Adventure day camps for kids

Joe Quercia, founder and director of the not-for-profit association, said it plans to host weeklong wilderness survival and mountain biking camps during July and August.

Young people participating in the wilderness survival camp will be spending every day in the woods and will learn how to build shelters.

“Three or four will build a shelter together, then they’ll tackle it individually,” Quercia said. Youngsters will also learn different ways to start fires and how to collect and purify water.

The kids will require considerable energy for such active living—and it won’t be coming from candy bars. The association will provide a light breakfast, a nutritious lunch, and two snacks daily—but no junk food.

Quercia said those taking part in the wilderness camp will learn about the types of foods that provide much-needed nutrition and can easily be backpacked, “foods like trail mix, dried fruit—snacks that are high in protein and contain natural sugar but no processed sugar.”

Mountain biking will be an alternative to the wilderness survival camp and disc golf will be a fun activity at both.

“This is our first year of operation,” said Quercia, “so we’re offering 8:30 to 4:30 day camps this year. Next year we plan to get into overnight programming.”

Quercia adds that the recreation association has a 10-year lease on a 100-acre property and is applying for funding from the Nova Scotia’s Department of Health Promotion and Protection. If successful, the association will purchase ‘yurts’, modeled after the round homes built by Mongolian nomads. The structures are portable, durable, well insulated and eco-friendly.

Quercia also foresees a community garden in 2009. Sustainable, natural living is part of the vision, so young people next year will be involved in planting, cultivation, harvesting and preparation of food grown in the garden.