Kirk Wipper

Kirk Albert Walter Wipper

Since I heard the news of Kirk’s passing, I have been thinking a lot of Kandalore and the influences that special place had on my character. It has been over 30 years since I was last there but the memories flowed in like a warm tide. Kirk may most be remembered as a U of T professor or for starting the Canadian Canoe Museum or his devotion to camping life but I most remember him as the guy who ran Camp Kanalore.

I was a little homesick camper in 1968 when I first arrived for a months stay. Looking back, I think that Kirk was the first adult I addressed by his first name…he wasn’t Mr Wipper…he was Kirk.

The focus was always tripping. Even at 9 we went on a three day canoe trip. It was a loop up to Shelborne and Little Hawk Lake and the dreaded Saskatchewan portage. In later years it was the Montreal River with Jim Raffin, the Kipawa with Terry Thomas and Dave Fallis, Maple Mountain, a gruelling trip down the Nipissing in Algonquin Park and a survival trip out of Garden Island with Muldoon.

Other thoughts of camp life have been rolling in my mind. Johnny Cake and Yorgan’s Revenge. Indian Council ring. Being a Voyageur! Dressed in our whites walking single file and silently to Chapel Island. Last night fires. The promise of Free Tuck! Changing the flags as a CIT in the tower at the waterfront. The Ghost!

I also remember campers and staff. Geoff and Dave Moon. The Lyon brothers. Frank Fadore, Dave Coffee. Fellow Muskokan George Anderson. Dave Brown and many, many others.

Kandalore was Kirk’s place. It was his agenda and he set the tone. As a young lad, you couldn’t ask for a better role model or a better place to spend your summers.

I have three boys who have all experience summer camp. My youngest is a LIT this coming summer. The value of summer camp is unquestionable. Learning to live in a group, picking up camping skills or just sitting around a fire telling stories are memories that I, and my kids, will carry forever.

I only saw Kirk once in the last thirty years. I do wish I had told him the impact Kandalore had on my life. I will be forever greatful.