CAMP NARNIA: Stories from Camp

Some stories from campers, parents and staff through the years…

“Disco the Chicken, cats, dogs, peacocks, goats, costumes songs and "what I got to do"... years of camp at Narnia still pepper our conversations and sharing at home. It's part of our kids' childhoods. They have a love of humour, theatre and the outdoors that I know was nurtured at Narnia. Fun just for the joy of it.

We were in Japan when Faith was old enough to go to camp and it was the perfect fit and location for us. Ian was sent off to join his sister Faith there for a week the summer he was turning seven. Not too sure, but brave enough to get on the bus and go, excited that he had his own sleeping bag (with his stuffed toy secretly tucked into the foot). A week later, he couldn't wait to announce that "Next year I'm going back ALL summer!". And no matter where we lived, and we've moved back and forth between the US and Japan several times, Narnia was the place they wanted (and needed) to go back to.

Trumpkin's Awards for Bravery, Leadership, Unrivalled Creativity, Storytelling, Narnian Pride... all fill a file that follows wherever we do, with photos of camp still on personal bulletin boards and in frames and now there's Facebook for sharing, too.

There have been other camps in other places along the way and both kids are a good deal older but this summer both Faith and Ian are hoping to create new memories at Narnia. I can't wait to hear what happens.”

- Cathy, parent

"I went to camp when it was still on salt spring for about 4 years in a row. One of my favourite memories was during teen camp when we put on a banquet dinner. It was fantastic using the wood stove for cooking and then having a counsellor and a camper play the fiddle and flute while we all danced jigs late in to the night. I hope you flourish so I can send my kids there in a few years!"

- Agust, camper

“Camp Narnia has always been my second home. I started going there the second year and went almost every year after that. I have had many jobs at Camp Narnia from LIP to Camp Counsellor to Office Staff to Cleaner to LIP Coordinator. Camp has always been a place where I was comfortable being me. A place where I could be artistic and make things from my imagination. Some of my best friends in my life I met at Camp, and they are still a huge part of my life today. Camp has always been a wonderful place full of imagination, stories and adventure, where you are never sure what will happen next!”

-Robyn, camper & staff

"I was a camper in 1996 when it was still on Salt Spring - I was about 10 or 11 and even at that age I truly thought it was magical. Amazing camp, amazing memories. Thanks to all those who touched the lives of so many children. Who would have guessed that 11 years later I would go on to meet, fall in love with, and marry a man who worked there as an employee that same summer!”

-Tamara, camper

"I remember bringing my daughters home, the first year they went to Camp Narnia. They were so happy and bubbly, full of adventures! Later, on the ferry home, they met up with a bunch of other campers, and they all went outside on the ferry deck and, without music, did the Pata Pata! Their dance delighted everyone on the ferry. That was the year of the baby pigs - oh my - the odour of their laundry:) My little one was kind of shy, but she told me that someone had said something not nice to her - and she had replied "You can't talk to people like that in Narnia!" All their years at Camp Narnia were very positive and fun! My children and their parents loved Narnia and still do! Wishing you lots of success!"

-Vickie, parent