MAY 21 • 2020 | 21
C
amp Walden in
Cheboygan, Michigan, will
delay its possible start date
until at least mid-July, according
to an email sent to camper parents
May 14.
The email, sent by Camp
Walden owners Scott Ruthart and
Liz Stevens, says even if the state of
Michigan allows summer camps
to run at some point this year,
Camp Walden may still not open.
It will depend on the conditions
the state puts forth for opening
camps.
“We want to run the camp that
we want to run. We want to run
the camp that the kids expect; we
don’
t want to run a camp where
if you’
re in Cabin G3, you’
re not
allowed to go into G4 and braid
your friend’
s hair,
” Stevens told the
Jewish News.
Stevens said they decided to
delay Walden instead of canceling
at this point because there are a
lot of unanswered questions about
how summer camps will look this
year.
“It just gives me a pit in my
stomach to think that I might not
see any of those kids this summer,
”
she said. “On the other hand, it’
s
a relief to know we’
re not going to
have to rush into something we’
re
not 100 percent comfortable with.
”
The email also asked parents to
indicate their interest in partici-
pating in “family camp” at Walden
if that seems like a feasible option
later in the summer. Stevens said
they haven’
t figured out how that
might look yet, but that it would
involve allowing families to come
to Walden and use the camp’
s
facilities.
Since sending out the email,
“there’
s been ringing endorsement
for family camp,
” Stevens said.
“Family camp is a whole dif-
ferent animal, but if it’
s what we
can do safely this summer, then
we will seriously consider offering
that sort of experience for fami-
lies,
” she said.
If parents choose to cancel for
this summer, they have the option
to roll their deposit over to next
year. They can also decide to pay
a $150 processing fee to get a
refund, but the email warns that
campers who cancel now will not
have a spot reserved if the camp
does open at some point this sum-
mer.
As of now, Stevens said not
many parents have chosen to can-
cel their children’
s enrollment. The
camp usually hosts 430 to 450 kids
throughout the summer, along
with about 115 staff.
“If we were to have regular
camp, I’
m certain that the num-
bers would be lower, and that’
s
OK,
” she said. “But we would still
want enough campers to make it a
real camp experience.
”
The family-run coed sleepaway
camp has been a popular desti-
nation for Metro Detroit Jewish
families for generations.
Camp Walden expects to send
out another update around June
1.
Extremism, which helps compile
the ADL’
s annual audits.
Normandin said the groups
felt that counting the protests
52 times would distort the data
but counting them only once
seemed unrepresentative. In the
end, they decided counting the
protests once a month made the
most sense.
The protests were not includ-
ed in the 2018 audit because
they were not reported to the
ADL that year, according to
Normandin. In the summer
of 2019, the organization did
receive a report, which was
coupled with “a real intensity in
the rhetoric that was used at the
synagogue,” Normandin said.
This year’
s increase in inci-
dents is part of a nationwide
trend. Nationally, incidents rose
by 12 percent over the last year
to 2,107 — the highest number
ever recorded by the ADL since
it began tracking anti-Semitic
acts in 1979.
In 2015, there were only
six incidents of anti-Semitism
corroborated by the ADL in
Michigan, Normandin said.
“It’
s gone up seven-fold in the
last five years,” Normandin said.
“People are definitely feeling as
if they have the authority to do
this. They’
ve gotten embold-
ened.”
Normandin said ADL
Michigan has already corrobo-
rated and approved 14 incidents
of anti-Semitism for the 2020
audit, which is about on track
with last year.
“The current COVID situa-
tion has put the entire country
on edge, and there is no doubt
that all types of hatred have
risen,” she said. “They’
re using
old anti-Semitic tropes like
blaming and scapegoating, par-
ticularly to Jews and particularly
to Asian-Americans.”
To fight back against
anti-Semitism and all types of
hate, Normandin recommends
people stand up to apathy,
demand that educators and pub-
lic officials stand up to hate and
hold digital platforms account-
able for preventing online hate.
She said Michiganders can
also advocate for stronger hate-
crime laws and increased securi-
ty funding for places of worship.
“We can’
t be apathetic about
[anti-Semitism],” Normandin
said. “We can’
t take the
approach, ‘
Oh we’
ve heard this
before, we know what this is.’
We need to really, really contin-
ue to call it out.”
ALEX SHERMAN
A Witness for Peace protester readies his signs for the weekly Shabbat pro-
test that started in 2003 outside Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor. ADL
Michigan included the protests in their anti-Semitism counter for the first time
in 2019.
Camp Walden Delays
Potential Start Date
to Mid-July
Family camp is a possibility for later
in the summer.
MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Camp Walden owners Scott Ruthart and Liz
Stevens lead the first-night campfire last year.
CAMP WALDEN
continued from page 20