Berwick Camp News
Berwick Camp is a proud recipient of the RBC Barrier Buster Grants Program presented by the Rick Hansen Foundation
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Rick Hansen’s Man In Motion World Tour, a journey that continues to shape how we think about access, inclusion, and community across Canada. To honour that legacy, the Rick Hansen Foundation, in collaboration with RBC and RBC Foundation, launched the RBC Barrier Buster Grants Program – a national initiative supporting projects that help to remove physical barriers and create more accessible spaces. We’re proud to share that we’ve been selected as a recipient of an RBC Barrier Buster Grant to improve the physical accessibility of Berwick Camp. Our Barrier Buster Project will help address accessibility barriers in our space and support greater inclusion for everyone who uses it.
Work on our Barrier Buster Project will begin on June 1, with improvements focused on building our first barrier free cottage. These changes will help ensure Berwick Camp is a place where people can move, gather, and engage with greater independence and dignity. Visit www.berwickcamp.org and our social media accounts for project updates, photos, and information about our community engagement event celebrating this work.
To learn more about the RBC Barrier Buster Grants Program and how it’s supporting accessibility improvements across Canada, visit www.RickHansen.com/BarrierBuster. We’re honoured to be part of a national effort advancing accessibility, one practical improvement at a time.
June 2, 2026
Committed to Saving our Hemlocks
Updated: November 2022
After monitoring the situation for 2-3 years, this Fall Berwick Campers took action on the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, as advised by biologist and hemlock specialist Donna Crossland. We knew that the insect was on both sides of Camp, in Greenwood and Kentville, but it had not been detected at our last check in April. Once into our treatment process, it was indeed found in both the upper and lower campground areas. At least one tree heavily infested in the Upper Campground.
We first set out to measure every hemlock on the property. Exceeding a thousand hemlocks, this was a multiple day endeavor with many volunteers. Next, we inoculated all hemlocks over 15 cms in diameter. These numbered in the 800+ range. Holes were drilled, nozzles inserted, cannisters applied and then stripped after the chemical entered the tree, and metal tags nailed to each treated tree. This will eliminate the need to measure next time as they are all recorded. Because of the healthy appearance of our grove, and the fact that hemlock devastation can take 3-4 years from this insect, we are hopeful we have treated the hemlocks in time. The chemical can take up to a year to be effective, so we will continue to monitor. We will no doubt lose some trees through infestation and missing one here and there, but we feel the majority of our majestic hemlocks will survive. This treatment will have to be repeated in 4 years.
In the Spring, we will continue treatments by spraying the less than 15 cm diameter trees. We did not see infestation on these small trees and we hope their youth is on their side.
A huge thank you to Donna Crossland our fearless leader in this large undertaking, and all the campers who showed up for our grove! As well we would like to thanks The Municipal Group of Companies including Dexter Construction, MBW Courier, EFR Disposal and their other member companies, for their VERY generous sponsorship of this costly treatment plan.
Rick, Tim and LeeAnne hard at work around one of our treasured hemlocks
The pest at work making little cotton like sacs.
The trees AND the whole camp are blessed to have Karen's love & care
Donna Crossland, our tree consultant, and Rick, also pesticide trained, with a link to the Camp through his kids and Choral camp.
Each tree receives a tag after it is treated so that next time we just look up how much chemical it needs...no new measuring.
Volunteers Kim and Tim getting cannisters ready for treating our hemlocks