Mennonite
Historical
Society

of Alberta

Camp Valaqua fonds

Accession 2002.027

Title and Physical Description

[ca. 1961]-2003. — 1.8 m of textual records

Administrative/Biographical History

Camp Valaqua was established in 1958 on property on the Little Red Deer River near Water Valley, Alberta. It was organized under the auspices of the Conference of Mennonites in Alberta (later named Mennonite Church Alberta) in conjunction with the Alberta Mennonite Youth Organization. It was to be a recreational, wilderness summer camp for Mennonite children and youth. A Camp Committee was established to develop the camp and maintain relations with the member congregations. Initially the camp accommodation consisted of tents and makeshift shelters, but in 1960 a main hall/chapel building and a cabin were built. An additional four cabins were built in 1961 and a naming contest established “Camp Valaqua”. Upgrading and expansion has taken place over the years, including an additional eight cabins, a washroom-shower complex, cook’s cabin, administration building, etc.

Custodial History

The fonds was in the custody of Henry Goerzen, Conference of Mennonites in Alberta Archivist.

Scope & Content

The fonds consists of Camp Valaqua handbooks, statement of objectives, and manual (ca. 1961-2001) and camper and staff records (1983-2003).

Source of Acquisition

Gift by Henry Goerzen, 2002, ca. 2003.

Access Restrictions

Access to the files of camper and staff records (Series 2) may only be granted by a resolution of the Executive Committee of Mennonite Church Alberta and only in accordance with the requirements of the Personal Information Protection Act (Statutes of Alberta, 2003, c. P-6.5) and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Statutes of Canada, 2000, c. 5)

Finding Aids

See  “Series Inventory”

Related Materials

For information related to the Camp Valaqua fonds, see MHSA’s Mennonite Church of Alberta fonds – Series E. See also Alberta Mennonite Youth Organization – Accession 2008.010, Series C. For a book related to Camp Valaqua, see The Mennonite Conference of Alberta by C.L. Dick published in 1980 (available in MHSA library)

Notes

Accession 2002.027
Last updated July 2015 – Jim Bowman

Series Inventory

Series 1. Administrative and historical records. –  [ca. 1961]-2001. – 8 cm of textual records.

Arranged in approximate chronological order.

1 – 1 Camp Valaqua handbook. – [ca. 1961]
1 – 2 Camp Valaqua handbook. – [ca. 1967]
1 – 3 Objectives. – [ca. 1981]
1 – 4 Sponsors’ role. – [ca. 1970s]
1 –  5 Board minutes, report. – 1992-1993. – Byron Rempel’s file.
1 – 6 CIT course at Camp Valaqua. – 1981. – For Counsellors-in-Training.
1 – 7 Building fund account book. – 1981-1982.
1 – 8 Camp Valaqua manual. – 1984.
1 – 9 Camp staff agreement. – 1984-1987. – Contracts (blank forms).
1 – 10 Contact persons (mailing list).  – 1987.
1 – 11 Camp statistics. – 1989.
1 – 12 Camp managers’ file. – [ca. 1990-ca. 1995]. – Tim and Donita Wiebe-Neufeld.
1 – 13 Camp brochures/application forms. – 1992-2001.
1 – 14 Contact persons. – 1993.
1 – 15 Acceptance letters : campers. – 1994. – Blank forms.
1 – 16 The Faspa : a good enough to eat newsletter! / AMYO youth worker Donita Wiebe-Neufeld. – 1994-1995.
1 – 17 Anna Neufeld bequest. – 1996-1997
1 – 18 Staff creed. – 1997-1998.

Series 2. Camper and staff records. – 1983-2003. – 1.7 m of textual records.

This series consists largely of applications of campers, Counsellors-in-Training (CITs), and staff members. Includes staff agreements and evaluations, police checks, and critical incident reports. – Arranged chronologically. – RESTRICTIONS: Access to the files may only be granted by a resolution of  the Executive Committee of Mennonite Church Alberta and only in accordance with the requirements of the Personal Information Protection Act (Statutes of Alberta, 2003, c. P-6.5) and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Statutes of Canada, 2000, c.5).

Box 2 Camper and staff records. – 1983-1986. – Includes human resources evaluations, 1984-1986.
Box 3 Camper and staff records. – 1988-1991. – Includes personnel interview, 1991.
Box 4 Camper and staff records. – 1992-1993. – Includes personnel information.
Box 5 Camper and staff records. – 1994. – Includes personnel interviews, lost camper procedures, incident report.
Box 6 Camper and staff records. – 1995. – Includes incident report.
Box 8 Camper and staff records. – 1997.
Box 9 Camper and staff records. – 1998-1999. – Includes staff agreements, 1999; staff incidents, 1998-1999.
Box 10 Camper and staff records. – 1998, 2000-2002. – Includes incident reports, 2000; evaluations, 2001; criminal record check, 2002.
Box 11 Camper and staff records. – 2001-2003.  – Includes staff, CIT evaluations, police checks, contracts, 2002.
Box 12 Camper and staff records. – 2002-2003. – Includes staff evaluations, 2003.