Tumpline August 2016
Published: Fri, 08/19/16
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Lessons from Summer Camp Jim Tilley
Lessons from Summer Camp by Jim Tilley is a book of poetry about Camp Nominingue. For each and every Camp Nominingue camper, staff and alumni, this book will bring back amazing memories of a summer spent at camp. For those who never had the opportunity to spend a summer at Nominingue, this book will give you a glimpse of the experience lived by every Nomininguer since 1925!Lessons from Summer Camp is available from Amazon.ca, Barnes & Noble and Red Hen Press.  Lost & Found For good reason the camp made mothers sew nametags inside their sons’ clothing, including socks and underwear. No need to tell any mother why, no reason for most Campers to wince at the weekly lost and found call-out. Directors would hold up a piece of clothing in the Dining Hall for everyone to see, then announce the name. How embarrassing for a boy to keep traipsing up front to claim his lost apparel, the stack grown high for the serious offender, the snickers audible. Occasionally, to make a point, much as they`d do in their positions at private school, the Directors would hold a boy for questioning, ask whether he`d ever stopped to wonder why he had so little to wear. The rest of us knew these boys would never be named Leaders if they lasted long enough to become Seniors. We knew why their parents sent them away. Still, the camp was too forgiving – no lesson learned when the lost is always found and then returned, embarrassment the only consequence of carelessness. 
Maison-de-Pierre, 1957 Part XII Andy Webster
John Blachford drove up to Camp Nominingue on a Friday and by noon the next day, we had decided to embark on a more ambitious canoe trip than either of us had ever been on. This decision on my part meant that I must quit my counselling job, but the money I would have to forfeit was inconsequential when I compared it to the overall experience of the trip we were to take. The following is an account of the 14 days we spent out in the bush. Saturday, August 17 By the next morning, the storm clouds had cleared, but the temperature had dropped so that it was very cold. From then on, I knew that we would have no trouble because John was well acquainted with the territory. Our spirits high with the recognition that we had surpassed all difficulties, we paddled up Lake Revelstoke and into Hanover. The portage from this lake to Rupert was in poor condition for the first half mile out of Hanover, and John had to scout ahead to find the trail at one point. From there on, the trail was good and we pushed through to Rupert without difficulty. We decided to have a look at the cabin we had slept in on the second night of the trip and maybe eat an early lunch there but, when we inspected the cabin, we found that it had been occupied the previous night and that a window had been broken, so we paddled down the river to lake Beautiful and had lunch there.  Paddling down the river and the connected chain of lakes that afternoon, we heard a very weird and terrible-sounding, grunting noise. Then an ugly, serpent-like head and neck split the surface of the water and gaped at us for a few seconds and then slithered into the swampy area of the river. I had never heard of an animal in the Canadian woods such as this and wondered what manner of being we possibly could have seen that day. The incident has since remained a source of mystery and wonder in my mind. We paddled easily through to Lake Doughnut and Medora, and down Maison-de-Pierre to the fire ranger’s cabins, where we camped for the night. We did not attempt to enter the tightly locked cabin or disturb anything around it, remembering the complaints that the fire ranger had made to Mr. Van Wagner last summer, when the canoe trip party which John had led that year had cut down a few trees on the ranger’s exclusive property. God knows why he complained…there are a million trees in a forest!  As the sun was setting that evening, we observed six or seven loons gathering together on the lake. It was a truly beautiful sight to see. The shrill, mournful cry of the loon as it flies swiftly and gracefully overhead is a sound unequalled by any living thing, and the sound which it makes when it is calling its mate – an indescribable warbling sound – calls forth an image of some mysterious and unutterable joy that makes the spirit soar. The loons, as we saw them that evening, were calling to one another in their shrill and sometimes broken cry. We watched them take off and fly a hundred or two hundred yards, just above the surface of the water. Sometimes, they would leap out of the water and flap their wings, showing off in front of their mates. Cedars' Dragon Boat Race & Festival
