How COVID-19 Affected Summer Camp in 2020

Coping with COVID-19 at summer camp has been a challenge. But it has highlighted how important 2021 will be for us here at Kettleby Valley. We are excited to be hitting the reset button and move forward with our planning for next summer.

Even though summer camp didn’t open this year, we still managed to accomplish a great deal in spite of COVID-19. During June and July, we had a small group of hard workers maintain and improve the site. We took on projects such as lawn maintenance, reconstructing decks, staining buildings, tree removal, trail improvements, tree planting and ropes course repairs. The biggest project was retiling the Atlantic Pool. Hotter than normal temperatures and delays in supplies led to the job taking longer than it should have. Now that it’s finally complete, we won’t have to think about the tiles for a long time to come.

In late August we finally began to welcome campers to Kettleby Valley by offering day programs for homeschoolers. We scheduled the program to run until the end of September. However it was extended into October at the request of the campers and parents. In late September and early October, we led two weekend workshops for our 2020 Leader-In-Training program participants. It was amazing to see people back at camp. We also learned a lot about what it will take operate camp safely during the pandemic.

A recent study showed that, early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, only 5 percent of Canadian children met the basic physical activity guidelines. We now know that outdoor gatherings are safer than indoors and after a long winter, being outside and active with friends at camp is going to feel pretty good. We hope you can join us when registration officially opens on November 1st.