This summer, we’re turning the blog over to Emily “Heaps” Shields, who is serving on our camp crew as our office support staff and all around amazing helper. She’s got a ton of skills, and one of them is telling THE best stories. What better person to tell you the little beautiful details about what camp is like during the summer? We’re calling this summer of Emily “A Heap of Fun”… enjoy!

I have always wanted to be Summer Staff at Beacon--especially when my friends started spending their Summers here. But, in general, life circumstances just had me saying ‘no’; and by my mid-twenties, I had begun to accept the fact that I probably would never have the opportunity to do so...AND THEN, in January 2020, I received news that the company I worked for was going out of business! (The exclamation mark exists because of what follows haha.) I decided to pursue an entrepreneurial dream I’ve always had, and long story short, I brought my small business with me to Beacon this Summer so I could be a part of the Camp Crew!!

If you had told 11 year-old me when I was a first time Beacon camper at Senior Girls back in 1999 that I would be running the Tuck Shop in the Summer of 2021 as part of the Summer Staff at the age 33, I probably would have giggled like Ed the hyena (from Lion King). But, here I am! Merchandising products, organizing overstock, updating the price board, answering questions, offering my opinion on fit...you name it! It’s been super fun, and straight up my alley (thanks to all the things on my resume).

One of my favourite memories surrounding Tuck this Summer occurred during a family camp. Having just finished eating lunch, everyone was taking it easy underneath the outdoor dining tent. Alyssa was doing announcements and casually mentioned that Tuck would be open shortly, and instantly, there was a stampede of children and teenagers coming down the Lighthouse path making a beeline for the shop. It felt like I was in a real-life Disney movie. It was super comical; and I took it as my cue that lunch was definitely over for me haha.

This past week during our August Day Camp, Tuck with the younger campers was particularly nostalgic for me. Camper cohorts swarmed around together [editor's note: with proper masking and all that] inside the shop desperately trying to buy as much candy as they could within the dollar limit camp set, as well as staying within the means they had inside their camp wallets. I loved helping younger campers figure out what candy to eliminate in order to accomplish this; as well as helping them count their money. I remember the stress it was as a camper myself to figure it all out with a time limit hanging over my head haha. It was also so lovely to be privy to the sacrificial actions of others as they bought things for friends or siblings who didn’t have enough money, or ‘just because’! I definitely was not that generous with my money when I was a youngin’ at camp! Pixi Sticks were only $0.05, so every nickel counted!!

A bunch of Beacon staff have told me at various times throughout this Summer that the Tuck Shop is the happiest place at camp. As I’ve been sitting here putting these words and thoughts together, I realized that some of my favourite camp memories did indeed occur during the hour or so Tuck was running! I have fond memories of sharing candy with friends and eating FunDip and chugging Clearly Canadian on the rock; as well as playing tetherball against anyone who was willing, and whip [hacky] sack...good times...happy times indeed!!