CYM Summer camp at Pigeon Lake, Alberta took place from July 17 to 30, 2016 under the motto “Ukraine begins with you”. Youth from 6 to17 years took part in the 12-day program with the “under 6 years old” joining in for the last 6 days. Altogether, 64 children from Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer took part in the camp program prepared by Ivanka Soletsky, with assistance from Danylo Moussienko. Each day was dedicated to a specific theme around which the activities and lessons were focused. Examples of some of the daily themes or events were the 70th Anniversary of CYM in the Diaspora; 4 Waves of Ukrainian Immigration to Canada; 125 Anniversary of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada; 145th Anniversary of poetess Lesia Ukrainka’s birth; 160th Anniversary of the birth of poet, writer and activist, Ivan Franko; 150th Anniversary of the birth of politician, statesman and historian, Mykhailo Hrushevsky. The first week of camp ended with a grand performance to celebrate 125 years of Ukrainian Settlement, written and directed by the very talented Natalia Markevych of Calgary. Every camper took part in the production in some capacity of reciting, singing and dancing. It was a marvelous and educational experience for everyone!
Besides the educational aspect to the summer camp, it was also loaded with various fun activities. Each morning, the children awoke to the sounds of Andrei Dawid playing the trumpet, calling them to morning warm ups, followed by the flag raising ceremony, lectures, crafts, outdoormanship, games, sing-a-longs, swimming and cleaning of rooms for inspection, to mention but a few! Special guests to the camp included artist Iryna Karpenko who taught the children to paint on glass; Natalia Yashnikova who shared her knowledge of clothing and textiles to help the campers each make a poppy brooch by fulling and felting, and Daniel Feculak who organized the Olympic Games at camp. The campers also enjoyed evening dances, learned to cross stitch badges and were entertained by fireworks over the lake.
A particular highlight was taking part in the Ukrainian radio broadcast with World FM 101.7 producer and host Roman Brytan: https://streema.com/radios/World_FM_CKER_FM. The campers shared what they liked about camp, what they learned, as well as voted for their top 10 favourite camp songs! On Facebook, you can also see a camp video of us, produced by Marko Boychuk.
The second week of camp brought out the youngest campers, the sumenyata! Their little bodies full of enthusiasm filled the camp with a renewed energy. While these wee ones adjusted to camp life, the oldest youth left camp for a 3-day hike-out to Jasper under the guidance of Mike Bokalo, assisted by Ulana Soletsky and Ivan Pedyash of Edmonton and Michael Shysh of Calgary. These campers set up their tents, cooked their own meals, went on trail hikes, swam in lakes and relaxed their tired bodies in Miette Hot Springs. This hiking camp was made possible with the financial generosity of the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex in Edmonton. Many thanks for their support.
The CYM Summer Camp would not have been possible without the dedication of the Camp organizers and Staff. It was particularly wonderful to see the large number of young adults and younger camp staff members that took part, since some had just completed their training as camp counselors. They were all very responsible and worked well with both the children and seasoned members of staff.
The staff of CYM Summer Camp 2016 included:
Commandants: Oksana Dawid (week 1), Christine Moussienko (week 2); Program Coordinator: Ivanka Soletsky, Danylo Moussienko; Head Instructors: Natalia Markevych (week 1), Luba Perewernycky (week 2); Bunchuzhnyy: Michael Shysh (week 1), Nicholas Perewernycky (week 2); Secretary: Andrei Dawid; Instructors: Danylo Moussienko, Dan Roman, Halya Lypsky Wilson, Natalia Dawid, Ivan Pedyash, Michael Bokalo; Kitchen staff: Luda Kravets, Natalia Yashnikova, Katya Semenyiuk; Helpers: Nataliya Melysh, Beata Pasieka.
Camp 2016 at the scenic Pigeon Lake was very successful, and the sunny weather and crystal clear lake made it unforgettable. An emotional farewell to this camp began the count down until we meet at the next one!
Oksana Dawid & Christine Moussienko
Additional pictures you will find in the camp’s gallery.
