MAY 20 • 2021 | 15

losses keep piling up, it’s heavy. I 
kept thinking camp really has to 
happen, especially after Becca’s 
eighth-grade trip to Israel got 
canceled.
” 
Now more than ever, Rachel 
Chynoweth, Becca’s friend, and 
classmate, is looking forward to 
spending the second half of her 
summer at Camp Tamarack, 
which did not open last year 
due to the pandemic. Her mom, 
Gail Chynoweth, a registered 
nurse and member of Tamarack’s 
medical committee, says despite 
COVID, she is comfortable 
sending her daughter to camp. 
“Is the risk of COVID in the 
back of my mind? Sure it is; 
but I know they have a really 

good plan for the summer,
” 
Chynoweth says. “I’m confident 
in the precautions they are put-
ting in place, which are similar 
to what Hillel has been doing 
this year.
” 

NOT SO FAST
Not all parents are ready to send 
their children to camp. Doron 
Vergun, a Farmington Hills 
mom, says her son won’t attend 
day camp as planned because of 
his age. He is 6, and she doesn’t 
trust his ability to always cor-
rectly wear a mask, stay socially 
distant or adequately wash his 
hands. She also has concerns 
about what the counselors will 
do outside of camp to protect 

themselves from COVID. 
Vergun homeschools her 
kindergartner and her 3-year-
old and has been since before 
COVID. She believes that 
because her children are used to 
being home, it helps ease some 
of the disappointment over not 
going to camp and, she says, they 
know that being at home is OK. 
As an alternative to camp, she 
is trying to find activities such 
as tennis or karate where it’s 
easier for participants to socially 
distance. 
“If you don’t have to do it, 
why chance it,
” Vergun says. “I 
work part-time from home, so 
we don’t need camp, but I under-
stand everyone has a different 

situation. For some, camp is nec-
essary because parents work or 
they need it for their child’s men-
tal or physical well-being.
” 

Rachel 
Chynoweth

percent fewer campers this year. 
Although it has the outdoor 
space for more, the camp wants 
to safely accommodate partici-
pants indoors during inclement 
weather. 

KEEPING KIDS SAFE
In terms of what else camps 
are doing differently to operate 
during a pandemic, day camps 
will conduct daily health screen-
ings, keep campers in pods, elim-
inate out-of-camp trips, require 
masks in certain situations and 
perform additional sanitizing. 
Overnight camps will do the 
same, plus campers and staff are 
being asked to quarantine before 
camp and undergo COVID 
testing before and during camp. 
And, while the staff will continue 
to have to time off, they will have 
to stay onsite. 
“Since we closed camp last 
year on May 4, we’ve been work-
ing on opening for the summer 
of 2021. We began meeting very 
early on with our medical team 
and started talking about our 
dreams. What could we open? 
What would it look like?” says 

Lee Trepeck, CEO of Tamarack 
Camps. 
Willoway Day Camp was one 
of the few camps to open last 
summer and successfully offered 
eight weeks of camp, according 
to Lorraine Fisher, who co-owns 
Willoway with her husband, 
Arnie. 
Fisher attributes the success 
to several factors, including 
parental compliance. Campers 
received daily health screening 
forms, had temperature checks 
at home and before boarding the 
buses, and the camp followed 
CDC and state guidelines. Fisher 
says there won’t be any changes 
from how camp operated last 
year unless new guidelines come 
out. While the camp often has a 
waiting list, this is the first year 
that the list started as early as 
April. 
At Tamarack, there is a waiting 
list for second session at Camp 
Maas, and first session is prac-
tically filled. Camp Kennedy 
is filled, and Camp Olmstead 
has limited space, according to 
Trepeck.
At the JCC Day Camps, the 

number of newly enrolled camp-
ers is up from 2019. Comensky 
attributes the increase to targeted 
marketing strategies, but he said 
that some returning families 
are hesitant to enroll. Instead, 
they are taking a wait-and-see 
approach, with decisions being 
based on any new government 
guidelines and the number of 
COVID cases. Comensky also 
acknowledged that some are 
reluctant to register based on 
the misconception that the JCC 
building closure, announced last 
year, will affect the camp. 
“
Although the building is not 
open like it was in the past, we 
continue to have a ton of pro-
gramming going on. The JCC is 
still thriving in programming, 

including camp,
” says Comensky, 
adding that the camp also has 
more financial aid available 
because last year’s scholarship 
money went unused. 
Based on Trepeck’s conversa-
tions with parents, he found that 
even for those who are nervous 
about sending their children to 
camp, that nervousness is bal-
anced by an eagerness to have 
their kids back at camp. 
“The campers, the staff, our 
community, everyone’s had such 
a tough year, and kids need 
camp,
” Weinstock says. “They 
need to come. They need to be 
kids. They need to play outside 
and be with other kids and be off 
their electronics and just be able 
to enjoy themselves.
” 

Kids have fun at 
JCC Day Camps

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