Camp Nominingue is an English boys' camp located north of Mont-Tremblant. We have a fair number of francophone campers who choose Nominingue for an English immersion experience. We employ staff of all genders from around the world. Staff to camper ratio is 1:3. Boys live in prospector tents and have the opportunity to learn and practice outdoor skills through our instruction/feather shield program. Campers have ample opportunity to make choices and explore their independence each day, including wilderness canoe trips of various lengths.
We hold a multi-day Family Camp at the end of August - a great opportunity to introduce children of all ages to camp life, or simply to enjoy an amazing family holiday!
Making choices is definitely at the heart of the Nominingue experience. Choosing whether or not to go on a canoe trip is just one of many decisions each camper will get to make. Each day campers will have multiple opportunities to make decisions that impact their experience. Other than 7-9 year-olds in the 8-day program, all campers choose their morning instructions from a list of instructions, from guitar to archery to basketball to windsurfing or orienteering. Twice a day at free swim, campers can choose to go swimming, go sailing, play sports, work on a project in the craftshop, read a good book, or hang with friends. The important thing for is for the campers to play and use their time constructively and creatively.
Choose the right programs and sessions for your child; Camp Nominingue currently has 19 programs available; 1 TBD.
Registration for camp begins each year on November 1st. All registrations are completed online. We offer discounts for early-bird registration until December 15th, with additional discounts for siblings and for referrals. The second stage of the registration starts on April 15th, with three additional forms becoming available in the online account: Parent, Camper and Travel to Camp.
Throughout the winter, we hold online information sessions for new parents and families, in-person events in Montreal and Ottawa, and online Q & A sessions for campers and parents. Meetings can easily be booked with the admin team.
Financial Aid & Payment Details
Payment Options:
Deposit required with acceptance
Yes
Credit card payment
Yes
Discounts
Discount if paid early
2%
Discount for 2nd child
10%
Discount for 3rd child
15%
Discount for 4th child
15%
Scholarships & awards:
Destination C.A.M.P.
Amount: $6,000
Deadline: March 28, 2024 annually
Type: Merit based Age: 11 to 17 Details: Le programme s’adresse aux jeunes de 11 à 17 ans…
- issu.e.s de tous les milieux sociaux économiques, incluant la classe moyenne
- qui vivent dans un contexte de précarité financière
- ou qui ont des besoins particuliers
- qui désirent développer des compétences sportives, artistiques, académiques, personnelles ou interpersonnelles et qui souhaitent accroitre leur esprit et leurs qualités de leadership
- ou qui traversent une période plus difficile et qui font preuve de persévérance, de courage, de motivation ou de résilience
- qui viennent d’arriver au Québec
- ou qui bénéficieraient grandement d’un séjour en camp de vacances… autrement dit, presque tous les jeunes! Application Details: Go online and fill out the form.
Nominingue has had a few ups and downs in its long life, though now is perhaps within its golden age, the one where the programs, the staff, and the culture are as strong as they are impressive. As when it was founded, Nominingue offers a boys’ program operating in English. As such, it draws boys from a wider catchment area, including Montreal, Toronto, and beyond. The draw is the strength of the program, one that seeks to allow boys to grow together, though fun and challenge, and allow them to better understand their strengths and talents, both individually and within a group.
A remarkable facet of Nominingue's identity is its commitment to craftsmanship and tradition. The camp takes pride in constructing its own canoes on-site, an impressive feat that few other camps can claim. These canoes, lovingly built by hand, serve as tangible symbols of the unique and authentic experience that campers encounter every summer. The canoes the boys use at camp, were built on site. Those canoes are found elsewhere, too, including other camps; Wanakita has a few that were bought decades ago but are still in use. The canoes—built here, by hand—underscore the unique yet very traditional experience that campers find here each summer.
And when it comes to the leadership team, they have years of experience—and are a delight to speak with. They know that camp can change lives, and that’s what they do here everyday.
I would highlight three things that are unique. It's a camp that has a very strong emphasis on tripping and outdoor living, but it's not a tripping camp per se. There are canoe-tripping camps, rather, that parents can choose where their children are just tripping the whole time. And then there are a lot of camps where canoeing and outdoor skills, outdoor living skills, they're offered among many things, and they can get a bit drowned out by the range of things that kids can do. And so this is a camp that has both a strong tripping program and a very full camp-based program. And so for us, that was the sweet spot of really having a strong emphasis on those skills, but, at the same time, offering a wide range of other activities that you could do.
