The last of the men from our Men’s Retreat just rolled out of Qwanoes, and with their departure ends our Fall retreat season at Qwanoes. It was a great weekend with the men, with so many great memories to take away. We had an awesome band here from The Meeting Place in Nanaimo. They bring a lot of energy and excitement to the stage as we enter into our worship times together. Steve Sundby from Saanich Baptist church in Victoria was our speaker, and he got right to the point in many areas as we talked all about what the Bible says it means to be a true man through the series “Play The Man.” So many men commented on how it was just good to be at Qwanoes with friends, good food, and a quality time of reflection and time to just be together as guys. On Saturday night after a great session together, it was cool to see some watching the Canucks win yet another hockey game! Others having a big fire down at the fire circle and still others having a soak in the hot tub. So many great options over the weekend. Some of my favorite times were having a great steak meal together, plus late night nachos and chicken wings! We already can’t wait for next year… but we hope to see many of the men back for our family events soon.

Qwanoes looks a little bit different during the winter, and there is one place right now where that is very obvious. Remember where the tideline usually ends during the summer? You can always usually take a walk on the beach or at least on the rocks by the beach. Well, as you can see by the picture that is just not the case right about now. Julie Bayley, our Associate Program Director, couldn’t believe her eyes when she snapped this picture. Can you believe it?!

And as a chapter is quickly coming to a close here at Qwanoes another exciting one is about to begin! That’s right – SUMMER 2012!! And we all can’t wait for our campers and their friends to start signing up for camp on January 3rd at 9:00 am. Be one of the first ones to go online and check out the new summer theme which will be unveiled on our website on January 3rd! Russ, the Squirrel, is working hard in the studio coming up with a brand new full-length album including our new theme song. The 2011 theme “HERE WE GO” brought us so many great memories and things we learnt that will always stay close to our heart… but as we look ahead to summer 2012 and the unveiling of our new theme, we can’t wait for it to start all over again!

Stay tuned for more info on what is coming for 2012!