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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