News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

By LeRae Haynes 

Gavin Lake Forest Education Camp is one of the best-kept secrets of the Cariboo, according to Camp Manager Mike Tudor, who explained that the camp could now be facing an estimated a $20,000 property tax bill. 

“It was like a kick in the teeth when we first heard about this tax. We promote fitness and outdoor education---things that the province wants---and yet they’re implementing a tax that could shut us down.  I spent all of January fundraising and I don’t want to have to try to raise another $20,000 for the tax man,” he said. “If we had to pay that tax, we’d go under.” 

He said that one possible way out for the camp is to become a registered charity. “We are non-profit in the truest sense of the word, with the free school programs and the subsidized rentals where we charge less than user rates,” he continued. “We’re unique—other camps don’t run a free outdoor education school program.  They charge around $3,500 per class.” 

More than 3,600 people visit Gavin Lake Camp every year, including groups that enjoy the Gavin Lake experience at below-cost rental rates, such as youth groups, church groups, quilting and music groups and many charitable organizations. 

“Groups who come out here get the whole camp and 100 beds, and for six weekends a year we have a rental program for weddings and private parties, reunions, New Year’s Eve and Christmas parties,” he said. “We have an active winter program, with groomed cross-country ski trails, a hockey rink, ice fishing and snow shoeing.” 

One of the annual highlights at Gavin Lake is the BC Fiddle Treat workshop, run for more than 10 years by the Old Time Fiddlers. “It’s one of the most popular ones in Canada, where kids can fiddle and swim and hike and have campfires. The instructors all stay at the camp with the kids, and have the best jam sessions around the campfire,” he continued.

Mike said that the Gavin Lake Board of Directors are people from local mills, the Ministry of Forests, contractors and residents who love the outdoors and who want kids to have fun in the outdoors. “They’re really committed to keeping Gavin Lake subsidized, and to keeping the free school programs,” he continued.  

Mike has been at Gavin Lake Camp for over 17 years as Camp Manager. A biologist, he ran a wildlife research station in Ontario, and moved to the Williams Lake area when his wife, Jenny, got a job as a vet. 

“It’s a unique learning environment where kids can be kids—they can goof around outside, learn things and have fun. Some kids we get here have never been on skis, gone on a hike or been in a canoe. They learn new skills, do chores, gain confidence, and learn responsibility and teamwork,” Mike explained.  

“We change the modules yearly. One is the ‘Forest Decision Trail’ where the kids get to walk around a trail with a forester, making nine stops where they have to make various decisions about the forest, such harvesting versus retention for wildlife,” he said. “The instructor gives them some background and talks about the issues involved---the kids learn that it is a complex issue. They learn that, in the end, you sometimes have to make a difficult decision and that people don’t always agree.” 

Another module offered in 2009 was ‘Your Carbon Footprint’ sponsored by the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society. The kids are given a giant pair of black boots, their ‘carbon footprint’ boots. They race all over camp, and when they see an energy-saving station, like the clothesline, the water barrel or the low-flush toilets, they write it down and race on to the next one. 

“We’re trying to teach them that anyone can save energy and reduce their carbon footprint----that’s not hard and not expensive and they can do it tomorrow,” Mike explained. 

“We also do a leech study—it’s a good way to get them interested in, and talking about, ecology. They learn about a healthy stream and why leeches are important in the food chain. We make all the modules fun and get the kids jazzed up about them. 

“Another thing we’ve done is a First Nations Culture Walk. We walk a trail and show the kids that the forest is a ‘strip mall’ of the past. We stop at the ‘food court’, or the fire pit, at talk about what they would have eaten; we visit the ‘grocery store’ and a ‘real estate office’, or a model of a pit house. We take them to a ‘mattress store’ where they gather moss to make a bed. 

“There is a compass module, where they hunt for treasure and learn to find their way. They enjoy the Lord of the Rings---style module about pine beetles.  They even get to help make a movie of their adventures,” he said.         

“My job is to help people have fun in the wilderness. For our instructors at the camp, including foresters, biologists and retired teachers, it doesn’t feel like teaching and it doesn’t feel like learning,” he said. “It feels like fun.”

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