It's also a camp that is quite rustic. And it's a largely off-the-grid camp. There is electricity, but in the common building—not in boys' quarters. And so that's also something that was pleasing to us about having summertime, where kids live more lightly and closer to nature.
One thing that's quite unique about it is, in my view, that it's the only boys camp in all of Quebec from as far as I can tell because gender-segregated summer camps are really an English language, Anglophone phenomenon. So we are a family that lives bilingual lives. We were speaking English at home, but we send our children to French schools. And so this was a way for us to encourage our son to make camp-based friendships that were with kids from both backgrounds.
And also, I noticed when I was doing my research into some of the Ontario-based boys’ camps that they draw a lot of American families. And there are international campers at Camp Nominingue.
I also like the idea of him making friendships at camp with kids closer to home. So having more kids from Quebec and from Ontario as well among the campers is a bonus. And also, he was as a young kid who goes to a French school and he drops a lot of French into his English. And we wanted him to be in an environment where he wasn't seen as being strange or weird by doing that. At Camp Nominigue, he could just be himself and people would understand him regardless of what language he spoke.
What would you highlight about Camp Nominigue?
Well, I'd say that the staff are wonderful from my experience. I got a chance to observe them upfront, up close with the family camp, since our family has also now been to this family camp for two years in a row. And from my observation, the counsellors are experienced in their instructional area, but they're also just genuinely warm and friendly, and lovely human beings. And it seems like they've really created an environment in which boys can be very rough and tumble and exuberant.
There’s also a lot of positive masculinity where there's affection among the male counsellors, and people seem very open and in touch with their feelings. And definitely as a feminist, I wanted to have him be in an environment in which it wasn't thought that masculinity makes you a man. I wanted him to be in a place in which he could express himself physically and make friendships with boys, and one where boys were very well-rounded and where they could be their full selves.
I love the outdoor skills and living that happens there and the skills that they teach. I found that they have a good range of activities, but without drowning kids with options like some camps that offer 50 or 60 and it's a bit overwhelming. And they also offer the choice to boys about what they focus on while still ensuring that new campers experience a bit of everything. If you are there for the first time, you spend your first week in a program that they call “squeegee,” where you try a little bit of everything.
You get the opportunity to pick two instructionals per week. Those are activities that you want to get instruction in every day. I find that that's a great opportunity to have them be able to pick some of their favourites and to go deeper in them enough that they can pass at an instructional level. This is in contrast with other camps—for instance, my daughter's former camp, where they rotated through all of the different activities. That can be a way to expose kids to a lot of things but it can be a bit frustrating if after a while, there are some activities you’re not really crazy about, or if you wanted to go deeper and gain more skills in some other areas but you didn't really spend enough time in them. So I like that Camp Nominigue offers the opportunity to further pursue your favourite activities. And my impression is also that it has a good balance between structured and unstructured time.
How did you know that Camp Nominigue was the right fit?
I had the opportunity to have a conversation with the past director. I called him and I sent an email early on because I wanted to know more about their camp.
We had a really great conversation about their learning journey. And I won't dive into all of that but it was just a good opportunity to get a sense for what the camp was like and their views on different matters. It then also led me into learning more through their information sessions. I then decided to sign us up for family camp as a way to experience it and get a chance to research it more. Also, by that point, by the time we knew that our son was ready for camp, it was a bit too late to sign him up for boys’ camp. So it seemed like a great opportunity to all go together, and he would have his opportunity to experience camp. And then we could just make a final decision based on our own first-hand knowledge of the camp.
Was there any noticeable personal growth in your son after his time at Camp Nominigue?
I definitely feel like he had a good development in his sense of independence. He's a pretty confident child to begin with.
He certainly expressed desires to do things more on his own afterwards. There were some j skills that he was really eager to share more. We went on our annual canoe camping trip afterwards, and he was sharing with us some of the learning from his canoeing instructional at camp and he was showing us the parts of a paddle and reviewing all of the different types of strokes like a bow cut and a cross bow cut. It was just really neat to get a sense of the learning he'd done there and to see it on display.
How can parents overcome hesitancy to send their children away to overnight camp?
I think for a lot of kids during the pandemic, they haven't had the same opportunities to have time away from their families as they would have before. I think that camps usually give us ways to build up kids’ readiness to be away from home. But if some camps offer a family camp like Camp Nominigue does, that can be a great opportunity because then you can go and you can be comfortable being with your family, and there's that element of security there, and you get a chance to explore camp and get to know it.
