Windsor Police Cst. Lindsay Flemming, on left, helps present new bicycles to campers at the completion of the 2017 Camp Brombal at the Safety Village, July 13, 2017. Photo courtesy of Twitter/Windsor Police.Windsor Police Cst. Lindsay Flemming, on left, helps present new bicycles to campers at the completion of the 2017 Camp Brombal at the Safety Village, July 13, 2017. Photo courtesy of Twitter/Windsor Police.
Windsor

Windsor Police Camp Experience Brings Smiles

Some local students are smiling a little bit brighter.

Forty Grade 6 students from Windsor completed a stint at Camp Brombal on Thursday as part of an outreach initiative between the Windsor Police and students in the VIP (Values, Influences and Peers) program. The students spent time at Camp Cedarwin in Essex, where they participated in various activities such as canoeing, swimming, fishing, and archery. They also raced go-carts at Point Pelee Karting in Leamington.

Windsor police Constable Lindsay Flemming coordinated this year's edition of the camp, which is its 15th. She says despite some hiccups with the weather, the week went off without a hitch.

"We had a great week," says Flemming. "We kept the campers busy all week. We were just so thankful the weather cooperated, we had just one little bit of rearranging that we had to do. But yes, we just had an amazing time."

The campers had a surprise waiting for them when they returned to the Safety Village in Windsor on Thursday. Each camper received a brand new bicycle, complete with a new helmet, plus a new backpack. Flemming says it was all made possible through their sponsors and community partners.

"We just wanted to give back to the kids and break that barrier between the youth and the police and provide them with positive memories," says Flemming.

The camp was begun in 2002 and is named after Windsor police Constable Nereo Brombal, an Italian-Canadian who served on the force before the Second World War. When the war broke out, the city added a "subversive activity" category to the police budget that targeted Italians and others. Canada was at war with Italy at the time. Brombal, who was born in Italy and served as an officer for 12 years, was suspended indefinitely from the service. He never returned. Brombal died in 1974, but the city formally apologized to his son Douglas in 1990.

Douglas, along with his son and grandson, were present at Camp Cedarwin for the camp's closing ceremony, says Flemming.

Hundreds of Grade 6 students from across Windsor-Essex participate each year in the VIP program, and earlier this spring, they were treated to two days of demonstrations at the service's training academy. Flemming says the process of choosing the 40 to head to Camp Brombal is a careful and involved one and much communication is needed to identify the lucky students.

"We reach out to the VIP officers and we also reach out to their teachers. They can recommend students to us and then they have to write a letter to Doug Brombal. Then it comes to me and we review all the letters," says Flemming.

In the letter, students are asked to talk about themselves and state their case as to why they believe they would benefit from a trip to Camp Brombal.

For complete information on Camp Brombal and the fundraising efforts surrounding it, click here.

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