Fall Work Weekend was a Huge Sucess!

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!

Fall is in Full Force!

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

Thanks for a Great Time!

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!

End of Summer!

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.

The GAMES!

The session D GAMES are well underway! The Blue Herons and Red Foxes are engaging in friendly, enthusiastic and intense competition under the watchful eye of the West Branch. Some challenges have included Inuit games, dodgeball, relay races, a scavenger hunt and an epic match of tug of war! Everyone is getting involved in the GAMES and their is so much spirit from the foxes and herons!

Session D Highlights

Session D is well underway! We say goodbye to our one week D1 campers today, they had an amazing time and we look forward to seeing them back again next year! Our last group of campers arrive tomorrow, we are looking forward to welcoming the Session D2 one weekers!

The session D GAMES have commenced and its a friendly rivalry between the Blue Herons and the Red Foxes! Spirits are high and cheers in the dining hall are loud! Today's theme day will consist of several challenges between the two teams to earn points. Stay tuned for more pictures from the GAME this coming week!

Reach for the Rainbow headed over to Family Camp the other day to do the Flying Squirrel high ropes element. There were lots of laughs and smiles from all of our volunteers. They have been working hard, enjoying their stay and are forming friendships.

Stay tuned for more events happening this coming week and don't forget to 'Like' YMCA Wanakita on Facebook for more updates and photos!  https://www.facebook.com/CampWanakita?ref=hl

 Cheering on the Blue Herons!

Session D Opening Campfire, the story of the GAMES!

The Blue Herons are victorious in the water trampoline competition!

Saying goodbye to Session C...

We had an amazing last two weeks with great campers and many fun activities! Some of the highlights were:

• Lots of laughs with our Reach for the Rainbow campers and volunteers
• Mamma Mia and Mean Girl themed Corey's Place performances
• Clue for Reach for the Rainbow
• Jeremy Fisher concert!
• Haliburton Rotary Camp Canoe Challenge, congratulations to everyone that participated we had a lot of fun spending the afternoon in Haliburton and racing against other camps
• Dynamic Duos Staff Social, many great costumes
• The First Year SC's have all headed out on their canoe trips to Temagami, Chiniguchi, & Kipawa
• The Second Year SC's have left for their two day overnight on Koshlong Lake
• A formal themed dance to end off the session
• Some time to reflect on our experience at the session C closing campfire!

We hope to see everyone back next summer for even more fun! We are going to miss our session C campers but are looking forward to everyone headed to Wanakita for session D. The summer is flying by! Take a look at a few pictures from this session. 

Jeremy Fisher visits Wanakita!

Canadian singer-songwriter Jeremy Fisher played a concert this afternoon at Corey's Place! Jeremy is a former Wanakita staff and camper. Everyone was so surprised and excited to welcome him back to camp. The concert was awesome. He played some of everyone's favorites and we even sang along for some songs. Thank you to Cam Green for making this happen, and of course to Jeremy Fisher for a great show! We hope to see you again soon. 

End of Session B

It was sad to say goodbye to all of our campers today. Session B was a huge success. Check out some photos from PCA's and SC Challenge Zoo Escape. The SC's are going home stronger leaders and all of our campers left today with new skills, challenges they met and many memories!
We are eagerly awaiting our Session C campers and August SC's!

Greek God Theme Day

Theme Day this session was Greek Gods! Ares (played by our director Rankin) interrupted the Greek gods lunch on Saturday and stole the gods powers, rendering them mortal. Fortunately the JI campers rose to the challenge of helping the gods restore their power! They spent the afternoon training to return the gods to immortality. Their afternoon consisted of slip and slide with Poseidon, canoe racing in the godly voyageurs, Greek god ball, and many other themed activities. 

After dinner Ares' titans escaped! It was up to the JI's to determine their weaknesses to capture them and return them to the Greek gods. Finally after they were all captured, Ares confronted the titans and they turn their back on him, pushing him into the lake - Ares is defeated!