A legendary boys camp. Reborn.
sterling character
1919 — 1929
Duke Childs, the athletic director at New Trier High School near Chicago, purchases two islands on Baril Lake, Ontario and begins building a camp to “develop vigorous constitutions and sterling character.” He clears an athletic field using dynamite, a bulldozer, a mule and plenty of muscle. He also constructs many buildings, including a photo studio, as well as a single-person roller coaster that takes daring campers from the top of a cliff into the lake. In 1929, a Ford Model A truck named “Ditsie” arrives.
MOmentum
1929 — 1961
Duke and his staff establish an in-camp program that is second to none: a Pocock shell for rowing, tennis courts made with clay mined near the dining hall, gymnastics taught by an Olympic gymnast, an early trampoline, a lattice-truss gymnasium for sports and ceremonies, and a raised cedar basketball court. Anderson Hall is built to house a library, camp store, ping pong tables and other indoor games.
Activities include canoeing, sailing and fishing, sports such as basketball, volleyball, tetherball, badminton and horseshoes, and more obscure pastimes like tightrope walking and “water baseball.” A music program uses instruments and sheet music purchased from the University of Chicago after they ended their Big 10 football program in 1939.
Advanced Trips
1961 — 1973
A new speedboat brings waterskiing in its wake, and an Advanced Trip Program sends campers as far as Hudson Bay on rivers such as the Gods, Hayes and Thelon. Transportation woes signal the demise of the remote wilderness camp, namely when the Canadian National Railway eliminates the Mile 101 stop near Owakonze.
Boys Hope
1978 — 1996
Owakonze is purchased by Boys Hope, a youth organization established by Father Paul Sheridan that helps young men break the cycle of poverty by offering them a stable home, guidance, and access to education and new experiences. Boys Hope ends its use of Owakonze when Father Paul is transferred to Australia.
A New Hope
2000 — 2017
After passing between several private owners, Owakonze is acquired by the Camping & Education Foundation in 2017 with the help of donations made by Owakonze alumni. Assisted by a Canadian work crew, alums Terry Jones, Fran Neir, John Hillner, Stew Hillner and Tony Ickes preserve key buildings and restore the historic boathouse.
Wilderness Immersion
2018 — TODAY
Owakonze is used as a remote tripping outpost by groups from Kooch-i-ching and Ogichi Daa Kwe, as well as University of Cincinnati students participating in the Foundation-sponsored Wilderness Immersion Course. In 2021, Steve Luebkeman is hired as Owakonze’s full-time director. Starting in 2022, groups from Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City, Adventure Crew in Cincinnati and Xavier University’s Women’s Leadership Center travel north to a magical week on Baril Lake.
