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Camp Mack in need of repairs

Anyone who has spent time at a summer camp in their youth can tell you about the significant role it played in their lives, and these effects can span multiple generations.

Anyone who has spent time at a summer camp in their youth can tell you about the significant role it played in their lives, and these effects can span multiple generations.

When a camp gets to be several generations old, however, it will inevitably need some patching up, which is where the first annual fundraiser for Camp Mackinicholea comes in.

“It’s been in operation for 50 years. The camp just needs renovations and upgrades,” said Candise Lazowski, who sits on the camp’s board of directors. “It’s still well attended, so we just want to keep it going and get it rejuvenated.”

The fundraising dinner and silent auction will be held at Memorial Hall this Saturday, April 2, and organizers hope to make it an annual event in order to help raise money for repairs and improvements to the basic infrastructure at the camp.

The first priority, Lazowski said, is to upgrade and eventually replace the bathrooms, as well as upgrading and eventually replacing the dock.

The camp, situated on Long Island Lake, is owned and operated by the United Church, but Lazowski said religious teaching doesn’t play a significant part in the camp’s activities. Instead, the camp focuses on universal things like archery, canoeing, campfires and games.

One activity Lazowski said she is particularly fond of is called bog hopping, which is essentially just playing in a big mud pit before washing off in the lake.

It’s hard to put an exact number on how many kids attend the camp each year, she added, but the number is up around 1,000, making it a significant resource for kids both in and out of the region.

“They come from Edmonton, they come from Barrhead, and of course Westlock and surrounding areas,” Lazowski said.

Regardless of where they come from the kids all develop strong connections to the camp and the friends they make there.

“Many of the people who are attending, they don’t come to camp anymore but they’re still coming out to support it,” she said. “It was a really huge part of their lives for however many years they attended, the councillors and campers alike.”

That, for Lazowski, is the main reason people should come out to support the camp, although the prospect of a roast beef dinner and an evening of dancing are also big draws.

Tickets are $20 each, and are available at the Flower Shoppe in Westlock. Cocktails will be served at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be at 6:30.

For more information about the event or about the camp, contact Lazowski at 780-475-9201 or Susan Littlechilds at 780-349-0787.

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