The History of Taylor Statten

Taylor Statten was Boer War veteran who in 1906 became the full-time Boy’s Work Secretary for the national YMCA. He established the Canadian Standards Efficiency Training program. This program gave children an opportunity to be rewarded for the development of their intellectual, social, physical, and religious skills.

Taylor Statten found canoe lake while he was on a vacation with his family. He became infatuated with this piece of land and dreamt of a place for men and women to live in its natural habitat. " In 1921, Taylor’s dream was realized as a summer camp that focused on teaching wood-craft and natural lore. He named the camp “Ahmek” after his Ojibwa name meaning “Great Beaver.” Having to mortgage his home to fund the camp, Taylor opened Ahmek for six weeks that summer and welcomed 60 boys. As the director of the first Canadian owned private summer camp in Algonquin Park, Taylor became affectionately known around camp as 'The Chief' " (http://www.taylorstattencamps.com, 2012)

All Photographs and information taken from http://www.taylorstattencamps.com