Camp Bowen

Our sing-along ended with “Good Night Irene”.

A discussion about eyes leads into us singing “The Corner Master’s Store”.

We sang another camp favourite, “Down By The Bay”. In true Camp Bowen style, we came up with verses for each camper.

And here is us coming up with more verses for “Down By The Bay”.

This is where the sing-along really got started. Some of the younger campers, led by Peg on guitar, introduced Adult Camp to the Camp Bowen Song, which was traditionally played at child and youth camps. Partway through, Danielle came out and joined us.

Here are more verses for the Camp Bowen Song, including a new one from Peg.

Liz, a nurse by profession, had another idea for the verse about the nurse.

Here is a video of some of us singing John Denver’s “Country Roads”.

And here’s part 2 of us singing “Country Roads”.

On Thursday night, we had a campfire and sing-along on the patio. Here’s a clip of a few of us singing James Taylor’s “Fire & Rain”.

On the morning of Thursday, August 11, everyone gathered on the patio for a group photo. This photo was taken by Lorraine Ashdown from Bowen Island.

Pictured in the photo are Alex, Byron, Clement, Danielle, Donna, Jessica, Jocelyn, Matthew, Monica (with guide dog Ash), Nelson, Owen, Peg, Roi, Salvatore, and Vera.

Source: Vancouver Sun

BY DENISE RYAN

STUART DAVIS/ VANCOUVER SUN

Surrey residents Alex Jurgensen, 16 ( left), and Matthew Alvernaz, 13. The two friends met at Bowen Island Lodge summer camp three years ago, but the CNIB-run camp is closing.

For Matthew Alvernaz, the world is about to become a little smaller. The 13-year-old, blind since birth, has just learned that the CNIB’s summer camp programs for kids at Bowen Island Lodge will be shut down due to funding shortfalls.

“It’s hard to explain how I really feel — it’s bad,” said Matthew.

His mother Tracy Alvernaz said that since Matthew was a toddler, the summers on Bowen have meant everything to her son and other blind kids.

” Imagine how difficult it is to fit in as a teenager with a vision problem. Bowen Island brought the normalcy of being a teenager to these kids. They didn’t have to try and fit in, they could just be themselves.”

The Bowen Island Lodge summer camp for the visually impaired offered programs for families, children, and youth that included opportunities for outdoor adventures, arts, peer support and transition to independent living.

Families were shocked to receive a letter last Friday from the CNIB, an advocacy and support organization for the visually impaired, announcing the closure.

Alvernaz said her son has gained independence, confidence, life and social skills through the camp, and the most precious gift of all: friends.

” I was livid when I heard. I was angry,” said Matthew’s friend, Clement Chou, 16, who lost his vision at the age of three due to a genetic condition.

Every summer the Bowen Island camp gives him a break from the stresses of fitting in with ” sighted” kids.

” In high school there is a whole group mentality — and no group is willing to take in a blind kid. The best part about Bowen is being included in a group, being able to express your thoughts, and just be yourself.”

” In high school there is a whole group mentality — and no group is willing to take in a blind kid. The best part about Bowen is being included in a group, being able to express your thoughts, and just be yourself.”

Rob Sleath, CNIB board chair, said the decision was made ” because of unprecedented financial challenges.”

CNIB is slashing in many areas, including library services, research commitments and staff salaries, said Sleath.

The CNIB gets just 10 per cent of its funding from government. The remainder comes from donations and investment income.

” We’re facing a reduction in donations as a result of global economic turndown… Everything took a hit.”

Sleath said the only hope for the camp would be if a private donor stepped forward.

Source: Times Colonist

VANCOUVER — For Matthew Alvernaz, the world is about to become a little smaller. The 13-year-old, blind since birth, has just learned that the CNIB’s summer camp programs for kids at Bowen Island Lodge will be shut down due to funding shortfalls.

“It’s hard to explain how I really feel. It’s bad,” said Matthew.

His mother, Tracy Alvernaz, said that since Matthew was a toddler, the summers on Bowen have meant everything to her son and other blind kids.

“Imagine how difficult it is to fit in as a teenager with a vision problem. Bowen Island brought the normalcy of being a teenager to these kids. They didn’t have to try and fit in, they could just be themselves.”

The Bowen Island Lodge summer camp for the visually impaired offered programs for families, children and youth that included opportunities for outdoor adventures, arts, peer support and transition to independent living.

Families were shocked to receive a recent letter from the CNIB announcing the closure.

Rob Sleath, CNIB board chairman, said the decision was made “because of unprecedented financial challenges.”

CNIB is slashing in many areas, including library services, research commitments and staff salaries, Sleath said, adding that the camp’s only hope is that a private donor will step forward.

July 14 interview with Kim story by Soma Ali

Kimberly was born in 1983 in North Vancouver She is now twenty years old and on September 3. she’ll be twenty one. She used to teach sailing and really loved it. she also loves working at CNIB and this is her first year at Bowen lodge. Kim has a dog named boscoe. her family decided to name him bosco because her father always goes to Koscoe and they wanted a name that rimes with Koscoe. When Boscoe was four he had pancreatis. 
She will start school in September. kim really likes old types of music because when she was little she always listened to that kind. kim lives on Nanaimo Island. Her favourite ban is the beetles. Kim doesn’t like sleeping in at all. She says it is a waste of  time. She says if she could have another job at Bowen she    would love to be  a life guard

kim harison july 13 2004
Interview by the Vancouver Dragons and the bigs

kim who is the manager of our camp was born on September e. 1983 in north Vancouver but lives in nanaimo  when she is not at Camp Bowen with her brother, parents and pet dog which I’ll tell you  about later. She is going to college to learn to work plannign recretion programs for kids. kim taught sailing for six years. She saw an add in a paper for the job at Camp Bowen and she likes working with children so she applied and bot the job. We are glad she did! she would like to come back next year. She likes working with the kids and staff at Bowen and she likes living here because it is so beautiful on the island. She has also worked as a life gard and will need to do her certificate for that again  soon.  Kim will work at Camp Bowen until her birthday in september when she will go back to Nanaimo and go back to school  again. kim’s favourite animal is her dog boscoe. He is a Doberman and  German Shepard cross and he 7 years old. He is a big dog and weighs 80 pounds! Kim says that boscoe  sleeps on her bed with her with his own pillow. He showers with her He wears t:shirts he wears a seatbelt in the car he wears a life jacket when swimming  he even sits at the table even though he doesn’t eat there and she brushes his teeth with chicken toothpaste! Kim has tasted the toothpaste and says it tastes terrible to her. Boscoe was named by Kim’s dad who likes to go to the store Kostco and he wanted to name the dog something that rimes with Costco so he picked Boscoe. He got sick once when he ate some turkey and was at the vet’s  for two weeks. He almost died turkey is bad for a dog so don’t feed your dog turkey! Boscoe got hurt once when Cameron, kim’s brother was playing basketball. When Cameron threw the ball high up in the air to hit  hit it with a bat Boscoe jumped up to get the ball and got hit with the bat and had some teeth broken. cameron was sad about that accident but Coscoe got better. Thanks Kim for the interesting  interview and especially for telling us about Boscoe.