The countdown is getting closer and closer to the first day of the first camp of summer! Junior High #1 starts this Saturday and I can tell you one thing for sure being here walking around Qwanoes today…WE CAN’T WAIT!!!!  Everyone is talking about it, everyone is preparing for it and we just can’t wait!

The start of Staff Training was last Friday, June 26th, and from that first day until now, we have been preparing ourselves for a summer like no other! Q-Town has been awesome with Marv Penner helping us all prepare our hearts to welcome thousands of kids to camp. Yesterday we had a training session on the new games for this year…I don’t want to give it all away, but I can tell you that the night game is going to be a very BIG adventure! The staff are out there right now, preparing on the challenge course, practicing in Q-Town with the Squirrel, the archery range, the skateboard park and I even hear the boat drivers making sure everything is ready to go for Rocket Plus!

It’s been great to see the formation of the staff team come together as we are all getting to know each other and growing closer together. There have been a lot of laughs, good times and meaningful times together with returning staff and those that are experiencing Qwanoes for the very first time.  So far I have met staff from Ireland, Brazil, United States, New Zealand, South Africa, UK and Australia! I love hearing all the fun accents and different way of saying things from all the countries represented.

With the first summer camp coming up in just days, there is a feeling at Qwanoes that is hard to explain, an anticipation, an excitement for all that is going to happen. I can just see those smiling faces coming at me, those faces with expressions of pure joy as they run off the buses and out of the cars towards a week that will be unforgettable & life-changing. A week that will not only be pure, raw fun, but a week that will give campers a chance to unplug from the every day, discover things about life, make new friends and escape into a place that is built just for them, a place where kids can be kids!  We love kids at Qwanoes and we can’t wait to have our cabin villages and all of camp  come alive with the voices and faces of our campers once again!

Bring on summer! Bring on the campers! SUMMER 2010 “OUT OF THIS WORLD” is almost here!

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The summer staff team 2010 will be uniting on Friday at Camp Qwanoes! We have staff traveling from as close as Vancouver Island to as far away as New Zealand, Brazil, UK and other parts of the world!

Why do kids love Qwanoes so much? One of the reasons is our staff team love kids! And our desire is to provide one unforgettable week for them. Our staff make such a difference – our campers love them!! We can’t wait to welcome all our campers this summer!” says Scott Bayley, Executive Director here at Qwanoes.

We have about 200 trained staff serve each week on staff…with about 80% of these here for the entire summer. Our staff absolutely love kids and that’s why they have chosen to join our summer staff team…and that’s why we have chosen them!

This is what our staff have to say about what they are looking forward to this summer…

Stevie G   – “I’m excited to help kids be kids and enjoy God’s creation through games and pure fun outdoors!” Laura – “I’m stoked to hangout with kids and be a good role model and bring some light into their lives!” Nathan – “I’m excited about having fun with kids and telling them about the fun God who loves them!” Derek – “Seeing kids come alive in a whole new way!” Keerstin – “I’m excited about having fun with kids in a fun environment and being a part of their “Out Of This World” adventure!” Amelia – “Getting to watch campers challenge themselves and conquer fears!”

Our first week of camp is a Junior High Camp and it begins on July 3rd! We can’t wait!!

Staff training starts this Friday and runs for a whole week as the countdown gets closer and closer to Junior High #1. Training time will be used to bond together, put all the final touches on camp and training sessions that cover a wide variety of topics that prepare the staff team for this summers program!

It’s not too late! Summer is just days around the corner – and we still have a few spots left for our Juniors Camps! Imagine days filled with endless adventures, making new friends, great food, Q-Town… the sun will be out and smiles will be everywhere! Although most camps are full, we have just a few spots open in Juniors #2 and Juniors #3 for female campers.  Register today! Call 1-888-99-qwanoes (9266) or register online.

You can come to camp with your whole family! That’s right – we still have some room left in our summer Family Camp. An experience like this is where family memories are made that will last a lifetime! Truly a family vacation that brings refreshment and closeness to a whole new level. Go online to our website to find out more info!

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Last Friday was a big day at Qwanoes as we were getting ready for some very special guests who we knew would be arriving in just hours! The camp was buzzing with activity with staff from every area of camp working together to make sure everything would be ready to go.  If you walked the grounds on Friday you would have seen somebody on every corner of the camp getting ready for Open House… cleaning tents, cutting grass, painting, finishing the expanded carpetball hut, moving the battle top arena, prepping food, hanging banners, weeding and cleaning, the list could go on and on!! You could just feel the energy and excitement around camp as the countdown to the Open House had started! We couldn’t wait to have everyone here soon!

And then Saturday hit! If you were on the main field, it would have been quite an experience for you to see many, many, MANY people roll onto the grounds of Qwanoes! Everyone was ready for a day filled with adventure, and you could see it on their faces!  Qwanoes Open House had started and summer weather was here and we were ready to go!

From the main field people spread out all over camp with many heading right down to Qwanoes Beach. “Castaway Castle” and the “Roadster” are NEW additions to Qwanoes beach… so new in fact that Castaway Castle had just arrived 2 days before! Within moments of people arriving at the beach they were behind the boats on the Roadster, on the Blob, all over Castaway Castle, in the Kayak Frenzies…Qwanoes Beach was officially open for summer 2010!

The expansion to our Carpet Ball Hut was another great addition to our activity line up that was unveiled during the Open House. The Carpetball Hut was DOUBLED in size and it was so much fun to see all 7 tables being played on! I saw many parents challenging their kids to a game! This will be a hot spot for our campers this summer.

Club Coco is always a nice cool place to hang out during the summer to enjoy a milkshake and play some games. The newest addition to our Club Coco game line-up is the Battle Top Arena! There is only one Battle Top Arena in all of Canada and it was played on for the first time right in Club Coco, at one point we had all 12 tops going at the same time!

The day of course included so much more…like tours, delicious food, great music and of course Q-Town! We ended our day with everyone packing out Q-Town and enjoying video highlights of the day, new Q-Town music, and rejoicing in all that God is going to do during Qwanoes summer 2010! As quick as the day began it came to an end with cars leaving and 7 busses heading to the ferry – it must have been some party on that ferry with over 300 people from Qwanoes heading back to the mainland!

Thanks to everyone who came out as our special guest, we loved having you here and we hope to see you again soon! A big thank you goes out to the staff team who did an incredible job in all areas!

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