The Clear Lake Chronicle is sent to members of the Camp Wenonah community throughout the year.
MARCH UPDATE FROM THE COVID-19 TASK FORCE
Wenonah's COVID-19 Task Force, which is led by Tom Appleyard (Emergency Management Consultant / Wenonah Camp Consultant), Katerina Podolak (Lead: COVID-19 Testing, Ontario Health), Brent Diverty (Vice President, Canadian Institute for Health Information), Nancy Vandenbergh (Nurse Practitioner, COVID Response, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre / Wenonah Director of Health & Wellness), and Jeff Bradshaw (Wenonah Owner & Executive Director, Vice President International Camping Fellowship and Past President Ontario Camps Association & Canadian Camping Association), continues to meet on a regular basis to develop plans and protocols for the Summer Camp season.

The Wenonah Management Team is hard at work making sure that Camp this year will be the same excellent experience as always, while managing risks associated with COVID-19. We are planning for all of our usual in-Camp activities. Some activities may look different based on recommendations received from public health authorities. 

In mid-April, we plan to share a more detailed plan about the Summer Camp experience for 2021. We will follow up with  our Final Forms & Details package for families by email in early May.

We are developing protocols with the current public health guidelines in mind. While engaging in this exercise now, we also anticipate these guidelines may be less restrictive as we get closer to the start of Summer Camp and we will review our protocols on a regular basis and update as needed. If we were to begin Camp today, these are some of the protocols we would likely have in place:
  • establishing camper cabin group cohorts
  • use of masks in indoor washrooms
  • regular testing for campers and staff at Camp
  • social distancing during meals in conjunction with our new outdoor seating space on the Lodge deck and in other spaces around the Lodge
  • frequent handwashing
  • regular health screening
We expect that Camp drop-off and pick-up procedures will be different this year. This may include longer drop-off and pick-up windows on opening and closing days. And we are reviewing bussing options for those that require it from the Toronto area.

We anticipate that families can do several things in the weeks leading up to Summer Camp to minimize the chances of bringing the virus into Camp. These include all members of the household minimizing contacts with others and using the COVID-19 Alert App (available in Canada). It may also include campers and staff being tested before Camp. Wenonah's COVID-19 Task Force is exploring the role that testing will play at Camp this year and will release initial guidelines and expectations in April. 

We are so excited for Camp because we know that so many things inherent to the Summer Camp experience allow us to be optimistic. For example, there is some significant built-in protection from COVID-19 given the "bubbled" nature of the community we build each Summer. The Camp community can isolate on our large, private site. The outdoor nature of so many of our programs also helps protect us from the spread of COVID-19. We also have an excellent health care team lined up for the Summer who will provide senior leadership at Camp. All of these factors and numerous others make us very optimistic about Summer Camp 2021!

We will continue to share regular updates as we look forward to a successful Summer Camp season. Look for our next major update to be distributed in mid-April.
FINAL PAYMENTS & REFUNDS

A friendly reminder that final payments on Summer Camp fees are due by April 1, 2021.
Payments can be made by:
International families are welcome to contact us about other payment methods.

Unsure of the balance that may be due? Simply log in to your family account to see the  payments that may be owing.
We know that many families are trying to make decisions during an uncertain time in the pandemic. While final fees are due by April 1, we have decided to modify our refund policy and extend our cancellation deadline to April 30. If you decide to cancel your registration by April 30, we will refund your full fees less a $200/week cancellation fee. This revised cancellation policy extends our cancellation date by one month (to April 30) and reduces the cancellation fee from $400/week/camper by 50% to $200/week/camper.

While we anticipate Summer Camp will go ahead, if for any reason plans change and overnight summer camps are once again cancelled by the Province of Ontario, just like in 2020, we are committed to either fully refunding families at their request or extending significant savings to those who move their registrations and credits on the fees they have paid forward to the 2022 season. For those who leave their fees with us, our Wenonah Champions Circle program (with over 400 current families) would provide members with additional discount opportunities at Wenonah for the coming years - plus we would extend an invitation to other families to join the Champions Circle who did not have the opportunity to do so in 2020.
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