Archive for June, 2020

Registration Open!

by Tuna

Dear Camp Friends,

The moment has come!  We have done all we need to do to re-situate people and reopen registration.  Thanks for bearing with us!  So go ahead and grab your spot while you can.

I encourage you to register and pay as soon as possible for your best chance at reserving a session for your child.  Please select only one session for the summer per child.  If you select more than one session per camper, we will remove your child from all but one session of our choosing.

As a reminder, we are only taking those living in-state (VT) at this time.  If you live out of state, and would like an exception, please let us know and we can review your situation.

If the session you want for your child is full, I encourage you to sign up and get on the waitlist.  As we know, the pandemic is causing ongoing changes and that is one of the main reasons I encourage you to claim your spot on the waiting list.  Surely some spots will open up.  You will need to make a $50 deposit to get on the wait list and we can refund that $50 if your child does not end up being able to attend camp.

Get signed up here!  Register Now

Check out the pandemic response FAQ page here.  Feel free to ask any questions not answered there.

I pray that you and your family are finding peace and joy, even in these strange times.

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey
Executive Director

Find previous communications about summer 2020 here.

p.s. while some details on what summer camp will look and feel like are in the FAQ page, more are coming shortly!

Updated Summer 2020 Schedule Announced

by Tuna

I write this with reserved excitement.  It is exciting to offer resident camp in the context of the pandemic.  It is also going to be a special challenge for all involved.  Our primary goals are to create a distanced, safe, outdoor oriented program with special considerations for the Covid-19 crisis and to give children and teens an outlet for some of the things that have been missing in their lives lately.

Here are the sessions we know we are able to offer considering the many changes that needed to be made:

We are working daily to make the modifications necessary and get needed supplies.  We will do our best to keep a FAQ page up to date and add more detail as we create it.  Please feel free to call the office with questions – 802-672-5220.  Here is the page for your reference: https://www.bethanybirches.org/summer-2020-faq

If you are currently enrolled and want your child to come to Launch Day Camp A, July 6-10, please reply by this coming Sunday, June 14.  For all other sessions, please reply by Wednesday, June 17.  If you are not currently enrolled, we expect to reopen registration after June 17.

Thanks for joining us in this adventure so far.  I invite you to pray one of the prayers I have been praying lately – God, I thank you for (fill in anything you are thankful for).  God, also, I need help with (fill in anything you need help with).  Thankfulness and acknowledgment of our challenges and needs go hand in hand.

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey
Executive Director

Camp to start July 6 – Coronavirus update 3

by Tuna

Dear Camp Friends,

We know a lot more than we did last week!  Governor’s restart team gave the go ahead one week ago and our board of directors gave the go ahead on Wednesday night of this past week.  Working with our camp doctor and leadership team, we continue to create a modified way of doing camp that minimizes opportunities for virus transmission and utilizes guidance from the VT Health Department, CDC, and American Camp Association.

We are almost finished with our updated schedule.  We will not run all of our scheduled programs and plan to announce that by Wednesday of this coming week.  The first week of camp will be July 6 and will be Launch day camp for ages 6-10.

We know we will have at least four weeks of residential camp and probably two weeks of day camp.  After we share our updated schedule we will be emailing each family currently signed up and work to get you into whichever of the new programs you would like.  The way that process will work is fairly simple:

Respond to a future email indicating preference of session (we will give a deadline).

Pay your balance (by a deadline).

Review the materials we will send and prepare your camper for the modified experience (we will get this to you before the decision and payment deadlines). Noteworthy modifications relate to some new activities and some missing favorites, occasional required face covering for all (like during drop off, bathhouse, and meal prep. times), lots of hand-washing, assigned sleeping spaces etc.  We believe while it will feel quite different, campers will enjoy what we are preparing.

We plan to limit a camper to one session for the summer. Our goal is to serve as many different campers as possible given the reduced capacity (planning for 36 campers at a time so we can best follow guidance and requirements).  Until we help each enrolled family get into new sessions, we will keep registration closed.  After the decision deadline for current enrollees we will open registration back up until all spots are filled.

I am praying a part of Isaiah 40 for each of you.  It’s a prayer that I needed very much this week.  Starting at v. 28: “Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might God increases strength… they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  Bless you.

Brandon “Tuna” Bergey
Executive Director