Full circle from camper to parent
GNAG has evolved over 50 years but remains an essential part of our community. GNAG staff and peer-staff have a lasting impact on the lives of our children.
Happy 50th anniversary, Glebe Neighbourhood Activities Group!
Full circle from camper to parent
By Les Bunbury
I dropped my girls off at GNAG on Second Avenue with Monty and at the front doors with Sophia. After a quick chat with Paul, I walked by Lauren and asked how she was feeling in her third trimester. Two steps later, I ran into Nick. We stopped, we hugged and, as we caught up, I explained that my family had moved back to Ottawa three years ago. Nick had just finished dropping off his two kids with the GNAG staff as well, so we made plans to go for a coffee. Before we walked down Third Avenue, he paused, “Wasn’t this the best job you ever had?”
Yes.
Between 1998 and 2010, Nick and I had the privilege of being staff with GNAG’s school year and summer programs. We were a generation of staff who knew the old building, with all its quirks − the hidden rooms, the catacomb basement and the cupboards where we all knew which shelves we could climb to hide on during giant games around the centre. We were there before and during the renovation, and when there was no building at all. We helped build a new GNAG inside the renovated building, something bigger than ourselves, that would continue for years to come.
I started with GNAG as a volunteer, then a junior counsellor earning $5 a day − even for full days during holiday camp programs. The money didn’t matter. I loved the energy, the fun and the chance to lead.
Friends of mine, Ali, Alyssa and Kayleigh, started as campers before they were staff. Kayleigh recalls “playing Alien Attack in the large Main Hall with a million juice lids and popsicle sticks; embarking on Bigger, Better, Best where staff sent us into the community with a paper clip in hand asking strangers to trade for a larger item; we came back with a family-sized couch! We searched the entire community centre during a game of Sardines, finding a counsellor who had spidermanned himself up a wall…”
As staff, we were fortunate to meet you, the parents, who trusted us to help raise your children and − more importantly − to have fun with them all summer long. We taught them songs that got stuck in their heads for weeks, even months. We played floor hockey, went on wild boar hunts during beach days filled with imagination and excitement. We went caving at Lac Philippe, one time with only one flashlight between us! Those experiences are forever etched in my memory, because of the kids’ smiles, their energy and their boundless curiosity. Your kids filled our days with beautiful, hilarious kid-quotes and brought us joy. Watching them grow, learn and develop over the years was so rewarding. We were adult kids ourselves, but we got to grow alongside them.
Now, all these years later, my kids are in Grades 2 and 3 and they get to experience GNAG for themselves. They go to GNAG camps and get to grow up with today’s staff. It’s an incredible feeling to see the next generation having the same experiences, making new memories and learning new things. They don’t call it Trippers, Trekkers, or Girls Day Out. They call it Ali camp, Monty camp, Sophia camp, Lauren camp, Paul and Mary camp, Jason camp, and Tanis camp. It’s the people who make the programs sparkle, shine and thrive! They go to GNAG for the relationships and the sense of family.
GNAG has evolved over the years, but it’s remained an essential part of our community and the staff still make it such a special place. As a parent now, I understand how much of an impact those peer-staff members had on my life, and now I get to see the same thing with my kids.
I know I speak for all the past staff of my generation − Nick, Ali, Gillian, Eva, Yuki, Simon, Kayleigh, Mike, Jehann, Alex, Krystyna, Alison, Kit, Dorthy, Sergio, Owen, Gord, Jenn, Sebastien, Emma, Julian, Pao, Amelia, Erica, Jean, Julia, Meghan, Geoff, Rob, Alana, Darcy, Fiona and the staff that followed, Alyssa, Vanessa and Kathleen to name a few. We all look back on those days with a sense of pride and gratitude. To see GNAG come full circle and to now be the parents who drop off our kids with the same incredible staff that we were once a part of − that’s something truly special. We were part of a family, and now our kids get to experience that same family. It’s a privilege and an honour to watch it continue.
Memorable Moments
GNAG invites you to share a favourite GNAG memory on its social feeds. Send your memories to clare@gnag.ca with the subject line “Memorable Moments” and then check out what others remember!
Watch for upcoming information about GNAG’s Family Celebration, Saturday afternoon May 31, and the 50th Anniversary Dance, Saturday evening May 31, featuring Kelly Lee Evans!
Les Bunbury has been growing with GNAG since 1998.