Nonprofit Spotlight: Gander Brook Christian Camp

A beautiful camp in Raymond exists where children can experience adventure and what life was like decades ago, in a positive, safe, and encouraging setting. Gander Brook Christian Camp provides kids 8 to 18 with a rustic camping experience where they can make lifelong friendships, strengthen their faith and simply to enjoy what it is like to be a child.

Owned and operated by the Churches of Christ in New England, Gander Brook Christian Camp is located at the corner of Ledge Hill Road and North Raymond Road and sits on 222 acres as well as additional waterfront property on Raymond Pond. Sessions are overnight and conducted weekly, running from the last week of June through the first week of August.

The camp is non-denominational, open to all children, and Gander Brook Christian Camp can accommodate up to 120 campers per session. Campers bunk in cabins with kids their own age for their weeklong stay and their daily schedule includes, meals, Bible classes, earning merit badges such as outdoor cooking, archery, ropes course, tie dyeing, sign language and more, afternoon sports and swimming/kayaking, cabin challenge games, evening activities such as skit nights, Crazy Olympics, scavenger hunts, nature classes, bonfires, and cookouts.

Steve Mezzapelle of Gander Brook Christian Camp first came to the camp at age 8 and attended every year until he was 18 and even returned as a camp counselor for several summers when he was in college and is currently on the camp Board of Directors.

“It made such a huge impact on my life,” he said. “This is a hidden gem nobody knows about. Gander Brook is the reason why I fell in love with Maine and the reason I wanted to move here. It had that great of a positive impact on my life.”

The camp has been operating in Raymond since 1959 and is guided by a Board of Directors of 17 people from around New England. It is staffed by two directors, a staff of 16 to 20 camp counselors and an activities director. Volunteers staff the kitchen, the camp canteen and camp laundry, and there are also merit badge instructors, nurses, and Bible instructors. Camp counselors change each year and are recruited from the leading Christian colleges across America. The two camp directors have been with the camp for over 20 years.

Gander Brook provides campers with a good, healthy, faith-based environment away from the chaotic stresses that can often surround children. No electronic devices are allowed so it’s a great place for kids to unplug and connect with people and nature and to just have fun. For many campers, lifelong friendships are forged, and those friendships and the people associated with Gander Brook Christian Camp are what make this camp special.

Mezzapelle said that campers find encouragement and an environment of making everyone feel special and respected like they are family.

The Gander Brook Christian Camp site itself is one of Maine’s historic properties. On the site, the Wilson Hotel and Spring Company, with its centerpiece inn known as “The Wilson” was built in 1890. In a newspaper ad from 1892, promoters of this impressive structure touted its “Spring of Wonderful Purity and Curative Properties.” Guests coming to “The Wilson” would only be able to enjoy those ‘curative’ waters for five years though, because it burned to the ground in 1895. The Noraco Inn was built on the site in 1929 on the berms seen in the Wilson Hotel pictures, and which still surrounds the lodge today at Gander Brook.

The Noraco Inn was owned by Joseph Dellamano and the property in its heyday was a getaway vacation retreat for summer vacationers from urban areas of New England and New York. Promotional literature from the Noraco Inn enticed the guests to visit “Maine’s Log Cabin Resort” and stay in the “well furnished” cabins and eat at the lodge in the spacious “Sunset Dining Room.” When the inn closed around 1950, the property was vacant for nine years. The Churches of Christ in New England saw a need for summer camping and organized a Board of Directors which purchased the property in 1959 and has been operating a summer camp program each summer since then.

“This is such a beautiful place, and we want the community to know about it and young people to experience it,” Mezzapelle said.

Openings for children are currently available at Gander Book Christian Camp for this summer.

You can sign up online or call 207-998-4369 or 501-827-7432 for the registrar throughout the year.

For more information about Gander Brook Christian Camp, visit https://www.ganderbrook.org/ or find them on Facebook and Instagram under Gander Brook Christian Camp. <

Business Spotlight: The Sebago Center’s ‘From Our Roots’ Summer Event Series at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine

By Lorraine Glowczak

Whether you are a year-round resident or a visitor who is vacationing in the Sebago Lakes Region for the first time, summer in Maine is a perfect place for creating memories with family and friends. 

