'Just amazed': Easter Seal Camp Day hosted at Manitou Beach

Manitou Beach, Sask. -

A hidden jewel in Saskatchewan is how Easter Seal Camp Manager Steve Grove describes the facility that keeps campers begging to come back for more, year in and year out.

Camp Easter Seal is located at Manitou Beach, about 123 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon. The facility boasts numerous historical buildings, many of which were built nearly a century ago by locals, but mixed into the historical space are newer areas, which make the camp more accessible.

Those areas now include padded pathways, which connect the entirety of the space, making it completely accessible. Or the fully accessible washrooms, rooms, bathrooms, showers, just to name a few.

“They can go anywhere they want, really on the property,” said Grove. “It helps that part of their disability, disappear, it’s just so nice to see.”

Living a barrier-free way isn’t something all campers get to live in, day in and day out.

Campers’ stays are fully funded and typically cost $2,000 per individual. Yet, the experiences become priceless for these stays, including for Raoul Proulx.

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Proulx uses a wheelchair and lives in Saskatoon the other 51 weeks of the year. When he enters the camp, the day-to-day worries disappear.

“Sometimes some things I really want to do, like play at the park with my friends make it really hard, but at the park here, there’s ramps to go up, there's a swing that I can use,” Proulx told CTV News Wednesday.

Proulx said the sense of belonging, thanks to those working in and around the camp, is strong.

Hundreds of campers descend on the area each and every year, thanks mainly to donations from local organizations, businesses and ministries.

One major fundraiser where funds are sent off for stays at the camp is Snowarama in Yorkton. Yorkton’s SaskAbilities chapter brought a group up for Camp Day 2023, with those who have been involved with Snowarama.

For those who made the trek, Yorkton SaskAbilities Regional Manager Aleks Hoeber said it was an eye-opening experience.

“I think people are just amazed. One individual talked about the fact that ‘I always imagined what it's like at camp, but until you actually are at camp and get to see it first hand,’ its truly something you can’t imagine, it’s just been mind-blowing, to sum it up,” she said.

There were also additional connections to Yorkton, and Snowarama, this year for the local chapter. Longtime organizer of the event, Rick Bradshaw, his daughter Erica is now employed at the camp as a nursing assistant.

She, her father and her grandfather have spent many hours, days and nights raising funds for the event.

“It’s nice to see where all the money goes,” Erica said. “It’s nice to see it with all the kids too and experience it first hand.

“Meeting all the different campers each week, they all just have such great personalities, it’s so much fun.”