The Zerkalny suburban youth center, or simply the Zerkalny camp, is a state-owned enterprise whose main goal is the cultural and educational development of children and the organization of children's leisure. Currently, this institution is one of the divisions of the St. Petersburg Palace of Youth Creativity. The number of children resting in the country center every year is approved by the general director of this city budget educational institution.
Children's camp location
The Zerkalny Recreation Camp is located in the Leningrad Region, on the territory of the Vyborg District. A country center for children was built on the shores of a picturesque lake of glacial origin on the Karelian Isthmus. Find this health camp is quite simple - next to it is the stopping point "Eighty-sixth kilometer." It is located on the Zelenogorsk-Vyborg line. The official address at which the Zerkalny camp is located: Leningrad Region, p / o Roshchino, the village of Zerkalny. The center belongs to the Primorsky urban settlement of the Vyborg district.
History of the camp
The "Mirror" camp (website: www. Anichkov.ru / departments / camp) was created in the ecologically clean forest region of the Leningrad Region as a suburban branch of the city Palace of Pioneers and Schoolchildren named after Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov. Today it is renamed the Palace of Youth Creativity . It was an exceptional and rather closed establishment. Camp "Zerkalny" acted as a business card of the pioneers of the Leningrad region and for many years officially in various newspapers and magazines was referred to as the "camp of the Pioneer and Komsomol asset of the schools of Leningrad." For a long time it was a place of rest and recovery for future party workers, and therefore a lot of attention was paid to the so-called political activities.
The development of this camp was noted throughout the entire period of its existence. Methods of working with children have constantly evolved, traditions of environmental, labor and political education have been formed. It is especially worth noting that most of the techniques were implemented in parallel with Orlenok and Artek.
The first stage in the life of the camp
The first stage in the life of such a children's institution as the Zerkalny camp is considered to be the period from 1965, when the first meeting on the design of the future center took place, until 1979, when the camp celebrated its tenth anniversary. During this time, a school building, a sailor’s house, a floating base, a concert hall for six hundred seats, a youngate’s house, a football stadium, administrative buildings, various utility rooms and outbuildings were commissioned. Of particular note is the first two shifts that this camp spent. Each of them was indicative. The first shift was organized for the chairmen of the councils of the Leningrad squads, and the secretaries of numerous school Komsomol organizations visited the wellness center on the second shift. It is also necessary to note the year 1973 as the year in which work was established according to the scheme of the winter and summer seasons of the camp. In turn, 1974 was marked by the beginning of patronage of the health center from the universities of the city of Leningrad. After some time, buildings for cultural events were put into operation, which significantly increased the winter shifts, thus providing training for children of various age groups.
The second stage in the life of the camp
The second stage of the camp’s life is connected with the years 1980-2010. During this period, the Zerkalny camp managed to receive the Friendship Train, which delivered a delegation of children from the German Democratic Republic, to start enrolling students in the fourth and ninth grades throughout the school year, and also to accept an official delegation from Cuba. In addition, at the same time, this health center received the award "Commemorative Banner of the Leningrad Komsomol." Due to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, funding for the camp that all this time existed within the framework of political ideology ceased. However, even after this, the center continued its work, since it was always distinguished by its favorable location and developed infrastructure. In the period from 1991 to 1993, the camp symbols were completely updated, including the coat of arms, flag, anthem, banner, monogram, talisman and logo. After some time, the school for children received an official number - 660. From 2006 to 2010, the Zerkalny children's camp underwent a comprehensive reconstruction. New stone cottages and a modern sports complex appeared on its territory.
Current camp work
Since the 1990s, trips to the Mirror Camp can be purchased all year round. The center accepts children both in the cold and in the warm season. To do this, its territory has its own system for supporting economic activity, which is responsible for the condition of eighty-six buildings and structures. For example, there are three water pumping stations, a boiler room, two water treatment plants, a diesel generator and a transformer station, a laundry, a trucking company and its own gas station.
Camp capacity
The capacity of the Zerkalny Health Camp directly depends on the season. In winter, the center can accept no more than two hundred to two hundred and ten children at a time. At the same time, the developed curriculum is designed exclusively for the admission of students in the fifth and ninth grades. During school holidays, the camp is open to children from six to fifteen years old. As for the summer period, the capacity of the center in this season is significantly increased due to the tent camp and summer cottages. As a result, the camp has the ability to simultaneously receive six hundred thirty people. As a rule, two counselors are attached to each detachment. Moreover, in one group there can be from twenty-five to forty people.
Major Attractions
Separately, it is necessary to talk about a number of interesting places that are located on the camp territory and are closely intertwined with its traditions. For example, one of the main attractions of the Zerkalny children's center is a large boulder, split in half and located on the lake. He is called in the camp only "Broken Heart". It should also be said about the monument to the dead plane.
Its history is directly related to the surrounding islands. It was in this area several decades ago that the wreckage of a Soviet plane that was shot down in World War II was discovered. Some of them were collected by schoolchildren and subsequently installed as a monument. And, finally, it is worth mentioning the main gate of the camp, through which, due to geographical features, the main road passes. In this place, it is customary to say hello and say goodbye to the center.
Camp symbols: flag and coat of arms
The flag of the camp "Mirror" was created in 1993 by the artist Serebryannikov. It symbolizes the unity of children and adults. The colors used in the flag represent such basic values as the continuity of generations (red), creativity (white), romance (blue) and the relationship with nature (green). As for the coat of arms of the camp, it was developed only six years ago and is a golden shield. In its upper part, the abbreviation ZTsYUT is located, in the middle there is a schematic representation of a blue sky, a silver sun, a green spruce and red waves. At the bottom of the heraldic shield you can see a stylized picture with a tent and a date - "1969", and under it - an open book. Around this whole image is a green ribbon that borders the entire shield and on which there is a gold inscription "Camp Mirror". The official emblem of the children’s center can be reproduced in mirror image and in one-color version.
How to get to the camp
There are two ways to get to the camp today - by road or rail. In the first case, it is necessary to go to Primorskoye Shosse and move along it until the thirty-second kilometer. After the sign for the camp, turn right, then drive another eleven kilometers to the main gate of the wellness center. To get to the camp by rail, you need to take the train going to Zelenogorsk. Then you need to transfer to the Vyborg-Primorsk diesel train and ride on it to the platform called "86th