Table Of Content

E ducation for Environment Cedar Ridge Camp: Using the Local Environment by Grayson Burke with Scott Tavener In 2007 Cedar Ridge Camp opened for its first With me on the line, Peter explained that he season as a traditional co-ed summer camp intended to buy a summer camp and was and year-round outdoor education and interested in obtaining my opinion regarding recreation centre. The first imperative for the a prospective property. Knowing that Peter fledging endeavour involved devising a camp had spent much of the previous five years doctrine and outdoor curriculum; it seemed a scouting possible sites without success, I rudimentary task. The mission would centre expected little more than a rundown hunting on creating a program that would encourage cabin and a free lunch from our fact-finding personal development and growth through a sojourn. Still, flattered by his request, I agreed shared outdoor experience. Our main goals to go along. were to promote the formation of close bonds, both amongst individuals and with the On a November’s day, as we drove northward, surrounding environment; teach the value of Peter and his wife, Kelley, explained the teamwork; instil the worth of hard work; and general layout of the property, adding a encourage skill acquisition through both work cautionary and obligatory, “It needs a little and play. The primary goal of our outdoor work.” Located 30 km east of Bancroft, what education centre was to design programs that would become Cedar Ridge sat on a private would fuse our ethos with the specific aims of bay with 3,400 feet of waterfront and 150 each group. Whether working with corporate acres of diverse terrain. As we pulled up to the groups, schools or outdoor enthusiasts we first building, my albeit low expectations were would concentrate on teambuilding, amply exceeded. leadership and environmental education. Originally YMCA Camp Wangoma, since the Though our initial statement of beliefs and 1980s the property had been a church-run objectives remained static throughout our Christian camp. Though slightly ragged, it had inaugural season, we were met with a the perfect footprint for a summer camp. serendipitous variable that we had Peaceful, pastoral and serene, it boasted a underestimated: our surrounding environment. plethora of open fields, a spectacular As we continuously discovered more about waterfront, a large-scale dining hall, and a our local region, our programming evolved to secondary winterized lodge with beds for 80 incorporate the staggeringly diverse landscape and a fully functional kitchen of its own, and its vast offerings. furnishing the grounds with year-round activity capability. Following a rainy tour we drove In November of 2005 I received a phone call home, feverishly discussing the site’s potential. from Peter Ruys de Perez, whom I had known A month later, Peter completed the purchase through our shared association with Kilcoo and Cedar Ridge’s inception was official. Camp. Growing up, Peter had spent his summers at the now-closed Camp Mazinaw, a By March of 2006, after a winter spent S boys’ camp on Mazinaw Lake. Those years had generating a camp philosophy and assembling Y A a formative effect that he retained throughout an advisory board/think tank of former camp W the intervening decades. Peter long held a directors, doctors, lawyers, school board H T desire to return to camping, ideally with his superintendents and outdoor professionals, A P own venture. Following a welcome early we were ready to begin restoring the site. Due retirement, he sought to make his dream into to the previous owners’ severe lack of funding 7 a proverbial reality. and fading business, it had endured years of Education for Environment neglect. Peter and I agreed that, before Madawaska River and Algonquin Park, we had welcoming a single visitor, every building and little understanding of the region; that would system had not only to conform to codes, but quickly change. exceed them. Thus, throughout the following year, we encountered a diverse array of The abundance of wildlife in the area rapidly surprises as we navigated a crash course in became apparent. Though the camp’s former water and septic systems, plumbing, building incarnation, Natureland, boasted an obvious foundations, and sundry other aspects of sylvan connotation, we had assumed it had construction. been an arbitrary and generic title, akin to a suburban street name. However, as deer, elk, We quickly found ourselves ensconced in the wild turkeys, blue herons, snapping turtles day-to-day reconstruction, thus putting and an otter (aka “The Creature”) emerged program design and area exploration from the surrounding woodlands and lake, we temporarily on hold. Typically — and in direct realized how apropos a designation Natureland opposition to our naïve optimism — we had been. Never in my camping