Summer camps return but with fewer campers and counselors

That means this year’s camp experience will still involve many of the same prevention practices that were adopted at the small number of camps that operated last year. Those measures include grouping kids in cohorts, mandating masks, emphasizing social distancing — and lots of hand washing. Some states, like Vermont, are offering free virus testing for campers.

At an all-girls camp called Fernwood in Maine, about 200 of the 300 counselors and campers will be vaccinated by the time the six-week term starts.

“Going into it, it’s a much better scenario for us. Because instead of being worried about 300 people, we’re worried about 100 people,” Fernwood Director Fritz Seving said.

Norman plans to send daughter Jane Ellen to Camp Illahee in Brevard, North Carolina, and he’s glad the camp is encouraging vaccinations.

Jane Ellen agreed and said the focus on vaccines is a good idea.

“If most people are vaccinated, the more people can go,” she said.

Back at Glorieta, staff arrived in May from Oklahoma, Texas and a college town in Mexico called Puebla, where an in-person recruiting fair took place. They have been training on safety protocols, including virus protection, zip lining and life guarding.

The camp is running at one-third capacity — 1,100 out of 3,000 slots are filled — and staff will be grouped in pods. Kids are expected to wear masks, even outdoors, except when the are eating meals or in their sleeping dorm.