Dear Kintail community,
My earliest memories of Camp Kintail come from when I was just three years old. I joined my family to drop my older brother off for a week of camp. I took home a big, heavy rock as a souvenir of my afternoon. I don’t know where that rock is today, but the memory remains and I knew I wanted to work at Kintail someday.
In 2016 I took part in the Leader in Training program. Eight LITs and our counselors, Lobster and Shea, became a little family. That summer I chose the nature name Digit while the rest became Sundog, Tjitjak, Electron, Kinglet, Sound, Anchovy, and Gamma.
The following year I returned to Kintail once again to work as a counselor. That was my first real job. My first week of that summer I spent counseling in one of the STEM camp cabins. (To my excitement, two campers from that cabin were part of the 2024 Camp Kintail staff).
In the years since then I have had the chance to sing, dance, and perform for friends, campers, and other guests…
I met staff from across Ontario and around the world…
I even learned how to build a set of stairs with the help of Bruce ‘Coyote’ Howard!
As I start my new position as Director of Fundraising and Outreach at Kintail I’ve done some reflecting on memories and photos like these. It brings me great joy to see new and familiar guests sharing in what the camp has to offer. Yet, as appreciative as we are of the site, it is the people who make it all matter. Camps, weddings, retreats, school trips, and church services always bring such wonderful people through our gates. I am grateful to be back and have the opportunity to help welcome you when you visit – and I thank everyone in advance for welcoming me back so warmly.
See you soon,
Daniel ‘Digit’ Hoogsteen
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