The Monterey Recreation Division staff was still weighing on Monday, May 4, whether it could offer any type of summer camps during the Covid-19 pandemic. Just a few days before, Monterey County Health Officer Edward Moreno said camps could take place with groups of 12 campers or less that didn't interact with other groups.
“It’s still up in the air,” Shannon Leon, Monterey’s interim recreation and community services manager, told the Weekly.
Four days later, the Recreation Department made what it called a "heartbreaking announcement": the city will not be offering camps this year.
"We arrived at this conclusion after ongoing conversations with local and regional medical authorities and other experts, as well as deep consideration by the city leadership team," the announcement states.
"Ultimately, we determined that there are simply too many risks both known and unknown, both now and over the full summer, to hold our programs as usual."
Last year, Monterey enrolled 80 kids a week in day camps and 80 kids at residential Camp Quien Sabe at Toro Park. The Monterey Sports Center hosted around 2,000 children in its camps. The playground program had 400 registrations.
The department will offer virtual opportunities, as it has been doing since shelter-in-place began in March.
Other recreation departments and nonprofit agencies around the county are currently working on their own decisions to continue camps this summer. Some are planning camps beginning in July. The Central Coast YMCA intends to organize camps around the same procedures as its childcare for essential workers. The SPCA for Monterey County is planning a virtual camp to start the summer season.
Below is the full text of Monterey's announcement.
Dear Monterey Recreation Families,
After months of carefully following and evaluating the evolving COVID-19 situation, the City of Monterey Recreation Division has reached the heartbreaking decision to cancel our traditional, in-person activities this summer. This includes our many Community Center programs, Field Sports Camps, Summer Playgrounds, Whispering Pines Day Camp and Camp Quien Sabe Youth Overnight Camp and Family Camp Weekend.
Notifications conveying the news, along with our deep sadness, were sent today to families, staff, and other members of our camp and youth communities. This year marks the first time in over 65 years that we will not offer our essential and dearly loved summer camps.
Coming to This Difficult Decision
We arrived at this conclusion after ongoing conversations with local and regional medical authorities and other experts, as well as deep consideration by the City leadership team. Ultimately, we determined that there are simply too many risks both known and unknown, both now and over the full summer, to hold our programs as usual.
Although we have continued to plan, prepare and hope for another amazing summer, the risks posed by COVID-19 threaten our mission to the Monterey community: the health and well-being of our children and staff that attend camp, along with their families back home. These risks also compromise our ability to provide the excellence in programming and participant care that are hallmarks of Monterey Recreation programs. The required changes to summer activities such as reducing the number of campers, no contact sports or games and more, which would render the heart of the summer program experience unrecognizable and would not permit us to live by our goals of health, safety and community.
Virtual Recreation Experiences
This is an incredibly challenging time and we are deeply grateful for everyone who is part of the camp and youth program community, including staff and alumni, all of whom have deep emotional connections to our programs. As we sing at camp, “We are the campers, campers are we. Bom! Bom! Bom! Happy go lucky, careless but free, please help us! We are the best of, all of the rest of, we are the campers. Rah! Rah!” While nothing can replace the feeling of being together in person, Monterey Recreation is committed to offering virtual recreation opportunities this summer to ensure that the ties that bind campers to one another and to their summer home remain as strong as ever. The Monterey Recreation team will be serving our participants and families in new, creative and different ways through this unique moment in time.
Moving Forward and Looking to the Future Together
The decision to cancel in-person activities and camps this year is based on our values, with health and safety as our highest concern. This is the best decision, even as the reality is also clear that its financial ramifications are significant, both today and looking forward. If at any point, new conditions arise that enable us to be able to provide in-person gatherings, doing so will be our top priority.
If you have any questions, please contact Interim Recreation and Community Services Manager, Shannon Leon at montereyrecreation@monterey.org or call the Monterey Recreation Office at 831.646.3866 and we will return your call as soon as possible.
For now, we are stronger together by staying apart. Until we are able to see you again, may we each move forward with hope for better days ahead. How thankful we will be when we can be together again. We will come through this more resilient than ever!
Sincerely,
The Monterey Recreation Team
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