Hello BLC Parents,

We hope you have had a good week. We have had a very good one here at BLC. Lots of playing, smiles, laughter, less homesickness than most years (and those cases dissipated quickly or have become far less frequent). We have had tons of activities and fun.

I told our counselors during orientation that the goal for the first few days of camp is no hospital trips and that they would likely feel overwhelmed, but for the past 104 years, a sense of calm and consistency will emerge anywhere from day three to day eight. We have had no hospital trips and a feeling of calm emerged this year on day 5 (Thursday).

We have had great weather. Nice days and cool (a few cold) nights. We’ve completed the necessary physicals, and our many first year campers have “learned the ropes” and are fully assimilated into the groups. Thankfully, Covid has stayed away. Friday marked our first day trips and intercamp game, and the start of our counselor days off and nights out. This next week, we have some trips and more intercamp games for our Seniors. We look forward to brother-sister visiting and co-ed events with our sister camp, Point O’ Pines this week. We plan all to be outdoors and Covid-sensitive – but, of course, will also need some good fortune.

KEY STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION

To clarify for you all, our extensive key staff that is available for you to contact if needed is:

Frosh, Soph A’s, Soph B’s, and Junior A’s

Director: Andy Berlin (andy@brantlake.com)

• Frosh & Soph A’s grouphead: Mani Cadet (mani@brantlake.com)
• Soph B’s grouphead: Alexa Minion (alexa@brantlake.com)
• Junior A’s grouphead: Jon Rothman

Junior B’s, Inter A’s, and Inter B’s

Director: Max Gersten (max@brantlake.com)

Assistant Director: David “Cuts” Cutler (cuts@brantlake.com)

• Junior B’s Grouphead: Joe Patrick, and Assistant: Thea Gersten (thea@brantlake.com)
• Inters Key Staff: Rhods Dafydd, Tarik Hamer, Finlay Mann, Jake “Swirls” Bernstein, and John Vaslowski

Senior Camp

Assistant Director and Head Counselor: Zach Cohen (zach@brantlake.com)

Administrative Assistant: Nick Maske (nick@brantlake.com)

• Seniors Key Staff: Tom Finnigan, Joe Russack-Baker, Kofi Hope-Gund, Evan Allred, Gonzo Crespo, Cole McKissock

Office and Health Center

Assistant Director and Office Administrator: Jen Gillet (jen@brantlake.com)

Health Center Coordinator: Julia Hall (healthcenter@brantlake.com) 

VISITING DAY UPDATE

This is a conundrum. As you surely know many camps have canceled their visiting day this summer. We have made the decision to HAVE visiting day. There will be some adaptations, a couple we are announcing below (to give you time to plan, or adjust plans, accordingly) and others we will communicate to you next week (i.e. more of the specific logistical details). We look forward to welcoming you; and, of course, your children look forward to seeing you. 

No one has a perfect view on how to best deal with Covid. No one can please everyone all of the time. We make decisions as best we can, looking at the best information available and using our intuition and judgment/experience as camp directors. My good friend Jim Delany, former commissioner of the Big Ten, says often to me that the 90-10 decisions are easy, the 55-45 decisions are not.

(Preliminary) Adaptations to Visiting Day:

• There will be mandatory testing for parents prior to coming. (Additional details and logistics to come later.)

• The day will be completely outdoors. We have plans if it’s raining (not a change in date/rain date) that we will alert you to closer to the day should the forecast indicate it’s likely.

• Parents that have two or more campers at BLC can only visit one day (either Saturday or Sunday) this summer, but their visiting day will end at 4:30pm instead of 3:30pm. (We will make an additional adjustment for those who have one of two/three campers in Senior Camp; we will contact those families separately to provide that information.) 

Adjustments to Senior Camp Visiting Day 

• All Seniors will be allowed to leave camp during the day on Saturday. There will be expectations for all when out of camp.
• Senior A’s parents will not visit their sons at camp. We will deliver your sons to you by bus on Saturday morning, and pick them up that evening to return to camp. (Details of the drop-off/pick-up locations and exact timing will be worked out with you at a later date.) If you have never been to BLC before, we will give you the option of picking up your Senior A on Saturday morning and getting a tour of camp. 
• Uphill Senior C’s will not be allowed to leave camp on Friday night. We will have an outdoor graduation ceremony for our Uphill C’s at 8:30pm on Friday, which we welcome and hope the parents of our Uphill Senior C’s will come and attend at camp. On Saturday, we will deliver your sons to you by bus in the morning, and pick them up that evening to return to camp. (Details of the drop-off/pick-up locations and exact timing will be worked out with you at a later date.)
• Downhill Senior C’s will not be allowed to leave camp (for dinner or to sleep out) on Friday night. On Saturday, we will deliver your sons to you by bus in the morning. We will have parents drive their kids back to camp on Saturday night so they can attend the outdoor graduation ceremony for the Downhill Senior C’s at 9pm on Saturday. (Details of the Saturday morning drop-off location and exact timing will be worked out with you at a later date.)

As a reminder, Visiting Day for Frosh, Sophs (A’s & B’s), Juniors (A’s & B’s), and Seniors (A’s, Uphill & Downhill C’s) is on Saturday, July 23. Visiting Day for Inter A’s and Inter B’s is on Sunday, July 24.

Of course we are open to your positive and negative feedback.

Speak to you next week!

Richie Gersten, Executive Director
RichieG@brantlake.com