Memories of summer camp

These are reflections of my time at summer camp - not Abracadabra’s story - that will follow later.

I have many memories of Camp Ouareau which I attended for 6 summers from the age of 10 to 15.

Now this particular camp is having a 90th anniversary.

I went to an introduction to camp in Montreal before I went the first summer of 1961. I was 10 and my sister who was 7 also went. Someone asked her where she went to school and she said Lachute High School. The reply was - you are not very high! (Lachute at that time only had one school.)

I lived in various cabins and tents
- Junior Bung (Bungalow)
- Lower Birch Grove
- Hollow Log
- a couple of tents
- Couch II - a cabin

I found in some family files
- my Ouareau songbook
- badges that we got each year

I have lots of pictures from those July summers. My mom took slides and I have black and white prints.

There were a number of Ouareau campers who also went to Trafalgar. My sister and I were two of them.

When I was 10 I went off to summer camp for the first time. I was nervous and excited. We had spaghetti for dinner. It did not agree with me and for a long time after I would not eat any Italian food.

There are memories of being driven to summer camp in the Laurentians. That was quite a trip. It was sad not coming on the bus from Montreal with mostly everyone else. My dad drove us as we lived in Lachute.

We would stop in Sainte Adele for lunch at a particular restaurant.

We had trunks for our one month stay. I used a large old trunk. It was a family one from the past. Kathi being younger got a new one.

Parents appeared at Parents Day with a fine picnic and my dad might have gone in swimming with us - my mom did not swim.

I have a tray I use at my house now. I think it was made by Kathi or me.

I have always liked to read. There was a tree house library and I read many of the Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books.

We had a sing song and campfire once a week. We probably cooked hot dogs and marshmallows.

We often rowed the rowboat or paddled the canoe across to Blueberry Island. We did pick blueberries there and at other places around the camp.

We walked up Lookout - the local mountain - at least once a summer. In a camp of many years before my time there was a forest fire on the mountain.

There were French speaking kids there - sent to learn English. Now the camp is officially bilingual and both languages are used regularly.

One of the counsellors helped me with my canoe skills. I was not one for sailing.

The lake was usually very cold for swimming.

I remember the Sunday services - outside or inside depending on the weather.

There were overnight canoe trips when the campers got older - either to Blueberry Island and then farther away down the lake. I still have some trip rope from those trips.

We had some tuck (candy) from time to time - a few days a week. That was sort of a treat because I did not get candy regularly at home.

What did I like best at camp?
- certainly not the swimming but I did learn how to swim
- I liked more the crafts
- boating, canoeing, archery
- I did play some tennis but not very well.

Until recently I still had my sleeping bag. I am not a camping person so I finally gave it away.

*****

These are some of my best memories of being at camp.

Singing grace at mealtimes in rounds.

Being outside in the mountains and beside the lake in the Laurentians. It is a very pretty part of the country.

As going off to boarding school this was a part of my growing up and my sister’s as well. Being with other girls in a different environment.

Cooling off: low tech version

There is no air conditioning at my house or was there in Lachute at 320 Princess Street.

Now I have two fans - a small one beside my computer and a larger one in my living room. When these do not cool me off I retreat to my basement - which is very comfortable especially for sleeping.

In Lachute we had window fans - like in the picture. They were quite noisy. My mom would turn hers on later in the afternoon to cool the bedroom for the night.

When it was very hot we would retreat to the basement and there is was very cool.

Camp and parents and horses

I was watching the parents dropping off the kids for summer camp at the barn. I had memories of my mom and dad.

Before Kathi and I were able to drive ourselves my mom and dad provided transportation to the barn. It was a big thing when we learned to drive and even more so when we acquired our own car.

Then there are memories of being driven to summer camp in the Laurentians. That was quite a trip. We had trunks for our one month stay. Parents appeared at Parents Day with a fine picnic and my dad might have gone in swimming with us - my mom did not swim. Now this particular camp is having a 90th anniversary.

Summer church activities

The church leaders including the two priests and the musicians have been coming and going on their holiday time.

The church looks emptier on a Sunday. The back doors are kept open to let in the cool breezes and the noises from Elgin Street outside.

The flowers for July are almost all done. My schedule for August flowers is well under way. I have started to think about September flowers. By then most of the folks arranging them will be available to help out.

I have started to plan some fall activities. When will I be available for Altar Guild duty?

What else can I add to my calendar? There are certainly lots of opportunities to get involved. I may not help with driving new Canadians or take a shift in the church office. Later on I may help with counting the Sunday collection.

