14 | MAY 7 • 2020 

Families’
 plans are up in the air as they await the news.

JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I

t’
s a nagging question without a 
clear answer right now, leaving 
scores of kids and parents 
wondering what they will do this 
summer. 
Camp websites continue to build 
excitement for the summer by 
counting the days — some are even 
tracking the hours, minutes and 
seconds — until the start of camp. 
But the reality of whether kids 
will be tie-dying, playing capture 
the flag and making s’
mores this 
summer is still up in the air as 
camp organizers grapple with 
whether it will be safe for kids 
to gather amid the COVID-19 
pandemic or if they will even be 
allowed to open. 
“One day we’
re like, ‘
This is going 
to happen,’
 and the next day we 
think there’
s no possible way we can 
have camp,” said Scott Ruthart, who 
along with his wife, Liz Stevens, are 
the directors of Camp Walden in 
Cheboygan, Michigan. 
One thing that is certain? Kids 
need camp this summer — now 

more than ever. 
It’
s been seven weeks since 
Michigan’
s governor issued a stay-
at-home order, preventing kids 
from physically hanging out with 
friends or participating in athletics 
and other extracurricular activities. 
With summer quickly approaching, 
campers are eagerly waiting to hear 
if camp will be cancelled, too. 
For now, an entire industry 
awaits guidance from the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, 
along with direction from state and 
local agencies. In the meantime, 
some camps are moving forward 
with planning for the summer as 
they usually would, but with an 
additional layer of contingency 
planning. Walden announced it 
would decide on whether to open 
June 21 in mid-May.
Others have already made the 
decision not to open. Tamarack 
Camps announced in an email 
to families May 4 they would 
be cancelling all summer 
programming. Blue Lake Fine 

Arts Camp sent a letter to families 
earlier this month announcing 
the cancellation of camp, and 
Interlochen Center for the Arts 
switched to an online-only platform 
for its summer programming. 
Those who have not called 
off camp are thinking about 
a variety of scenarios that 
could play out as a result of the 
pandemic. For example, camp 
directors are pondering a later 
start date if opening in June isn’
t 
feasible. They’
re considering if 
social distancing is required, 
what it would look like, or if it’
s 
even possible. How would they 
implement more stringent cleaning 
and sanitizing, and what would 
happen if there were an outbreak? 
“There are so many factors 
to consider,” said Rabbi Jordan 
Bendat-Appell, the director of 
Camp Ramah in Canada. “We’
re 
trying to stay open by thinking 
creatively and staying agile. At 
the same time, we’
re taking very 
seriously the strong chance that we 

Jews in the D

Camp Walden owners 
Scott Ruthart and Liz 
Stevens lead the first-
night campfire last year.

Will There Be Camp? 

CAMP WALDEN

