A special video was shown March 20, 2023, 1 pm, at the CDHS General Meeting entitled ‘Memories Of Camp Mazinaw – An Interview With Jim Smart.’
The meeting was held as always, at the Barrie Community Hall in Cloyne. Everyone is welcome!
Camp Mazinaw was a camp for boys, operating from 1940 to 1986. “The aim of Camp Mazinaw was to promote the physical, mental and moral welfare of each boy.”
Through the Directors, all of which were qualified teachers, boys were introduced to the great outdoors. Ages ranged from 7 to 17 with a capacity of 50 boys at any one time. It was believed the most benefit was derived from attendance for the full season of six weeks and thus, full-time campers were given priority. Boys joining the camp for less than six weeks were allowed if space was available.
Jim Smart was a camper as a young boy and later a Councillor when he was a teenager at Camp Mazinaw. This video is about Jim’s memories of the Camp as he remembered it. He tells how boys were taught a wide variety of skills to instill confidence and leadership that would be valuable skills throughout life.
Jim Smart was interviewed at his home on Mazinaw Lake in 2008. This video was created 15 years later. It is a testament to the impact Camp Mazinaw had on Jim’s life and the lives of so many other boys. James Crawford Smart passed away at the age of 85 in 2018.
A special thank you is extended to Paul McLean for many of the photos in the video.
The complete video can be seen on our YouTube Channel. Click here.
As a teenager I worked in the kitchen a couple of summers. My mother, Kay O’Brien and Ida Meeks were the cooks at the time. Their homemade pies and butter tarts were a huge hit as well as their strawberry shortcake on Sundays. Of course as young teenagers we had summer flings with councillors😊