On the morning of July 14, 2014 a group of 77 Armenian children (aged between 4 and 17 years old) gathered at Fogolar’s Country Club in Oakville. They were there to participate in the week long St. Vartan Summer Day Camp under the leadership of Der Myron . The campers were divided into 8 groups by age led by a team of counsellors and counsellors-in-training. Each group was given the name of a province or district in Western Armenia; Mush-ՄՈՒՇ, Sassoon-ՍԱՍՈՒՆ, Van-ՎԱՆ, Marash-ՄԱՐԱՇ, Adana-ԱՏԱՆԱ, Gesaria-ԿԵՍԱՐԻԱ, Ourfa-ՈՒՌՖԱ and Zeytun- ԶԷՅԹՈՒՆ. During the week the campers participated in a variety of activities with each day having its own theme (e.g. Armenian Food, Armenian Church, Armenian Music, and Travel through Armenia, this time specifically Western Armenia). A variety of crafts were made including a Family tree and map, a pastel canvas of an Armenian Church and a personalized camp photo frame. The children also participated in an Armenian cooking lesson making their own Choereg, tasting traditional Armenian bulghur salad called EETCH while sipping on Apricot juice. The children had to chance to join in a drumming circle, play soccer, swim, compete in a mini-Olympics and participate in a scavenger hunt. The camp wrapped up on Friday with a camp family picnic lunch, exhibition of crafts, a slide show from the camp and a performance for the parents. The campers recited the Hayr Mer and sang Mer Hyerinik to open the show. Following by the singing of the our traditional camp song Hye Menank and a traditional Armenian song “ԻՄ ԱՆՈՒՆԸ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆ Է – My name is Armenia” which they had learned over the past week. The 27 counsellors and counsellors in training accompanied the campers on drums provided by our own, Kevork Guerguerian. This year the campers even made their own music video to the “Happy” Song after watching the youtube version from Armenia. A camp like this was a major undertaking for the St. Vartan Oakville/Mississauga parish and could not have been possible without the contribution of time and money of various 
individuals. Thank you to the team of counsellors, parent helpers, donators, as well as the organizing committee of the camp who included Ani Altounian, Nairi Artinian, Christine Ermarkaryan, Taline Paroyan and Houri Simonian. Special thanks to the parents who supported the camp with the presence of their children and made the 12th annual St. Vartan Summer Day Camp such a success!! Last but not least, a special thanks to Der Myron for his efforts all week to continue to make this camp a reality! St. Vartan Camp Committee 
