As a 30-year-old man, Bruce Hawkenson could easily be called an idealist. Leaving his steady job as a probation officer, the Prince George resident emptied out his pension fund -a total of $1,000 - and took over the $500-lease of the junior forest warden headquarters on Lake Trapping.
Tomorrow night, the small enterprise Hawkenson and his wife Joanne began with a handful of summer foster children in 1971, will celebrate its 40th anniversary as one of the leading camps for young offenders.
Camp Trapping, operated by the Cariboo Action Training Society, is a court-ordered alternative to custody for young males between the ages of 12 and 18 from across the province. The highly structured four-month program is now under the leadership of CATS executive director Daryl Goll.
"By the end of the second month, that's when students have bought in or washed themselves of the program," said Goll, who has been at the helm of the society for more than half of its history.
Goll came north from the Lower Mainland in the early 1980s, looking for a way to make an immediate and significant impact in the youth justice system. After beginning as a line worker, Goll returned to take on the top spot in 1986.
When the camp opens its doors Friday morning to begin a two-day celebration of its four-decade history, there will be many familiar faces for the executive director to reminisce with. All who have experienced Camp Trapping in some way, be they former staff, students or directors are invented to take part in the event.
Festivities kick off at 9 a.m. with a public open house and a keynote address at 4 p.m. followed by dinner and live music. Saturday morning begins with revisiting the camp's storied six-kilometre run at 7:30 a.m. before a pancake breakfast and an afternoon of beach volleyball and canoeing.
When the Hawkenson began the camp, he was operating with a clear vision in his head of what he wanted this camp to be.
"I felt strongly about what had to be done" Hawkenson said, noting he received a great deal of support from Prince George and the surrounding community. "I had this all figured out before I started."
A philosophy major in university, Hawkenson encouraged students to go through their days with some "lofty thought," building on Descartes' "I think, therefore I am."
Whether the young men were thinking about their grandmother or focusing on not swearing for the day, it was teaching them to set goals for themselves, Hawkenson explained. By setting out a program which had specific, measurable goals, it allowed students to see themselves improve over their 16-week stay at the camp.
Goll refers to Hawkenson's method as the "sacred trust," and credits that style of running the camp as one of the main forces behind its longevity.
"We haven't changed our philosophical underpinnings. What we do know is it's highly effective. We're staying the course," Goll said.
That course turns out program graduates with a recidivism rate - repeat offenders - of 50 per cent.
One of those graduates, Larry Garnot, has returned to Camp Trapping and is a long way from his first stint in 1991 after he was referred following a charge of assault causing bodily harm. He had the option of three months in youth prison or four months at the camp. "Three months sounded nicer, but my lawyer advised I go the camp. I took his advice," Garnot said.
Today, he is a full-time counsellor and credits the program with creating a turning point in his life and breaking the cycle of delinquency.
"Camp is physically challenging and mentally challenging and emotionally challenging," Garnot said, adding students are able to see themselves for who they really are.
"It changes how you look at the world and look at yourself."
