This summer was one of the best yet for the Estevan Bible Camp, according to Shawn Bissonette, who is the camp’s operation director.
The EBC wrapped up its 2021 season on July 23 with its annual teen camp, which was the only camp this year to have an overnight component. The other camps – squirt camp 1 and evening teen camp from July 5-7, squirt camp 2 July 8-10, beginner’s camp July 12, and junior camp July 13-16 – were day camps.
“It seems that we get more and more support every year,” said Bissonette. “Our registrations had record numbers.”
The final teen camp had 31 campers, more than double the 14 registrations from last year, he said.
As for the evening teen camp, it was offered for the first time, with sessions from 7:30-10:30 p.m. each night.
“It was kind of like a youth group during the week, and we had some teens that loved it, so we can’t wait to try it again next year,” said Bissonette.
While he didn’t have exact numbers, he believes about 80 kids attended the squirt camp, the junior camp was around 40. The evening teen camp started with 10 registrations, but more people came as the camp progressed, and they finished with about 15.
The beginner camp, which was an opportunity for really young kids to try a camp out for the first time, attracted about 30 people.
The team at the EBC missed having the overnight element with the kids during the other camps, but they were glad the teens could stay in the cabins.
About 20 people served as cabin leaders during the camp season, although not all were there throughout.
A typical day featured a lot of the skills training, including archery, canoeing, crafts, roping and kendama. Air soft guns were a popular activity with older kids. Children loved scaling the rock climbing wall that has been seen in the community in the past. Two chapel services occurred each day, and there was a big water fight in the afternoon to help the kids cool off.
Teen camp offered kids a chance to go to the beach and go tubing, which proved to be popular.
Bissonette said the EBC was worried the public health restrictions would be a problem this year, but they were able to pull off the different camps, with the only restriction being wearing masks when indoors for the first week.
“We had all the campers stay within their groups if they were going inside their cabins. They never went in with anyone else,” said Bissonette.
