The Story of Camp OAC Continues…
For more than seventy years, Camp OAC has welcomed children to the shores of Okanagan Lake — a place where faith, friendship, and the natural beauty of the Okanagan have shaped generations of young Anglicans.
The camp’s roots go back to 1950, when funds originally held in trust for Christian education made it possible to purchase the property for about $9,000. The first campers arrived that same summer, and within months the Church Camp Society had formed to guide the young camp’s future. From the beginning, the camp’s guiding words drawn from the Psalms: “In Thy Light Shall We See Light.”
What followed was decades of steady, community-built growth. A dining hall rose in the late 1950s. In the 1960s, a handful of lakefront lots were leased to families, creating a stream of income that helped fund new cabins. Kootenay Hall was built in the 1990s after a fallen tree damaged the original director’s residence. The Windsong Centre followed in the early 2000s, made possible by a generous foundation gift. Camp OAC has never been built by any one person or gift alone — it has been raised, cabin by cabin, through the volunteer hours, donations, and creativity of a community that believed in what the camp could be.
In 2023, that community faced its greatest test yet. The McDougall Creek wildfire tore through the Okanagan and destroyed much of Camp OAC. For a place built on seven decades of memory, the loss was profound.
But the camp’s story didn’t end there. As Camp OAC rebuilds, it’s doing so with resilience in mind — new infrastructure will include an inground sprinkler system, fire-rated siding and roofing, and other fire-resistant design choices, with the goal of welcoming campers back for overnight camp in summer 2027.
None of this is possible without the parishes, the community and the people who love and support Camp OAC. “The Rebuilding the Magic of Camp OAC” campaign includes insurance proceeds and is fundraising alongside other fundraising activities with parishes across the Diocese of Kootenay.
Camp OAC has always been an important part of our Parishes and their communities— every cabin built, every dock repaired, every child welcomed has been the work of many hands. Rebuilding it will be no different.
To learn more about how you or your community can help rebuild the magic of camp, visit www.campoac.com.
