Dear Runoia Families and our “Runoia Family”,
Here is our weekly update bring April to a close with a hint of some great news:
Our Maine Governor, Governor Janet Mills, with the Director of Maine CDC, Dr. Shah, presented a press conference yesterday. These two have given us hope and as clear as possible messages in these unprecedented times. The great news is with strict practices, Maine has been flattening the curve over the past few weeks. Yesterday’s press conference was a detailed plan about the roll out phases of restarting the Maine community with public health and safety being a priority. You can find more details on the Maine plan here.
Governor Mills put resident summer camps in phase 3 of the roll out plan. This means, if everything goes to the standards her team has set, we will be able to open Camp Runoia in July! This would mean we are looking and hoping for the 2nd contingency plan of camp we mentioned in the April 15 update here. In short, we open camp in July for 2 shorter sessions and full season campers may attend camp both sessions.
As you can imagine the over 100 Maine resident summer camps have been waiting for guidelines so we can make decisions about camp that make sense. The plan and partial mandates given yesterday (including a stay at home order extended through May 31 and 14 day quarantine upon entering the state) leaves us with a lot of questions. Fortunately, we have Maine Summer Camps Executive Director, Ron Hall and the Executive Board meeting with the governor’s task force as soon as tomorrow to get more answers to our many questions. We have a camp “Town Hall” on Friday and hope to receive more clarity.
As soon as we have more information and can set dates and parameters for travel and more, we will be in touch. We realize this is an ever evolving and dynamic situation. We appreciate your hope, support and patience.
Meanwhile, we continue to lay out health and safety plans for our current employees, our equine team, our local Belgrade Lakes tradespeople (from plumbers to wifi specialists) to keep them safe as we ramp up camp in preparation for the 2020 season. We take the health and safety of our campers, our camp families, our employees and local business families very seriously.
From Great Pond, we send you love and a “wadas”. We will continue to update you in a transparent manner as soon as possible.
For the Whole Runoia Crew,
Pam