The Divisional Picnic

Every year, for a number of years, the camp held a "Divisional Picnic" on July 1st (or another day if it fell on a Sunday!).

It was open to everyone, young and old. It was 'bring your own food', but the camp supplied the activities. There were games and races for the kids, swimming, and a baseball tournament. The different corps usually organized their own team for the baseball tournament. I think there have even been "staff" teams over the years.

I was on staff for the camp's 40th anniversary year (1988). I remember we made a huge sundae in a wood 'trough' for all to share, at the flag pole.

Do you have a Divisional Picnic memory?

International Students

In my files I have this picture listed as the "International Students" who came to us via the Lion's Club each summer. It was always an interesting week, and some of them had some very European standards of dress!! At any rate we always welcomed them and they added some flavour to the early season. There were usually 14 of them, and they would come from about a dozen countries. We were the briefing stage for them so they could learn some Canadian culture, and get to know each other before heading off to different Canadian homes.


The other note of interest in this picture is the sky behind them. Remember those storms when we thought the trees would fall, or the cabins would be blown down? Remember the sheets of rain that soaked you if you took two steps from the dining room to your cabin?

The storms were not restricted to any decade. They came off the lake with fury.

Trees, or the lack thereof

The open field around the cabins and dining hall always seemed a bit bereft of trees in my humble opinion...so one day when driving from the Camp Selkirk to DHQ I noticed a house with a tree spade parked outside (just on the edge of Caledonia). I stopped and after a short conversation he agreed to meet me at the camp on a given day to move trees from the back to the front of the camp. We identified about 22 trees that we could move, and on the day we did so in 8 hours.


It was a great experience and I loved seeing the immediate changes! Mind you the phone company wasn't so happy about our cutting their line into the camp.

The other contributor to our need for trees was the Lion's Club. Each year in conjuction with the International Students (I noticed no one from the staff has mentioned them) they would plant one tree.

Along the Way

Did you have a favourite place where you liked to stop on the way to or from camp?

There's Hewitt's Dairy Bar in Hagersville. Delicious ice cream with lots of flavour choices!

Also, maybe a bit more out of the way, but still a destination for some was Port Dover, and while there, a trip to The Arbor for a hot dog and some "Glow" (their exclusive juice drink).

With people coming from all different directions, I'm sure there were a lot of places people stopped.

Let us know your favourite place to stop along the way.

My Favourite Camper

I'm writing this post in response to some comments left by Major Betty-Ann Lewis a while back...

Anyone who worked at Camp Selkirk in the 1987-88 era is sure to remember a special camper named Buford Organ. There was just something so unique about Buford and we all loved him immensely. Meal time with Buford was such a treat that the counselors all wanted him at their tables and the waitresses fought over the prilege of serving him.

My favourite memory of Buford though has nothing to do with the dining hall. The first day of camp I noticed Buford walking to the pool with a Mac's Milk t-shirt with a big rip in the sleeve. The next day he wore the same shirt without any sleeves. On the third day I nearly died when I saw him walking down to the pool with only the sleeves on his arms, no shirt!

Buford's dining room antics were legendary. He asked for marmelade at every meal and spread it on everything. He put orange juice on his pancakes. He would ask for a cheese sandwich if he didn't like what was being served. One time, as his waitress, I was serenaded with a beautiful rendition of "Jello in the Bowl" after serving him some Jello for dessert.

But the classic Buford story involves the time when we in the kitchen spied him licking the rim of the ketchup bottle at his table. We were all grossed out, especially Mrs. Lewis. Unfortunately his waitress didn't see this and she collected the ketchup bottle before we could get to it. It was placed on a table with all the other ketchup bottles, so we didn't know which one had been licked. We then had to empty, wash and re-fill every ketchup bottle in the place.

Who else remembers Buford? I wish I had a picture of him. Are there any other "special" campers who come to your memory?

Roofs over our heads

Camps are anything but buildings - they are all about people, but the buildings are central to facilitating the ministry of camping. The Dining Hall, with the bell and flag pole just outside was a central piece of the camp. My goodness that building could be noisy! And how many times was that floor washed - yes the kids loved doing that.

Then there was the washrooms. Now these washrooms are familiar to the younger crowd but I remember the old building - remember the urinal trough? Ugh.

That buiding became our drive-in shed and workshop for the maintenance worker.

I always thought the washrooms could have been located elsewhere but location was dictated a bit by the way the services were located. And finally the cabins. The old ones left the property with much history still inside them - walls, beams with notes and names inscribed on them. The new ones allowed more space and the porches provided shelter from the sun and rain.

Did you have a favourite building? One that seemed to represent camp to you?

Bermudian Invasion!

Does anyone remember the year the Hamilton Citadel youth band from Bermuda came to Senior Music Camp? I think it must have been somewhere around 1980. (I was a faculty brat at the time)

What I do remember is that the Hayward family was there, including Winslow Hayward (Kevin's father). I was so young, that the name "Winslow" did not register with me as being a first name, I kept calling him "Mr. Winslow"! We took them all to Niagara Falls on one of the days, and the Bermudian contingent even hosted a Bermudian trivia night at camp. I remember one of the questions: "What colour is the sand in Bermuda?" Can anyone tell me the answer?

