8 ~ Wednesday, April 5, 1989 - Capilano Chronicle CHURCH NEWS Artaban celebrates 66 years of camping on Gambier Island A CAMP that, since its 1923 inception, has served approx- imately 40,000 participants, with the help of thousands of volunteers, has much to celebrate. Hence Camp Artaban’s Celebra- tien Dinner, a multi-course gourmet Chinese meal scheduled for Friday, April 14, at the Fla- mingo House in Vancouver. Camp Artaban, an Anglican church camp that operates out of offices at St. Catherine’s Church near Edgemont Village, is located on 67 acres at the end of Long Bay, Gambier Isiand. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Ron Monk ... says Camp Artaban is special because of its volunteers. Featured at the dinner will be Camp Artaban memorabilia from the 1920s to the present, door prizes — including a three-day whale watching trip for two —- and guest speaker Herbert O'Driscoll, author, broadcaster and camp- goer. Tickets to the fund-raising event are $75, $54 of which is tax-deduc- tible. They can be ordered by call- ing the Camp Artaban office at 980-0391. Fund raisers are regular oc- curences for the camp, as only half of the operating costs are covered by the campers’ fees. Ron Monk, Artaban’s executive director, says the fees — $26.43 per day in 1988 —— are one-quarter to one-third lower than those charged by a number of other camps in the area, and are kept that way so the camp is accessible to as many people as possible. A huge staff of volunteers also makes it possible to keep the prices low. Camp Artaban is the only ac- credited camp of its size which has a total volunteer program staff — lifeguards, counsellors, craft helpers, clergy, nurses and direc- tors are all hand-chosen for each of the week-long camps, and none receive any financial reimburse- ment. Along with these 250-odd sum- Rummage A RUMMAGE sale will take place at St. Catherine’s Church on Saturday, April 15. Doors will open at 10 a.m. and close when everything’s gone, or- ganizers say. Proceeds from the mer staff members that together contribute approximately 50,060 hours during July and August, the camp is supported by fund raisers and committee members that work year-long. According to Monk, it is these volunteers that make the camp so special. “Ivs the unique spirit of the place,’’ he said. “The synergy of all these volunteers working together to create an atmosphere that’s open and accepting. It’s ex- citing.”” “Accepting” is an important word at Artaban, where social values and self-esteem are pro- moted through recreational and creative activities and services in the outdoor chapel. As most of the campers are non-Anglican, and approximately one-third have no church affilia- tion whatsoever, Monk says the camp does not try to ‘pound them with a lot of Bible stuff,*’ but io show the integration of Christian values in all aspects of life. Learning to accept’ different cultures and lifestyles is a natural by-product of experiences such as the Japanese Boys’ Camp, held every three years when a group of Japanese-speaking students from Rikkyo Middle School visit Ar- taban’s Senior Coed Camp, bring- ing with them games, crafts and ceremonies from their homeland. This year, Artaban had a bilin- gual French/English Coed Camp and has in the past brought native and non-native children together at a cross-cultural weck. Artaban was also the first major camp to include adult-functioning, mentally handicapped people in its regular camping sessions. Not only have the camp offer- ings expanded from the usual children’s camps to include family camps, sailing and canoeing camps through the Gulf Islands, single parent weekends, artists’ retreats and 50 and Better camps, the camp site itself has changed drastically since its 1923 beginnings. Before a government wharf was built in the late 1930s, campers were deposited on a floating dock in the middle of the bay by a Union Steamship, and then rowed to shore. They then camped in what were affectionately termed ‘‘chicken coops’? — open-sided huts that lined one side of the creek. Today, adults and children bunk down in cedar pan-abode cattages and have the use of a new log rec- reation hall, the 1935 dining hall that features an open stone fireplace, outdoor chapel, craft cottage, 12-bed hospital and play- sale held sale will go into the church’s gen- eral funds for a variety of pro- grams, St. Catherine’s Anglican Church is located at 1058 Ridgewood. Call 985-0666 for more information. ing facilities that range from an archery area to a grassed basebali diamond. : Hikes through the woods can range from a 20-minute stroll to a four-hour climb up Mount Ar- taban. Participants in the smaller, spr- ing and fall weekend camps water- taxi to Artaban from Horseshoe Bay, while summer campers are transported by the Malibu Princess from the Barbary Coast Yacht Basin in downtown Vancouver's waterfront. Regardless of any new directions Artaban might take ia the future, Monk says: “! think our primary purpose should always be to de- velop whole people...with a sense that they are living in an inter- dependent world.” For information on camp ses- sions or volunteer opportunities, call the Artaban office at 980- 0391. Phaotas submitted THE STRING of docks thal graced Camp Artaban’s waterfront in the 1935 photo above has long been replaced by a government dock, but many of the cther Gambier Island camp facilities, such as the dining hall, remain from early days of its operations. Two recent campers (top) enjoy the sunshine from their cabin. Camp Ar- taban, which is run out of offices in St. Catherine’s Church in North Vancouver, is having a Celebration Dinner on Friday, April 14, to commemorate the Anglican camp's inception in 1923. See play at St. Martin’s ST. MARTIN'S Church has come on four successive Sundays, Anglican church is located at 195 up with a dramatic way to cele- beginning April 9. St. Martin’s E. Windsor Rd. brate its recently completed exten- sive renovation. Members of the congregation will present, as a chancel drama, L s hel Dorothy Sayers’ play The Zeal of ae : : et us help you put the Thy House. Soni i - The play, in four short acts, § pieces together: concerns the rebuilding of the choir of Canterbury Cathedral after the fire of 1174. An act of the play will be pres- ented as part of the 10 a.m. service © business/professional income ® capital gains exemptions ® spousal transfers ® refundable tax credits ® personal/corponite tax returns 3 DON’T SMOKE Phone 985-8701 PASMAN SMITH & COMPANY Cettified General Accotritants #£380-233 West First Streer, North Vinncouver, BC. V7M IBY