Trails Weekend 2019

Friday October 4 – Sunday October 6, 2019

This year’s HSR Trails Weekend will be held on the weekend of October 4 – 6, 2019.

One of the Alumni Association’s on-going projects is the maintenance of the Haliburton Scout Reserve hiking trail system. Each year, Trails Weekend is held in the fall for alumni to perform the work. The tasks done depend on the number of volunteers who attend, the condition of the trails and whether there are any “special” projects required on the trails or at the camp on that particular weekend.

Trails Weekend typically offers some spectacular fall colours with the chance for current and former staff of all ages to work and socialize together. Meals and accommodations in HSR cabins are provided to volunteers.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Register online for the Trails Weekend, bySeptember 30, 2019(Important for planning the work and getting food).
2. Arrive Friday evening or very early Saturday morning. We will be planning and assigning the work crews at breakfast on Saturday.
3. Come prepared for the weather, both for outdoor work and for evenings/overnight.
4. Be prepared to have a great weekend!

IMPORTANT NOTE: As for all volunteer activities at the camp, the Safe Scouting for Parents training is required to be on the camp property.  Clean Police Reference Checks are required to stay overnight at the camp. As well, Hold Harmless and Code of Conduct forms must be completed and submitted. See more information here

Optional—Bring musical instruments for playing tunes in the hub Friday & Saturday evenings.

Trails Weekend 2019 online registration

Hold Harmless form

Code of Conduct Form

Bursary 2019

BURSARY 2019.

One of the first ideas The Alumni Association had after it was founded 30 years ago was to set up an annual bursary to be awarded to a current staff member who is going into post-secondary studies following the summer. The aim was to help the camp hang on to good, experienced people for a few more summers.

Even back then, the cost of post-secondary education was the reason many of us had to find way crappier but better paying jobs instead of coming back here.  

So here we are, 30 years later, to congratulate the 2019 winner.

The submissions, as always, were excellent and the Selection Committee’s decision was a very tough one.

This year’s recipient is Chris Bulman.

Chris has been on staff since 2013, and he describes his summers here as “flipping a reset button” on his year. I think a lot of us totally get what he means by that.

Now a Senior Staff member after years of teaching and learning from HSR campers, he is looking forward to a new challenge this fall as he begins studying Business Accounting at Niagara College, with a view to becoming a Financial Manager.

Congratulations to Chris, the winner of the 2019 HSR Staff Alumni Association Bursary Award.

 

HSR Staff Alumni Bursary Winner 2018

The Alumni Association recognized early on that it could give back to the camp by starting up a bursary to be awarded to a current staff member who is going into post-secondary studies following the summer. We thought this would help the camp hang on to good,experienced people for a little longer.

We think it might be working, and we are very pleased to be doing it again for the 30^th time.

The submissions, as always, were excellent and the Selection Committee’s decision was a tough one.

This year’s recipient is Theodore Schlotzhauer.

Theo has been in Scouting since joining Beavers as a young lad, coming full-circle to become a Beaver Leader so that he could continue in Scouting when there were not enough people to start a Venturer Company in his area.

HSR has been part of Theo’s summer for seven summers, including four as a member of the HSR Staff. In his application, he stated, “there’s nothing I could think of that I would rather be doing during my summer”.

So say we all.

Theo will begin studies this fall at the University of Waterloo in mechanical engineering.

Congratulations to Theo, the winner of the 2018 HSR Staff Alumni Association Bursary Award.

HSR Staff Alumni Bursary Winner 2017

The Alumni Association recognized early on that it could give back to the camp by starting up a bursary to be awarded to a current staff member who is going into post-secondary studies following the summer. We thought this would help the camp hang on to good, experienced people for a little longer.

We think it might be working, and we are very pleased to be doing it again for the 29^th time.

The submissions, as always, were excellent and the Selection Committee’s decision was a tough one.

This year’s recipient is Allanna MacKenzie.

HSR has been part of Allanna’s summer for six of her 12 years in Scouting, and her application demonstrated a great interest in volunteering (both in Scouting and her community), learning new skills and sharing them with others.

She will begin studies in Biomedical Science at the University of Guelph in a few weeks and already has plans to apply to medical school, with ambitions to become a surgeon.

Please join me in congratulating Allanna, the winner of the 2016 HSR Staff Alumni Association Bursary Award.

HSR STAFF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BURSARY WINNER 2016.

The HSR Staff Alumni Association recognized shortly after its foundation that graduating high school and moving on to post-secondary education was a virtual guarantee that older and more experienced “junior staff” would not be back again.  An annual bursary award was launched as a result, which was meant to benefit a member of the current staff who has made terrific contributions to the Camp and might allow him or her to continue them.

This year, we awarded the Bursary for the 28^th time.  The submissions, as always, were top notch and the Selection Committee’s decision was a tough one.

This year’s recipient is Adam Rafton.

Adam joined the staff in 2010 as Staff in Training and has moved up the ranks to take on the challenge of Program Supervisor this year.  He will be returning to Trent University this fall to continue his Media Studies BA, after which he plans to submit his application to the Ontario Police College to pursue a career in law enforcement.

