YMCA Wanakita is paying homage to a key figure from its history, recently announcing a $2.6 million investment in a
new leadership centre that camp figureheads say will open next summer.

The building has been branded the Wayne Perkins Leadership Centre, in honour of the man who spearheaded Wanakita’s popular student counsellor program half a century ago. The two-year initiative teaches campers essential life and leadership skills via outdoor education, teamwork and mentorship – helping to create the next generation of leaders, says Andy Gruppe, vice president of overnight camp and outdoor education at Wanakita.

Gruppe said Perkins was Wanakita’s camp director in the mid-to-late 1970s and would go on to serve as CEO of YMCA Canada from 2008-2010. Perkins passed away in January. “He was pretty instrumental in making this place everything it is today,” Gruppe said.

“He was a special person, he helped turn Wanakita into a four-season facility, was a leader in the camp and the community and obviously left a significant mark in terms of establishing a more formalized leadership program for campers before they become staff.”

The 4,080 sq. ft. space will replace nine already-demolished buildings that housed Wanakita’s leadership operations. There will be a main meeting space, dorms for summer camp goers, and an Indigenous learning library. In the winter, the space will be used for snowshoeing lessons. It will be able to accommodate up to 58 people.

Gruppe said the leadership program has become one of Wanakita’s most popular. The first year is open to youth as soon as they turn 15 and is focused on improving multiple outdoors skillsets, particularly water-based such as lifeguarding and paddling. The second year is about building communication and leadership skills that youth can utilize in later life.

Most of Wanakita’s summer staff are graduates of the program, Gruppe said. County-based Rodco Enterprises is handling the build, with footings for the foundation now installed. Gruppe said the facility has to be finished by June, in time for Wanakita’s busy summer season.

Gruppe said Wanakita sees approximately 10,000 visitors per year. In the shoulder seasons, the camp operates as an outdoors centre, opening its grounds for school groups and private bookings.

Gruppe said Wanakita’s administration is committed to the camp’s long-term success, investing close to $10 million in camp upgrades since 2013. This latest addition is the largest spend since the COVID-19 pandemic, Gruppe confirmed.

“We’re a big place – we have 143 buildings and two separate camps on the property. It takes a lot of ongoing investment and upgrades to keep the place going,” he said.

Wanakita is seeking donors to assist with future investments. For more information, visit ymcaahbb.ca/wayne-perkins leadership-centre.

The lead of a new peer support drop-in service covering Haliburton County says personalized programming is intended to meet people where they’re at, offering hope to those in the Highlands dealing with mental health and substance use challenges.

The Coming Full Circle program has been running out of the Halco Plaza at 83 Maple Ave. Unit 7A since early September. A grand opening event was held Nov. 4.

David Barkley, program supervisor, said the two-year pilot is a partnership between Point in Time, the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA-HKPR) and the Haliburton County Connections Committee. It was announced last spring, as part of an $800,000 investment from Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program.

Barkley, who has 22 years of experience working in peer support, said uptake has been slow. He said two-to-three people are utilizing the space when it’s open, on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Services are also offered at the Minden Community Food Centre at 24 Newcastle St., Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Tuesdays will soon be added to the schedule in Haliburton, likely in late November, Barkley said. There are also plans to expand to Wilberforce and offer programs in the evening.

“The goal is to be doing something somewhere at least once per week,” Barkley said. “Drop-ins are meant to be low barrier. There are no expectations. This is a person-centred space. We want to get to know people, what their goals are, what they’re passionate about, and how we can help them on their path.

“If all people are looking for right now is a warm place to go for a cup of coffee, we can be that place. If you’re not quite ready to talk, but want to be around other people, this is somewhere you can do that… we want to be a spot people can feel welcome, even if they feel like they have nowhere to go,” he added.

The service boasts six staff members, trained in things like crisis intervention and conflict management. All of them draw from their education when helping to get people back on track, with some also boasting lived experience – a key component to truly connecting with people suffering, Barkley said.

Alongside counselling-type peer supports, the drop-in can also be a fun space. There are games, arts and crafts and musical instruments available most days.

Coming Full Circle doesn’t have any quotas, Barkley said, saying they will measure success on the differences they are able to make.

