Childcare has proven a vital resource these past few months. It’s also been constantly evolving with health mandates, forcing parents into difficult decisions and some services to close entirely. The eternal favorite summer childcare, camp, which is generally bountiful in our beautiful valleys, has become a scarce commodity. As summer wears on, summer camps have finally stabilized their protocols and found a small patch of certainty. I checked up on several camps to learn more about their struggles and accomplishments throughout this strange summer.
Many camps have decided to close entirely for the summer, like Mount Hermon, Camp Harmon, Camp Krem, and Daybreak Camp. A few camps have remained open and found various ways to comply with county health requirements. Camp Campbell and Frontier Ranch have canceled all overnight camps, but continue day camps with small, stable groups of children and staff. Camp Hammer and Mount Cross are hosting households for day use and “family get-aways.” The 400-acre Kennolyn Camp has offered day camp throughout the summer and began its first week (of three) residential camps this past week. I spoke with two camp managers about the various strategies they’ve carried out to keep camp going.
Andrew Townsend, the Kennolyn Camp Director, and Eric Swanson-Dexel, the Camp Hammer Executive Director, had much to say about their experiences navigating camp through COVID. Both camp heads realized summer was going to be quite different this year during turbulent April’s, “with many moments of hope and despair,” reports Townsend. Kennolyn Camp was already fully booked for the summer in April, with staff and campers from all over the world. Originally Townsend was greatly disheartened, thinking that camp would be canceled and “imagining the disappointment of kids that have come here for all their lives.” New guidelines were then introduced for local kids as county designated childcare. Camp was back on!
Kennolyn staff quickly implemented new protocols, including daily temperature checks, parental surveys, and stable groups (consistent and isolated groups of 12 children and 2 staff). He also had to cancel camp bussing and lunches. “So far, day camp is going extremely well. There’s lots of demand and with 400 acres, space isn’t an issue. We’ve been really pleased that parents are really supportive, they understand that we have to ask the questions every day, and we haven’t had to eliminate a kid or staff member [due to COVID], but occasionally they have self-selected out.”
With these newest implementations, Kennolyn could reopen and maintain “an experience as close as possible to regular summer camp,” for many kids. As summer progressed, Kennolyn provided even more. “Travel opened up and there was no reason that kids couldn’t be dropped off from the surrounding areas. We’ve been able to open our overnight camp with great precaution and on a much smaller scale.” The Kennolyn overnight camp is now entering the second week of three, so far with no instances of COVID amongst its 40 campers.
Townsend is also “starting to think about what’s next in a fall.” He was quite eager to share plans for a new fall program. “We’d like to create supportive family pods for the first semester back to school. Kids from 6-15 families would get together a couple times a week at Kennolyn, with staff supervising schoolwork, bonding activities, and outdoor play. We don’t think there’s a demand for full time camp, but we’d like to offer support to families in the county.” The Camp Director has noticed a trend in many families already, “to form groups where their families and children get together for much needed socialization and support, forming pods for a COVID respite.” He believes Kennolyn could be vital to help other families form those pods that haven’t found them naturally due to circumstantial isolation, “maybe they’re new to the area, maybe their school is too small, maybe the commute is too long. We’d like to help.”
Whereas Kennolyn Camp has striven to recreate an experience as close to camp as possible, Eric Swanson-Dexel, the Executive Director of Camp Hammer, has focused on “building a silver lining for families during these hard times… I’ve thought long and hard about how to creatively follow county safety recommendations while creating a place for both kids and parents to exhale, enjoy themselves and nature.” Swanson-Dexel recalls the beginning of COVID turmoil, “Many families say their kids were disappointed when school was postponed and more so when it closed. But when Camp Hammer was canceled, that’s when they saw tears.”
As Camp Hammer’s 55th anniversary and Swanson-Dexel’s 15th as Executive Director, he knew Camp Hammer still had to “bring laughter, joy, and time outside into the household during this challenging time.” After several conversations with the County, the Executive Director decided to modify Camp Hammer into a “household day use facility with movie nights.” Camp staff quickly employed all county recommendations and now households (defined as a group of 10 people or less that have sheltered in place together) can reserve part of Camp Hammer’s property 10am to 6pm from Thursday through Saturday.
Upon arriving, families receive “an adventure bag for the day, with trail maps of one directional trails, nature tags, bingo cards, and other games… We’re offering space and outdoor activities for households. So many are exhausted when they drive up, so we give them all the easiest tools to build a great memory of this summer. We’ve created a sort of all-inclusive day use camp.” Families can also order a special camp lunch, reserve the pool or the pond and boats, and stay for a movie night with cookies and popcorn.
Ultimately, Swanson-Dexel is grateful, “to be a part of the positive movement bringing about change. It’s not just about us surviving this, but thriving in this. Everyone needs little glimpses of sunshine and the chance to exhale, which is why we’ll be extending our day use program into the fall as well.”
If you’d like to reserve a spot for your household at Camp Hammer, visit https://www.camphammer.com/summer/2020summer/.