experience, finally finished resuscitating the camp long whether on-site or on-trip, had I enjoyed such past our self-imposed deadline and well over a close interaction with wildlife. While driving our projected budget. through or wandering about the grounds, deer sightings became commonplace. So numerous Before arriving in the Lower Madawaska was the deer population that we had to region, we had grossly undervalued the local caution visitors about the danger of navigating environment’s attributes. Having spent the through fields of grazers. majority of my camping life in Haliburton, Bancroft had long been nothing more than a Unique to the area, an extensive elk Tim Horton’s stop on the way to Ottawa. population had taken up residence nearby. Aside from the closeness to both the Once native to Ontario, elk had vanished by the late 1800s, largely due to human settlement and unregulated harvesting. In 1999, a massive cooperative effort to S s Y n e A w W O H er T nif A n e P J dit: e 8 cr Art Education for Environment reintroduce the animal to the area began. While river possibilities influenced our water Today, over 150 elk call the neighbourhood programming, the extensive trail systems home. Commonly, grazing or ambling elk nearby helped to fashion our on-land would upstage our staff during activities. At tripping. Commonly used by snowmobiles in first, the wildlife acted merely as a curious the winter and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in bonus, but organically, over time, became a the fall, the gigantic system of paths provided teaching tool. Campers had to learn how to a great opportunity for mountain biking and exist harmoniously with the animals. It proved hiking. With onsite access to such a massive a beneficial happenstance. trail system, we had another unique feature that shaped our activity schedule. As the site slowly evolved and structures began to return to respectable shape, our focus at last The city of Bancroft and surrounding region returned to programming. The environment correctly bills itself as one of Canada’s best had already begun to inspire a broad and natural, year-round playgrounds, with each innovative range of ideas, yet we still wanted season drawing a different sub-culture of to offer many of the standard camp activities, adventure seekers. Whether it is paddlers in including climbing, archery, kayaking, sailing, the spring, mountain bikers in the summer, canoeing and a wide variety of sports. Once hunters in the fall, or snowmobile and sled the capacity for these activities was dog drivers in the winter, each season provides established, we began to explore the myriad the opportunity for different recreational off-site possibilities. pursuits. With the infrastructure to accommodate winter adventurers, we searched Throughout curriculum development, we for potential curriculum opportunities. Aside continued to stress the importance of camper from the aforementioned ATV and and environment interaction and the value of snowmobile prospects, we were ecstatic to forming a close bond with nature. Co-opting find an active dog sledding and luge — yes, Peter’s experience at Camp Mazinaw, each luge — community that we could utilize. In summer camper would take part in a the coming months, we intend to make use of mandatory canoe trip. Although in close these disparate activities, using underutilized proximity to Algonquin and Bon Echo parks, tools for a fuller learning experience. the propinquity to a stunning array of world- class rivers held a special allure; the During Cedar Ridge’s inaugural year, we Madawaska, Petawawa and Ottawa are all employed many of the principals that we had within a two-hour radius. discussed in the days following that first visit, yet the area’s surrounding wildlife and diverse Upon hearing of our location, whitewater natural environment had an unexpectedly advisor and seasoned river instructor, Steve profound effect on our dogma. As we continue Reble, excitedly quipped: “What Whistler is to to grow and evolve, we will rely on our skiers and snowboarders, the Ottawa Valley teaching axioms while remaining fluid enough and Lower Madawaska region is to whitewater to adopt and incorporate the surfeit of natural paddlers.” This became immediately apparent resources. as each weekend in the spring and early summer found the roads awash with kayak- S Y and canoe-strapped cars. We were able to Grayson Burke is currently the Director of Cedar A W utilize the whitewater, sending day-trips to Ridge Camp and has a degree in Recreation and H Palmer Rapids and the Ottawa. The Leisure Studies from Brock University. He can be T A Madawaska served as an ideal two-day reached at [email protected]. Scott P sojourn, allowing beginners to develop their Tavener is one of the founding staff members of river skills in a challenging but safe Cedar Ridge Camp. 9 environment.