“Helping one person is success to me… though, we do have broader goals. We’re funded for two years, so we want to showcase what a successful peer support model can look like. I want the community to see the benefits of peer support, so that if time is eventually up for us in terms of being here, there is a lasting legacy,” Barkley said.

“At the end of the day, it’s just community activism. People helping others through difficult circumstances and experiences.”

For more information about the program, email dbarkley@cmhahkpr.ca.

Haliburton’s Barry Hart told a theatre full of high school students on Remembrance Day that he still shudders when considering how fortunate his father, William Hart, was to survive a plane crash that killed the rest of his crew during the final months of the Second World War.

A tail gunner with the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) 582 Squadron, Hart and the rest of his seven-man crew took a Lancaster bomber on an 18-hour round trip from London, England to Chemnitz, Germany on March 5, 1945. Their mission was to be a pathfinder, marking enemy targets with magnesium markers. They had just returned to British airspace when disaster struck on March 6.

“They’re coming down to land, and the plane just blows up,” Hart said, noting that some of the leftover magnesium markers hadn’t been set properly and, upon the plane descending to 3,000 feet, inadvertently went off.

One of the soldiers called out the fire right away, with the pilot saying he would try to hold the plane steady and directed the rest of the crew to bail. Hart said his grandfather was in the tail gunner turret while this was
happening and, with the plane jolting, fell out. He managed to recover and quickly pull his parachute, Hart said.

“Miraculously, he survived the parachute drop. The plane nosedived and the other guys, unfortunately, didn’t make it out. They were all incinerated in the crash,” Hart said.

He told how his father only became a tail gunner after losing a coin toss with his comrades – the position was widely
considered to be the most dangerous on the Lancaster, as it’s the first target for enemies.

In September, he visited the crash site near Oxford, saying there’s a memorial stone and plaque there to honour the crew. His dad wasn’t named though, being a survivor, so Hart had another plaque made and installed. William died in 1992.

While not quite as death-defying, Pat Casey said his grandfather, Earl Casey had many horror stories from his time fighting in the war. He was also a tail gunner, serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 428 Ghost Squadron, which flew nighttime bombing missions.

“Flying at 20,000 feet, the glass cover that protected tail gunners from the elements would get frosted over on lengthy flights.

The soldiers couldn’t see, so nine-times-out of-ten they would kick the panel out and fly in the breeze at the back of the aircraft,” Casey said.

His grandfather was 17 when he enlisted, one year younger than the minimum requirement. Casey said he must have lied on his application. Earl was the youngest in his flight crew, with the oldest being 23.

After a successful bombing mission over mainland Europe, Casey’s Lancaster was struck by shrapnel over the English Channel on the return flight home. The crew ditched the plane in the water and spent 14 days with limited supplies on a rubber dinghy.

“They ran out of food and water pretty quickly. They got to the point where, to survive, they had to drink their own urine,” Casey said. “They didn’t think they could go on much longer – then they got picked up by a German patrol boat and became prisoners of war (PoW).”

Earl sustained a broken shoulder and leg in the crash, which didn’t heal properly given the poor living conditions PoWs were exposed to. He wasn’t sure how long his grandpa spent in captivity, but knows exactly when his time as a prisoner came to an end.

“He told me the Germans lined him and his crew up in front of a firing squad. The Germans loaded their guns, my grandpa and the other boys all said a teary goodbye to one another – they were pretty worn out and beat down by this point,” Casey said. “But as they waited for the trigger, a German captain stopped everything. The war was
over.”

The soldiers were all transported back to England and returned home to Canada within weeks.

“If you want to talk about luck – that’s how close my grandfather came. His luck was in at the most critical time,” Casey said.

This year’s Heat Bank dinner and auction entered a new chapter – with a new venue, The Bonnie View Inn, and chefs joining forces from the County’s top restaurants: Rhubarb, Juna, The Post House, and Dimensions Retreats.

Moving from Rhubarb, the event nearly doubled in size, hosting more than 100 dinner guests.

Tina Jackson, of Central Food Network and Heat Bank’s executive director, said they raised more than $43,000.

She said, “Sunday night was grand. It was a beautiful showcase of the collaborative
spirit of the Haliburton Highlands community … with chefs, musicians, staff volunteering,
businesses and community members all coming together in generosity and spirit to
support Heat Bank and ensure that no neighbour is left cold.

Our hearts are so filled with gratitude.”