Calling all Camp Brébeuf Alumni
Between them, Nina Cantelmi-Cicchi and her sons Gabriel and Anthony have 11 years of experience working as counsellors at Camp Brébeuf.
All three credit their time at the camp with helping them develop leadership skills and friendships that are still a part of their lives today.
“Sometimes we were given more responsibility by the camp directors than we would’ve had from our own parents,” Nina laughs as she describes the training and mentoring she received as a camp counsellor.
Her sons agree, sharing their own examples of leadership skills they developed during their time at Camp Brébeuf, such as problem solving, teamwork and self-reliance.
The highlight for all three was the opportunity to lead the overnight trips for senior campers. “It was an amazing, empowering experience,” says Nina, “that made me realize what I was capable of achieving!”
The most precious memories, they declare, come from the inclusive environment at the camp and the deep sense of camaraderie amongst the counsellors. Impossible to forget moments are fondly shared by each of the former counsellors.
Memories such as emotional, end-of-session campfires with everyone singing songs and putting on skits, camp-wide games of Capture the Flag ranging across the 110-acre camp property and the counsellors-only campfires at The Point.
“I am still friends with those I met at Camp Brébeuf,” says Anthony. “Some of my best friends today are people I got to know at camp,” agrees Nina.
Gabriel is currently working with a team of volunteers to reconnect Camp Brébeuf alumni via social media. Gabriel, Anthony and Nina invite everyone who attended or worked at Camp Brébeuf to join the new on-line community, to share their own stories and reconnect with old friends.
It was a life-‐changing experience for all of us and now, with just a click, we can recreate that community.