Richard Crouse

The Drake Hotel is known to be a popular spot for social gatherings but this summer the hotel’s going to embark on a different venture, Camp Drake.

Community members and visitors are going to reap the benefits starting June 11 for the hotel’s three-month camp session. A ton of events have been lined up to entertain all ages.

Drake Hotel management and employees brainstormed and came up with the plan of creating a bunch of friendly and fun initiatives that would reflect summer camp activities.

“Everything we do we make it a hybrid between, you know, culture and community and hospitality so everything ties in together, and we will do a hotel package as well,” said Jenn Godbout, the Drake’s marketing and communications coordinator. The hotel package is for out-of-towners looking for a cultured experience at the hotel, packed with bike rides and picnic lunches.

Many of the events are planned so that community members can drop by any time to participate – they include barbeques and after dinner activities, or trips to the garden to learn about plants and herbs with the hotel chef.

“Because it is geared towards the neighbourhood, most of the activities are neighbourhood-friendly, for example, we’re going to have kids from the Grove community school coming to plant a garden,” Godbout explained. That outing is slated to happen at 4pm Wednesday. But it won’t be the last trip out into the garden — there will be more events later in the summer.

Godbout is excited about the upcoming weekly Camp Drake Drive-Ins which will feature summer movies selected by 13 experts. A few of the films they’ll be featuring include Big Trouble In Little China, Last Summer and PeeWee’s Big Adventure. Movie-goers can get a head start on this Camp Drake activity and see the first screening on June 2 at the Sky Yard.

“We’re playfully calling it a carless drive-in and it’s just really neat because I’m a film buff and I like the idea of all these different personalities like Bruce McDonald, Richard Crouse…a bunch of really cool people have given their favourite summer movies,” Godbout explained.

Drake staff will be kicking off their first official camp day and spreading the camp vibe with their own customized Camp Drake t-shirts, reminiscent of camp counselors except some of the counselors are actually bartenders serving you sangria and spiked lemonade instead of hot cocoa. The hotel will also be sporting its own old-school general store and a wooden bear carving by local artist Walter VanderWindt.

They’re also giving out freebies but you’ll have to check out their Twitter site to find out how you can win. If you’d like to contact the hotel yourself for more information on the Camp Drake events call: 416-531-5042, or head out to 1150 Queen Street West to visit them.