Olympia Sports Camp is located on the land that once was the traditional territories of the Anishinaabeg, specifically the Chippewa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi peoples. It became part of the European settlement process and became a fur trading post. Gordon Hill, owner of nearby Limberlost Lodge, a well-known Muskoka resort at the time, purchased the land in 1921, to be used for cross-country skiing and horseback riding.
Hill named the area Interlaken, as it was an idyllic spot between two lakes called Fatty Lake (now Oxbow) and Long Lake (now Dotty). The Royal Norwegian Air Force bought the land in 1941 as a training and recreation base during WWll. They called the land Vesle Skaugum, in honour of Crown Prince Olaf, whose residence just outside of Oslo went by the same name. The Norwegians sold the land in 1945 to the Toronto Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club, who ran a camp for underprivileged children until they sold the land in 1979 and it became the new home for Dave’s Grace's vision of Olympia Sports Camp.
Dave answered the call to adventure, but to run a sports camp, facilities have to be developed and upgraded and key personnel that had the same mindset had to become allies along the way. From the time Dave signed the deed to the property on September 5, 1979 till camp opened in the spring of 1980 he pulled off the feat of building six outdoor basketball courts, the fieldhouse, which holds four indoor basketball courts, and sodded three playing fields.
Dave's dream got a huge help in 1984. When one thinks of facilities and key personnel who have the right mindset thoughts turn to Bruce Ransom, who has been the superintendent since 1984. He’s still there, and many an Olympia staffer is glad he became part of their lives. A straight shooter who gets things done, he had that huge smile and laugh and a penchant for the doing tough work that makes camp run, and makes camp better. How revered is Bruce at camp? The senior staff used to treat him every Father’s Day as they call him their Olympia father.
Bruce Ransom and Rebecca Gonser
( my euchre partner one year)
You may like this Bruce story, especially people who know and love the man. Talk about a gruff exterior on top of a heart of gold.
I was chasing down Bruce for an interview and we just had a hard time connecting and I thought it might fall through. He was just so busy that he couldn’t fit me in. For weeks on end. Then the day I was leaving camp I was at a picnic table and he drove over and threw this huge binder on the table, with hardly a word. He just said “ Get it back to me” The binder contained so much historical data that I had hit a home run from a great source. That September my wife Joy and I went to camp for the basketball tournament and lo and behold I connected with Bruce and our interview was like a history lesson, with many laughs thrown in.
There’s no discounting the ingenuity of Bruce Ransom and all that he did to help Dave, and indirectly all of us. Always a project ( or two) on the go. Look around camp and you’ll see Bruce’s passion and skill. Olympians who know and have worked with Bruce can take pride in helping grow the camp and take many great Bruce stories along the way. It's been mentioned several times that the greatest part of Olympia is the people you get to meet. To me Bruce Ransom is near the top of that list.
Here's a brief history.
- Hudson Bay building built in 1873. Held 110 campers with 10 to a room. Was razed in 2000 and replaced with Hudson Bay2 also called The Box
- C22- The doctor’s cabin is one of the oldest buildings in camp.
- C19/20 (Roger’s cabin) was built in the late 1800’s
- May 4, 1942 Vesle Skaugum was officially opened
- The dining hall was built using Norwegian technology that used no nails in the original building A highlight may be the main hall, where a massive fireplace has a Norwegian slogan inscribed overtop. “MERKET DET STEND UM MANNEN MAA STUPE”, which translates to “The marker will stand though the man may fall.”
- The sports office was a generating station until 1959 when the hydro came through
- 1951-1952 The Rec Hall, officially called the Loblaw Memorial Hall, was built out of an endowment fund donated by T.P.Loblaw in honour of their son who attended the camp and then passed away at a young age. They had the building built in the shape of a cross and it was used for religious services... and a few Olympia weddings!
- The bunkhouse, which now acts as a nurse’s quarters, was purchased from the Bruce power facility and transported to camp in four units and put back together. The Bruce power facility is about 300km from camp.
- Dorms 1 and 9 were originally 3 school portables repurposed and pieced together
- Dorm 8 was also purchased from Bruce Power and transported to camp in the 80’s- it holds 40 beds in 4 separate sections
- Coach’s row Motel Unit M 1-5 was built in the 80’s and can hold up to 36 people in five different units. A patio area was added later
- C21 was originally a training hall from the local fire department that was moved here and renovated
- C23- The little House on the Prairie was originally a woodshed and was called the little house on the Poo because of its proximity to the weeping tile
- Dave’s cabin was another reclamation project. A cottager on Bella Lake was going to tear down this house but Dave bought it in 1988 and moved it to its present location, laid it on a concrete slab, and built a screened in porch
- The gym was first built in the late 1980’s to house two more indoor courts and then the sports plex was added on in 1990 that included a lap pool, a fitness centre, and changerooms.
- One of the most amazing stories may be the “Bro Shop” that a lot of people walk by on the way to the fieldhouse without knowing its unique history. A cottager on nearby Blue lake was going to burn down his garage. Bruce took a few students and they cut the garage into three pieces with a chain saw, brought it to camp, and put it back together!
The link to the blog is TuesdayswithDave.blogspot.com
This blog is about the journey of the writing of the book A Hero's Journey: From Little Norway to Olympia Sports Camp. The blog will contain excerpts from the book and my personal thoughts on what the place and the people that make up Olympia's journey is all about. The title comes from the great book Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom. The blog's title is recognizing Dave Grace as Camp Director, but all content is my own.
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