HAGERSVILLE/TOWNSEND—The Hagersville Lions have been busy lately. In addition to divvying up the funds from their Catch the Ace fundraiser and planning for the upcoming Summer’s End Festival, they have been hosting youths from around the world this summer as part of the Lions Club’s International Youth Camps and Exchange (YCE) program.
The program has participants all around the world and is designed for young people between 15-22 years of age. It aims to create and foster a spirit of understanding among peoples of the world.
“By providing an avenue for global fellowship, the YCE program aims to help youth initiate, grow, and maintain international relationships promoting cultural education and international peace,” explained Lion John Harvey, who hosted two youths with his wife Joyce at their Hagersville home.
Harvey said that in this district, the program has been going strong now for several decades. He added, “Hagersville District Lions got involved about 40 years ago when local Lions hosted youth. Since then, many others have been hosted and several young locals have been sponsored to participate overseas. Our local club has been very involved.”
In the early 2000s, John and Joyce assisted with the camp, which was run at the time by Simcoe Lion Barbara Sheppard. They then chaired the program for a few years before Waterford Lion Pete Schira took over for two years. For the last 15 years, Townsend Lion Bill MacKenzie has done a great job of promoting and running the program.
“Many local hosts, essential to the program, have stepped up and invited youth into their homes for a couple of weeks before sending them off to camp for a week and a half. Our camp and exchange program in A-2 is excellent and sought by many youth as their first choice,” said Harvey.
This year, 13 youths took part in the local program from 10 different countries, including Italy, Hungary, Netherlands, Turkey, France, Austria, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and Italy.
While the youths have now gone home, their visit led to the creation of memories to last a lifetime, leading to “many tearful goodbyes.”
Harvey described the experience of hosting two boys this year: “Our boys liked to sleep in, then come down and make their own breakfast, after which they cleaned up well. Máté is off to university this fall and Ben is finishing up at high school. Activities for the boys included parking cars for and attending Hagersville Rocks, Ohsweken Raceway, canoeing, meeting with other youth, Brantford International Villages, a movie, bowling, etc.”
In addition to staying with a host family, youths also get the chance to attend a camp, which was held at a new location this year, the former Waterbrook Camp at Springvale Bison Farm, run by Mike Waters.
“Mike welcomed us there for a good deal, with us agreeing to spruce up the place. Townsend Lions built a new shower building, assisted by a Fisherville and Port Dover Lion, and did a good deal of painting and cleaning of the facilities. The cabins (large compared to our former camp) were cleaned up and prepared for six girls and seven boys,” said Harvey.
At the camp, the youth were put in teams to help with cooking breakfast each day and for various contests.
“They quickly became a cohesive group, enjoying time together, none left out. From the camp they were taken by vans to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a jet boat ride and browsing, to Niagara Falls for a trip on the Hornblower (formerly the Maid of the Mist), to Port Dover for mini golf, and Long Point for ziplining,” continued Harvey. “At every outing and day at camp, meals were provided by Lions Clubs across the District. The youth very much enjoyed the camp experience and wished they could stay longer.”
For more information on the program go to lionsclubs.org/en/start-our-approach/youth/youth-camps-and-exchange.
