Hello Everyone!
It is time for the February Wednesday Words. As we continue with the theme of guest posts written by Day Camp committee members, this month we are featuring Anna Irish.
Anna has a long history of involvement with CTM, despite not always living close to our home base in Montreal.
But I will let her tell her own story…
Welcome Anna!
My first involvement with Day Camps dates back thirty years: our family had just arrived in Canada, and a family friend (whom my father had known in Moscow, of all places), introduced us to Crosstalk Ministries. I went to Day Camp at St. Columba’s, and my older brothers went to Junior and Senior Camp. I really got drawn in, however, when I joined traveling team seven years later, following the example of some of my older friends. It was a great fit, and I gained so much over the next three summers, as I traveled on team to Manitoba, the Gaspé, and closer to home as a team leader!
Over the years I have stayed in touch with the Daycamp world, and used what Ilearned from being on team in many ways, in the parish (as a pastor’s wife), at Camp Okema in Northern Saskatchewan, Teen Camp and Youth Group in Ontario, and on military bases in Ontario and Quebec! I’ve also enjoyed offering back my time and talents in various ways over the years, especially when Charles’s last posting brought us back to the Montreal area.
Over the last few years the committee has been looking to bring some updates to the program, and it has been exciting to be part of that renewal. Although the program would be mostly recognizable to a camper who attended thirty years ago, and is certainly true to its original spirit, certain elements had started to show their age, especially the Scripture Union slideshows (originally film strips) from the 1970s! I’ve had lots of fun giving them a new twist with puppets, learning a lot about both puppetry and film-making as I go along. Last summer’s new theme music (thanks, Tim Blais!) was a real highlight.
I’ve also been able to be part of renewing some of the materials for older campers. This year, the committee decided to scrap the rarely used Pathfinder Parallel Program (PPP), and so we’ve redesigned the older groups’ devotional period to include the option of the hands-on activity that was formerly part of the PPP, since teams have found it a helpful lead-in to deeper discussion. Time has also brought changes to the circumstances found in local communities (especially fewer young local helpers), and so the time-honoured play became difficult to put on. An object lesson was proposed as an alternative, and after some brainstorming and lots of follow-up work by Christopher Lougheed, this summer will see the introduction of ZOOM!, an interactive introduction to the day’s story through an exploration of religious art. Time will tell if this is a successful approach, but since this year’s theme, “One of Us,” is a look at the stories of Jesus’s birth and childhood, the wealth of imagery celebrating these events made this approach an appealing one.
It looks like this summer will bring yet another posting for our family, so I will no longer be as closely involved with the world of Day Camps, but there is always lots that can be done from a distance, too, so I know I will not be escaping the “vortex” altogether! One of the wonderful things about Day Camps is how it enriches everyone involved, so I am always happy to contribute as I am able. It has been great to see Day Camps touching the next generation too, as my son Nathanael has been a camper for the the last four summers, and my little guy Elijah has been a hanger-on right from the get-go!
