Julia Steinecke has been the Camp NeeKauNis Administrator for a whole year now, and here at Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM), we hope you will join us in celebrating this excellent milestone!
To mark the occasion, Holly, the CYM Communications Coordinator, interviewed Julia about some of her favourite things at Camp NeeKauNis.
What has been your favourite part of working at Camp NeeKauNis?
It’s wonderful to be in a place so beloved by Friends. There is joy in peoples’ faces as they arrive and reconnect. I see a lot of care and service. Work and Service Camp is buzzing with people doing all kinds of tasks and transforming the space. It’s great to reconnect with Quakers, after 25 years. I love how you can sit down beside someone you’ve never met before and have an interesting conversation about anything.
What’s a funny memory/story you have from the past year?
On my first day at Camp, in the fall of 2025, our treasurer, Rachel, was showing me around. We found a plucky little kitten living underneath Nelson Hall. She followed us around and climbed up our backs to sit on our shoulders. We named her Friend. We figured she would not survive the winter, so we brought her to the local Humane Society. A few days later, we saw the adoption listing; for some reason, they changed her name to Bucket. Soon the listing vanished; we trust that Bucket found her forever home!
What has been your favourite creature (animal, bird, bug) to see at camp?
The wild turkeys!
What’s the most peaceful area of camp that you enjoy being in?
I love the steep trail that goes down to the waterfront. It passes through a deep, shady forest, and there’s a bench where you can sit and listen to the wind high in the trees. This spring, it was carpeted with trilliums.
Thank you, Julia, for your wonderful service to Quakers in Canada and for sharing some great memories & photos with us!
