One of the most important lessons I was taught working at Camp this year was that change is an absolute blessing. Sometimes change can be intimidating, especially when what you have already is so special. However, without experiencing change, I would have been robbed of so many fantastic Camp memories I now consider some of my fondest. The biggest change for me this year was going from counselling all summer long, to being a member of Kintail’s fabulous fall staff squad.
Certain changes happened abruptly, the most noticeable for me was the sudden disappearance of our near 80 lovely, summer staff, to a considerably smaller 7 that made up our fall staff of 2014. Aqua, Okra and I probably had the trickiest time grasping this as it was each of our first times being at Camp throughout the fall. We were lucky that we had each other though, after having been campers, LITs, and counsellors together. We were even more fortunate to have fall staff pros like Mercury, Trillium, Echo and Duku to show us the ropes (often quite literally).
The next differences that became extremely obvious to us were the types of things we found ourselves doing. In the summer, I found myself in cabin whether it be with the VOKS, Guitar Camp, or my Senior CoEd ladies, among other fantastic weeks at camp. An average day consisted of singing, playing, going to the beach and leading FLASH sessions. But in the fall we were out of cabins and into Harmony House. We also soon learned there was no such thing as an “average day” anymore. We did a lot of maintenance work from cleaning, to insulating buildings, sprucing up the back of the lodge, and “winterizing” Camp. There was also a lot to be learned from the school and church groups who visited Kintail this autumn. We learned how to run fun sessions for all ages from low ropes, to music and drama or archery. There was so much more to be learned out at the high ropes and rock wall as well. Having only known belaying prior to fall, learning the setup and take down of both was very interesting. The groups who visited also gave us a chance to learn more about the kitchen here at Camp which came in handy when working special events like weddings and Especially Special Night.
My favourite job of all I did this fall though had to be feeding (and cuddling) the bunnies and chickens. But as the weather got chillier, our furry and feathered friends made their way to the Roth’s where they will stay warm in the winter.
The weather was the most gradual change of all, but one of my favourites! Donning our sweaters, then eventually coats and mittens was well worth the beauty of seeing Kintail show it’s fall colours. During our last week there, we were even blessed enough to see a
beautiful blanket of snow cover the site and make everything sparkle.
While at first, the change was rather shocking, I survived fall staff with memories I will never forget. Special thanks to all the summer staff, volunteers, guests and alumni who came to visit, help out and make so many of those special memories. Because of all the wonderful things I experienced when I opened up to change at a place I thought I knew oh so very well, I’ve grown as a person and learned so many useful life skills that I will always owe to my time at Kintail.