Hodgins, Stanley

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.

Taken from: Hodgins, Bruce W. Wanapitei on Temagami: A Story of Adventures. Peterborough, Ontario: Wanapitei Publishing, 1996.