COOKS BROOK: It was an Olympic sized ending for some of the campers at Camp Unplugged on Wednesday.
As session 1 of the week-long camp for youth came to an end at Mount Traber Bible Camp in Cooks Brook, the staff of Katie Hines and crew of Summer Camps Unplugged Society had a surprise in store for the youth.
Olympic bronze medallist Wyatt Sanford of Kennetcook, and wife Pam Ware, a two-time Olympic diver, stopped by to give some of the youth tips on boxing and even had some fun boxing with them. The two were on vacation and took time to give back to the youth an experience they won’t ever forget.
The theme for the week was Olympics given that the Paris 2024 Olympics had just been held, with the Paralympics set to start soon. There were various games held in which the youth participated.
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Katie Hines, director of the Summer Camp Unplugged Society (SCUS), said it was super exciting when she received word from Wyatt and Pam that they would come visit the kids.
“When I found out that one of our staff was friends with Wyatt, and she asked him to come, he was overjoyed,” said Hines.
“I think that really speaks a lot to his character as a person, that one of his and Pam’s first priorities after returning from Paris was to come visit these kids on vacation.”
She said because there’s two, three-night programs and a week-long program there is a total of 72 kids participating.
Camp Unplugged is operated by mostly East Hants volunteers and funded by East Hants businesses, particularly Sara Keyes and Don McCooeye who donated the medals this year, and John MacDonald who sponsored the staff training event so I can train all of our staff.
Hines said this year there are students form the Hants East Rural High learning centre taking part with two EA’s. They have been having a fantastic time, said Hines.
The camp has wrapped up now for another year.
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The kids took full advantage of Sanford being in attendance.
There were some getting tips on how to position for boxing fights—because they themselves are boxers—to others giving Sanford a go in a play boxing match, even the adults/supervisors got in on the action.
Sanford and Ware even enjoyed lunch where the awards were handed out by Camp Unplugged.
Each of the campers received a medal, sponsored by Sara Keyes of Royal LePage Atlantic. Session 2 medals were provided with the support of Don McCooeye of Royal LePage Atlantic.
As each participant received their medals and had a photo taken with it, with the Olympic logo on a flag backdrop against a wall, there would be an applause.
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Two of the kids that got to tangle with Sanford in their makeshift ring under the gazebo spoke about the Olympian from Kennetcook coming to visit them and what it meant.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Callum Von Kintzel said. “I wish my cousin was here to meet him because he’s a boxer, and I think he’s probably going to the Olympics.”
“It’s neat to meet an Olympian.”
He said that he enjoys coming to Camp Unplugged.
“It’s just fun to hang out with my friends,” he said.
Vada Hunsley said the best part for her of coming to camps is the no electronics part.
“It’s fun to get out of the house, especially when you can’t have phones here,” she said. “It’s really nice to take a break from it and just have fun with your friends and enjoy the summer.”
She was impressed that Sanford came by.
“It’s awesome because he’s an Olympian, obviously, but it’s really a cool experience for people that like boxing and know that he’s a bronze medal-winning Olympian,” said Hunsley.
Hunsley said it means so much more knowing he did the visit on vacation.
“That means that he really appreciates us and wanted to share his experience about the Olympics,” she said.
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The camp’s aim is to have kids disconnect and be kids by playing with friends, making new friends, and more.
“Camp Unplugged encourages kids to disconnect from the internet and all of their electronics and just come away to camp with all of their friends and play fun and games,” she said.
“That is our whole mission is just to give the kids a fun week without electronics and the internet.”
Hines said the youth have no problem handing in the phones when they arrive at camp.
“If they need them throughout the week, it’s not a jail so I of course allow them to use them, but even my staff hand in their phones every day,” she said.
“The staff do that so they can give all of their attention to their campers throughout the day without being distracted.”
The overnight camp is known as Camp Unplugged, but the non-profit is the Summer Camps Unplugged Society. They run a one-week overnight summer camp program every August for kids in East Hants. It marked its fifth anniversary with this year’s camp.
