Camp Mini-Yo-We

Last updated
Camp Mini-Yo-We
Named after Bible verse John 4:14
FormationJanuary 28, 1947
Legal statusNon-profit organization
Headquarters Port Sydney, Ontario, Canada
LeaderRich Birch
Key people
Rich Birch (Executive Director),
Jez Bell (Year-Round Director),
Cynthia Hiedman (Finance Director),
Spencer Tamming (Operations Director).
Website www.campmyw.com
Formerly called
The Fountain of Living Waters

Camp Mini-Yo-We is a Christian camping and outdoor center founded on January 28, 1947. It is located in the district of Muskoka in Central Ontario, Canada. The Camp provides outdoor programs for young people from 5 to 18 years old. Camp Mini-Yo-We focuses on leadership development and spiritual growth of young boys and girls. Rich Birch, a long time ministry leader, is the camp Executive director. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Camp Mini-Yo-We has more than 70 years of history. [3] Sunday school teachers and superintendents from various Brethren churches in Toronto wanted a place for children to escape from the city, experience nature, and receive religious teachings. The first camps were held in 1946 using rented facilities from the Fair Havens Bible Conference in Beaverton, Ontario. [4]

Originally, the Camp was named The Fountain of Living Waters after the Bible verse John 4:14. Its success prompted the committee to seek land for a permanent summer camp. In 1946, the Brethren Assemblies purchased a property on Mary Lake in Muskoka. On January 28, 1947, the organization was officially incorporated and its name changed to Camp Mini-Yo-We.

In Camp Mini-Yo-We's early years, boys attended in July and girls in August. This gender separation camp would continue until 1992 when "parallel camping" was introduced. Over 10 years, there have been many construction initiatives at South Camp, including the first aid centre (1949), lodge (1951), staff house (1956), gatehouse (1958), and waterfront (1960). By 1960, the Camp was organizing programs for more than 750 children each summer. [5]

The District of Muskoka in Huntsville, Ontario, awarded a prize to Camp Mini-Yo-We in recognition to its exceptional partnership and leadership in providing a camp experience to children. [6]

Programs

Camp Mini-Yo-We operates many programs at three camp sites organized around gender and age groups: Girls Camp (ages 10 to 15), Junior Camp (ages 5 to 9), Boys Camp (ages 10 to 15), Enterprise (ages 14 to 15), [7] Leaders in Training (LIT, ages 14-17), and Day Camps (ages 5 to 12). A camp site includes a lodge and is made up different sections of cabins separated by age group. More specialized programs for older age groups aim to teach campers specific skills. For example, the LIT program aims to teach teenagers how to handle house chores, survival skills, and what a role model is. [8] [9] Campers engage in communal, sports and recreational activities, games, instructional periods, and Bible studies. Camp Mini-Yo-We can accommodate at most 400 campers per week and focuses on their physical, mental and spiritual development.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntsville, Ontario</span> Town in Muskoka, Canada

Huntsville is a town in Muskoka district, Ontario. It is located 215 kilometres (134 mi) north of Toronto and 130 kilometres (81 mi) south of North Bay. Of the three major Muskoka towns, Huntsville has the largest population and land area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algonquin Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in Ontario, Canada

Algonquin Provincial Park is an Ontario provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada. Additions since its creation have increased the park to its current size of about 7,653 km2 (2,955 sq mi). The park is contiguous with several smaller, administratively separate provincial parks that protect important rivers in the area, resulting in a larger total protected area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer camp</span> Supervised program for children conducted during the summer months

A summer camp or sleepaway camp or residential camp is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps are known as campers. They generally are offered overnight accommodations for one or two weeks out in an outdoor natural campsite setting. Day camps, by contrast, offer the same types of experience in the outdoors but children return home each evening. Summer school is a different experience that is usually offered by local schools for their students focused on remedial education to ensure students are prepared for the upcoming academic year or in the case of high school students, to retake failed state comprehensive exams necessary for graduation. Summer residential and day camps may include an academic component but is not a requirement.

Muskoka Bible Centre is a Christian conference and retreat centre on Mary Lake, south of Huntsville, Ontario. It is affiliated with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches and operates Camp Widjiitiwin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YMCA Hayo-Went-Ha Camps</span>

YMCA Hayo-Went-Ha Camps is an arm of the State YMCA of Michigan which administers a pair of camps in northwestern Michigan. Started in 1904 with the founding of YMCA Camp Hayo-Went-Ha for Boys, the organization provides year round outdoor activities. The primary focus of both camps is the summer program, which offers two to four-week, single gender camp experiences for children in 3rd through 11th grades. Other functions include outdoor education and challenge course retreats for local schools and cross-country skiing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fresh Air Fund</span>

The Fresh Air Fund is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit agency founded in 1877. At sleep-away camps in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, visiting volunteer host families along the East Coast in NYC-based programs, children get to have new experiences, learn new skills and gain new perspectives. Fresh Air children also participate in year-round leadership, career exploration and educational programs. The Fresh Air Fund has served more than 1.8 million children since its founding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp White Pine</span> Summer camp in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada

Camp White Pine is a traditional Summer camp for boys and girls aged 7 to 16, located in Haliburton, Ontario. The camp was built in 1956 on the site of the old Highland Lodge. Founded by Joseph Kronick, In 1986, Joe's son Adam assumed leadership of the camp, later to be joined by his wife Dana.

