20 | DECEMBER 3 • 2020
CAMP GUIDE
Summer camp
plans for in-person
2021 sessions,
with precautions.
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
Back to
Tamarack
T
amarack Camps canceled all sum-
mer 2020 programming due to
COVID-19. Now, following some
leadership changes, Michigan’s flagship
Jewish summer camp is preparing for an
in-person 2021 — pandemic or not.
Lee Trepeck, the former director of
Camp Maas, has taken over the role of
camp CEO after the retirement of Steve
Engel. Carly Weinstock, the former asso-
ciate director of Camp Maas, is now in
Trepeck’s former position.
Soon after the 2020 season was can-
celed, Tamarack leadership consulted with
medical experts to find a way to safely
return to camp in 2021.
“We’re creating a bubble at camp,”
Weinstock told the JN.
As usual, Tamarack will have two sum-
mer sessions lasting 24 days each. For
the first two weeks of each session, the
campers will be quarantined by age group
in “pods.”
They will remain in their pods for all
programming during this time period,
including swimming (the camp’s usual
“general swim” won’t take place this year).
“Once those two weeks are up, and
we’re COVID-free, we can then come
together as a big camp and do more of the
all-camp programs,” Weinstock said.
For the final 10 days of both sessions,
having completed the quarantine period,
campers will be able to intermingle freely
throughout camp.
Tamarack is also planning to have a
reduced capacity for both campers and
staff, and will ask all campers and staff
to enter a quarantine period and take a
COVID test prior to arrival.
“It’s still going to feel like camp, and
we’ll still be doing all the fun, exciting
programs camp has, but it’s going to be
smaller groups,” Weinstock said. “
And
that’s how it’s going to be for the first two
weeks of each session.”
Tamarack Mini-Sessions, the 10-day
sessions specifically catered to campers
entering 2nd-6th grades, will still take
place but have been moved to the begin-
ning of each session, rather than the end,
to avoid campers having to enter camp in
the middle of the quarantine period.
According to Trepeck, Tamarack’s goal
is that, even with any change in structure,
the joy of camp will still reverberate.
Trepeck also says their travel trips will not
be functioning next summer.
“
As of now, we are unable to offer
applications for Agree Outpost Camp and
our travel trips — Western, Alaska and
Israel,” Trepeck said. “Today, the borders
to Canada and Israel are closed, and travel
trip experiences represent challenges in
different areas and varied regulations.
We’ve had meetings with families and
campers — and lots of suggestions were
raised, appreciated, and valued.
“Of course, we monitor the situation
regularly; if there are healthy and safe
ways to establish an alternative experi-
ence, those options are being evaluated
and pursued.”
Another change from years past: Staff
will stay on campgrounds even during
their days off. In prior years, staff could
leave during these allotted days.
The plans for summer 2021 are as
fluid as the pandemic is, according to
Weinstock, and plans can change.
“If things change, and things may get
better, then we can add more campers,
or we don’t have to be in the pods for as
long, or we don’t have to quarantine prior
to camp,” Weinstock said. “We’re going
to continue to meet with our medical
committee, who are all working on the
frontlines and dealing with COVID on a
daily basis. If things change, we’ll make
the appropriate changes, too.”
Though Tamarack received some criti-
cism for canceling camp in 2020, Trepeck
maintains it was the right call to make.
“For us, through a variety of factors,
it didn’t feel appropriate to proceed,”
Trepeck said. “It was difficult to miss
camp in 2020 — to begin a summer with-
out the bus ride ‘home’ felt off-course.”
Tamarack opened 2021 registration on
Nov. 5. “We’re planning with COVID in
mind,” Weinstock said, adding that the
camp could also explore “mixing and
masking,” to allow campers from different
pods (such as siblings) to interact with
each other in a masked, socially distanced
way.
“I know this year has been so hard for
everyone. Camp is such a special place
to so many people; it’s my happy place. I
grew up at camp, so I know how import-
ant it is to get campers and staff to camp
this summer,” Weinstock said. “We are
looking at every safety precaution to
make sure we can have it happen.”
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