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LIT
1, 2008 Filled Faster Than Ever in the Past March
7, 2008
Our Leadership Development Program (LIT) has broken new attendance
records this year by filling faster than we have ever done in the past.
Basically LIT girls was full in January and LIT boys was full in February.
Not only do we have a waiting list but we already have a large list of
people interested in the summer of 2009.
New
Truck for Medeba January
3, 2008
After making our old camp pick-up truck last through
several transmition repair and several major repairs we have officially
retired to be used on the site only. We are pleased to announce that we
have replaced it was a Super Duty Ford 350 pick-up. What a wonderful blessing
this is. Thanks to everyone who donated to make this project become a
reality.
LIT
1, 2008 is Almost Full December
22, 2007
Yet again LIT is setting new registration records. Last
year LIT 1 boys filled up by the end of February but this year we are
on a pace to fill up even more quickly. Right now we only have two spaces
remaining for LIT 1 girls. It's going to be a great year!
Summer
Camp 2008 is Filling Up Quickly December
15 , 2007
Once again summer camp is on a pace to fill up at least
as soon as last year. Respond by the end of the month for the first early
bird rate.
Over
200 Attend Open House in Spite of Rain July
15 , 2007
For many years now Medeba has held an annual Open House
in the summer where people come from near and far to see what is new.
For the first time ever the skies turned grey and the rain came down.
In spite of this we still had over 200 people for a complimentary BBQ
lunch and many others did activies such as indoor rock climbing and the
zip line.
In addition, in combination with Medeba's Open House, we
also hosted a BBQ for Living Water Canada. Living Water is the largest
faith-based water drilling organization in the world and drills wells
in third world that currently serve over 6 million people daily. The founders
of Living Water Canada live in Haliburton and we decided to partner together
for this event to connect even more with our community.
Medeba
Golf Classic Donations Continue to Come In July
10 , 2007
The total for the Medeba Golf Classic has now exceeded
$27,000 which has allowed us to finish work on the new power back-up for
the kitchen. See below for details.
Summer
Camp is Basically Full June
15 , 2007
Although we have a few spaces left Medeba Summer Camp
is basically full. Each year Medeba has been filling up earlier and earlier
as we continue to improve and grow.
Residential
Summer Camp is Almost Completely Full May
30 , 2007
As of today residential summer camp only has 19 spaces
left in the entire summer. We are almost completely full. Unfortunately
many past campers have been disappointed this year as they waited too
long to register. Some Medeba programs have been full since February.
Medeba
Golf Classic Raises $23,000 for Power Outage Equipment
May
29 , 2007
Our annual Medeba Golf Classic was a huge success. We
had a very successful day. The weather was perfect for golf with temperatures
hovering around 20 degrees Celsius. Even though we had a few less golfers
than last year, in the end we were able to raise over $23,000 in golf
sponsorships for Medeba.
The funds raised for this day have all been designated to go toward installing
power outage equipment. Ever since Medeba experienced a tornado last August
this has been a priority. Already some equipment has been installed and
has made a huge difference. For instance, just this past weekend the power
was out at Medeba for 8 hours for a hydro maintenance when there were
3 groups on site. But last week the first of several automatic propane
generators was installed in the main washrooms. It automatically senses
electrical power failures and kicks in in 15 seconds and shuts off when
it comes back on. It worked like a charm and our guests were not inconvenienced
at all. A second one is planned to be installed in the kitchen before
the summer. What a blessing that the groups didn't have to leave early
and the funds from the golf day made that possible.
New
Power-Outage Plan for Kitchen
April 19, 2007
Last August a tornado touched down in the West Guilford
area and we were without power for several days. This put a tremendous
strain on our staff to arrange for alternative plans for everyone on site.
Fortunately no one had to be sent home. We have now begun plans to improve
the infrastructure of Medeba to allow to alternative power through propane
in the event of future electrical power failures. This week we are installing
new propane stoves and ovens to allow us to be able to cook without electricity.
Plans are also in place to make other buildings ready to have back-up
generators easily installed. Medeba continue to get better every year!
Plans
in Place to Finish the Hub in 2007
April 14, 2007
We are excited to announce that we have now received
all the funding to complete the Hub project. Over the past several years
we have done several stages in this building. The final phase will include
washrooms in the building, an outdoor wood furnace (our third one at Medeba)
and moving the Barn to the Maintenance Yard.
Chalet
Renovating Continue
April 11, 2007
Over the past few years we have continued to renovate
each of our chalet rooms. This year we have selected Chalet 1 and 3 to
be completely redone including pine walls (see Ken and Steve cutting pine
below) new washroom fixtures, new beds and new carpet. Basically it is
a new room.
Summer
Camp Filling Up Quickly
February 16, 2007
Summer Camp is on a pace to fill up more quickly than
ever. As of today we overall we are one third full with several programs
half full or greater. We only have a few spaces left in LIT 1 and Blast
Day Camp which should be full in the near future. We are encouraging people
to continue to register earlier than they usually do in order to ensure
a spot for the summer.
Renovations
Begin on Chalet 1 and 3
February 8, 2007
Both Chalet 1 and 3 are currently being renovated to
be exactly like Chalet 4-7. Each room will be completely redone with new
bathroom fixtures, pine on the walls and new carpet. We continue to improve
at Medeba!
Winter
Conditions Finally Arrive
January 20, 2007
After a late start to our winter season the cold weather
has finally arrived. All of Medeba's winter activities are now in full
use including our ice climbing tower.
New
Roof Over Main Lodge Entrance
December 20, 2006
A roof has now been built over the main entrance of the
lodge which will be a wonderful addition for guests throughout the year.
Now, during inclement weather, guests will not have to get wet when entering
the Lodge. Our staff is especially excited that snow removal will also
be much easier during the winter as snow will now not pile up in front
of the main entrance. We continue to improve!