Congratulations Adam and thank you for your ongoing dedication to HSR!

Alumni Weekend 2016

HSR Alumni Weekend

Friday August 5 – Sunday August 7, 2016

After enjoying an extended spring that began in November (briefly interrupted by winter at the beginning of April), it sure feels like summer now. Growing up, it was around this time that those of us who were so lucky began to totally mail it in at school knowing that another summer at the Haliburton Scout Reserve was imminent.

Now that we’re all responsible adults (give or take ~50%), it is nice to know that we can recapture this feeling in a small way, with the HSR Staff Alumni Weekend fast approaching. Whether it’s an annual tradition for you or you haven’t been back to the shores of Kennabi since days past (or long-past), we would like to welcome you!

It is an excellent opportunity to return to HSR to hang around with staff past and present, (and long-past) who all shared the common experience of spending the summer months working there. We have several activities planned (see the schedule below), and the weather is always perfect (give or take ~50%). MORE

2015 Bursary Winner

2015 HSRSAA Bursary Award Winner, Tia Layne

We are very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2015 HSR Alumni Association Bursary award is Tia Layne.

Tia first camped at HSR in 2010 and joined the staff in 2013 as the Archery Instructor before moving into the retail side of things.

Tia will be returning to the University of Windsor this fall to continue her studies in the Dramatic Arts program and already plans to follow that with an Education degree to reach her goal of becoming a high school teacher.

She has been active in Scouting pretty much her whole life, and something that she wrote in her application is worth sharing here:

“Scouting is not just about camping and tying knots; it is about the bonds you make with people”.

That’s for sure.

Congratulations to Tia, the winner of the 2015 HSR Staff Alumni Association Bursary Award.

2014 Bursary Winner

2014 HSRSAA Bursary Winner Michael Norton.

This year’s Bursary Award was notable not only for its very deserving recipient, but also for the opportunity it gave us to honour Bob Spencer, who passed away early this year after a lifetime of contributions to education, to Scouting and to HSR.

This year, the HSRSAA Bursary Fund was the beneficiary of remarkable generosity by Bob’s family in the most difficult of circumstances.  His wife Eleanor and sisters-in-law Shirley and Lois Whitwell agreed that donations-in-lieu of flowers should go to the Bursary fund.

We are profoundly grateful for this, and as a dedicated Scouter and Educator, We are sure that Bob would have been very pleased with this idea. The HSRSAA Executive agreed that the 2014 award should be presented in his name.

In the presence of Bob’s family, who made the long trip to HSR to participate in the the presentation of the award (which included heartfelt words from Eleanor about the importance of Scouting and the immeasurable value of being part of the HSR family), we were pleased to call on Michael Norton to receive the 2014 Bursary.

Michael joined the HSR Staff in 2011 as an IT, and has been on the Waterfront since 2012, where his desire to teach never got in the way of his eagerness to learn. This trait probably explains a lot about his decision to attend the highly-regarded Ryerson School of Journalism, which is very highly regarded.

He wants very much to return to HSR next summer, and we hope that this award will make it more likely. Congratulations to Michael, the very deserving winner of the 2014 HSR Staff Alumni Association Bursary Award.

More information about the HSRSAA Bursary Award, including a complete list of past winners is available on the Bursary page of the HSRSAA Web site.

 

 

2013 Bursary Recipient

Winner of the 2013 HSRSAA Bursary Award

The Haliburton Scout Reserve Staff Alumni Association is proud to continue its tradition of awarding a bursary each year to a member of the current staff who is beginning or continuing his or her post-secondary education when this summer ends. 24 bursaries have been awarded since 1998, and the winner of the 25^th is Jacob Ursulak.

Jacob started at HSR as a camper in 2008, joining the staff in 2010. During that time, he has worked with Alumni member Ken Wrigglesworth to reinvigorate the Trapper’s Cabin program, won a purple bead and shared a Supervisor’s Award. Given the reaction in the Hub when his name was announced (a loud, sincere and heartfelt standing ovation), there is no doubt that many of his HSR friends could add something to this list of accomplishments.

This fall, he is attending the University of Waterloo to pursue a degree in Environmental Engineering, and the HSRSAA is very pleased to be able to make a contribution towards making that possible.

Congratulations Jacob!

2012 Bursary Recipient

One of the things that the Haliburton Scout Reserve Alumni Association is especially proud to be able to do is award a bursary each year to a member of the current staff who is beginning or continuing his or her post-secondary education when the summer ends.

We know that every little bit helps, and we know that the recipient will by definition be “wise in the use of the resource”. Because we believe that just choosing to work at HSR demonstrates an admirable strength of character, choosing a winner is always a difficult decision.

The winner of the 2012 HSRSAA Bursary was Michael Fengler, who had already graduated from Timmins’ Northern College as a Civil Engineering Technologist and has begun work at the University of New Brunswick this fall to start earning a Bachelor of Geomatics.

He has been coming to HSR since 2006, working there since 2008 and, like many of us, would love nothing more than to spend a few more summers there, and the HSR Staff Alumni Association is pleased to be able to make a small contribution towards making that possible.

Congratulations Mike!