Chairs Report 2021- Chelsie Rae
Camp Wegesegum has come back to life this summer. We were very fortunate to have a working board in place all with the same goals and vision for the camp. Our vision is to bring the camp back to its former glory with the campers at its heart. We want to foster leadership in our youth and give our kids a safe place to act like a kid and experience nature. We went from hosting primary rental camps, to hosting only 1 camp during the summer and almost losing the camp due to lack of interest. We have risen up from the ashes and hosted almost 9 weeks of camp, public pool program, swimming lessons, fundraising dinner and employed 10 summer staff this summer. We were also able to have a fundraising dinner and our annual Spooktacular in October. We had many highlights this summer including:
Leadership Camp- We had 35 teens enroll to become this summer's councillors. Leaders learned conflict resolution, problem solving, best practices for camp counselors, and Camp Wegesegum’s Policy and procedures. We had an incredible group of teens that volunteered for the majority of the summer. I couldn't have been more proud of what they were able to accomplish.
Little Rangers- This was a preschool day camp program that ran for 5 weeks. We were able to receive a grant from the New Brunswick Children's Foundation to cover start-up costs, and employ 2 people. We offered the program at $20 a week for ages 3-6. There were a total of 25 campers that came over the 5 weeks.
Jr. Co-ed- This was the first summer in a long time that we had the leadership to offer a week long overnight camp. We had 32 campers from all over New Brunswick attend. We had a lot of heartfelt messages from parents after the week was over telling us what a great week campers had.
Mini Camp- This was a Wegesegum first. Mini camp was a 2 night overnight camp. Great first step to a week long overnight. We had 24 campers, many of which were first timers at an overnight camp. This camp was planned by our camp manager. A great lesson in leadership and planning.
Day Camp- Our longest running camp, this summer we had record numbers. 77 campers showed up for a week of wild shenanigans. For the first time in a long time every cabin had campers in it and almost ran out of beds. We made 200 gallons of Jell-o to slime campers in the Great Wegesegum Game show.
Spooktacular- We had 175 people attend our spooky celebration. We receive substantial donations from the Village of Chipman, Irving, Chipman/Minto Lion Club and the Joy Club. Hot Chocolate and Apple cider was served, hot dogs were cooked on the fire and the ghouls and goblins were running wild. We have a tremendous investment of time to decorate 11 cabins, a haunted trail complete with light show and smoke machine and over 30 volunteers working the event.
This summer we had tremendous support from the community. To name a few; The Village of Chipman gave us financial support opening in the pool, Irving's Mill purchased 200 pool passes to give to the community and countless other donations for anything we need, Chipman community care donated food, Chipman Fire Department visited and helped with Slip and slide soccer baseball and gave the campers a tour of the trucks, Lemon’s Lumber donated some maintenance supplies, Chipman Freshmart for delivering groceries and giving us the best possible deals, The Bears den for donating some pizza and sending 5 campers to camp, The residents of Chipman for their continued support in many many ways. Each camp had no less than 3 board members present all with the vision at heart. We couldn't be more humbled by the support we have received and the feedback we have got. This is something worth fighting for.
Leadership Camp- We had 35 teens enroll to become this summer's councillors. Leaders learned conflict resolution, problem solving, best practices for camp counselors, and Camp Wegesegum’s Policy and procedures. We had an incredible group of teens that volunteered for the majority of the summer. I couldn't have been more proud of what they were able to accomplish.
Little Rangers- This was a preschool day camp program that ran for 5 weeks. We were able to receive a grant from the New Brunswick Children's Foundation to cover start-up costs, and employ 2 people. We offered the program at $20 a week for ages 3-6. There were a total of 25 campers that came over the 5 weeks.
Jr. Co-ed- This was the first summer in a long time that we had the leadership to offer a week long overnight camp. We had 32 campers from all over New Brunswick attend. We had a lot of heartfelt messages from parents after the week was over telling us what a great week campers had.
Mini Camp- This was a Wegesegum first. Mini camp was a 2 night overnight camp. Great first step to a week long overnight. We had 24 campers, many of which were first timers at an overnight camp. This camp was planned by our camp manager. A great lesson in leadership and planning.
Day Camp- Our longest running camp, this summer we had record numbers. 77 campers showed up for a week of wild shenanigans. For the first time in a long time every cabin had campers in it and almost ran out of beds. We made 200 gallons of Jell-o to slime campers in the Great Wegesegum Game show.
Spooktacular- We had 175 people attend our spooky celebration. We receive substantial donations from the Village of Chipman, Irving, Chipman/Minto Lion Club and the Joy Club. Hot Chocolate and Apple cider was served, hot dogs were cooked on the fire and the ghouls and goblins were running wild. We have a tremendous investment of time to decorate 11 cabins, a haunted trail complete with light show and smoke machine and over 30 volunteers working the event.
This summer we had tremendous support from the community. To name a few; The Village of Chipman gave us financial support opening in the pool, Irving's Mill purchased 200 pool passes to give to the community and countless other donations for anything we need, Chipman community care donated food, Chipman Fire Department visited and helped with Slip and slide soccer baseball and gave the campers a tour of the trucks, Lemon’s Lumber donated some maintenance supplies, Chipman Freshmart for delivering groceries and giving us the best possible deals, The Bears den for donating some pizza and sending 5 campers to camp, The residents of Chipman for their continued support in many many ways. Each camp had no less than 3 board members present all with the vision at heart. We couldn't be more humbled by the support we have received and the feedback we have got. This is something worth fighting for.