Anyone know the words to "Allouette"? "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean?" "The Happy Wanderer"?

If you do, there is a very good chance you learned them, not from your parents and not in school, but at a children’s or youth camp.

It might have been a day camp. It might have been an overnight camp. It could have been through the Scouting or Guiding Movement. But it was a camp. And what you learned, you didn’t learn from your parents.

I’ve been a camper all my life. It started at Upward Trail, a United Church of Canada camp on Lake Memphramagog, in Quebec. My father was the camp director and although I was a year too young, I was able to participate in all the camp activities.

Once I scared my mother out of her wits by repelling down a rock face under the observant and skilled eye of a German theological student, who went on to become a professor of theology in Halifax. I am sure my mother wanted him fired, but I protested that it was a lot of fun, so the young man kept his job.

I learned to canoe and swim and how to get along with a bunch a guys who shared a common cabin.

I learned how to cook food over an open fire, to leave nothing behind in the woods when I walked through them except the sound of my steps and I discovered a lot about myself.

Those were good years. The skills I developed in summer camps have served me well. I am not afraid of the bush, but respect it. I can handle a canoe and know what the signs of the weather are. You don’t always have to have Environment Canada to tell you what will happen.

That’s why the headline in a recent edition of the Sun Times came as a bit of a shock. The City of Owen Sound was cancelling some of its day camps due to lack of registrations.

I have no idea whether the reason for low registration is cost or changing demographics. Given that there are only 4,400 children in the city, or less than 20%, I have to wonder. But I am also concerned that a critical childhood experience is being lost.

Over a hundred years ago, it was recognized by church workers in the inner city that one of the best chances to change young people and to help them see beyond their current existence was to give them an opportunity to go to a fresh air camp. Many churches and charitable organizations bought property in the country and set up camps. One hundred years ago, the Massey family (yes, the Massey family of our Canadian history) gave their family summer cottage to the Methodist Church to establish a fresh air camp for inner city children at Sparrow Lake. The Presbyterian Church bought property on Lake Scugog, east of Toronto. Both became United Church camps and are still operating as fresh air camps today.

I’m a member of the Rotary Club of Owen Sound. The Rotary Club owns Camp Presqu’ile, an overnight camp which runs through the summer. It has been operating for many decades. Currently, it is operated in partnership with the Owen Sound Family "Y".

One of the goals all camps have these days is to give young people that camping experience. Many recognize that one of the biggest barriers to going to camp is money. Camps offer subsidies, called "camperships" which allow children to go to camp for a week or two, to find out what it is all about.

Camping is one of those things which helps define and develop our children. It gives valuable skills and experiences. If your kids are saying "I’m bored!" then think seriously about sending them to camp. Who knows? They may learn "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean".

Rev. David Shearman is the minister of Central Westside United Church, Owen Sound and the host of Faithworks on Rogers TV - Grey County, Cable 53.