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Camp Walden

Camp Walden is a traditional overnight summer camp for boys and girls aged 7 to 16, located in Palmer Rapids, Ontario. The camp was founded in 1969 by Ted Cole, who sought to create a place for children that combined his love of nature, music and simple living. After 32 years of serving as the camp director, Cole passed ownership of Camp Walden to Howie & Sari Grossinger and Sol Birenbaum, who were working as directors of Camp Robinhood, a Toronto-based day camp.

Activities
Activities include swimming, water-skiing, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, biking, ceramics, arts and crafts, tennis, low ropes, nature craft, dance & fitness, and a variety of land and court sports. The camp also offers an intensive canoe-tripping program where cabins paddle the lakes of various provincial parks in Ontario, such as Algonquin Park and Killarney National Park.

Camp Structure
Campers are divided by age into units with unique names, including Colours, Comics, Zodiacs, Seekers and Counsellors in Training (CITs). Each unit, comprised of 8 cabins, is further divided into two sub-units with 2 girl and 2 boy cabins, totalling 4 cabins per sub-unit.

Daily Routine
Every cabin is given a weekly schedule that outlines their daily activities. Breakfast is served from 8:15am to 9am everyday, with an optional buffet breakfast on Saturday. Breakfast is followed by a 30-minute cabin cleanup where each camper is given a specific chore by their staff members. After cleanup, cabins attend the first activity listed on their schedule, with each activity lasting an hour. Cabins attend four scheduled activities per day, which are split up by lunch at 12:15pm. After campers have attended all activities, they are given an hour to rest before a 6:15pm dinner. Following dinner, campers participate in evening games and programs planned by the staff, while also being given some free time. Campers are required to return to their cabins 10 minutes before their respective curfews.

Music
Music has been a central part to Camp Walden ever since it opened. According to a statement on the Camp Walden website, “Ted’s passion for folk music was one of the cornerstones of his camp direction.” Camp Walden continues to embrace the folk music tradition by participating in a Sing-Song on the first night of every summer in which campers and staff unite to sing along to folk songs. After Cole died from leukemia in 2008, camp musician Steven Pulver adopted the role of leading this concert-like program.

Canoe Trip Program
Every cabin is required to go on one canoe trip per summer. Campers in the Colour unit participate in an overnight canoe trip where they paddle across the camp’s private lake, Red Pine Lake, and participate in team-building exercises. They return the following day after spending the night in tents. Campers and counselors in all other units head out to Algonquin Park for their canoe trips, where they portage camp trails, paddle small lakes, build fires, roast marshmallows, and sing camp songs. Canoe trip duration varies by unit, with CIT campers having the longest trip. Campers are also permitted to sign up for optional canoe trips throughout the summer that last up to 10 days and are more physically challenging.