Close encounters of the amphibian kind

Frogs, snakes and horses, oh my!

Liam Peterson, an 11-year-old outdoor enthusiast, encountered all of those during summer camp last year at Circle Square Ranch.

“There were always frogs hopping around our cabin, and I let one in because I wanted it to have company because it was bored — it was just sitting there,” recalled Liam.

“And then my friend freaked out because it was on top of (his foot) in the morning. Everyone in the cabin woke up and he woke up with a red bump on his head after hitting his head on his bunk.”

Liam also picked up a garter snake or two on group walks throughout the week — thankfully those weren’t invited back to the cabin — and he got to learn how to ride a horse with it being an equestrian camp.

With help from Free Press readers and the Sunshine Fund, Liam will return to Circle Square Ranch, located south of Austin, later this summer.

His eight-year-old sister, Evangeline Peterson-Thomas, is also getting in on the action this year.

The Sunshine Fund, now in its 46th summer, works with 31 accredited camps across Manitoba and northwestern Ontario and helped send 681 children to camp in 2025.

“I’m just very thankful for the foundation to be able to help families in need and give the children opportunities of being outdoors, playing in the mud and, essentially, having an ’80s and ’90s kind of summer instead of being inside and glued to a screen,” said their mother, Constance Peterson.

“It reconnects them with nature and learning hands-on.”

And let’s not forget about the food — especially taco night.

“It’s just unlimited tacos,” said Liam, who polished off a dozen. “You get either orange juice, blue Kool-Aid, Fruitopia or apple juice — there’s tons of flavours of juice. And the tacos, they were just so good.”

“He came back and said they were better than my tacos,” said Constance with a laugh.

This will be Year 5 of camp for Liam. He went to Camp Arnes for a few years before switching it up last summer. He always comes back home with countless stories and a bunch of new buddies.

“I always make five friends minimum,” said Liam.

“Liam still has friends from his second year at Camp Arnes. They’re lifers,” added Constance.

“It’s very, very neat because we wouldn’t have those relationships if we didn’t tap into the Sunshine Fund to be able to send him to camp. I don’t know what he’d do without the friends that he has, they’re such good friends.”

Evangeline is looking forward to bonding with kids her age, too. Although for her, the horses might just be the biggest draw.

“It gives kids opportunities to see horses and animals because usually you’d have to go some place and spend money to see horses,” said Evangeline.

“I like going outside and seeing nature, butterflies, just stuff outside. We’re a nature family, basically.”

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