Summer Camps come back to life
Kawanis camp was silenced last year because of the pandemic but is full of life after reopening last weekend.
“It was a lot of work to open up when you're closed for a year and a half,” said camp fundraising chair Dan Invararity.
Kawanis has two cohorts running this week for a total of 40 campers. Invararity says the camp is expanding to three cohorts and 60 people next week.
Unfortunately, camp started late this summer which created a backlog.
“We already have kids we’ve had to turn down which we’ve never had to do before,” he said.
The timeless experience has been altered to accommodate public health guidance.
“We have to be ready for anything so we have so many mitigation techniques we've put in place with the cohorting of our campers, cohorting of our staff to do everything we can to deliver as much of a high camp experience as we normally do,” said Angelo Ciardella, the camp’s first responder.
He says staff and campers are actively screened daily. Temperature check are done regularly.
High touch surfaces like door knobs, playgrounds and bathrooms are being disinfected to keep campers safe.
There are 11 campers and one councilor per cabin. Two Cabins make up a Cohort that stays together for the duration of the camp, no mask required.
“I got to know a lot of people a lot better than I think I would have if I got to go with other people all the time,” said first time camper Blain Dutot.
Campers are not required to wear masks all the time but do have to wear them when they are interacting in an activity with the other cohort.
Camp counselor Ugo Madu says the camp modifications have taken some getting to.
“Our evening programs and rotations are a little different now because of the restrictions,” Madu says. “We have to social distance when we're with the other cohorts as well as wear a mask when we're having dinner when you're standing up.”
Ciardella chuckled when asked if he and other staff members sometime feel like rule enforcers.
“It's not much unlike other summers where we have to constantly monitor the children. It's just in a different light now,” he said.
With a COVID safety first mentality, camps might be seen in a different light this year, but at least that light isn't coming from a screen.
“All I want is just to have fun,” said first time camper Adalynn Russell who is not miffed by the camp guidelines.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.