For the third year in a row, The Camp Nominingue Alumni Association is proud to enter a team in the Cedars Dragon Boat Race & Festival, on Saturday September 10, 2016.This year, we will be there as defending champions! Last year, we defeated the team from the Royal Canadian Navy in a photo finish.  As with all members of the Nominingue community, we love to paddle! So now we're proud to once again "accept this challenge," and put our paddling skills to good use in supporting the Cedars Cancer Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Funds raised will go directly to supporting Cedars CanSupport, which offers practical, psychological, emotional and humanitarian support for cancer patients and their families at the MUHC. Please support our team and make a tax-deductible donation by clicking on this link. Any amount is greatly appreciated. If you are interested, please come out on race day to cheer us on! Races will run all through the morning at Promenade Père-Marquette in Lachine.  The following members of the Nominingue community have confirmed that they will be participating: Ignacio Gallo, John Christou, Alexandre Brunet, Dave de Koos, Shawn Weiland, Mike Shatilla, Patrick Turner, Ted Kalil, Brian Cooke, Andrew Moore, Nicole Larin, Lillian Jasinski, Matt Aguba, Vincent Leclerc. 2016 July Award Winners / Lauréats juillet 2016
Best Project Alex Valiquette Dip Award Upper Camp Number of Lake Swimmers 123 Most Improved Sailor Cedric Farley Best Sailor Tony Gandolfo Most Improved Windsurfer Nicolas and Christopher Skoulikas Best Windsurfer Louis Favreau Best Kayaker Alex Valiquette Most Improved Swimmer Charlie Gil Athletic Shield Section 1 & 2 Laith Dagher Section 3 Juan David Drolet Section 4 Sam Kayll Section 5 Olivier Sergerie Marc Roy Section 6 Angus Wright Ryan O`Neill Section 7 Phil Valiquette  Intermediate Canoe Race Marc Roy Dexter Joffrey Senior Canoe Race Jake Blachford Phil Valiquette Feather Point Leaders Section 1 Mason Dorcas Section 2 Finnigan Clawson-Honeyman Section 3 Vincent Lefebvre Section 4 Zachary Sicard Section 5 Saïd Chalita Section 6 Trevor Ennis Section 7 Albert Lopez Vidal Nicolas Miron Ramos Patch Cup Winner Albert Lopez Vidal Nicolas Miron Ramos  Primal Games Results Blizzard Leader Award Sam Osborne Voyageur Award None Archery Aidan Bobkowicz Quinn Kaufer Phil Valiquette Family Camp 2016 – Schedule of Events
This year is our 33rd Family camp. Come join us for the fun!Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Afternoon: Arrivals - camp tours- open waterfront Evening: Celtic Concert with Sean Dagher  Thursday, August 25, 2016 Day Trip: The Falls Late afternoon: Workshop with Craig Cardiff Dinner: Steak & Corn Roast Evening: Concert with Craig Cardiff Late Night: Spot Friday, August 26, 2016 Day Trip: Acapulco & Sept-Frères Overnight: Teens (13+) leaves after breakfast, returns Saturday before lunch Overnight: Kids (6-12) leaves after lunch, returns Saturday after breakfast Evening: Adult Wine & Cheese  Saturday, August 27, 2016 Day Trip: The Falls Morning: Archery & Riflery Competition Afternoon: Nominingue Family Triathlon Dinner: Banquet Evening: Council Ring & Pillars Award Late Evening: Spot Sunday, August 28, 2016 Last chance to swim, sail or canoe! Alumni Association News / Nouvelles de l’association des anciens
Claire and Julie’s Great Adventure The adventure continues… Claire Hazan and Julie Cameron have been on staff at Camp Nominingue on and off over the last five summers. This spring, they set off on their greatest adventure yet! Having planned and trained for months, Julie Cameron and Claire Hazan, set off on May 5th to cycle across Canada. They first met at Camp Nominingue in the summer of 2011, working as first aid attendants at the camp hospital. Before camp, they had never been exposed to such a degree of wilderness adventure. Their experiences at Camp Nominingue inspired them take on this cross-Canada voyage. Please share with us news that you would like to include in the Tumpline that you think might be of interest to other Nominingue alumni. SVP envoyez nous des nouvelles que vous aimeriez inclure dans une prochaine édition du Tumpline. Alumni Socials Alumni Weekend 2016 is fast approaching. From Friday evening, September 2nd to Sunday afternoon, September 4th, CN alumni have the opportunity to return to the shores of Petit Lac Nominingue, to rediscover the joy of paddling the cedar and canvas canoes; to sleep under canvas along the shores of Bloodsucker Bay; to sit around the dining room table or the campfire reminiscing and re-telling camp stories. Each spring and fall, we try to hold at least one