‘Masks up, let’s go!’ become our new mantra for Harmonyville. It not only speaks to the practical action of putting up our masks but also to digging into covid-19 protocols and operating camp safely and with intention. With safety procedures in place like masks, increased hand washing and sanitation we are living the camp 2020 Harmonyville experience. Our blog posts haven’t been a priority as we have been busy making the camp magic work but we thought you would like to know how it’s going.
After all the weeks of planning, sleepless nights, reading and the re reading of protocols from all of the governing bodies we are here on Great Pond running camp!
So far our staff group is on site, training and practicing the’ how to’s?’ of not only camp life but also of navigating covid-19. We are working hard to iron out the teething challenges and hope to have all of the kinks figured out before our girls get here. It has definitely been a lesson in being ‘patient with the process’ and setting realistic and attainable goals. Our first day goal was just to make sure everyone was fed and had an assigned bed to sleep in! There are some things that are simple to make safer, cleaner or more socially distant and others that are really difficult. We are trying, failing and then trying again in order to perfect new operating procedures. The learning curve was initially really steep as it is also a challenge to unlearn the ways that you have been doing everything for so many years. Now after a week we really have it down and feel confident that our approach is working well.
The entire staff team is amazing, everyone is helping to figure out better ways to organize equipment, manage meals and maximize all of the fun that we can have at Runoia. We help remind each other to bring our masks, wash hands and sanitize and are all pitching in to get everything ready for opening day. Everyone is committed to making this the best summer that we can for our campers while keeping everyone as safe as possible.
When it comes to wearing masks we really recommend that campers practice at home. It is a bit odd at first to wear your mask when you are in the company of the friends that you don’t live in a cabin with. We got used to it pretty quickly and we can smile with our eyes really well now. We found that wearing our name badges for a lot longer made it easier to get to know everyone. It’s hard to remember names when you don’t get to see all of the persons face. Be sure to pack a few masks, they get kind of sweaty or lost in a pocket. It’s fun to start to recognize people by their mask style!
Things at camp do certainly seem a bit different yet so many things are the same: swimming in Great Pond on a hot day, watching the sunset, loons calling on the lake, the smell of pine trees, laughter, rain on the shack roof, ferns everywhere, people to hang out with, activities to try and a myriad of other little things that make Harmonyville so magical.
We are Runoia girls and we can do hard things! We are making the very best of a challenging situation, growing through it and we will be ready to help our campers have an absolute blast!
“Masks up, let’s go!’