New
Deck Built on Lodge December
1 , 2006
A brand new deck has now been built to replace the old
one of the south side of the Lodge. The time had come to replace the old
one and a newer one was built that is over 500 square feet in size. Construction
on the deck has stopped for the winter and will be completed in the spring
when the weather allows us to continue.
More
Guest Groups than Ever in Our History November
12 , 2006
The numbers are officially in for last year and they
show that Medeba has more guests groups than ever before in our history.
Rapidly Medeba is becoming the place for more schools through the week
and church groups on the weekends.
Medeba
Purchases a Bulldozer! October
15 , 2006
Medeba's maintenance crew is especially excited these days as a used bulldozer
was purchased this fall to help Medeba continue improve. This bulldozer
will be great for general work and construction projects but will especially
be useful for harvesting wood to burn in our wood-burning stoves around
the facility. The bulldozer will also allow us to expand our new property
with additional roads and trails.
Medeba
Receives Award for Best Christian Workplaces September
29, 2006
We are pleased to announce that Medeba has officially
received an award rating us as one of the best Christian workplaces in
Canada for 2007. The next time you visit our office take a look at the
beautiful glass trophy that we received. We continue to want to do our
best in all that we do.
Leadership
Development Program Continues to Grow September
6 , 2006
On August 28, 2006 marked the first day of our 13th year
of running our 10-month Leadership Development Program (LDP for short)
and we are very excited about it on several levels. First, we are full
with 12 participants which is the largest group that we have ever had.
Second, we are continuing to make the program even better including a
greater emphasis on encouraging participants to aim even higher in their
quest to become authentic and confident Christian leaders. This includes
more formal accountability and feedback in the context of love and grace.
Our first 10 days are getting us all excited about the potential for the
next 10 months. Click here for info on LDP.
Summer
Camp 2006 Breaks All-Time Record August
21, 2006
As we begin the last official week of summer camp we
are pleased to report that we had more campers at Medeba during the summer
of 2006 than we have ever had in our 54-year history. We had over 1,100
camper weeks over the past 8 weeks. This means that we were full pretty
much the entire summer with all of our programs. Congratulations everyone
on another amazing summer!
Tornado
Clean Up Continues August
20, 2006
The tornado hit more than two weeks ago and clean-up
is still ongoing. All this past week we have been cutting and hauling
trees to our main field where the maintenance crew has been chipping all
the branches and using those wood chips around our ropes course. We are
now feeling like we are getting on top of things a bit but there is still
much to do.
Medeba's
Internet Service is finally Restored July
15, 2006
The tornado also bent in half the high speed wireless
internet tower we use to connect to the world. Fortunately the service
is now back up and working like normal. It is amazing how critical the
web has become for our society. Medeba fundamentally does business differently
than in the past.
F1
Tornado Hits Medeba!
August 9, 2006
God protected us through the tornado!
On the evening of Wednesday August 2, 2006 the weather forecast promised
an end of the long heat wave that gripped southern Ontario. With the promise
of cooler weather we knew that there was a risk of some significant thunder
showers but little did we know how severe the weather would become.
The sky grew black and it began to rain. First there was a light rain
and then things drastically changed as the rain came down harder and harder
accompanied by stronger and stronger winds. In a matter of a few minutes
the trees were swaying back and forth and then, all of a sudden we heard
the crash of one tree that barely missed two cars in the driveway. Then
several more came crashing down nearby. In a matter of minutes we saw
six or seven trees break off like toothpicks under the force of the strong
winds.
As soon as the strong winds stopped we launched an emergency plan to
make sure that everyone was safe and sound. Once we had determined that
everyone was safe we assessed the damage to discover that dozens of trees
were down all over Medeba. Fortunately no one was hurt and there was no
serious damage to any of our structures. Afterward it was officially confirmed
that West Guilford was struck by a tornado. We were thankful for the protecting
hand of God at Medeba.
After the storm passed we were faced with a new problem - we received
word that it would be several days until hydro would be restored. How
do we continue to run summer camp without any electricity? The year-round
staff went into full problem-solving mode. Immediately the menus were
changed to more simple ones and we borrowed propane barbecues and a propane
stove from someone's camping trailer. In addition we ended up purchasing
four generators to provide emergency power to run the washrooms and the
freezers and coolers in the kitchen. This will also allow us to handle
future power failures. Each day was filled with solving problems until
the power was restored on Saturday night, when Hydro rerouted power to
us because they knew we were a summer camp.
To give you an idea of some of the affects of the storm I thought that
I would include a short excerpt from an email received from a parent of
a camper who was at Medeba during the tornado.
"So to all of you that helped to make the week memorable and safe
for (my son), a huge thanks. Your dedication and hard work made an impact
on him for he was able to realize that in times of devastation, the
work must get done, the people fed … and just kick into gear and
do what is required. He is there with you for another week. Having dropped
him off yesterday, I saw the area and the massive destruction that the
tornado left in its path. My hats off to all of you for everything you
do to keep that camp operating. You are truly positive role models to
the campers."
Fortunately, during the entire incident, we only lost about $1,000 worth
of spoiled food but it also cost us about $9,000 to purchase and hook
up the generators. This additional $10,000 in expenses was simply not
in our budget. As a result we has sent out a letter to friends of Medeba
giving them the opportunity to give to this special project. If you wish
to do so please contact the office.
Summer
Camp Numbers Soar July
10, 2006
This summer promises to break all kinds of numerical
records for the most amount of campers ever in a single summer. Almost
every session is full but there still is room at the end of the summer.
Sign up today.
New Basketball
Court Completed June
29, 2006
The new basketball court turned out really well and has
already received lots of praise. We're sure that it is going to be a big
hit!
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