New Lodge Becomes The Hub of Kettleby Valley

Nov. 24, 2010 - PRLog -- Established in 1957 by Bill and Jean Babcock, RICHILDACA began as a day camp located in Richmond Hill. By the early 60’s RICHILDACA had established the Kettleby property as their home and began to offer more traditional, outdoor based activities. Soon, activities such as canoeing, camp craft, swimming and horseback riding became the staple for each campers’ experience. During the years, RICHILDACA grew to accommodate residential programs and offered outdoor education for a variety of school boards.

In 1998, Kettleby Valley began leasing the RICHILDACA site and offered day camp experiences for children from the local community. Kettleby Valley also established partnerships with corporations such as TD Bank, IBM, Kodak and Hudson’s Bay Company. Employees of these companies would bring their children to work, where school buses would take them to Camp and return them at the end of the Camp (and work) day. Following in the footsteps of RICHILDACA, a year-round program for school groups was also developed.

By 2000, Kettleby Valley had established a week-long Residential Program for campers who felt the need to have more Camp time during their summer. In 2005, the original camp property was purchased, followed by the purchase of the 30 acres directly south. At this time, we knew that the facility required a great deal of upgrading for us to continue the tradition of quality programming that Bill and Jean began so many years before us.

In October of 2009, with some mixed emotions, our old lodge was torn down. The original part of the building was constructed with cedar logs from the Camp property, while the addition was built with timber beams that had been reclaimed from a local barn. When the original lodge went up in the 1960's, it meant a great deal to the Camp at the time. One of its main uses was to service the school groups that used the facility throughout the year. However it was never designed to house 300 people each day during the summer.

Improved washroom facilities, a great kitchen space, an indoor option for 'Campfire' in the event of rain, and a roof that everyone can fit under are just some of the benefits this new building will provide.

There is also an environmentally friendly component to the new building with the addition of composting toilets. Flush toilets add up to between 60 and 70% of household water consumption. Even low volume toilets use about 6 liters (25 cups) of water per flush. Our new system uses less than 3/4 of a cup of water per flush. This will minimize our impact on the environment significantly and provide us with an outstanding teaching tool for our Campers.

The improvements over the past 6 years have had a positive effect on our registration. The number of Campers that enjoy our program continues to increase sharply each year. In fact, our Residential Camp numbers have increased almost 70%. We are aware of the many program options available to children these days and we deeply appreciate the loyalty that our families have shown us.

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Kettleby Valley Camp offers the beauty of a northern setting that’s close to home. We offer Day Camp programs for 225 children and a Residential Camp program for up to 100 campers. Outdoor Leadership programs are provided for schools from Sept to June.