Michele Amy has helped to bring about a strong fiddling community in southeast Saskatchewan. Many of her students have gone on to become very adept in the art and have helped her spread the love by teaching their own students.
Over the years it was this interest in developing fiddlers and fostering young teachers that gave way to the Kenosee Lake Kids Camp, which is inspired through the Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party.
Youth between the ages of nine and 12 are given instruction in fiddling, while older youth act as councillors and instructors. This year an additional class was held with youth between the ages of the young fiddlers and the councillors focused on how to teach lessons was also held.
Many of the instructors have graduated this past school year and a new crop of young fiddling enthusiasts will need to be cultivated into instructors.
Seven teachers were chosen to operate the camp. Five were involved with fiddling, while two worked with guitar instructing.
The camp, which was held between Aug. 2 and 5, not only allows young teachers to be mentored by Amy, Gordon Stobbe, and Shamma Sabir, but gives the attending student campers much attention with nearly one-on-one instruction.
Fifteen youth partook as campers either in fiddling or guitar, while seven participated as councillors in training under Emily Klatt's tutelage.
"Emily Klatt is working with the councillors in the Mother Teresa Centre and she's going to teach them how to get started," Amy explained.
Many of the camp teachers have participated in the Kids Camp and the three mentors exclaim they are working themselves out of the job as the teacher leaders they have been training are wonderful.
"They're very experienced teacher leaders and we're really superfluous this time because they've got it," Amy laughed. "We're training teachers, so that's a good thing."
Also making a return to the camp was Marlene York, an artist from Nova Scotia, who instructs the attending youth in various artistic endeavours.
Focused on music and art, the Kids Camp is held at the Kenosee Boys and Girls Camp where participating campers also enjoy canoeing, swimming, playing games, having camp fires, enjoying great food, and taking in the camaraderie over the camp fire story hour in the evenings.
The art and various activities held at during the camp allows the youth to work hard on learning new music, while providing them down time to let the instructions sink in.
Over the years many students who worked in the Kids Camp have made the jump to instructing at the Kitchen Party alongside some of the biggest names in Canadian music. This has included Booker Blakely and Gillian Maher on the fiddle and Justin Easton on the guitar.
Next up for Amy and her fellow mentors, as well as the young teachers will be the Kitchen Party.