In our case, because our son had gone to family camp the year before, by the time it came to register, he said, “Sign me up for two weeks.”. And he felt like he knew the place so well. And he had that extra degree of confidence to be able to go off somewhere and to feel like he knew what he was walking into and he was already excited about it.
What would you tell other parents about the overall value of sending kids to Camp Nominigue?
I think overnight camps like this one are a really great opportunity to develop not just confidence and independence, but also to learn skills that your average family is not going to be able to teach or have the equipment or the means to instruct a child in. It's not every family who's going to be able to offer their kids the opportunity to learn canoeing and sailing and outdoor living and mountain biking. Your average family doesn't have all of the equipment and the time to be able to do all that. So it's a great opportunity: If you go back every year you can deepen those skills and develop these lifelong loves for things as well as ways to stay physically fit and to enjoy nature and be close to it.
And I think it's also a great opportunity to just be unplugged for a couple of weeks and be among friends and just enjoy nature and the community people around you. I think that's a wonderful opportunity.
What does your child say about Camp Nominigue?
Oh, my God. He just goes on ad nauseam to people about the camp. We had a friend here just the other day who he hadn't seen, and he just monopolized the conversation talking about camp. He talked about how they have this shield that they call a feather shield, where there's a crest and then you get a feather for each instructional. He was going through it blow by blow, how it all works, and just talking about his days and what the schedule was at camp. I think it's already this beloved tradition for him after having only spent one season there.
Any final thoughts?
For any family who's considering the option, but who isn't quite sure, I think that Camp Nominigue’s family camp is a great opportunity. It's also just a wonderful experience for families to have. It's like an all-inclusive for outdoorsy people.
You go as a family, you don't have to cook, and you're there for four or five days. And you yourself can enjoy swimming and sailing and doing all of these things. It’s an opportunity to really get to know the culture of the camp and to get a sense for the experience that your child would have there. And the family camp is a little bit different from the boys’ camp, and nothing is required.
There are opportunities where certain instructional areas will be open, but it's up to you to craft your day. There's more structure in the boys’ camp than that. Kids are shepherded along and given more guidance about what to do in the regular boys’ camp. But the family camp is a great family vacation as well as being a great opportunity to research the boys’ camp. So I think for anybody who's on the fence, it's a great way to just get an up close view before you commit.
I went there between 2012 and 2020, I think it was eight or nine years.
What makes this camp so special is all the games played and all the activities made for us, to really bond together. We made really great friendships.
I went there so young that it's where I made a lot of my first friends and where I learned to talk to others and make new friends out of nothing, even if they're complete strangers at the beginning of the camp. And then two weeks later, they're your best friends. Then when you leave, you're sad.
When you get there, you're scared of being homesick and everything, and then when you leave, you're sad to leave your friends.
That's what makes it really special: the people there and all the bonds you make.
What memories stand out to you most?
I have a couple. I'll go with one that I think is my number one. It's special because I learned a lot from it.
I was maybe 11 or 12, I tripped and broke my finger in the middle of camp. I wanted to go home. For a day, I really wanted to go home and I was scared because I thought, “Oh, I won't be able to do any of the activities!” After a day or two, I thought, “It's not that bad. I'm still having fun, talking to people and everything.” That year became my best year ever at camp. It's the year I had the most fun. I don't know how I did it, but even without activities and everything, I just talked with people and did what I could. It was still really fun. Before that year, I used to see camp as like, “You have your activities, you have everything, and it's like a schedule.”
But after that I saw camp as just having fun as friends, and the activities are just there to do together. It changed my way of seeing how the camp works. I started really just having fun. That was my best year.
How different was your experience from what you expected?
My first year, I think I was seven or eight years old. I was really homesick, obviously. It was really scary. I had my two big brothers there, so that was helpful. But it was still really tough.
However, I had the best staff around me. ... I still talk to them now. Really, they were the best. For the next eight years, they were there with me and I still talked to them every year.
The year after that, I was scared of being homesick again. But when my parents left and said bye, I gave them a hug and I just ran off and started doing my own thing. It was way different from my previous year. I was used to it and it was really different. I felt at home even at camp, so it was really great.
What kind of challenges did you face?
The hardest part about camp and sleeping there is being homesick, but you get used to it and it's not that big of an issue.
