For the first time in my professional life, I have some concerns about summer camp opening. It’s not what I want to even think about. However, as Mr. Rogers used to say, if it’s human, it’s mentionable. And, if it’s mentionable, it’s manageable.

Like many other cultural institutions, summer camp has been greatly affected by Covid-19. Thankfully, there are a number of wonderful resources helping us learn more and devine a future forward. Whether it’s the actions of the American Camp Association national office, our local ACA offices, the Jewish Federation of Camps, our local Department of Health offices: they are doing their all to determine a safe path forward.

The other resource we have are those who have lived through something similar. When all this starting happening, one of the first people I thought of was Bobby Harris, the longtime camp director of URJ Camp Coleman. While Bobby has been in camping a little while longer than I have, we’ve got a lot of connections: time spent in Boston, experiences helping to lead multiple camps and the virus that brought originally together 12 years ago. Heck, he’s even got one of our former campers playing guitar on the welcome page of his website!

This is a perfect time to learn from past and take inspiration for the future. Bobby Harris is the right camp director to provide both. I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation with my friend, Bobby Harris.

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Campfire Conversation

A Covid Camp Director