Roseau River camp a family affair

To suggest the Kroeker family is a group of happy campers would be an understatement.

Diane Kroeker still remembers the enjoyment of attending Beaver Creek Bible Camp north of Hecla when she was growing up near Arborg, in the Interlake region.

Kroeker eventually worked her way up to cabin leader and a lifeguard, which provided an opportunity to apply some valuable life lessons as a teenager.

“I learned a lot about leadership and how to step out of your comfort zone and tell those campers what needs to be done,” said Kroeker. “To watch out for those little details to make sure that everybody is safe in the water. I learned about how to push through when you’re super tired, you still have to do your job when there are more days in the week.

“And I developed lifelong friendships with people that I worked with. When you work together and you’re in an intense environment, you develop close relationships and you make those connections because it’s more than just surface level.”

That’s why Kroeker felt it was important for her four children to have a similar experience — and that’s been the case with her two daughters and two sons heading to Roseau River Bible Camp during the past several years.

Kroeker’s eldest daughter Karen ended up working her way up to being a cabin leader at Roseau River, which inspired younger daughter Rhea (who is 16) to follow the same path.

“When we watched our older daughter go through the leadership training, she was instrumental in showing our next one (Rhea) how exciting it was to be staff and to give back to the camp,” said Kroeker. “I was a cabin leader, a lifeguard for many years at Beaver Creek Bible Camp. My husband (Tyson) was a cabin leader. My parents (Gerald and Bev Huebner) actually met at Camp Arnes when they were young. And my grandpa was one of the founding fathers at Camp Arnes. So, it’s in the family history.”

This week and next, Kroeker’s sons Lee (nine) and Todd (13) are at Roseau River, thanks to the Sunshine Fund — which helps hundreds of children in low-income situations attend summer camp each year, thanks to the generous support of Free Press readers.

“It’s been a big thing for our family to go to camp every summer,” said Kroeker, who is a lifeguard this week at Roseau River Bible Camp. “My boys love it. Everybody looks forward to the week in the summer where we spend it at camp. To see all of the friends here and all of the people here and to take part in the activities here.

“In the past, we’ve had no trouble paying for it, but my husband lost his job last fall. In January, registration rolls around and we’re sitting there and going ‘can we make it work? I don’t think that we can.’ We didn’t want the boys to miss out on that same experience that they’ve had year after year. So, we applied for the Sunshine Fund this year. This summer, my husband got a job, so by next year, we’ll probably be fine. But it was a perfect thing to fill in that little gap in time where finances were tight and you have to cut out things that are non-essential.”

This summer marks the 45th year of the Sunshine Fund helping send Manitoba children to summer camp.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca