Ep 189 Camp Celiac 2021

Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –

On this episode I speak with Carmen from the Ottawa Chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association who came up with the idea of organizing a sleep away camp for kids with celiac disease.  The camp was to have occurred last year, but as we all know, the pandemic changed that.  The camp did go ahead this past August and I’m thrilled to be able to talk to Carmen about both organizing the camp as well as being on site to ensure the food was prepared and served strictly gluten free.  Carmen has two daughters and they both attended camp, along with some of their friends.  Carmen’s daughter, Rosie,  has celiac disease, and I was thrilled to be able to ask her what she enjoyed about camp, both the activities and the meals.  You can find more information at campceliac.ca

Camp was made better for the donations of very generous sponsors, some of which are –

Schar Gluten Free

Rizopia Gluten Free Pasta

O’Doughs Gluten Free

Farm Boy Grocery

All Free Allergen Friendly

Purest Foods

The Bean Sprout – Dedicated Gluten Free Chinese Food

Only Oats

Bobo’s

Queen Street Bakery

Sun Butter

Aidan’s Sans Gluten Free

Nature’s Path Organic

Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Foods

Sue’s Websites and Social Media –

Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com

Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com

Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com

Celiac Kid Stuff – https://www.celiackidstuff.com

Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com

Instagram – @suesgfbaking

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL

Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com

My Thoughts –

I remember a few years ago, I was watching a sporting event on television and the hosts were recalling some past seasons statistics.  One of the statistics they listed had an asterisk beside it.  I was immediately confused and asked my husband what it meant.  Apparently, that was a shortened season due to some labour dispute or strike.  Made sense.

Looking back on 2020 and now 2021, it occurs to me, both of these years will be forever known by the asterisk beside them in lists of yearly accomplishments.  Labour disputes or strikes might affect some statistics, but a global pandemic ticks all the boxes for unexpected, unwelcomed and uncomfortable.

What is extraordinary is that both 2020 and 2021 will both have asterisks beside them when it comes to Camp Celiac.  The camp for 2020 was planned, subscribed to, donated to, and talked about, but, as we are acutely aware, camp was a no-go last year.  Lots of work went into planning, but no amount of work could make it happen under the dark cloud of so much that was not known about Covid-19. 

The asterisk beside the year 2021 for Camp Celiac means something altogether different.  Camp Davern was given preliminary go-ahead instructions mid-June.  With not enough specific information on guidelines and a very tight ramp up schedule, it was a bit of a miracle that camp actually opened on time.  There were issues – limits on the number of campers, fewer qualified counselors available to work the summer, testing to be done on site, and the dreaded decisions that had to be made ahead regarding what to do if there was a positive test.

Despite these challenges, Camp Davern opened and hosted weeks of happy campers.  Thankfully, Celiac Camp was scheduled to run closer to the end of summer than the beginning, when routines were in place, counselors were comfortable with the rules, and in the case of our celiac campers new to Davern, and who didn’t know any different.

Celiac Camp at Camp Davern near Perth, Ontario (about 90 minutes outside of Ottawa) was a roaring success.  Many people worked hard to achieve that success, but in the end all that matters is that the kids were happy and well fed.  Celiac kids were the regular kids for one week.  I think everyone involved in camp should be very proud of the 2021 *.