A History of Lake Temagami's Sandy Inlet and Wanapitei
1891 to 1986
Bruce Hodgins, 1986
Chapter III
When they acquired Wanapitei in 1956, Stanley and Laura Belle Hodgins already had had extensive camping experience. In 1926,
they had canoe tripped in Algonquin park on their honeymoon. The next year, they motored to Temagami along the newly opened
Ferguson Highway for their first of four canoe trips in the the area. In 1930, they camped by Paradis' ruins and six years later with
their two young sons, they briefly revisited the site, now occupied by Camp Wanapitei, aboard the steamer, the Belle of Temagami.
Stanley was a Kitchener school principal and his wife a registered nurse. From 1944 to 1955, they had directed the Kitchener
YMCA camp on Beausoleil Island where their two sons, Bruce and Larry, were campers, counsellors and eventually senior
staffmen. When they took over Wanapitei in 1956, they continued to run an adult programme out of the Chateau, as well as
opening a small wilderness co-ed youth camp with Bruce as Programme Director, Larry as chief "Pioneer" counsellor, and Lea
Rowsell in charge of plant maintenance.
From its new beginnings, Wanapitei emphasized an integrated experience providing activities for various members of a family. At
that time, co-ed youth camping itself was something of an innovation. While at camp, Bruce attempted to develop a unique sense of
community stressing the interest group method of individual programming. Larry and Bill Cowls developed small group wilderness
canoe tripping, especially on the Lady Evelyn, Obabika and Chiniguchi, emphasizing skilled and vigorous paddling and portaging,
quality campcraft and campfire food. The youth camp remained small, rarely averaging over 40 campers.
Gradually there length and complexity of the canoe trips increased, specially for the older "Pioneers". Beginning in 1956, a "new
route" co-ed trip was undertaken each August, usually led by Bruce. In 1961, the first boys' trip went to James Bay; in 1962 and
extensive two stage, four week co-ed trip traveled to the Gatineau and Ottawa; and in 1966 a similar one reached the St. Maurice.
Ted Moores was chiefly responsible for the expansion of the
"Pioneer" trips, especially whitewater river travel, with the first Dumoine trip in 1965. John Clarke developed sophisticated "Senior"
trips to Killarney and Elk lake. In 1966 Carol Hodgins, Bruce's wife, took over the outfitting and provisioning of the tripping
programme from John Scott who had handled it since 1957.
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