I'm someone that has trouble getting out of their comfort zone. So it was really hard for me in the beginning because we have a lot of canoe trips. But every time, I just took a chance and went on canoe trips and it was really fun! Obviously, it was hard for me when we left camp. It was a tough hour for me.
But once we left and I was with maybe five or ten people, in the middle of the lake just canoeing, it was beautiful and so fun. The best memories were made there, obviously, when you connect with people. Even when we were young, I remember talking about subjects no one our age was talking about, big discussions about life and everything. It was just so much fun.
What would you do differently if you had a chance?
The part I miss is not being stressed, not having any care in the world about anything. I would just disconnect from the world, not having a phone, not knowing what's going on in the outside world was just so great.
At the time, while I was a camper there, I didn't realize how nice that feeling was and how easy it was on the mind. Now, I realize what I had and now I don't have that anymore. I wish I would have taken the time to enjoy and just have my mind free.
How did staying overnight add to your experience?
It changes everything, honestly. I used to go to day camp a lot. It was fun, with activities and everything, but the fact that you sleep there forces you [out of your comfort zone]. At day camp, you can just not talk to anyone. And at the end of the day, you're just going home. But because you sleep at Nominingue, you're forced to talk to others if you don't want to get bored.
And with the people at this camp, it's impossible not to make friends. It's a great community. Everyone keeps coming back every year.
I have my two big brothers that went there with me. We've been there as a family for almost 12 or 14 years. We went there for a long time. The reason behind that is just that people keep coming back every year. If it was day camp and you didn't sleep there, it wouldn't be the same.
Sleeping there is why we can create those kinds of bonds.
Do you keep in touch with the friends you made?
Funny story about that… Back in 2018, I made a couple of friends in camp. I was there for about a month, and I hung out with them most of the time. Then when we came back to Montreal, I think two years after, we ended up going to the same school. So that was fun.
When I went to school, I kind of knew they were going there, but it was still really fun to have them there. I went to a school where I knew almost nobody, and then they were there. We just went as a group and it was fun to have people I know there. It was comforting and obviously really nice. And I still talk to them to this day.
Obviously, some people I can't [keep in contact with] because people from this camp come from all around the world. There's a lot of people from Spain, France, so it's harder to keep in touch. But I have them on Instagram and on social media. So when I want to speak with them, I can, but it's not often I can, unfortunately.
What have you learned about yourself?
I learned that I can do more than I think. I had to trust myself.
I remember one story. There's an activity in the morning where we choose whatever we want to do. That year I picked orienteering, where you have a compass and a map and you have to find flags all around camp.
Then to get an achievement, I had to...I think it took 30 or 40 minutes to find about six or seven flags. But that day it was raining and I was super-stressed because I worked the whole week just to learn how to read a map. I was maybe 12 years old at that time, and we were in teams of two. We were running for an hour around camp, trying to get all the flags and complete it. In the middle, I almost quit. I thought we weren't doing it. But in the end, we got it with a minute left, so it was really close. I was really proud of myself that day. It was great.
You don't expect to learn things at a camp, but looking back now, I see that I learned so much! I learned to take care of myself. Just going there helped me to learn a lot about myself.
What advice would you give to newcomers?
The main thing I would say would be to enjoy being there. Even if in the beginning it looks hard and you think that you're not going to make friends. There's so many things that you think can go wrong, but they don’t.
People are so inclusive and there's so many activities, whatever the age. There're different games for different sections of people, by ages.
But there's no reason to stress. Just get there and just try to have fun and live in the present. You'll see your parents, they will be waiting for you at the end. It's not a big deal.
I know some people are going to miss home. I went through that and it was hard. But looking back, I wish I would have just focused on having fun.
I have been a camper at Nominingue's Boys' Camp since 2016, when I was 9 years old. This past summer I enrolled in a month-long session in August, where I participated in activities like sailing and orienteering (aka 'finding your way out of the woods'). This year I also went on a 7-day canoe trip, my longest trip to date.
Camp is really a place to connect with others and with nature on a more fundamental level. Instead of talking with people once a day or on screens you get to live around the same people for a few weeks and understand people in a way our modern society often fails to favor. I love the closed community fostered by the camp as it feels a little more like a town than a camp. You start recognizing all the faces around you and strike up conversations with people you spoke with once a couple of days ago, which is something far different than school.
