RICE POINT — Emily Proude didn’t know what to expect when she ventured to summer camp for the first time almost a decade ago.
She was about eight. She had never been away from home except for little sleepovers with friends.
She had not the slightest clue just what might be in store at Camp Segunakadeck, a place that for 50 years has sported the Mi’kmaq name meaning “the place of little ground nuts,’’ but is more commonly and affectionately known simply as Camp Seggie.
Proude, now 17 and living in Charlottetown, quickly fell in love with the beautiful location of the camp that rests on an 11-acre point surrounded on three sides by the South Shore with a spectacular ocean view overlooking St. Peter’s Island.
Yet the camp’s true hook for Proude was not so much the breathtaking environment, nor was it the full slate of fun activities at a place sporting a large heated swimming pool, a 30-foot climbing wall, a BMX course, soccer fields, beach volleyball, paved ball hockey and basketball courts and cozy cabins.
For Proude, it was the counsellors that made Camp Seggie a place she couldn’t wait to return to as a camper year after year after year. The counsellors were her role models. She looked up to them. They all displayed a great deal of love and they shared a lot of joy.
“Camp for me has always been about God’s love...and the joy that we get from following him,’’ says Proude.
Proude, who has been raised by strong Christian parents, is heading into her third year as a counsellor at the camp.
She wants to be a part of providing not only a memorable experience to campers, but a meaningful one as well.
“I hope they have fun but I hope that we can teach them those things that will stick with them all of their lives,’’ she says.
The camp is, and always has been, decidedly faith-based.
Camp Segunakadeck was founded in 1963 by First Baptist Church in Charlottetown but was eventually turned over to the Association of Baptist Churches of Prince Edward Island and the association continues to keep the camp going.
Mike Corney, the camp’s executive director for the past 14 years, describes it as “pretty amazing’’ the camp reaching the half century mark in 2013.
In 1999, the camp came close to being closed. The place was dilapidated and not many children were coming to camp out.
The board, though, considered Camp Seggie too valuable a place to shut down. So time, effort and money was spent reinvigorating the camp.
The main lodge was torn down and a new one was built. Activities were added. More professional staff and camp counsellors were hired.
Today, close to 1,000 children ages five to 14 come to Camp Seggie in July and August. Hundreds more flock to the camp in June for a day of fun in the weeks leading up to the end of school.
Corney notes the faith component of the camp is a mainstay with chapel held in the mornings and evenings. Grace is said at mealtime.
Still, he estimates only 30 to 40 per cent of the children attending Camp Seggie each summer are from a strong church background with the remainder coming from a moderate or non-existent faith-based life.
“It is a faith-based organization,’’ says Corney. “We are just trying to introduce people to God.’’
Alanna Taylor says the faith-based component of Camp Seggie was incidental, not influential, in the decision to send her two daughters to day camp here for three days last year. She was impressed with the camp’s structure and array of activities. Her children had a great time.
“I just think that there are an awful lot of things to do,’’ says Taylor. “I think it would be hard to get bored here.’’
Stacy MacKinnon of Cornwall has long been sold on Camp Seggie.
Each of her three children — Lauren, 16, Michael, 14, and Will, 11 — camped here for years and Lauren and Michael are now counsellors at the camp.
She considers Camp Seggie a safe environment with plenty to do. Fun time, faith time, down time, and quiet time are well balanced.
“The camp is actually really structured...each day is planned out perfectly,’’ says MacKinnon. “It’s just a positive influence.’’
Camp highlights, of course, are very individual, she said.
Lauren would always come home from Camp Seggie singing new songs that she had learned.
Michael embraced the opportunity to tackle new activities like rock climbing and archery.
For Will, the camp experience was more about the connection he made with the campers and counsellors.
With MacKinnon and her husband both having been brought up in Christian homes (they met at a Christian camp), they have always viewed Camp Seggie as a positive influence.
“I hope that they continue to learn from it and grow from it,’’ she says. “I think they do learn a lot of life skills there — even coping being away from home.’’
Corney says Camp Seggie is “one of the healthier’’ camps in the Maritimes with registration continuing to grow over the past three years.
He says a number of components combine to make the experience at Camp Seggie fun and active, most notably all the play-based activity directed by varied counsellors that range from the artistic to the athletic and everything in between.
“Camp is mostly the staff you have,’’ he said. “You need hooks to get the kids in the gate — you need exciting things — but if you didn’t have staff that cared about the kids (the camp wouldn’t work).’
