By Krista Ketsa
The theme for camp this year was Holy Angels of God. During the six weeks of camp, campers learned all about the hierarchy of angels, the guardian angel, and the nine choirs of angels, the fallen angel, and the archangels. Angels were the topic of discussion and story. Campers heard stories from the Old Testament about the early leaders of the church and their experiences with angels. The stories of Moses, Joshua and Samson were told and discussed. The campers learned about angels in prayer and in the liturgy. The theme of angels was so interesting and exciting that it lead to many good question and answer periods. The older campers in weeks five and six experienced many great campfire question and answer periods, that lead to many great discussions and lessons learned.
The 2010 camp season began with the creation of the first ever Kiev’s K Hi Float being decorated. The float was put into the Bonnyville Canada Day Parade. Under the guidance of camp director, Linda Boser the float portrayed all aspects of camp life, swimming, dancing, music and singing, campfires, arts, etc. The counselors helped to decorate the float and then rode on it handing out freezies and camp registration forms to the crowd. Great fun was had by all.
Over the course of the six weeks of camp, four hundred + campers and counselors attended KKH 2010. Campers ranged in age from 4 years old the first week to 17 years old in week six. The camp was filled with the sounds of children all throughout the summer. Many friendships were created and rekindled, and some fantastic memories were created.
Father Charles Baxter came to serve the Divine Liturgy on Sunday of weeks one and two. Father John Lipinski was the camp priest during week 1, 3 and 4. Andrew Misak taught religion classes during week 2 and helped during week 3. Father Tim Chrapko was the camp priest during weeks five and six.
The campers participated in many different activities over the course of the week. Each day began with morning prayers followed by breakfast. After breakfast each day campers and councilors participated in a number of planned activity sessions which included archery, orienteering, singing, dancing, beach and arts and crafts. Each day also included a trip down to Baba’s homestead where Baba taught how things were done long ago. Baba taught Ukrainian language and encouraged the campers to use this language as much as possible during their week at camp. This year, she taught the campers and councilors how to cross stitch. Each day also had a religion session, in which we learned about Angels of God. Each evening was filled with lots of fun activities including the annual Air guitar performances. The air guitar performances seem to bring in a huge audience each week. Families would come together to watch their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends perform. Thursdays the campers learned about and made their own kolach which was enjoyed with butter or jam around the campfire that evening. The kolach was baked in the KKH Piech. Friday nights are traditionally banquet and dance night. Everyone enjoys a turkey dinner with all the traditional Ukrainian fixings to go with it. Saturday is beach day. Everyone at KKH spends the day at the beach enjoying swimming, volleyball and maybe even the chance to go for a tube ride.
Kiev’s K Hi is a special place to many people. The importance of KKH to two of our councilors was evident when these young people created a sandblasted cedar sign for the camp in Industrial Arts class during the last school year. Derek and Adelle Lastiwka presented the sign to camp director Linda Boser just before camp started this year. The sign was displayed proudly on the KKH Float in the Canada Day Parade and was used as the backdrop for this years individual camper pictures that were used in arts and crafts to create a memento of the camp year. The sign now has a permanent home as you enter the camp. It is very touching that these young people built and gave this sign to the camp. It truly shows how much KKH means to them.
Eva Taschuk‘s family has participated in camp at KKH for the last three generations. Her children came to KKH, then her grandchildren and now her great grandchild is attending camp. Kiev’s K Hi has become tradition for this family and many others. Eva volunteered with her daughter Maryann during the first few weeks of camp at Baba’s homestead where the campers learned about and had hands on experience working on the homestead like our ancestors when they first came to Canada. The campers participated in many activities down at Baba’s. Butter making, washing clothes on a washboard and using the wringer to start the drying process must have been very hard work, but the campers loved to get their hands on and try the old ways of doing things.
Kiev’s K Hi has a family feeling about it. We are truly a camp family. I know that my own children look forward to spending the summer at KKH and participating in all the activities that happen at Kiev’s K Hi year round. We look forward to driving through the gate, as it truly feels like home. We are blessed to have such a wonderful camp, a dedicated staff and executive and so many people who volunteer to help make Kiev’s K Hi a wonderful place for youth, young and old to spend their summers. We continue to grow in numbers as each year passes and truly look forward to spending the coming summers with a wonderful and caring group of young people, their parents and our summer camp family. Thanks to all who help make Kiev’s K Hi a special place for all of us.
For further information about Camp Kiev’s-K-Hi please contact:
Linda Boser
[email protected]
Larry Godziuk
[email protected]
Photos
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