Another great part of the whole camp experience is the actual camping part! Nominingue offers a bunch of trips to kids of all ages, whether it’s a 3-day trip to the falls in Papineau-Labelle or a 10-day trip in Parc de la Vérendrye. All trips give a chance to be completely isolated from human civilization. It is surprisingly therapeutic being trapped in the middle of a provincial park 3 hours away from camp, and the views are always spectacular. The feeling of accomplishment that comes as you get into your sleeping bag after a long day of paddling and portaging must be one of my favorite parts of the whole adventure.
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Benicio McCauley, Camper
Lessons from Nominingue
From being at camp and playing with friends to being out in the wilderness learning new lessons everyday, my experience has been nothing short of amazing. I have learnt so many new activities, whether it be woodworking, sailing and even canoeing, over hundreds of miles of northern Quebec. I have made amazing friendships and will hold the countless lessons I have learned with me forever. It is an amazing place to let go and truly be yourself.
Benicio
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Transcript of our interview with Grant, Former Director
What is unique about your camp?
Camp Nominingue is Quebec's only private boys' camp. While most camps in Quebec are public, we provide an English immersion experience in a predominantly French-speaking province.
Our focus on individual development sets us apart, as well. Since 1925, Camp Nominingue has given campers the opportunity to choose how they want to spend their day, promoting personal growth and skill development.
What type of child is successful at your camp?
A wide variety of kids find their place at Nominingue. Whether they’re athletes who love large group activities or those who prefer more focused individual pursuits, there’s something for everyone.
Our morning instruction system is centered around skill development, offering a range of activities like woodworking, theater, guitar, soccer, basketball, and archery. There’s no single type of camper that thrives at Nominingue as every child can find an activity that suits their interests and strengths.
Is the schedule structured or is it more open?
A typical day at Camp Nominingue begins with two instruction periods from 9:30 to 11:30, where campers focus on skill development. Campers usually stick with their chosen activities for the week, but if they want to switch after the first day, they can.
From 11:30 to 4:30, campers have free time, with opportunities to swim, sail, play tennis, or enjoy other activities. Younger campers might play small games or explore the woods, while older campers (ages 13-15) have the option to relax with a book if they prefer. The goal is for everyone to be active, but campers have the freedom to choose how they spend their time.
In the afternoon, age-group activities take place, with options for alternative activities based on interest. Evenings feature large group events, such as wide games, community-building activities, or performances by musicians and actors.
How do your staff deal with behavioural issues?
The first part of the process is the communication with the parents. Ideally, the parents provide us with more information about their son than they need to, which helps us prepare better.
Once at camp, tent counselors are the first line of support. We expect them to be proactive: to get to know their campers well, to listen closely, and to take action when needed. If they do intervene in a situation, they then need to communicate that to their head counselor, and that communication needs to go to the senior staff, so the whole team can step in to support both the camper who may be struggling and anyone else involved.
One of the ways we reduce behavioral issues overall is by giving campers a lot of choice in how they spend their day. When kids are doing what they enjoy, they’re far more likely to be engaged and positive. Another factor is that, today, campers are much more involved in the decision to come to camp than they were decades ago. Because they’re more invested in being here, we see fewer behavioral issues than in the past.
What do campers value the most about their experience at the camp?
The number one thing that campers and their parents talk about after camp is the canoe trip. It’s often the most impactful part of their experience and the memory that sticks with them the longest.
After that, the next biggest highlights tend to be the instructional activities. Some campers dive deep into theater, while others spend every free moment with a guitar in hand, fully immersing themselves in the areas they’re passionate about.
The third would be all-camp games and finally, the relationships that campers build with the staff and the counselors.
What message do you have for new campers?
If you're coming to camp for the first time, it’s completely normal to have questions, concerns, and even fears. You're not alone; many campers, even those who’ve been coming for years, feel the same way.
You might wonder: Who do I go to if I have a problem? Will I make friends? The good news is, there are always others in the same boat. Some campers arrive with a group of friends, but many come on their own, not knowing anyone. And every year, those campers find others just like them who become great friends.
I would tell new campers to ask questions. Ask your parents to reach out to the camp. Look into the details. The more you know, the more comfortable you’ll feel. And finally, expect that at some point, you might miss home. That’s totally normal as 90% of campers do miss home. The key is to think ahead about how you’ll handle that feeling, so when it comes, you’re ready.
I attended Nominingue with my three brothers in the 1970s. It was here that I developed my love and respect for nature, as well as my fascination with wood carving and outdoor cooking.