Camp Northway, formerly Northway Lodge, is the oldest summer camp for girls in Canada, and overall Canada's fourth oldest summer camp. It was founded in 1906 and relocated to Algonquin Park, Ontario, in 1908. The camp has maintained a distinctive ethos of simple camping, crafts, and drama. Much of this is the continuing legacy of the Camp's charismatic founder, Miss Fannie L. Case.

Frost Valley YMCA is a camping, environmental education, and conferencing center located in Claryville, New York, part of the Catskill Mountains. Founded in 1901 as Camp Wawayanda, the camp moved to its present location in 1958.

Raquette Lake Camps is a pair of summer camps located in the center of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, west of Lake George and south of Lake Placid. Raquette Lake Girls Camp and Raquette Lake Boys Camp are two of the oldest, continuously-operating summer camps in existence. Widely regarded as one of the premier summer camps in the United States, Raquette Lake Camps enroll around 400 campers each summer.

Camp Whitcomb/Mason is a year-round facility located near Hartland, Wisconsin, approximately 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Lake Keesus. Founded in 1911 and owned and operated by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, it is the oldest Boys and Girls Clubs camp in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YMCA Camp Fitch on Lake Erie</span>

YMCA Camp Fitch is a year-round camp in North Springfield, Pennsylvania, owned and operated by the YMCA of Youngstown, Ohio. Prior to 1914, all summer camps operated by the YMCA of Youngstown were experimental and temporary in nature. Since its founding in 1914, Camp Fitch has hosted campers every year to date. Originally a program of the YMCA's downtown branch, Camp Fitch now exists as a YMCA branch owned by the YMCA of Youngstown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontario Soccer Association</span> Sport organization in Canada

The Ontario Soccer Association (OSA) is a Canadian soccer organization. Established in 1901, the OSA is one of the oldest sports organizations in Canada. The OSA is composed of over 350,000 players, as well as coaches, referees, and administrators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falling Creek Camp</span>

Falling Creek Camp is a traditional summer camp for boys, founded on Christian values. It is located on over 900 private mountaintop acres in Tuxedo, North Carolina. Falling Creek was founded in 1969 by Jim Miller. Sessions range from one to four weeks for rising 1st through 12th grade boys, and Father/Son Weekends are offered. In addition to the classic camp activities, campers can choose to participate daily in a variety of out-of-camp adventure trips, ranging in skill level from introductory to advanced, and from one-day trips to five-day trips.

Camp Anokijig is a residential youth summer camp located in Plymouth, Wisconsin on Little Elkhart Lake. Founded in 1926 by the Racine YMCA, Camp Anokijig is now independently owned and operated by the non-profit group Friends of Camp Anokijig, and operates year-round. Camp Anokijig is accredited by the American Camping Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Wekeela</span> Summer camp in Hartford, Maine, US

Camp Wekeela is a 293-acre sleep-away summer camp on Little Bear Pond in Hartford, Maine. It is a traditional resident summer camp for boys and girls ages 7–16, in season from June to August with an estimated 280 campers and 135 employees each summer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Ondessonk</span> Catholic youth camp

Camp Ondessonk is an outdoor, Catholic residential youth camp run by the Diocese of Belleville. It is located in the Shawnee National Forest of Southern Illinois, near Ozark, Illinois. The mission of the camp is "Exceptional outdoor and spiritual adventures empowering kids of all ages." Camp Ondessonk is accredited by the American Camp Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YMCA Camp Wanakita</span>

YMCA Wanakita is a camp located on Koshlong Lake near Haliburton in central Ontario, Canada. It is run by the YMCA of Hamilton, Burlington and Brantford and attracts campers from throughout Ontario and sometimes internationally. The name "Wanakita" comes from a legend of the Wendat people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RKY Camp</span> Summer camp and outdoor centre near Kingston, Ontario

RKY Camp is a non-profit organization and summer camp, accredited by the Ontario Camping Association, in Parham, Ontario, Canada, north of Kingston, Ontario. Operating since 1929 on Eagle Lake, RKY Camp was founded by The Rotary Club, Kiwanis International, and the YMCA of Kingston, making up the abbreviation 'R.K.Y.'. RKY Camp ran as an all-boys camp until 1969. The camp provides outdoor education and camping opportunities to people of all backgrounds, including integrated summer camping for children and young adults with disabilities through a combined effort with Reach for the Rainbow. RKY Camp provides financial assistance, or "camperships" to ensure any youth has an opportunity to attend.

The Salvation Army has maintained camps in various locations throughout Canada. While some of these sites have ceased operation over the years, many are still in operation.

References

  1. "At Mini-Yo-We, faith and friendships grow strong: Fresh Air Fund". Toronto Star . July 25, 2015.
  2. "Summer camp a 'rite of passage' for Canadian kids". Toronto Star . June 6, 2017.
  3. "Four generations of Mini-Yo-We campers in Toronto family". Toronto Star . July 1, 2011.
  4. "The changing face of summer camp". MuskokaRegion.com. April 6, 2016.
  5. "Our History". Mini-Yo-We. Archived from the original on 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  6. "District committee honours those making a difference in Muskoka". Toronto Star . October 23, 2016.
  7. "Camp Mini-Yo-We". Toronto Star . July 28, 2014.
  8. "Faith, fellowship as important as fun at Camp Mini-Yo-We". Toronto Star . July 28, 2014.
  9. "Even chores are fun at Camp Mini-Yo-We". Toronto Star . August 1, 2011.

Further reading

45°14′41″N79°14′30″W / 45.24463°N 79.24173°W / 45.24463; -79.24173