Alumni Social in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. It is always great to renew with recent and less recent alumni. Dates and locations of future get-togethers will be posted on Facebook on the Camp Nominingue Alumni page or on the Alumni Socials page. To get involved with CN Alumni Association, please contact John Christou at [email protected]. When the CN Alumni Association established the Pillars award in 2008, Peter, as the owner of the camp, did not appear to fit the criteria established for this award. After the camp was sold in April 2015 to Erik Blachford and Maryam Mohit, the CN Alumni Association changed its mind and determined that the time was right to recognize Peter’s role in Nominingue’s development.  All four Van Wagner children — Charles, Peter and the twins, Rachel and Mary — grew up in the cottage on the hill, overlooking the camp. In fact, Peter arrived at Nominingue at the tender age of two weeks. Charles and Peter moved from the cottage into Tent 1 as soon as they came of age, Charlie first in 1932 and Peter following in 1934. Peter remembers being in total awe of the big boys at the bottom of the hill. “There is a picture of me at age 5 or 6, standing on the beach with my hands behind my back, observing my heroes,” says Peter. “They were like Greek gods to me.” After completing their summers as campers, both Peter and Charlie served as counsellors. Peter moved to Western Canada in 1948, living and working in Banff and Calgary until 1963. While in the west, Peter met and married Jean. Shannon and Elisa were born soon after, joining Jay, Peter’s son from a previous marriage. In 1963, F.M. — at the age of 71 — felt it was time to start preparing someone else to take over the running of the camp. By this time, Charlie was fully engaged in his lifelong career as a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service in Deep River, Ontario. On a trip through Calgary in the summer of 1963, F.M. and Catherine invited Peter and Jean to join them in the management of the camp. That same summer, Peter had been invited by the president of the company he was working for to move to head office in Toronto. There was no difficulty in choosing between the two offers and, by the summer of 1964, Peter and family were back at Nominingue. Jay was 10, Shannon 4 and Elisa 2.  Peter served as Nominingue’s director from 1963 until 1992, when he passed the director’s torch to his daughter Shannon, who directed the camp until her death in 2001. Throughout his years as director of Camp Nominingue, Peter strived to preserve the unique philosophy that his father, F.M. Van Wagner, had established at Nominingue. Since most of Canada is a vast wilderness, F.M. felt it was only natural that Canadian youth should have the opportunity to experience it firsthand — and in Eastern Canada that meant canoe tripping. He wanted to show the Nominingue boys how to feel comfortable travelling and living in the wilderness. Building on his own skills as an outdoorsman, F.M. focused on canoeing, campcraft and, especially, canoe trips at his camp. He wanted boys to “learn the deep satisfaction that comes from mastery of that truly Canadian craft, the canoe.” The aim of his program was to have all of his campers involved and, he wrote, “most decidedly not the development of individual stars.” His camp would be about co-operation, teamwork, and most important, having fun. “The camp director and counsellors must at all times remember that the camper’s aim is fun and few of the camp’s aims will be realized unless the activities are so conducted that they bring satisfaction to the camper.”  For his success in nurturing Camp Nominingue through the years, first as director and then as owner, Peter merits recognition as a “Pillar” of Nominingue! Tumpline Submissions - Soumissions pour cette lettre de nouvelles
We are looking for submissions for our newsletters from campers, staff and parents… from this summer, as well as from recent and less recent alumni. These submissions may be general memories of camp experiences or specific memories about a canoe trip, about a favourite program or a funny experience. Please send your submissions to [email protected]. You may submit your stories and memories in English, French or Spanish. |
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Camp Nominingue | Tel. 819-278-3383| Toll-free 866-910-1551 (Canada & US)
Email: [email protected] | Web: www.nominingue.com |
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Camp Nominingue
Winter Address: 112 rue Lippée, Les Coteaux, QC J7X 1J4 Summer address: 1889, chemin des Mésanges, Nominingue, QC J0W 1R0 |
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