Excitement builds as summer camps get ready for full reopening

School is out and so is the sun, and many people in the province are getting ready to head back to summer camps.

“After a couple of years of either no camp or smaller camps, we’re really excited to get going again and get to show off our facilities and all the improvements we’ve gotten to do over the last couple years,” said Michael Paul, director of Kenosee Boys & Girls Camp.

In the summer of 2020, everything was shut down, so there were no camps. Paul said they took that opportunity to do some renovations at the camp.

“I swear we worked 14 hours a day, every day,” he said.

Last year they did have camps running, but Paul said capacity was scaled back, with limits on registration.

“It was fun to get back into it, but the energy level of 50 kids versus 100 kids is very different,” explained Paul.

This year they’re back to full capacity, and it seems both parents and kids are excited about it, because Paul said it’s been a good year for registrations.

“We’ve been having pretty much a constant flow of camper registrations coming in,” Paul said.

Their camp weeks are either at full capacity or near it, something Paul said wasn’t normal for them even before the pandemic.

“Families are just excited to get out and start having some kind of socializing, and getting their kids back out into summer camp,” he said.

The first camp started on Sunday, and Paul said they’ve been preparing since the May long weekend, finishing up the renovations and making sure everything is ready.

“It just feels so amazing, feeling the support from the community and having people coming back out and excited to get involved and excited to send our kids to camp again,” said Paul.