I believe that leading with purpose and humility, nurturing creativity and passion, and valuing individuality are keys to ensuring that your boys experience, enjoy, and grow at Camp. The experiences they have in social situations, understanding down-time, building independence, and improving their emotional intelligence are life-changing. And our staff and activities are all put in place to make each summer magical.
Camp Nominingue provides an outdoor living experience - sleeping in tents, learning outdoor skills and setting out on canoe trips. Nominingue also encourages boys to take advantage of all the opportunities that are provided: choices of instructional activities; to practice one's English or French with the other campers or staff; to make use of the free time that is provided; to make friends from around the world; and to have fun.
Camp Nominingue works because our program establishes the right balance of structure and freedom, adventure and fun; to enable the boys who attend to thrive, gain confidence, to grow in independence and to develop their sense of responsibility. Nominingue becomes, for most of our campers and staff, their second home... a place that they want to return, year after year.
Rise free from care before the dawnand seek adventure.- Henry David Thoreau
Staff and Counsellors
Our staff to camper ratio is 1:3. The relationships that the campers forge with their tent counsellor, with an instructor in one of the activities that the campers choose or with their canoe trip leaders are an essential part of the Camp Nominingue experience.
Each year when our parents and campers evaluate their experience, the staff is always one of the factors that stands out – their welcome, their interest, their enthusiasm and the care they take of the campers under their supervision.
65-75% of our staff are returning campers who choose to give back to the next generation of campers. Last year we had 15 staff with National Lifeguard Certification which adds to our safety regimen on the waterfront.
99 Rue Sainte-Agathe, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, QC J8C 2J9, Canada
10:15 am
2:45 am
Property Details
Sports facilities
Archery Range
Baseball Diamond
Basketball Court
Climbing Wall
Soccer Field
Tennis Court(s)
Landscape
Beach
Forested Area
Lake/Pond/River
Nature Trails
Open Field
More details about property: 400 acres of beach, forest, field & pine tree plantation. Additional facilities: woodworking shop; camp craft area; theatre; air-rifle range; archery range.
Accommodations
Sleeping Accommodations
Platform Tent
Amenities
Shower in Sleeping Area
Toilet in Sleeping Area
Washrooms Facilities
Flush Toilets
Showers (indoor)
More details about accommodations: From age 7-13, campers sleep 5 campers to each platform-tent on cots. 14 & 15 yr. olds sleep in smaller platform-tents 2-3 campers/tent.
Are meals provided?
Yes.
Is Camp Nominingue technology free?
Yes. Campers do not have access to cell phones, I-pods or other technology during their stay at camp. We feel that this is an important aspect of their experience at Camp Nominingue and we ask parents to support this policy.
Rentals & Services
Offers outdoor education program for schools or corporate groups: Yes
Outdoor skills & activities; adapted to age and objectives of the group; limited to June & September due to tent accommodations and staffing needs.
Available for private rentals: Yes
Renter must provide certified lifeguard if the waterfront is to be used. Equipment available dependent on time of year.
As featured in Our Kids Canada's Camps & Programs Guide
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All camps have a device policy, and some are stricter than others. At Nominingue the policy is simple: no devices at all. And the campers wouldn’t want it any other way. Read more.
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Quebec's Camp Nominingue leadership program offers transformative and important experiences for youth Read more.
When I walk into my son Liam’s room, there is not any direction in which you can turn without stumbling across a Camp Nominingue artifact. There is his shield (not yet mounted on the wall), his “2009 Most Athletic Camper” award which is lying upside down on a remote shelf, several Camp Nominingue group photos is various stages of “flatness” which consume his desk space (well, one is still in the tube) and his medal for his 5th year at the camp. The medal was on the floor, tucked up against the leg of his bed and under a stack of books that are either un-read, read or re-read.
This degree of neglect might seem to indicate how unimportant the Nominingue memories are for him. Take the 5th year camper medal as an example. Shouldn’t it be up next to a large group of soccer trophies, engraved hockey pucks or lacrosse pendants? Those things aren’t in Liam’s room but Camp Nominingue is. It’s everywhere in his room through his shield, through his medal, through his pictures and through the exuberant, impulsive interjections that begin with, “Mom, did I tell you about the time at camp that we…”
No, Liam’s medal has not been misplaced due to insignificance. I have another interpretation. He was probably holding it while pretending to fall asleep on a school night. If I know Liam, he might even have had his flashlight on while he was reading and then his eye happened upon the medal and he grabbed it just to feel it again. Just to be pulled back to that campfire ring or that day on the sailboat or that moment that his teammate carried him to win a leg in a race because, “Hey mom, I’m light and when you have to carry one of your team members to win a race then having a ‘small and light’ team member is all GOOD!”