I am thinking about helping with the seniors’ fellowship service that happens once a month. I know most of the folks who attend and I am sure the helpers would welcome me as well.

The church library keeps on calling me. I have recently noticed that a couple of boxes of donations have been dropped off. I think some cleanup is on my schedule for a day soon.

Summertime

And the living is easy.

My nice 4 seasons CD’s have this summer tune on it. I like to listen to them at the turning of the seasons. Of course one of the featured items on each CD is Vivaldi’s famous tune.

It is a family time now with kids off school and folks away visiting family and friends or at cottages - not everybody though. Some are at summer camp at the barn. Who are these little folks - asks Abra?

In my past life when I was growing up we went to Carling Lake with family friends. Sometimes we just went up for an evening swim in the pool. There were visits to cottages as well. For six summers I went to Camp Ouareau in the Laurentians.

Then horsy pursuits started and that has kept me busy every summer and every other season as well.

*****

Now my life is different - especially since I retired.

Horsy pursuits still are a priority for my mornings. Abra is quite happy to be out and about early - before it gets too hot. Then she can have a nice rest in her stall.

I meet up with friends or chat with them on the phone. Email is o.k. to arrange outings but it is not so personal to find out what is going on.

At home I have been enjoying eating summer berries. They are the first thing visible when I walk into my local fruit and veggie store.

My cool - but not damp - basement is very comfortable for relaxing with a good book and listening to music.

Moving on…

The summer is progressing.

There are kids at summer camp. Abracadabra wonders about all the little folks at the stables. She is still doing her own thing. Last week it was very hot and really too hot to ride. She was glad to have a bath and I was glad to have a cold shower when I got home.

House stuff is unfolding - windows being washed, trees being trimmed, humidifier being cleaned out. Next on my list is my fireplace which needs some attention. Will I change to gas? My neighbour did. The two at my sister’s in Vancouver are so easy to use. We will see.

We had the last parish council meeting of the season and it was a nice BBQ at a very nice house. We talked about fall activities. Someone mentioned they had dates on their calendar for November.

Before too long there will be television ads for the fall programs and flyers for back to school sales.

Summer yet?

It seems that inn Eastern Canada it is very hot and humid. I am not sure that I am ready for that quite yet. My summer clothes are ready and so is my basement for sleeping.

I was not too sure what to bring to Vancouver. I thought about a couple of long sleeved shirts but I did not pack them. I did bring my winter nightwear and that was a good decision.

Kings Town - Kingston Ontario

Kingston City Hall.

*****

I had been to Kingston twice before - for a library group meeting and a little trip with my mom some years ago. This time it was a one day bus trip. It was a very hot summer day and it was good to be in an air conditioned place whenever possible.

We had a very nice lunch at a real pub. We took a trolley bus tour of the city.

We only went by Fort Henry and did not stop so we did not see the mascot goat that lives there. We also did not get an O Henry chocolate bar which I did on my first visit there.

We saw various sites connected with John A. Macdonald. We saw what would have been Parliament Hill if Kingston had been the capital instead of Ottawa. It did not look to be too impressive but I can say that living in Ottawa!

We had an ice cream cone after the bus tour to help us cool off.

*****

The tour guide on the bus was a university student and he talked the whole time. He told us that the city was known as Kings Town before it was Kingston.

Ice cream - it is the season

I do not often eat ice cream - but sometimes frozen yogurt or some sherbet is quite acceptable.

My mom often made her own in the freezer - it was either vanilla or butterscotch - depending on whether she used white or brown sugar. It really was quite nice.

My mom talked about making ice cream the old fashioned way by turning the crank of one of those ice cream machines. A lot of hard turning by hand but it was worth it.

In Lachute there was a Dairy Queen. There was also Lowe’s Dairy where the ice cream was great as well. The last summer my mom was in Lachute we stopped by both of then for a cool treat.

Summers and gardens past

My mom' s garden in the distant past. My sister is watering the tulips - so it must be spring. The old hospital is next door so it must be about 1956 or 1957 judging from the age of Kathi.


*******

As I was closing the garage door the other day and seeing signs of fall coming - in the air, in the trees, the squirrels are certainly busy tucking away their winter supplies - I was reminded of summers past.

My mom liked to sit out on her patio and when I was visiting, I was out with her as well. We would have lunch, drink some of her homemade lemonade, look at the garden and what was growing - tomatoes possibly or less possibly strawberries, reading a book, doing a crossword puzzle from the daily newspaper.

It was a quiet place to be and now that place and time is gone from my life and I miss it.