This is an excerpt from an article in the December 1957 edition of Canadian Camping Magazine.
The President Quotes…
F.M. Van Wagner, Director
Anyone who has been engaged in camp work for twenty-five years or more must be aware of the great changes that have taken place in both our theory and practice. The most noticeable perhaps are the additions of buildings and equipment, and the end is not yet in sight.
It might be well for us to pause and ask ourselves if all of these expenses and attractive improvements really provide a better camping experience for our campers. We know that attractive buildings make a favourable impression, but do they necessarily ensure a better camp?
No doubt it would be generally agreed that by far the most essential requirement is good staff. Here, too, considerable change has taken place in our thinking and practice. In our early camping days, a camp staff consisted of the Director and his counsellors. We now believe that, in addition to Director and counsellors, a permanent senior staff is also necessary, numbering perhaps one to each four to six tent counsellors. These senior or professional staff members will be sectional heads and specialists in the various activities which the camp seeks to promote.
It is as important for a camp, as for a school to have a permanent professional staff. For whatever our camping objectives may be, we are surely engaged in the teaching and guidance of campers.
Yes, we still require counsellors as much as ever, though we may not expect quite as much from them as we did in our early camping days. This is due in part to the fact that on the average they are younger and their term as counsellors is often shorter.