From Liam’s first summer at your camp, he has found a family that only finds good in him. The depth of nurturing that he experiences there literally fuels him for the other days of the year and other arenas of his life where success, competence and athleticism are often more narrowly defined. We are overjoyed to have the Camp Nominingue community as part of our family that is raising Liam to fly beyond his wildest dreams and to set those visions on his own rather than allow others to paint that horizon for him.
As we waited for the camp bus to arrive, I wondered how had Jake, our 8 year old, survived his two weeks at sleep-away camp? Had he been homesick? Did he make friends? Were the other boys kind? Did he miss us? Had we made the right decision, sending our 2nd grader to sleep-away camp?
The bus finally pulled up and boys started pouring down the steps. In an instant, I could see that it had been the right call. As Jake climbed into the car, he started regaling us with tales of capture the flag, thunderstorms, and earning “feathers” in canoeing, orienteering, campcraft. Each story was interspersed with a shy smile and the comment, “Um, yeah, and well, camp was fun, really, really fun.” Within the hour he was beseeching us to let him go for three weeks next year.
Camp wasn’t part of my childhood, and I’d been hesitant to send our 8 year old to sleep-away camp for two weeks. One week seemed more reasonable to me. Why not start slow and easy? But my husband, Erik, had been to camp as a boy and convinced me that post-second grade was the ideal age to start camp and that two weeks was better than one. “I went when I was 7, for a month, and I loved it every year!” “Right, and in winter you walked 2 miles in the snow, uphill both ways,” I grumbled. “He’ll love it, trust me.” And so I did.
Camp Nominingue was the camp Erik had gone to. It is a boys’ camp on 400 forested acres in the Laurentians, just north of Montreal. It has a gorgeous lakefront, the water is warm and the boys live in platform tents with canvas walls that roll up to let in breezes and views of the lake and trees. No TV, movies or iPods, just canoe trips, wilderness skills, games, crafts and lots of dirt between the toes.
The previous summer we’d taken the whole family to Nominingue’s Family Camp to get a taste of camp life. After our first day there whatever latent West Coast, progressive prejudices I harbored about the idea of an East Coast boys camp that had been running since 1925 truly disappeared. The counselors were kind, supportive of the boys, full of joy and reverence for the natural world. They were wonderful teachers of outdoor skills and exemplars of responsibility; just the kind of young men I hoped our sons would someday grow up to be. I suddenly realized how the summers Erik spent at camp contributed to his appreciation of simplicity, his deep self-reliance and resilience. And now, filled with pride at the new things he learned at camp, Jake seems to be on his way as well.
To a North American kid, the word camp is hugely evocative. But Camp Nominingue isn’t just any camp: to those of us who attended and returned to Nominingue year after year, it is the only camp. Once you’ve been, you’re part of a family and tradition that you want to return to as often as possible. The memories of the good times you’ve had, the friends you’ve made, the skills you’ve picked up, these never leave you. Now, as a parent who gets to bring his son to Nominingue, I still get excited every time we drive up. It starts as you pass the Nominingue golf course and round the bend, where the old fish signpost points the way. Soon, you arrive at the venerable totem poles that guard the entrance to the camp proper, and slowly and carefully come up “Honk Your Horn Hill” hugging the right side.
Questions churn inside your head: which friends will be there, which counsellors, the feathers you’re going to work on, the canoe trip you want to go on, the route you’ll take, the type of paddle you’ll make...
Camp Nominingue, through the traditions and lore it maintains, is larger than life. The respect for nature and others that Native Americans had is inculcated in us through Camp, and passed on. As we play and learn from each other at camp, we learn about life itself, about ourselves, how to work together, learn new skills, have fun outdoors, challenge our own limits and build confidence in ourselves.
