September 27 Ground Breaking: More Details

This information is copied from the Facebook event that Daffy wrote up:

Lunch will be provided on Saturday, but the rest of the weekend is a bring-your-own food event. If you choose to come Friday evening before 6:00pm, bring some food for a potluck supper; for Saturday dinner and breakfasts, pretend you're camping and prepare accordingly. We have 3 BBQ's, an electric stove/oven and 2 microwaves for your use.

Feel free to come up on Friday night and stay Saturday night too if you choose. Bring your tents, ground sheets and warm sleeping bags. There is room in the cottage and trailers for up to 50 people; first come, first served. Hot indoor showers and flush toilets are available!!

Here is the weekend agenda:

Friday Sept.26
18:00 potluck supper
20:00 campfire and singing

Saturday Sept.27
08:30 Polar Bear Swim
10:00 Sod Turning and Dedication
10:15 work begins
12:00 lunch (provided)
(break for dinner on your own)
21:00 Communists & Christians
22:00 Campfire, Songfest and Celebration

Sunday Sept.28
09:00 Polar Bear Swim
11:00 Camp Prayer Walk and Worship

Things To Bring:
A friend or two
Tent or tent trailer
warm sleeping bags and extra blankets
air mattress or foam mattress
flashlight
work clothes and sturdy shoes
work gloves
rain coat (we work rain or shine)
extra pair of dry shoes and socks
swim suit
water bottle
tools: rake, shovel, large pruners, bow saw
food (in coolers w/ice) for breakfasts or Saturday dinner
a few golf clubs and some balls for a couple holes on Sunday on our little golf course!

Here is a link for a map to camp:
http://tinyurl.com/4pjga7

Camp is:
12 kms from Hopetown (gas and snacks)
22 kms from Lanark
30 kms from Calabogie
38 kms from Almonte
43 kms from Carleton Place
65 kms from Terry Fox Road and 417

Thanks and God Bless for your interest in furthering this ministry to children for Jesus Christ...
...Daffy

Upcoming Ground Breaking Ceremony and Work Weekend!

Come on out to our official groundbreaking ceremony and (the first of many) work party! Please join us on Saturday, September 27, 2008 as we hold a ceremony and dedication at 10:00am, and then join us for a work party as we prepare the site for upcoming construction. Things to do: raking, cutting grass, blazing trails, cutting down small trees, making a road, clearing areas for cabins, preparing concrete forms for cabin footings, and much more.

Please feel free to come up on Friday evening for a potluck supper and campfire, and/or stay over on Saturday night as well -- we will hold a worship and prayer time on Sunday morning. We have space at the camp to sleep up to 50 people in the cottage and trailers, otherwise you will want to bring your own tent or trailer for the weekend. First come, first serve! Remember, the new site has full washroom facilities including flush toilets and showers!

Take advantage of this opportunity to explore our new site for the very first time, and be a part of this historic event! This event is open to all camp staff, alumni, friends and parents. Campers are welcome to attend with your parents.

Please contact Daffy (John Tallett) at (613) 440-0981 to RSVP or if you have any questions. You can also check out the Facebook invitation for this event.

Oil Changers Grand Opening

On Saturday, September 13, 2008, a new Oil Changers location opened at 1457 Woodroffe Ave (at Norice). This was significant to us because for their grand opening promotion, $10 was donated to camp for every oil change or gift certificate sold. They also had a free BBQ, with a cash donation box, and a car wash (for a minimum $5 donation). I showed up before lunchtime to have my oil change and car wash, and the place was hopping. Thank you to all who came out and got your oil changed to support both Oil Changers and the Laurentian Camp Cherith ministry!

I don't have the final numbers yet, but I will post an update when I can. Pictures to follow, as well.

Update: I heard word from Bunny that this was the most successful Oil Changers grand opening (ever!) Between the oil changes, the donations for car washes and the donation box at the BBQ, we raised $2,150! A huge THANK YOU to Oil Changers and to all of you who came that day to support us!

Weekend Update: September 12-14

We had a number of volunteers up on site this past weekend (and, indeed, some of them are still up there. Thank you so much for your hard work!) The primary goal for the next few weeks is to start laying the groundwork (literally!) for new cabin construction. We were able to completely clear four sites, which meant chainsaws and snippers and lots and lots of grunt work hauling trees out. Meanwhile, a more mechanically-minded group (I do NOT consider myself in this category) were working on getting our tractor and riding mowers operational. New site, new toys!

Pictures to follow.

The Transformation Begins

On August 1, 2008, Laurentian Camp Cherith bought a property of our very own.

This was no small feat -- it took almost a year of planning, thinking, deliberating and praying in order to make it happen. And there will be many months ahead of planning, preparing, fundraising and building -- which is what this blog is all about. We want you to be able to keep up-to-date on our planning and construction progress, and give you opportunities to help out with fundraising and construction work.

This is an exciting time for everyone. We have existed, as a summer camp, since 1948, and we have been renting from the same place, Camp Kalalla, since 1969. That's almost 40 years -- three entire generations have grown up going to the same place. We loved it, cherish it, and will miss it... but at the same time that we were renting, we were also looking to find a place to call our own. Somewhere we could run four, or even more weeks of camp, do weekend retreats, run more activities. And as much as we loved those outhouses, you can't deny the allure of real flushing toilets!

We've been looking at properties off and on for decades. I recently went through some old minutes from meetings of the board of directors in the mid 1990's, and those also included some growth plans and evaluations of sites that were for sale at the time. Clarus and Peaches (for those who remember them, and their near-legendary contributions to Camp Cherith as we know it today) were looking at alternate places we could rent from or purchase.

In the fall of 2007, Bunny and Black Bear were driving home from their cottage out in Lanark County when they happened upon River Farm Christian Campground. I'll save that story for another day, but fast-forward to today, we are now the proud owners of 160 acres of land along the Clyde River in the Lanark Highlands.

Keep watching this blog. We'll post photos, show you how we're doing, and tell you about ways that you can help! We look forward to seeing you soon at our new home!