Photo description: Ollie wears a yellow CNIB Lake Joe t-shirt and a mask while holding his white cane and Hope's leash while Hope sits at his feet wearing her CNIB Buddy Dog vest on the boardwalk
Summer sleep-away camp camp is a childhood rite of passage for so many. It's one that Ollie has been looking forward to for 3 years since his older sister was able to go to sleep away camp at age 10. None of us anticipated that over the past two years even this experience would be sacrificed (at least for Abby) due to cancer and COVID-19.
Then when Ollie got cancer and went blind it seemed like another thing he'd likely never experience. Although there are camps for kids in active- and post- cancer treatment (Camp Ooch and Camp Trillium), we figured sending our blind son to a camp that was not equipped to accommodate his vision loss would be too dangerous and frustrating for him.
So imagine our excitement when we heard about CNIB Lake Joe! This is a fully accessible camp for people with vision loss in Muskoka. Not only is it for kids with vision loss, but also for adults and families of those with vision loss.
Anyone who has ever attended has said that CNIB Lake Joe is a magical place. Days before we went for the second week of Holiday camp, we watched the AMI-TV special documentary about the camp called Ripples: CNIB Lake Joe. It certainly seemed to hold magic for many. After that Ollie was counting the hours until we went.
Typically they run 8 weeks of camp each year (3 for children/youth, 3 for adults and 2 for families). Given COVID in this, their 60th anniversary year, they decided it was an opportunity to go back to their original roots and run three weeks of holiday weeks for families. Billed as "Choose your own adventure" weeks with incredible COVID protocols it seemed an excellent opportunity for us to learn about the camp, what Ollie can do with vision loss and what we can do to help him to continue to do fun things with our family.
During week 1 they welcomed more than 40 families. When I heard this it made me a bit nervous. However, given everyone had to have a rapid COVID test upon arrival, daily health declarations, contact tracing at each activity, distancing, masking and hand sanitizing, we felt that it would be worth the risk and simply hoped that our week would be a little less busy. Fortunately our week had only 8 families registered! It certainly felt like the universe (God) was watching out for us and making it possible for us to have a safe week together after all we've been through the past two years.
We arrived Monday late afternoon after a relatively uneventful 5 hour drive. We drove through Algonquin Park, which was a first for the kids. Hope was a great traveler, too.
The weather forecast had predicted a lot of rain and thunderstorms so we went equipped for bad weather with many hopes and prayers for at least some good weather. In the end we completely lucked out in that we had a few showers and storms, but those were short-lived. After a short shower or thunderstorm the sun would come out and we'd have a brilliant day or we'd have an amazing day and it would rain at night! Overall we had beautiful warm days that were perfect to be outdoors and enjoying water sports!
The camp has an incredible design and layout to make it completely accessible and as safe as possible. The Welcome Centre and Dining Hall are basically central to the camp and all buildings and activities are joined by either a boardwalk with railings or cement walkways with railings or fences where needed to ensure safety where there is terrain of varied heights as well as along the water/beach.
Half of the cabins are lakeside, and all are connected to each other and main buildings via a continuous accessible boardwalk and railing. Cabins are all named and laid out according to the alphabet to make them easier to find. Braille signage is everywhere for blind campers and large writing for low vision campers. The layout was so innovative as far as accessibility is concerned that when they did a major renovation of the camp in the early 2000s, they kept the same layout and simply replaced the old wooden buildings.
At the end of each cabin is a porch. A great place to gather (during non-COVID times) and to hang your wet clothes to dry every night! In every porch there is a tactile map/model of the camp.
The rooms are all a bit different (we had two the same with an adjoining door), but remind one of a university dorm room, except the mattresses are more comfortable and each has its own bathroom with a shower.
The entire facility is way more modern and upscale than any camp I've ever attended. The cabins were rebuilt in the early 2000s and the main buildings have been upgraded over the past few years thanks to the generosity of donors and granting organizations. In fact, Lake Joseph is best known for being the summer playground of the Canadian rich and famous (a few of those with "cottages" on the Lake include Kevin O'Leary, Richard Ivey, Cindy Crawford, Kenny G and formerly Ann Murray) and many of Lake Joseph's summer occupants contribute to CNIB Lake Joe.
Now let's get to the fun stuff...what we actually did all week! I should preface this by telling you that of the eight families there last week, only two had kids. Ours and another family with an 11 year old boy named Mason who brought along his mom, grandma and baby sister. Mason was a super sweet and polite young man and we all enjoyed getting to know him and his family.
