A One Week Program at Nominingue
Dan Quinn Lower Camp Section Director 2012
Summer 2011 featured the introduction of the first ever One-Week Program at Camp Nominingue. New Lower Campers had the opportunity to attend an introductory week of camp to give them a taste of everything Nominingue has to offer. As the Section Director for Lower Camp last summer part of my job was to help make this week the most fun it could possibly be, and it was quite a challenge. How can you take all the wonderful experiences of a summer at Nominingue and compact them into only seven days?
Somehow we did it. Lower Camp has an amazing group of counsellors who helped everyone feel welcome and comfortable. The one-week campers got to try out a wide range of instructions, running through the forest searching for flags in Orienteering, eating edible plants in Nature, building fires then cooking over them in Campcraft and Cooking, and getting out on the lake to practice their strokes in Canoeing, earning feathers for their shields along the way. There were games of Pony Express, Egg Drop, Backdraft, and other camp classics, countless campfires with songs, games and stories, and of course Council Ring. The weather was amazing. Every one-week camper got to go on an overnight canoe trip, and free swims were full of trips out to senior swim, tennis matches, and carving in the craft shop. Best of all was seeing every tent in the Horseshoe full, and feeling the energy of a Lower Camp full with so many new faces making friends and laughing together.
As much of a success as the first ever One-Week Program was as a whole, it was the individual successes and accomplishments that these new campers had that made the summer special. A camper who failed his deep water test on the first day had done the lake swim by the end of the week. Another who begged to go home after being dropped off became a real leader among his peers in section and said he couldn't wait to come back again next year. One camper told me he had so much fun he wants to come back for 8 weeks next summer. I'm not sure if Nominingue will start offering a session that long, but we'll certainly be glad to see everyone who was introduced to camp through the One-Week Program back at Nominingue for even longer this coming summer.
Nominingue
Gordon C. Allan Staff 1977 -1993, Pillar 2011
Between 1977 and 1993, Gordon Allan spent 15 summers on staff at Nominingue, working up from counsellor to program director. In 2011, he returned to camp for a couple of days in August where he was honoured by the CN Alumni Association as a Pillar of Nominingue. The songs that he wrote and performed are just of the legacies he left behind. With Dave Dancey, he wrote the song "Nominingue". When he was back at camp this past summer, he took a few photos which he felt represented Nominingue. Here those photos have been used to illustrate the words of his song.
Sandy Beaches, blowing trees, sunlight through the leaves.
Rising wood-smoke fills the air, campfires everywhere,
At Nominingue, welcome to Nominingue
Inviting you to our gang.
That's the spirit... That's the spirit...the spirit of Nominingue.
Children laughing through the day, counsellors hard at play.
Living, learning, fill their minds, memories of the time...
At Nominingue, welcome to Nominingue
Inviting you to our gang.
That's the spirit... That's the spirit...the spirit of Nominingue
Mitchinamecus Trip 13 days 1931
Leader: F.M Van Wagner Scribe: John Macauley
Camp Nominingue provides an outdoor experience to all of our campers. One constant component of this outdoor experience has been a canoe trip...
About six o'clock with the sky still cloudy, Lac Brûlé opened out before us, its wooded shores silhouetted against the greyness of the misty hills beyond. The water was calm and, as usual, loons called and families of young ducks hurried into bays as we approached. One canoe followed the shore to catch three nice doré (fish), while the other made straight to the camp to have things ready for their arrival. It was quite late before our appetites seemed satisfied. The weather, somewhat clearer, afforded a comfortable night.
The late hour of awakening seemed to show that all had slept quite soundly. At 7:30 am the porridge pot was cleaned and we were breaking camp. During breakfast, we had a shower, but the sky soon cleared and the heat was intense as we paddled northwards to the Dawes portage. The rest of the morning was spent on the trail and due to the heavy load we were forced to make two trips. As the last campers struggled into Dawes, beans were steaming and sic tired and hungry campers were soon seated about the fire to do them damage. Lunch over, we decided to push on to Lake Balser, find a good spot and then spend the rest of the day there.
We paddled these two lakes under a hazy sky and found our desired spot on a point beyond "seagull rock". The rest of the afternoon saw us making a good camp, cooking beans, building a table, which had the bad habit of collapsing as soon as our food was piled neatly thereon. Mr. Van Wagner went fishing in the hope of trout, but returned with one large doré. When the sun sank below the horizon, we were still waiting for the beans to soften up, however they didn't take long, and after swim and supper, we were under the covers and over the boughs...
Camp Nominingue campers still take log books out on trips to record the hi-lights of their canoe trips.
Winter Events - Évènements cet hiver
Although the summer is definitely our busy season, we do keep busy during the winter. These are some of the events where we will be present:
January 25-27 OCA Directors Conference Toronto
February 12 OCA Camp Fair- Quebec City Québec
February 19 Montreal Families Camp Fair Pointe-Claire
February 28 CN Alumni wine & cheese Mexico City
March 9-11 Canoecopia 2012 Madison, WI
If you are interested in any details concerning these events, please contact us at the camp office.
Malgré le fait que l'été est notre haute saison, nous sommes pas mal occupés durant l'hiver aussi. Voici quelques uns des évènements où nous serons présents cet hiver :
25 au 27 janvier Congrès des directeurs OCA Toronto
12 février Foire de camps OCA à Québec Québec
19 février Foire de camps Montreal Families Pointe-Claire
28 février Rencontre des anciens: Vin et fromage Ville de Mexico
9 au 11 mars Canoecopia 2012 Madison, WI
Si vous désirez plus de détails, svp contactez-nous au bureau.
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 grant@nominingue.com. You may submit your stories and memories in English, French or Spanish.
Nous sommes à la recherche de textes de campeurs, parents et de moniteurs de l'été 2011... et de souvenirs de nos anciens campeurs et moniteurs des années récentes et moins récentes. Vos textes peuvent décrire vos expériences en générale ou une excursion de canot, un programme favori ou une expérience drôle. SVP envoyez votre texte par courriel à grant@nominingue.com. Votre texte peut être écrit en français, en anglais ou en espagnol. | 
