great reward to a beautiful ski across the lake at night!

        Tobogganing!

        Our kitchen staff sure are talented! Pirates & Vikings theme dinner: treasure chest cakes for dessert!


        The ever popular and infamous "umbrella Island"

        So now we close off our season with an empty site for about a month with still many inches of ice on the lake, lots of snow (with a new fresh layer just yesterday!), and a quiet dining hall; and we wait in anticipation for the snow to melt, birds plants, and animals to emerge, and soon, for our spring groups to burst onto site with lots of positive and enthusiastic energy! We hope to see you here this spring in some form!

        Some of the exciting things we have planned are:
        - Outdoor Centre Groups of all kinds!
        - Mother-Daughter Weekend  (May 9-11)
        - Father-Son Weekend (May 23-25)
        - Spring Volunteer Work Weekend (April 25-27)
        - Spring Family Camp Volunteer Work Weekend (June 6-8)



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        Delayed Bus Today

        July 26, 2014, 9:13 am
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        Hi folks!

        This is a quick note to let you know that the bus home from camp today has left half an hour late (30 minutes), at 11:00am. This means that the bus arriving in Toronto, Burlington and Hamilton will be late.

        If you have any questions please contact us at 1800-387-5081
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        Goodbye Fall, hello Winter!

        November 11, 2014, 10:53 am
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        A little later than usual, but we have wrapped up our Fall season here at YMCA Wanakita. Over the past few months, we have hosted many groups here at Wanakita that had tons of fun enjoying the beautiful Fall weather we had this year. Summer was a little wet and cold, but this Fall really made up for the cooler wet summer we had.



        With temperatures now sinking into the sub-0, we look back on the amazing Fall season, its beautifully coloured leaves, cool crisp nights, beautiful sunny days and those people who made it as always, "the place to have the time of your life"!

        We had more than 40 groups here since our Summer Family Camp Week 9 program ended August 30th. Whether they came for leadership focused programming, our Sunship Earth Environmental Education program, or any other specially designed programs, all groups definitely enjoyed lots of fun and recreation in the great outdoors here at camp!










        Our Fall 2014 instructor team this season included staff from all across Canada and some from other parts of the world. They all brought such knowledge and excitement to their programming EVERY day. You folks are awesome!

         Andrea Pepe, the Outdoor Centre Director, and the Sunship Earth staff team!
        Our entire fall staff team! What a great bunch of crazies! :)


        Thank you to everyone who came to Wanakita this Fall season and your passion for Wanakita and Outdoor Education & Recreation. It is you who made our Fall what it was and as enjoyable as it was.

        Lifeguards on a chilly fall morning dip!


        A couple weeks ago we had our annual fall work weekend, which was a huge success! We painted, built, raked, varnished, chopped, stacked, roofed and cleaned our way to a much anticipated winter season! Thanks to the 50+ volunteers who came to help out in the wet conditions. We definitely couldn't do it without you!

















        Finally, here is a more recent photo of the new layer or snow we’ve received at camp (which we’re not complaining about, because it means skiing, snowshoeing and winter fun can come sooner than later!). It has since melted but we're definitely ready for more!


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