I thank my dad for perpetuating a tradition in his family and allowing me to attend and enjoy Camp Nominingue (even though we lived in France at the time), and thank all those who have made it what it is over the years. I’m thankful too that my son is able to enjoy that same experience today. And when he returns from his adventures away, he returns happy, energized and fulfilled, with canoe trip stories that make us all laugh. And if I’m busy trying to build a totem pole today, I blame Camp Nominingue too for inspiring me. That’s one thing I never learned to do at Camp, and should have... I would be a lot closer to completing it than I am now! On the other hand, my Indian-head plaque and cherry wood paddle are tangible reminders of achievement. And all I have to do is put my hand on the beautifully-shaped grip to have the memories flood back...
Welcome, everybody! I am proud that I was at camp Nominingue for two years. During those years, I got tons of feathers, for camp craft, cooking, improvement, canoe trips and a lot more stuff! You can be a three weeker or a two weeker. If you stay three weeks in August you can enjoy the voyageur games where you spend two days working with with the same team! On canoe trips, there are all sorts of activities. You learn to make fires and cook food; you can swim, go see some rapids, catch crawfishes and paddle for a long, long time. There are two tents, one for staff and another one for the campers. The kids can tell each other scary stories at night and in the morning, you get wood deep in the forest. There are approximately five kids on one canoe trip but I can say the tents are pretty big. When you return to camp, I am sure you will miss the island you haÂÂve visited! If you stay the last three weeks, on the last day of camp, you will have a great banquet with delicious food and a magnificent cocktail that tastes like the best drink you ever had! There is also a tennis court and a craft shop where you can carve wood. Last year, I had a challenge: the lake swim. To do it, you need your deep water feather. The deep water is 10 times the length of the senior swim and 5 minutes treading water. The activities are fun. There is theater, riflery, archery, cooking, crafts, camp craft and a lot more! If you come at Camp Nominingue, you will have real fun! See ya!
After three weeks of almost non-stop workshops, debriefs and tripping, there was no doubt in my mind of the importance of the program I had just completed. The LIT program allowed me to get a better sense of what being staff would look like: when I look back at my favourite session, two of my favourite parts were the canoe trip and the camper practicum. Working at Nominingue, these are two of the most common things to be done. Over the course of the program, I learnt new things, but also, and just as important, I gained new confidence in the skills I already had. As a counsellor, it is important to know that you can portage on a canoe trip, you can cook a meal over an open fire, and you can, if required, stop two eleven year-olds from "killing each other"!
A recipe for a fail-proof stay at Camp Nominingue 2 cups of good weather per day. 16 oz. of good friends 1 team of athletic, energetic counsellors 3 cups of bug juice 4 bandannas and 2 sets of adventure games 1/2 cup of entertainment night 1/8 teaspoon of tetherball 1/4 of canoe tripping and 2 paddles a pinch of competition and a load of fun as many feathers as you can get 101 clean toilets! Mix it all together and spread evenly over 3 weeks of fun!
In the short summer period of my first summer at Camp, my life changed forever for the better. I had just climbed aboard the northbound train to Nominingue that late June Saturday, a shy, overprotected kid. Eight weeks later, I boarded the southbound train for Montreal that late August Saturday with greater confidence, now more a leader than a follower, with more skills than I ever dreamed of acquiring, I was at ease in the woods and had learned to be self-sufficient without my parents to lead me every step of the way. In that summer of 1939, without me being aware of it, several routine activities surreptitiously etched themselves into my psyche and became, for all time, my touchstone to what Camp Nominingue was then, and is now.
After a year's absence, I found myself back in LaVerendrye Provincial Park for this session's 10 day trip. I can clearly remember how, even a few years ago, I would sit at council ring watching with a mixture of awe and respect as that year's 10 day trip told us of their ups, downs, laughs and tears. And I find it hard to believe that in a few weeks I'll be the one talking, while others listen. All this was racing through my head as we drove up to our drop-off. At Le Domaine, we waved our goodbyes and took off into the headwinds of Lac Marrais. After an hour or so of paddling, we were fortunate enough to get a strong tailwind once we turned onto the river. Quite snaky and very rocky in areas, Riviere Marais was extremely rich in wildlife. In three hours, between a floating lunch of granola and hot rods, we saw a moose, several herons, as well as a majestic bald eagle. Add to those the two deer we saw leaving camp and we have seen more animals than one would see for a year in my home in France. We arrived at our campsite on Lac Granet at four, which allowed us to set up camp, be able to relax and simply enjoy our surroundings. Writing this on a rock, watching the sun show itself after a week-long struggle with rain, setting over a beautiful lake, I am struggling very hard to think of a place I would rather be. Here's to canoe tripping at Camp Nominingue!
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