All campers were lovely. It was an interesting blend of our two families with kids, a husband and wife, a mother and daughter, a few singles and a single with caregiver. And the camper to staff ratio was incredible since there were so many staff and so few campers. At all times the kids had the undivided attention of multiple lifeguards and counselors as they did all activities, making it a super easy vacation for the parents! Of course, normally the camper to staff ratio is pretty good from what I understand.
Naturally the boys gravitated to each other and formed a lovely friendship over the course of the week, inspiring each other to try new things. CNIB even asked us if they could tell Ollie and Mason's camp story as a precursor to a big fundraiser for the camp that they were having at the end of the week. You can read a bit about this dynamic duo here.You can also learn more about Mason and his Buddy Dog Queenie here.
Like most summer camps Lake Joe has lots of opportunity to spend time on the water. With their beautiful sandy beach and sand bottom swimming areas, everyone enjoys swimming and jumping off of the lillypad. The kids swam every morning and often in the afternoon, too.
Photo description: Ollie tries a single kayak for the first time as Mason kayaks with two lifeguards nearby in the background.
The kids were not bored a single moment that we were there and we all unplugged from our cell phones to truly enjoy every moment (other than me taking these photos of course as I would feel naked now without a camera to document our family's incredible story).
Photo description: Mason and Ollie paddle on the lake in a tandem canoe with a Lifeguard nearby.
Each day there were a variety of activities available to try:
- Peddle boats
- Kayaks
- Canoes
- Stand up paddle boards
- Sailing
- Pontoon Boat rides
-Tubing
- Waterslide
- Rock climbing
- Archery
- Lawn games
- Tandem Biking
- Shuffleboard
- Basketball
- Arts and crafts (painting, pottery, tie-dye, etc.)
The REC Centre is a beautiful building with arts and crafts, an incredible hang out space with a comfortable sofa, ton of beautiful instruments for the kids to just try and jam on and a sun porch with a pottery kiln and a special table game for blind and low vision people called Power Showdown.
Power Showdown was part table hockey, part ping pong with a ball filled with beads for sound so the blind or low vision person can hear where the ball is. Ollie was great at it and loved to challenge anyone willing!
In addition, the climbing wall was new this year and they are just completing a new artificial soccer turf and the first fully accessible mini golf course in Canada which we can't wait to try next summer when we go again!
Photo description: Ollie on the lake wearing a life jacket while standing on a stand up paddle board and holding a paddle.
The general philosophy at CNIB Lake Joe is simply that blind and low vision people should try everything and be encouraged to do it independently with assistance as needed. They quite literally put these kids in a kayak, on a stand-up paddle board or on a sailing catamaran and push them out with a bit of instruction. Lifeguards are always on hand nearby. When they send you out canoeing or sailing there are always two staff in a little motor boat nearby in case you need assistance or a tow in.
Photo description: Ollie paddles at the front of a canoe on the lake with Mason riding in the middle and Dawn not pictured paddling in the back. In the distance you can see CNIB staff in a small motor boat monitoring those canoeing and sailing.
Ollie literally tried everything, often encouraged by Mason's bravery to try an activity, too. It was truly the first time in two years that Ollie was excited to be more independent and do things with little assistance from mom and dad.
In particular, Ollie was really good at stand up paddle board and kayaking, which came as a surprise as I imagined his balance would be a challenge with the blindness. I should have known better than to underestimate my incredible boy.
Photo description: Dawn, Abby, Mario and Ollie get ready to go sailing in a catamaran boat on Lake Joe.
Ollie's appetite was great all week and he actually tried a variety of new foods. Typically at home he still gravitates to the things that he knows taste good despite the changes to his taste buds from chemo, radiation and drugs. His willingness to try new things at camp was partly inspired by the knowledge that if he wanted to go to kids camp without us next summer, he'd need to learn to eat whatever was being provided in the dining hall.
While we brought a cooler with snacks and food just in case he wouldn't eat much that was provided, we assured him that going to camp like a big kid means no mommy and daddy cooler comes with you! He was also so active every day that he was hungry and way more willing to try new foods. The tables were spaced way more than 6 feet away from each other and we took many meals outside to enjoy at a picnic table, too.
Photo description: Ollie and Mario at the tiller while sailing in a catamaran boat on Lake Joe.