Does anyone have any photos from that year? If you send them in, we'll be sure to post them!

From the Reynolds photo factory

Once again it is time to play for 64,000 canteen points. Can you name the individuals involved? Some of you weren't even a glimmer in your father's eye for these photos - others you will know for sure. The title of this entry might give you a clue as to who is involved.

Many thanks to Glen Reynolds for taking these wonderful photos - and for keeping them! Isn't it wonderful to see these and revisit some of the memories.

Have a great evening - see you at the flag pole in the morning!

From on high

The first of these pictures was taken from the roof of Cedar Lodge. Not sure why I was on the roof but it seemed a good idea to take a picture while I was there.

You can identify those in the second picture...


This third picture is from July 1994 around the time we re-0pened the camp after building the new cabins. I recognize Ted Williams but pray tell who is with him? My guess is this is the first day of Jr. Music Camp.

Camp Closing PowerPoint

An update...I'm having some trouble figuring out how to post the slides which Sue-Ann provided me. They were from the closing program and in a PowerPoint format. However all is not lost and I'll continue to see if we can get this posted some how.

Who are you?

We have a regular visitor from New South Wales in Australia visiting our web-site. Who are you friend? How about leaving us a comment?

SMC 1990

The year 1990 was Fred's first summer at Selkirk. It's so happens that SMC 1990 was my first camp at Selkirk as my family had just moved to Guelph the month previous from Grand Falls, Newfoundland in the Central Division. Being an Officer's Kid, moving wasn't always easy ... but looking back now this camp really prepared me well for the transition and also set the stage in a big way for who and where I am today. Thanks to everyone at SMC 1990 for making that happen ... it really did make all the difference in the world!

There are a lot of people in this photo that I am still in contact with today, and I know they are friends who will remain for a life time. Even my Brother-in-law is in this photo. Can you find us both? This was two years before he even started dating my sister! There are many here as well that I've lost touch with and wonder where life has taken them. It sure would be great to find you again.

Finally, do you know who the musical guest was at this SMC? What Corps do you see represented here? What individuals here are still involved in music camps today?

Men in trees, ladies too

These photos don't do this justice, but here are the early days of the ropes course. It was paid for by two lawyers in Hamilton who wanted to make a difference for teens in the area. The idea of it came from the need to do something more challenging with the inner city kids who were increasingly more demanding in their personal needs. Glenn became the natural choice to train on this and the potential of such a course seemed endless. If I'm not mistaken Sharon Avery even took the Bible program for Senior Music Camp one year and wove it around the use of the ropes course. Here's a few pictures from the early days as it was being finished and Glenn trained.

Let me see your funky chicken

Jon Evans and the funky chicken...!

Every year after holiday camps, just before the last camp of the season and while the counsellors were with us we went to Wonderland as a staff. It would be a day long event, travelling early by school bus to the amusement park. It was a treat of small proportion for the sacrficial work of our staff. It was always a great day.

Here, the timid and shy Jon, sits on the shoulders of Mike Eden while leading the other staff, and onlookers, in a rousing randition of "let me see your funky chicken" while waiting in line for one of the rides.

Jon - are you still shy and reserved?

SMC (and JMC!) Faculty

I think someone was reading my mind! The prior post about volunteers at camp goes right along with what I've been wanting to say about the music camp faculties, especially those people who went up year after year. They really had a great influence on me!

One couple, who were what I call a "Camp Selkirk Institution", was Mr. and Mrs. "K". (although, I think Mr. K. went by the name of "Angus" in this get-up!) They were just one couple out of many who were wonderful Christian and musical influences on us all. (I also thought it was so cute how they would often dress in matching outfits!) It just wasn't camp without them!

Years of Dedicated Service

Most of the camps at Selkirk were planned and implemented by volunteers.

For most people involved, this meant months of planning their particular camp, giving up a week’s vacation to attend the camp, and time away from their family, if their family wasn’t involved in the particular camp.

Are you one of these people? Do you know one? A few have already been mentioned in previous posts and comments. Were you a Brownie leader, Guider or Scouter for many camps at Selkirk? Did you spend several years on Music Camp faculty? Did you help plan Men’s or Women’s camps? We want to hear from anyone who volunteered at any camp for a number of years. I think there are some who can claim 10 or more years.

Let us know how many years you have given to the camping ministry. And THANK YOU, from all former campers!

Bluejays Gummies!

Does anyone else remember them? During my first summer as a counsellor at Camp Selkirk (1992) there was apparently a large donation of candy! Tubs and tubs of "bluejays gummies" (related to the Jays winning the World Series perhaps?!). They were quite yummy, albeit a little stale. I saved an empty container and a couple of extra candy and found them a year or two ago when I was sorting through an old box. I couldn't bare to part with my candy... Here it is... Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember the candy being more clear white and clear blue in color!

Talent Night

One of the things I really enjoyed about SMC was talent night in the old auditorium. Photos below showcased the talent from SMC 1994. Do you recognize who these individuals are and can you name them? Do you remember what was happening in each of these photos? Let us know! What favorite memory do you have from talent night?