Whether your preference is music performed at outdoor lakeside venues, a family-style cookout with yard games, a moonlight kayaking adventure or enjoying locally grown foods made by culinary artists and served in a six-course fashion, The Sebago Center at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine is for you. The center and its ‘From Our Roots’ initiative will provide remarkable summer opportunities to help you create fond memories that will last for a lifetime.

Briefly, The Sebago Center is a learning destination located on the campus of Saint Joseph’s College, 278 Whites Bridge Road in Standish that sits on Maine’s second-largest lake, Sebago Lake. 

“The purpose of The Sebago Center and its ‘From Our Roots’ summer event series is to gather the community together with the intention of strengthening the local food systems – all the while supporting the regional talents of culinary artists and musicians” stated Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Saint Joseph’s College, Peter Nielsen. “One way we accomplish this is hosting a series of summer events, using the many resources available on the Saint Joseph’s College campus.”

The following are social and enriching activities scheduled throughout the summer:

Outdoor Concerts:

A variety of American roots musicians will make their appearance on campus this summer. The evenings will include farm-inspired, pizza handcrafted with ingredients grown and raised by local farmers, as well as a selection of craft and domestic beer and wine – all with the intention of providing an intimate concert and food experience. With the exception of the first and last concerts, performances will take place outside at the Normandy-style Stone Barn every Sunday beginning July 7 with the last performance on August 25. Start times are 4:30 p.m. The first concert performed by The Ballroom Thieves and the last concert performed by Muddy Ruckus will be located on the campus’s lakeside beach.  FMI and to purchase tickets: www.sebagocenter.org/concerts/

Cookouts:

Whether it's an outdoor cookout, a concert, a moonlight paddle
 or an elegant dining experience - the 'From Our Roots"
series at Saint Joseph's College will provide summer fun
for everyone in the Lakes Region area.

‘From Our Roots’ will also offer weekly backyard barbecues at the Stone Barn, farm-to-table, style. The cookouts will be prepared outdoors with live action fire cooking using foods foraged nearby and sourced from Lakes Region farms. Picnic tables will be available, but one can bring their own blanket to have a full picnic-style experience. Lawn games are available for both adults and children, providing a perfect experience for the whole family. “As a mother with three young children, I get to have a relaxed and laid-back meal with my husband while our kids run and play with others,” stated Senior Director of Customer Experience, Ashley O’Brion. “The cookouts are a great way for parents to have a hassle-free dinner in an easy-going atmosphere. It is also a way to meet other young families in the community, too. I have already met a few people while our children played lawn games together.” The cookouts are offered every Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the food is purchased at the event a la carte. FMI: www.sebagocenter.org/culinary-events/

Stone Barn Dinners:

For a more elegant culinary experience, ‘From Our Roots’ will offer a six-course farm-to-table meal that will include the season’s local harvest. Esteemed Chef, Mary Paine will craft a meal with her finds from local farmers and fishermen. The sustainably sourced foods will be served fresh with wine, providing an opportunity to connect with local farmers who are shaping the local food movement. The dinners are offered on Thursdays beginning a 6 p.m. FMI on costs, reservations and dates: www.sebagocenter.org/culinary-events/

Lake Side Experiences:

For those who enjoy kayaking on the lake under the night sky, ‘From Our Roots’ will offer guided moonlight paddles. The event will begin an hour before sunset with a campfire on the beach as experienced guides prepare participants for the adventure. Kayaks will be provided.

If being on the water is not your thing but you appreciate astronomy, a stargazing opportunity awaits. Led by faculty astronomer, Dr. Ryan Dorland, guests of all ages will enjoy looking through telescopes set up along the shore of Sebago Lake as Dr Dorland shares his knowledge of the night sky. FMI: www.sebagocenter.org/lakeside-experiences/

The Sebago Center and the ‘From Our Roots’ initiative along with the activities it offers, acts as the cultural intersection of Portland’s urban population hub and western Maine’s rural communities. “Without having to travel to Portland or Boston, a fun cultural experience is right here in our own backyard,” O’Brion said. “Saint Joseph’s offers so much in the areas of local food systems, culinary art, music and nature. These shared values and enriching experiences are what bring a community together.”

Let the Sebago Center’s ‘From Our Roots’ series events create summer memories for your family and friends, while at the same time, making a new friend or two in the process.