Sailing was pretty much the only activity that Ollie wasn't thrilled with, although the rest of us enjoyed it and laughed a lot at Ollie's regular exclamations that we were "lost at sea" and would never get back to shore. I'm afraid the pace was a little too slow for our active boy who prefers the thrill of fast moving activities. It was blissful for the parents despite the complaints, though!
Even when he was nervous to try something like the water slide, he would dig deep into his incredible reserves of bravery and do it anyways. As always after doing the scariest things he declared the fear conquered and went down the slide many more times and a second day after that, too. He always teaches us so much about finding inner stores of courage when we are uncertain if we can do something that scares us.
The Executive Director, Monique Pilkington happened to be there at the end of our week for a CNIB Lake Joe fundraiser that was happening the day we left. She had heard about Ollie, Hope and Mason and came over to meet them and talk to them about what a great week they had. She thanked us all for allowing them to share the boys' story to assist in promoting awareness and fundraising. It is always our pleasure to encourage others to help us to give back to such incredible organizations that help families like ours. In the 18 months since Ollie went blind, the CNIB has been a true light through the literal and proverbial darkness that we've all navigated to get to a point of acceptance of Ollie's blindness and to help us learn how exceptional and capable he is.
Photo description: Mario, CNIB Buddy Dog Hope and Abby all wear life jackets on the pontoon boat ride on Lake Joe. Hope borrowed CNIB Ambassador Dog Willow's life jacket and was excellent on the ride!
Considering that Hope has body sensitivity issues and is a water dog who doesn't really like to get wet, she wore the life jacket without complaint, was completely calm during the boat rides we took and liked to hang out near the waterfront even if she never went in the water herself. She was excellent all week, attending meals and events with us and patiently lying at Ollie's feet as we ate, did activities or talked to people. This was our first
real opportunity taking her out in public given COVID and it affirmed that her guide dog training remains ingrained in her even if she is not an official guide dog. Monique told us she thought Hope was the first Buddy Dog to attend the camp. Given how much Hope impressed her and others, we know she's helped to confirm that allowing all CNIB dogs at camp is a good idea. Ollie also walked Ambassador Dog Willow on leash while we were there and she remembered her training well, too, easily responding to his commands even though she did not know him. Both the Buddy Dog Program and the Ambassador Dog Program are run by the wonderful Miriam Mas who gave us our Hope.
I think my personal favourite activity was tubing. The tube was a far cry from the tiny round tubes of my youth that we'd easily bounce off of into the cold water and have to try to climb back on when the boat came back to pick you up. This was riding on a bouncy sofa. The kids and I went first and I cannot remember the last time I laughed that hard. There were big belly laughs from all of us and regular screams as we bounced around. Abby as the lightest bounced highest, while the mama bear in me still worried about Ollie's reduced bone density in his back and asked him began laughs if he was okay. I wouldn't let them go as fastbas they really wanted to out of concern for Ollie's osteoporosis and wanting to ensure he didn't bounce too much or too hard.
My kids are definitely more like mama on rides and like the excitement and adrenaline. Their ride with daddy was even tamer as he's not a big fan of rides and was nursing a sore leg that he didn't want to exacerbate.
Overall we had a blast at Lake Joe. Even the sceptical teenager who had texted friends on Monday night to "rescue" her was by Wednesday telling me how much fun she was having and asking about whether she could one day be a counselor in training and/or a counselor there. The coolest thing was most staff at the camp seemed to have some personal connection to a blind or low vision person or were one themselves. Some were children or siblings of someone with vision loss and had come as kids themselves, just like Abby. This seems to me a beautiful way to teach future generations about accessibility issues and accommodation and to help them to teach others about how to handle vision loss.
I loved the open and honest conversations with other campers about their vision loss stories and they gave me many ideas and tips to further help Ollie. They were touched by Ollie's story and so positive about how well he and all of us were adapting to his new world considering how new we were to it all. There was a feeling of camaraderie and a lack of judgement among this group. They cheered each other on and were so kind to each other. That's the thing I notice most in this community - empathy and compassion. A feeling that we're all in this together. That they treat each other as they want to be treated. Like the accomplished, capable and "normal" people that they are. Like Ollie I honestly felt at home among this community, the same way that I now feel kinship among other cancer and transplant families. Ultimately Maslow was right and we all just want to belong.
These are our people. We are blessed to have many people on this ongoing journey with us and are proud to count the CNIB Lake Joe people among them as well. We cannot wait (all 4 of us agreed) to go back to CNIB Lake Joe next summer and are so grateful to have had this opportunity during their 60th anniversary summer.
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