Visiting Camp Maskepetoon

By Beth Deer

On August 26th of last year (Patronus’ third birthday), the Edmonton Bureau ventured to Pigeon Lake where we had the pleasure of witnessing Camp Maskepetoon in action. It was such a fun day and one of my favourite shoots I’ve ever been on. 

The camp was a mixture of CNIB clients and other children who had registered directly through the camp. Not only did CNIB clients get to hang out with other kids who understand what it's like to be blind or partially sighted, but they also got to hang out with sighted kids as well. I was honestly in awe of all the kids and how accepting everyone was of one another. 

My visit to Pigeon Lake was actually the first time I’d ever seen a lake in Canada and I couldn’t get over how big it was. Our cameraman, Pat, started to laugh at me because he’s from Ontario and by the sound of it Pigeon Lake is a tiny puddle. 

On another note, I was a very bad pet owner and didn’t realize it was Patronus’ birthday until way later on in the day. This next little story is absolute karma for forgetting P-man’s birthday. We were nearly packed up and ready to leave when we realized we’d locked the keys in the AMI vehicle. We called the other guy who works in our office, Jim Krysko (a.k.a. Jimmy Bean Dip), to see if he would be able to drop the keys off to us. Jim, being the helpful guy he is said of course... then he realized there was actually a key pad on the car so we’d be able to get in without him. How did the non-blind people in my team not notice this? Either way, it makes for a good story. 

If you’re interested in finding out how the wonderful Camp Maskepetoon is doing in these strange times, tune in to AMI This Week. 

For more blogs from Beth, search her name!