Located on 150 acres of wooded land 10 mintes south of Sauble Beach, Silver Lake Mennonite Camp has been a camp and retreat centre with a Mennonite focus since the 1960s. Offering activities such as swimming, sailing, kayaking, crafts, nature, quest and campfires, there are many other moments that often go unseen and yet are very crucial to making the camp experience a memorable one. There are the spontaneous, creative, wacky moments that the staff and campers dream up that make a good camp experience a great one. Whether it is a picnic at the Willow, a spontaneous water fight or painting the camp truck. And then there are the moments that cannot be planned, that which we call holy moments.

Campers stay in cabin groups (either in cabins or large "prospector" tents) of ten to twelve, with two or three counsellors supervising each cabin. Our staff to camper ratio is approximately 1:3. Our staff range in age from high school seniors to university students. All our staff have first aid training and in case of emergencies the Wiarton Hospital is only 15 minutes away.

To get a sense of Silver Lake's history one must go back to the 1940'sand 50's when a variety of Mennonite youth retreats were first organized in Ontario. These were attended by people, such as Bill Dyck, who later on had the vision to begin a camping program at Silver Lake. In the late 50's the Ontario Youth Organization (OYO) began to hold annual summer youth retreats at Chesley Lake. Then in 1959, with the encouragement and support of Pete Isaak and other enthusiastic parties, Bill arranged a one-week boys camp at Chesley Lake. This was followed in 1960 by another boys camp and the addition of a one-week girls camp directed by Inge Neufeld. 1960 also marked the year that the Silver Lake property was purchased for $15,000. In 1961 the OYO set up a provisional board of directors for the camp, and the first delegate meeting was held in Waterloo.