Update - May 31st, 2021

Dear Families, 

The following is a long email, please review as there is a ton of information. In summary: while we are still waiting for a confirmed green light from public health, we have seen draft guidelines and we will be moving forward at least with AC and LTP at this time. We hope to have more information regarding Second Session by early next week. We’ll be holding info sessions via zoom in the weeks to come with more info.  We are optimistic and operating under the assumption that camp will run in some form this summer.

On May 16th, Doug Ford announced that Summer Camps in Ontario will open this summer. Following that announcement, Ontario released their re-opening strategy.  In it, Phase one is listed as beginning as early as June 14th, and includes rental facilities being able to open which means our BB B&B program can likely go forward as planned. 

Phase Two, which will begin as early as the first week of July, includes overnight camps being able to run with the stipulation that each individual health unit will make their own decision about whether or not camps can run, and how. 

We have recently been able to see draft summer camp guidelines from Ontario Public Health and were relieved to see that all COVID-19 protocols BB Camp plans to implement in some cases exceed the guidelines stipulated in the draft.  We don’t anticipate having to make any significant changes to our program further than what we’ve all become accustomed to in regards to masking, social distancing, and working within cohorts. 

In summary, we continue to receive good news, but we’re not there yet.  There are a few crucial things that need to happen in the next month to ensure we are able to run the programs we have planned for the summer:

1. ON/MB Border - The border closure has recently been extended to June 16th. While this poses no issue for us bringing staff to the island, it does become a barrier to participants. We are hoping that the border will be opened prior to July 2nd, and have contingency plans in place in case they don’t.

2. Public health approval of guidelines - Unfortunately government bureaucracy moves slowly, and while there are conversations surrounding camps happening in Southern Ontario and at Queen’s Park, they have yet to reach Northwestern Ontario. We are incredibly grateful for all the hard work the Northwestern Health Unit has done for the community, and are patiently waiting for them to review the draft guidelines and come to a decision. We will provide updates as soon as we receive them.

3. Vaccination rates / Pandemic Conditions in Winnipeg and beyond - This is the most important piece as it affects the reopening of the border, as well as our ability to run camp safely. We encourage all of our families to follow public health guidelines, and get vaccinated as soon as they are able to. Almost all published reopening plans are contingent on population vaccination rates and so without significant vaccination uptake in MB and/or ON, reopening phases aren’t able to move forward.

With expanded eligibility for vaccinations, and significant access to rapid antigen testing on-site, we are still optimistic for the summer. We continue to bring additional staff to the island, and are working incredibly hard creating outdoor dining spaces, updating and refining our maintenance protocols, and planning our programs to once again open BB Camp to the community.

Now that we’ve seen the draft guidelines, we are putting the finishing touches on our COVID-19 field guide that will include all precautions and restrictions for parents to review.  We have scheduled an additional board meeting for early next week to review the final few policies and then will be in a position to present them to our community. Please save the date for the following Info Sessions. We will be sending out further information including our COVID-19 BB Camp guide, as well as packing lists for respective programs before these zoom town halls. 

AC Info Session - June 9th @7PM CST

LTP Info Session - June 10th @ 7PM CST

Second Session Info Session - June 13th @ 7PM

For each meeting, we would like to reserve the first 40 minutes of each meeting to speak directly to the campers, and answer any questions they may have, and then afterwards we will stay on zoom as long as needed to answer any parent questions. 

As always, there are still many unknowns and if you have questions, or hypothetical scenarios to ask about, feel free to shoot us an email. 

We look forward to seeing you on zoom in the coming weeks!

Jacob + Lexie

Update - May 10th, 2021

Hi Folks, 

It’s a strange time. On one hand, the country is in the depths of a brutal third wave.  We’re thinking about all of you working on the front lines, and to so many of you who are going to be supporting your kids while they adjust to remote learning once again.  We can only imagine how difficult it must be to be optimistic about the summer at a time like this.

At the same time, we’ve had some positive developments. Children 12+ will be eligible for vaccines in the coming weeks, and we finally have a reliable supply of rapid antigen COVID testing on Camp thanks to a generous grant from the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. We’ve been utilizing these tests in addition to daily screening, and strict COVID safety measures.  Speaking of opening, we arrived at Camp a couple of weeks ago, and as of Friday our full opening team of 8 staff are here. The water is running, the toilets are flushing, and the island wintered exceptionally well. 

Due to the fluidity of the situation, and in consultation with our Board of Directors, and Medical Committee, we have decided to revise our strategy in regards to drop dates for Second Session, AC, and LTP, and postpone a final decision about these programs.  You will hear from us again on or before June 1st with an update as we closely watch the vaccination campaign nationwide ramp up. We know for some families this timeline and lack of clarity doesn’t work. We are happy to refund any deposits for families that need to make a decision at this time. 

For us, we feel that the best thing our organization can do is to stay hopeful for a little bit longer as we see how the next few weeks progress.  We already have our plan B in place, and we will be launching registration for First Session BB B&B on May 21st first to families who had registered for First Session, and then to the general public on May 24th. To learn more about this program, please visit www.bbcamp.ca/planbnb. We are hopeful that the provincial border will be open by the time rentals are being offered. 

Our conversations over the last year with our staff and so many of you have made it increasingly clear how difficult this time has been for all of us, and how privileged we all are to have a place like camp to call home.  If there is even the slightest chance that we can still run a safe program, and welcome our community’s youth to the island, we’re happy to wait a little bit longer, we hope you’ll wait with us. 

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out by e-mail if you have any questions or concerns.

Lexie + Jacob

Update - April 20th, 2021

The last time you heard from us we had set out drop dates for each session, and today is the drop date for First Session. Unfortunately, we have not heard anything from either the Manitoba or Ontario governments regarding summer camp guidelines, and so after close consultation with public health officials, and our Board of Directors, we are making the difficult decision to pivot how we will be offering programming for the first portion of the summer.   

While we are obviously disappointed to be making this announcement, we still believe there are reasons to be hopeful about the rest of our summer programs. We will be sticking to the previously announced schedule of drop dates for Second Session + Day Camp (May 15), LTP (June 1), and AC (June 30),

In lieu of a traditional first session program, we would like to introduce you to a new program we plan to run on Town Island this summer, BB Bed & Breakfast, an all-inclusive family summer camp experience. While Families that have registered for camp will have early access to registration for this new program, we invite you to sign up for the waitlist. 

Though nothing is certain for this operating season, we remain hopeful that BB Camp will be able to welcome the community back to the island this summer one way or another.  We recognize that now more than ever, we all need camp. While this is an imperfect solution, we want the island to be enjoyed and used by our camp community this summer, and feel that this plan maximizes our chances of making that happen. We will be heading out to the island in the next few weeks (essential travel for work) to begin preparing the facility to welcome you back.  

See you soon, 

Lexie + Jacob