A Tribute to Gord Wright, founder of Bark Lake & the Ontario Camp Leadership Centre

It was recently brought to my attention that Gord Wright had passed away on November 15, 2007. David Spencer sent me an email after being on the Ontario Camp Newsletter Squidoo Page that I had maintained until recently (I now place content on this site: yoyojoe.com). David wanted everyone in the camp community to know that a tribute was held for Gord Wright on January 19, 2008 in Alliston, Ontario. David also wanted everyone to read the tribute to Gord Wright.

It is interesting to read the history and tribute of Gord Wright and to delve a bit deeper into who the man was, and to find out his influence on me. I attended Bark Lake during the summer of 1990 and it was truly a magical experience. Bark Lake’s influence on generations of camp staff seems to have been quickly forgotten; this is unfortunate, as Bark Lake was the first real exposure to how big the camping movement was to many camp staff. The 18 days that I spent at Bark Lake for the Ontario Camp Leadership training with staff from over 50 other camps, still influences my work today at camp and in the larger camp community.

I also had the privilege of attending the Ontario Camp Leadership Workshop which was held at Bark Lake for many years until it had to move when Bark Lake was sold in 95/96.

To read about Gord Wright and to see his influence on my own experience is a great way to remember how important the people who came before us are. As we look to the future we do need to remember the past, but we also need to remember that our past camping commarades looked forward not backwards in developing camping for us.