A fun summer ahead at camp

Just because there’s a recession going on doesn’t mean parents have to pack away their child’s camping gear.

And parents who believe that there will be room at summer retreats because of the fiscal malaise may be in for a surprise, says Craig Hartley, camp director at Centauri Arts Camp.

“Bookings are down for the new campers but not necessarily for returning campers, which is interesting,” he said. “I think a lot of it is returning campers know the value of what they’re getting and where they’re going.”

Hartley admitted parents have expressed some trepidation when it comes to enrolling their children, though he added parents need to keep their options open as both residential and day camps are great sources of learning.

“Camps are educational, they are well worth the money, but it is a discretional amount and some families do struggle with that sometimes,” he said. “As far as trying to be recession proof, the camping association and a lot of camps are looking at diversifying because a lot of the camp-going community is obviously English speaking.”

With that in mind, the Niagara-based camp’s website has been translated into to seven different languages, including French, German, Spanish, Italian and Hebrew.

“Camps have historically looked at one specific market,” he said. “Obviously Canada is a very diverse country and we have not really tapped into that as much as perhaps we should.”

Closer to home at Bayview Glen, camp director Dara Kahane said she has seen an increase in return enrollment. She’s seen new registrations rise, too.

But she doesn’t want to count her pegs before the tent’s up.

“I hate to jinx myself but we are doing well,” she said. “Whatever the reason is, I somehow believe there is a trend that people may not have taken the cottage, the family vacation this summer.

“But they’re still valuing the importance of the social and the experience at day camp.”

As an added bonus, the federal government is offering a tax credit for camps that provide fitness programs.

“A lot of parents that might have to tone down on some of the programming, during the year, let’s say because of the economic thing,” Kahane said. “Maybe they’re not doing as many swimming lessons, but at Bayview Glen they’re getting it all.”

And at Sunnybrook Stables horse-riding camp, slow and steady wins the race, even with the recession chatter.

“Normally during our summer camps, we have 24 (students enrolled) and usually every session group has about 14 people on the waiting list,” stable manager Kelly Whitlock said. “So even if we go forward with nobody on the waiting list, or a couple of people, it’ll still fill up.”

And making new friends — horse and human alike — is key, she said.

“The kids are all together even if they are different ages,” Whitlock said. “The fact that they love horses brings them all together. Nine-year-olds are hanging out with 13-year-olds and they don’t care.

“It’s a great camp social-wise,” she added. “There are no cliques because they have such a bond over the horses.”

Whitlock said she’s looking forward to hanging with both her equine pals and with energetic camp goers, too.

“Every time I see the kids, I remember when I was at summer horse camp,” she said. “I would savour and breathe in every moment because it was a billion times better than anywhere else.”