St. John Bosco Wilderness Camp was hit hard by the spring wildfires that swept through Northern Saskatchewan, but camp administration is determined to rebuild.
The camp has started a GoFundMe campaign to help replace the archery range, tenting campsites, and Naturelore cabin, which were all destroyed by fire.
The vice-president for the board of directors of St John Bosco Wilderness Camp, Deanna Yung, said every little bit of time or money or knowledge that people can volunteer to assist the camp will make a big difference.
“It’s been really quite crazy for us,” she said. “We obviously had staff up there prepared to get ready for camp—we do school groups in June—and all of that had to be cancelled. Everybody’s working on their feet very quickly.
“We were lucky enough to quickly put up some fire mitigation in our main hub of our camp and able to save a few buildings and able to house firefighters for a while, but we have had to cancel all of June (and) we’ve had to cancel a few of our programs for the summer. Because of this rain—and our fire mitigation—we are able to still host some campers this summer, which is very good news, but it was very scary, very touch and go.”
Yung said the people that were up at the Camp tried to keep everyone up in the loop. Efforts to start rebuilding, however, have been hampered due to poor highway conditions.
The camp is still calculating the financial cost of the fire, but Yung said it will be over $50,000. However, she said some of the destruction can’t be measured in dollars and cents.
“There is an old log building that just will never, unfortunately, be able to be replaced,” she said. “It was a huge. We called it the Naturelore building and it held a lot of memories for a lot of people. It’s just not feasible, unfortunately, to be able to even rebuild that building.”
Yung add that lots of the camp hiking and canoeing trips were very much affected by all of this. Organizers will be trying to find new routes and new trips, which is proving to be a challenge in terms of rebuilding.
If all goes well, the organization will hold staff training on June 30, with the first campers arriving on July 9. Until then, they’re looking for new archery equipment, new tenting sites, and cleanup on their beach.
They’ll also need to clear fallen and burnt trees from the property.
“It’s going to be a lot of work,” Yung said.
The organization is asking for $50,000 as part of its fundraising campaign. As of press time they have raised nearly $30,000 from 95 donors, but their expenses continue to rise.
“While we remain confident in being able to run our summer programs safely and effectively, we have incurred significant costs from the purchase of fire mitigation equipment (over $20,000 to date for pumps, hoses, sprinklers, and fuel to keep equipment running) and loss of income due to the cancellation of our June school group programs,” reads a note on the GoFundMe page.
Yung said the support from the campaign donors has been incredible.
“There are a few of us who cried seeing the generosity,” she said. “It just goes to show that anyone who knows Bosco or who has been up there to the camp, it really does leave a mark on you. It’s a very special place…. We are just thrilled.”
The camp has operated for more than 65 years.
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
