Fonds 99-011 - Hodgins - Wanapitei fonds. 1999 additions

Stanley Hodgins was born in Manitoba in 1900. He was raised in Stratford, Ontario, and, when he was old enough, began teaching school near Kitchener, Ontario. He later became a public school principal. Hodgins met Laura Belle Turel, who graduated as a registered nurse from Hamilton General Hospital shortly before their marriage in 1926. The couple honeymooned on a canoe trip in Algonquin Park, and later took their two sons, Larry and Bruce, on canoe trips.

In 1943, Stanley Hodgins became camp director at Camp Wabanaki near Honey Harbour in Georgian Bay. The ideals and beliefs associated with Camp Wabanaki later shaped the Hodgins family’s approach to Camp Wanapitei. In 1956, Stanley and Laura Belle Hodgins purchased Camp Wanapitei Limited from Ed Archibald. Under their directorship, Camp Wanapitei opened as a co-educational camp for boys and girls, as well as men and women, organized around a community-based, informal, and relaxed atmosphere. Canoe tripping played a major role in the life of the camp. Over time, the Hodgins expanded the canoe-tripping program to include four-week trips to Moosonee and Ottawa, and numerous regattas were held each summer.

In 1971, a cooperative company, Camp Wanapitei Co-ed Camps Ltd., purchased the youth camp from Laura Belle and Stanley Hodgins. The Hodgins retained the Chateau and continued to operate it. Their son, Bruce Hodgins, became president and camp director of the new private Camp Wanapitei. In 1973, Bruce and Carol Hodgins organized an adult tripping program. In 1989, Laura Belle Hodgins, née Turel, died. In 1990, legal ownership of the Chateau was transferred to Bruce and Carol Hodgins, and the Chateau property was transferred to Larry and Bruce Hodgins. Stanley Hodgins died in 1993. The dreams and ideals established at Camp Wanapitei under the Hodgins directorship continued with the younger Hodgins.

Camp Wanapitei Limited was purchased by Stanley and Laura Belle Hodgins from Ed Archibald in 1956. The purchase included a chateau, a number of buildings, tent floors, an ice house, a dining hall, and canoes. The camp opened under the directorship of the Hodgins, who had previously been associated with Camp Wabanaki near Honey Harbour in Georgian Bay, where Stanley Hodgins had become camp director in 1943. The ideals and beliefs the Hodgins brought from Camp Wabanaki shaped the development of Camp Wanapitei.

Camp Wanapitei operated as a co-educational camp for boys and girls, as well as men and women. It was organized as a community-based camp with an informal and relaxed atmosphere. The camp offered a youth camp and a spring season. Canoe tripping played a major role in camp life, and the program eventually expanded to include four-week trips to Moosonee and Ottawa. Numerous regattas were also held each summer.

In 1971, a cooperative company, Camp Wanapitei Co-ed Camps Ltd., purchased the youth camp from Laura Belle and Stanley Hodgins. The Hodgins retained the Chateau and continued to operate it. Bruce Hodgins became president and camp director of the new private Camp Wanapitei. In 1973, an adult tripping program was offered and organized by Bruce and Carol Hodgins. The youth camp offered woodcraft, swim instruction, sailing, crafts, canoe re-canvassing, square dances, and special activities for younger campers.

By the 1970s, Camp Wanapitei’s canoe-tripping program encompassed rivers and lakes in Northwestern Quebec and Northeastern Ontario. Trips continued to James Bay and Hudson Bay, and the camp also led trips down the Nahanni and Coppermine rivers in the Northwest Territories, as well as trips into Manitoba, British Columbia, and New Brunswick. The Canadian Studies program of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, took trips to Wanapitei every September.

Laura Belle Hodgins, née Turel, died in 1989. In 1990, during Stanley Hodgins’s lifetime, legal ownership of the Chateau was transferred to Bruce and Carol Hodgins, and the Chateau property was transferred to Larry and Bruce Hodgins. In 1991, the Chateau received an official Heritage Building Designation. Stanley Hodgins died in 1993. The dreams and ideals established at Camp Wanapitei under the Hodgins directorship continued with the younger Hodgins. Trips and camping continued into 1996 and the future.