Instead of relaxing on the beach, two young entrepreneurs will be spending their summer surrounded by kids.

The University of Guelph students will be getting hands-on business training by running their own day camp, with the help of ‘Summer Company’ – a grant program that provides funding (up to $3,000) for young people to start and run their own business. The brainchild of Whitney Glage and Morgan MacMillan, both 21, Cedarview will offer kids a fun and safe learning environment.

Located on more than 100 acres in Perkinsfield, the camp includes a stable (complete with five horses), corral, round pen, riding trails, fields, soccer pitch, outdoor baseball and volleyball courts, hiking and biking trails, a pond and marsh area, temperate forest, arts and crafts studio and is a short walk to nearby Ossassane Beach. It will also offer campers a variety of activities and opportunities most kids won’t be able to find at home, they say.

“I’ve always felt this (place) would be perfect for a day camp,” says MacMillan.

“There are so many opportunities for different types of activities because of the property,” adds Glage.

Friends for more than a decade, both women have plans on becoming teachers in the future, and say they are excited about the prospect of working with the kids.

“We didn’t want this to be the same old day camp … we wanted to be able to teach the kids something while they are here,” says MacMillan. “We think it’s fantastic that we can take what we’ve learned and give it to someone else.”

Having gone from campers to counsellors themselves, both Glage and MacMillan admit it’s important to have a wide range of activities to cater to each camper.

The camp, which can accommodate up to 12 kids in each week-long session, will include nature adventures around the property, music and theatre on the playhouse stage, horseback riding, swimming at the nearby beach, sports and games as well as arts and crafts in the studio.

At $150 a week, MacMillan, who has been riding horses her whole life, says they wanted to make their camp affordable.

“Most riding camps are really expensive. We wanted to make this affordable to those people who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to come.”

Cedarview Day Camp is located at 259 Concession 8 W. in Perkinsfield and runs Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 361-3069 or e-mail cedarviewdaycamp@gmail.com.