• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
South Muskoka Doppler

South Muskoka Doppler

Read Local

  • Home
    • All Stories
    • Community Guidelines
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Community
  • Commentary
    • Letters
  • Business
    • Professionally Speaking
  • Sports
  • Obituaries
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
  • Events
    • Event Listings
    • Add Your Event
  • Speak Up, South Muskoka!
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • North Muskoka
  • Art Fx
You are here: Home / News / Summer camps are finally back!

Summer camps are finally back!

By Doppler Online On July 7, 2022 Business, News

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Email this to someone
email
Print this page
Print

BY HILARY HILTON

Summer camps are a pastime many know and love and though they have been non-existent for the past two years, this widely cherished tradition is back.

Despite the unfortunate changes and hardships the Covid-19 pandemic has caused, local Muskoka camps such as Camp Mini-Yo-We have persevered and are ready to return to regular programming for the 2022 season.

Camp Mini-Yo-We is a youth leadership development organization in its 76th year of operation and executive director Rich Birch says that its mission is to “develop tomorrow’s leaders through life-changing adventures.”

COVID-19 restrictions did not allow overnight camps to run for the past two summers, but many local camps came up with alternatives for the use of their facilities for the summer of 2021.

Camp Mini-Yo-We offered family day camp programming in smaller numbers.

Birch says Camp Mini-Yo-We anticipates around 2,000 campers for the whole summer—around 400 per week—which is slightly lower than their usual 2,500 camper average.

“We’re down some, but not dramatically,” Birch says. “It’s still a big summer, and for most of our kids it’ll feel like everything’s back to normal.”

As with many summer camps, staffing has been Camp Mini-Yo-We’s greatest challenge this year. The camps have had difficulty finding an adequate amount of qualified staff members and have had limited time and resources for training. Birch says that Camp Mini-Yo-We also spent a great deal of effort on staffing this year, and had fewer previous staff return for this season. “We knew that there was going to be a problem getting staff to come back,” he says. “A lot of
other camps are reporting 30 to 40 per cent less staff coming back. We’re nowhere near that; I’m actually super proud of the level of staff that we have acquired, but we did spend more time, effort, and energy on that over this last year.”

Birch says there remains some hesitancy among parents of campers, particularly the five to ten age group, and staff have some concerns about returning to normal camp operations. Despite all of this, spirits are high overall and the excitement has prevailed over the nerves.

“We are really excited and fired up to be running camp again,” Birch says. “Obviously, there is a certain amount of jitters, but that’s to be expected. So much of what we do is passed down from one generation to the next and we’ve had two years without any kids here. But I would say overall, we’re excited.”

Don’t miss out on Doppler!

Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!

Click here to support local news

Reader Interactions

Join the discussion:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All comments are moderated. Please ensure you include both your first and last name and abide by our community guidelines. Submissions that do not include the commenter's full name or that do not abide by our community guidelines will not be published.

Primary Sidebar

  • Recent Stories
  • Popular
  • July 18, 2022 3

    Councillor proposes Bracebridge-wide item swap weekends

  • August 6, 2022 3

    Is Muskoka going to the dogs?

  • July 14, 2022 2

    Cyclist struck in Gravenhurst

  • August 8, 2022 2

    Muskoka Lakes considers indoor lighting restrictions

  • July 29, 2022 1

    MAHC self-screening requirements for COVID-19 start July 28

  • August 12, 2022 0

     District passes accidental water leak policy

  • August 12, 2022 0

    Council considers basketball courts in Bala

  • August 12, 2022 0

    Dockside Festival and Muskoka Music Festival join forces

  • August 11, 2022 0

    Complaint leads to impaired charges in Gravenhurst

  • August 11, 2022 0

    Brenda Rhodes running for District council

  • 2021 Federal Election (1)
  • A Sponsored Profile (6)
  • Advertise (1)
  • Art Fx (13)
  • Breaking (2)

Footer

About Doppler

Established by a bunch of local news hounds, Doppler strives to be the go-to source for people wanting to know more about what is going on their community.

We strive to provide local news that is relevant and timely. We also look to tell local stories that inspire, inform and engage.

Notice the persistent use of the word local? Our mantra is local. South Muskoka Doppler serves the communities of Bracebridge, Gravenhurst and Muskoka Lakes with features on local people doing extraordinary things, local business spotlights, news and sports coverage, all supplemented by provocative opinion pieces on topics near and far. We are working hard for you.

Feel free to drop us a line at matt.driscoll@doppleronline.ca and tell us how we are doing, what you would like to see more of, or to just say ‘Hi’.

Thank you for reading Doppler.

South Muskoka Doppler – READ LOCAL
A division of C3 Digital Media Group Inc.

Bracebridge Ontario Canada
August 12, 2022, 10:39 pm
Clear
Clear
13°C
real feel: 14°C
current pressure: 1020 mb
humidity: 81%
wind speed: 0 m/s N
wind gusts: 0 m/s
UV-Index: 0
sunrise: 6:15 am
sunset: 8:30 pm
© 2022 AccuWeather, Inc.
 

Recent Comments

  • Jackson Triggs on Wakes, noise and speed: Lakes survey reflects growing frustrations
  • Robert Dyment on Graydon Smith faces charges laid by private citizen
  • brian sisler on One person dead, one injured in Bracebridge shooting
  • RJR on What on earth has happened to us? | Commentary
  • RJR on Is Muskoka going to the dogs?
  • Heather Boyce on Muskoka Lakes considers indoor lighting restrictions
  • Bob Braan on Muskoka Lakes considers indoor lighting restrictions
  • Bob Braan on Is Muskoka going to the dogs?

Copyright © 2022 ·Doppler Online, a division of C3 Digital Media Group Inc. · Log in
  • About
  • Support Local News
  • Advertise with us!
  • Community Guidelines
  • Contact