Welcome to the Kilcoo website!
Kilcoo is a private summer camp for boys on Gull Lake near Haliburton, Ontario. The Camp was founded in 1932 by Charles Plewman to be the “Maker of Men” and remains true today to its ethos and tradition of character and leadership development.
In 1955, John Latimer purchased the Camp from Mr Plewman and served as the Director for 25 years.
Kilcoo is a member of the Ontario Camping Association, which was interestingly founded a year after Kilcoo. The “OCA” is an accreditation organization for camps across this province and holds us to a high standard of operation. Kilcoo’s connection to the OCA extends beyond membership; our founder Charles Plewman was integral to the founding of the OCA and served as the organization’s 5th President. John Latimer was also heavily involved in the OCA and was its 14th President.
What makes the Camp unique is not our site – although we do hold the reputation of a superbly maintained property – it is the amazing group of young men you will find here. Our staff at Kilcoo, who continue to impress us, are the driving force behind our acclaimed ethos. I would say that 95% of our staff grew up at Kilcoo as campers and completed the Leader-in-Training program. Our other staff are hired through our personal connections. Even after our staff move on from Kilcoo to other endeavours, they stay connected to us through our alumni association, which has thousands of members and is something we are incredibly proud of.
Every summer, we say it is our best. That is because each coming summer, we build off the last; we learn from our challenges, lean into our successes, and always remember the traditions that have brought us so far over our almost 100 summers.
We hope you can find the information you came to our website for. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to say hi, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Rip Ram Razzle Scram,
The Kilcoo Staff
inquiries@kilcoo.com
