From the CEO
August 2009: Canada Vacation Part I
Departure & Travel
posted 8/2009
Steve is waiting at the front door when I get to his cottage. He is ready to go! It is all of 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, the 16th of August. The boys and staff have spent the past week preparing for our annual vacation trip to Canada. Everywhere on campus this morning there is activity. Some guys are finishing a quick breakfast. Some guys are helping staff to load the vans. Other staff members are busy putting the vans in position to be loaded.
Shortly after 6:00 a.m. the first cottage heads north. The second and third cottages are not far behind. As I wave goodbye to each cottage there are smiles and laughter. Phil, our residential director, checks to be certain that each cottage supervisor has the necessary paperwork to clear the Canadian border. Shortly after 7:00 a.m. the last cottage leaves our campus and I join the rest of Bonnie Brae on the road.
For the past twenty-six years Bonnie Brae residents and staff have spent a week together on vacation in Ontario, Canada. Many of the cabin colonies where we stay have been welcoming us since the beginning of this tradition. Others have been added as we have grown. For most of our boys this is their first trip out-of-state, certainly their first trip out of the country. For many of our boys this is also their first vacation ever! Thus, the excitement level on campus and on the road is palpable.
We are no more then an hour from campus when we have our first incident. One of our vans has a flat tire on I-80 West, just past Tannersville, Pennsylvania. By the time I reach the scene there are six vans parked along the edge of the busy highway. Everyone is eager to help and the flat tire is changed in time that would make NASCAR pit crews envious. My job is to keep both residents and staff away from the road, and then push the hub cap back on the rim. Within minutes we are all back on the road.
Trailing behind our very large and scattered entourage, I join a group at our first scheduled rest stop an hour after the flat tire scene. Now, imagine if you will, the scene at our first stop. Six or seven vans, forty residents and staff, all in search of refreshment. Based on the joyous and loud greetings you would imagine that we have been on the road for two days, not just two hours. As everyone climbs out to stretch, my duties are to: provide pretzels and red licorice to the hungry travelers; allow non-Bonnie Brae staff or residents to access the public facilities; and prevent our guys from spending all of their vacation money at this first stop! This pit stop takes all of forty-five minutes and then we are off again!
Next month I will share more on crossing the border and vacationing in Canada. Stay tuned.