James Coll Sebes College Entrance Essay
Camper/ LIT 2002-2010; Junior Counsellor 2011 Menlo Park, CA
At the age of eight, I began attending Camp Nominingue Summer Camp for Boys in Quebec, Canada, 3,000 miles away from home. For nine wonderful summers, I was led through activities and taught skills by the counsellors: wilderness skills, waterfront sports, leadership, and personability. I was taken on canoe-camping trips and taught how to survive in the wilderness, work as a team, and persevere.
 This past summer, I was offered the chance to progress from being a camper to a Junior Counsellor. After learning as a camper, I now had the chance to contribute, in a leadership position, to the community I grew up in. For eight weeks I worked with kids aged seven to fifteen. I was assigned many responsibilities that I had never encountered before such as running the campfire cooking program on my own. I had to learn how to carry out these new responsibilities, and draw on all I was taught by my past counsellors, but this time, apply my own camper experiences to teaching the present campers. I was daunted by such a task but ecstatic to be given the opportunity to become one of the role model counsellors I looked up to.
When I was a camper, I went on an eight-day canoe trip with only five kids and two counsellors, traveling 200 km through the vast lakes, rivers and forests of Parc de La Vérendrye. The counsellors showed me the ropes of "tripping" and I looked to the counsellors for all knowledge. This past year, I again went on an eight-day trip, but this time I was one of the counsellors. Mentally, this was very difficult. Instead of receiving information and skills, now I had to impart my knowledge and help these\ children grow and be safe. After being at the camp for nine years, I thought I had learned everything. Maybe I was right when it came to "hard" skills like tripping, but for "soft" skills like working with campers, I was definitely wanting. During that trip, I had to learn when to be stern or friendly, and when to assume the teaching role or hang back and let the kids "work it out". Back at the camp, dealing with larger groups of kids, it was imperative that I learn how to interact and converse with kids in different age groups, how to be patient with rowdy campers, how to overcome language barriers with the French campers, and how to know when to teach and when to let the older kids teach the younger ones.  I thought I knew everything about Camp Nominingue, but then I was thrown into a completely new role - the counsellor - that I took on, pushed through with eagerness all the way, and came out learning more than I expected. However, I am hardly done learning about life skills and children. I have been offered, and have accepted, a full counsellor position next year, where I expect to continue my education in counselling and character improvement.
Dave Wood In Memory of Catherine Van Wagner
Section Director, Program Director, Business Manager 1956-1980
During the summer of 1967, I decided to go to the Montreal General Hospital to visit Mrs. Van. While I was at the hospital, Mrs. Van said to me: "Dave, you know that I'm counting on you to carry on with the nature program at camp. I've watched you as my assistant and I know that you can do it." I knew that I could never do the things she used to do, but for a summer or two, I did the best I could.
On one occasion, I was out of camp for two or three days attending a session at another camp where the nature director took us all around her camp showing us various items pertaining to her nature program. One of the items was a special sign which she had made meant to indicate possible weather changes. The sign read:
Rain
Showers
Sunny
A balsam switch was attached to the sign and, with every change in the weather, the balsam switch would point in a different direction. I couldn't wait to get back to Nominingue to build one of these signs. I did just that and was amazed to see that for every change in the weather, the balsam switch would point in a different direction.
That summer, during one of our council ring sessions, I decided that, in memory of Mrs. Van, I would go to the designated spot in the ring and sing the song "Trees" a cappella. Laurie Hart and Ross Paul were no longer at camp that summer to accompany me, so I did the best I could. At least, the song received a "How, how" from the Big Chief, sitting in his special chair, at the far end of the council ring.
I well remember the final lines of that song -
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Family Camp 2012 - Camp familial 2012
In 2012, we will be holding our 29th Family Camp. With a new baby at home, Alain Bovet is not able to return as one of our Family Camp co-program directors. John Christou will be ably assisted by Desmond Milroy and Adrian Lightstone, two long-time Nomininguers.
En 2012, nous célébrons notre 29ième camp familial. Cet été, avec un nouveau bébé à la maison, Alain Bovet ne pourra retourner comme directeur du camp familial. Son co-directeur, John Christou, aura l`aide de Adrian Lightstone et de Desmond Milroy, deux anciens moniteurs de longue date.
 Here are some of the highlights Voici quelques uns des
that we have planned: évènements planifiés :
Saturday, August 18 samedi le 18 août
First camp fire Premier feu de camp
Sunday, August 19 dimanche le 19 août
Council Ring "Council Ring"
Monday, August 20 lundi le 20 août
Steak & Corn Roast Steak et blé dinde
Casino Night Casino
Tuesday, August 21 mardi le 21 août
Special entertainment evening Soirée spectacle
Wednesday, August 22 mercredi le 22 août
M'Shwee M'Shwee
Celtic music with Sean Dagher Concert de musique celtique
avec Sean Dagher
Thursday, August 23 jeudi le 23 août
Wine & Cheese Vin & fromage
Chapel "Reflections" Chapelle "Réflections"
Friday, August 24 vendredi le 24 août
Camp Nominingue Film Festival Festival de film Camp Nominingue
- the schedule will be announced L`horaire sera confirmé au début du
at the beginning of August mois d`août
Saturday, August 25 samedi le 25 août
Annual Alumni meeting Réunion annuelle des anciens
Pillars of Nominingue Award ceremony Les piliers de Nominingue seront honorés
Once again this year, yoga will be offered on a daily basis. Archery and riflery competitions, arts and craft projects, bike excursions, day canoe trips to the Falls and Acapulco, games of "Spot" and "Gotcha", the polar bear swim and lots more will also be on the schedule. If you want a particular program, do not hesitate asking! To help us with our planning, please don't wait until the last minute to reserve your tent and your dates.
Comme l`année dernière, le yoga sera offert à tous les jours. Des compétitions de tir et de tir à l'arc, des projets artisanales, des excursions en vélo, des excursions de canot aux chutes et à « Acapulco », des jeux de « spot » et de « Gotcha », la baignade « ours polaire » et beaucoup plus sera aussi sur l'horaire. Pour nous aider avec la planification, svp n'attendez pas à la dernière minute de réserver votre tente et les dates de votre séjour!
RS Quba
Camp Nominingue is adding to our sailing fleet. The spring, we will be purchasing an RS Quba sailboat. The Quba comfortably handles both adults and children. It is easy to operate, quick to rig and requires little maintenance. We feel that it will be an excellent addition to our fleet of Bytes, Mega Bytes and Squadron 15s.
Le Camp Nominingue s'achète un nouveau voilier pour notre flotte. Ce printemps, nous achetons un RS Quba. Adultes et enfants peuvent manoeuvrer facilement le RS Quba. C'est rapide à monter la voile et il nécessite peu d'entretien. Nous croyons que le RS Quba sera un excellent ajout à notre flotte de Bytes, Mega Bytes et de Squadron 15.
Water Trampoline - Trampoline nautique
This year, we have chosen to focus our purchases on the waterfront. With this in mind, we have purchased a water trampoline. We feel that this will contribute to making the waterfront a "happening place" every day at free swim time.
Cette année, nous avons décidé de concentrer nos dépenses sur notre plan d'eau. Avec ceci en tête, nous avons choisis d'acheter un trampoline nautique. Nous croyons que ceci contribuera à attirer les campeurs chaque jour lors de la période de la baignade.
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. |
