07/22/2021
We're all sad, but so thankful to those who worked so hard to overcome the many COVID-related staffing and timing challenges to provide summer camp this year! Next summer will be so much dearer!!! Hopefully, many will take advantage of the opportunity for summer family camping rentals and retreats!
It saddens us to share today that Skye Farm is cancelling our programs scheduled to begin after July 18, 2021. This includes Adirondack Odyssey, Camplympics, and Mini Camp programs.
This has been a year of transitions, shortened timelines, and hard decisions, and the cancellation of these programs is a great disappointment for all the staff at Skye Farm. After a year without summer camp because of COVID-19, we worked hard to develop a slimmed down program schedule with reduced capacity limits to allow us to safely operate camp this year. Ongoing pandemic concerns meant that we only received permission from NYS to plan camp sessions in April this year, many months into our usual hiring and planning timeline. We also were unable to welcome any new or returning international staff members this year.
Skye Farm Camp needs a qualified Health Director each week and multiple staff who can provide excellent counseling to camper groups. We were fortunate to find a great RN with camp alumni connections who served as our nurse for the first 2 weeks of camp, but she is beginning a full-time nursing position and is unable to cover the rest of the summer. We have terrific counselors, but not enough to provide adequate coverage for the coming weeks. Our searches for additional staff have been ongoing, but we are out of time for the training and certifying that would be required for new staff. The reality of this leaves us disappointed and sad. We are grateful we were able to successfully run Campolodean last week, filling our site with the love and laughter and energy of summer camp, if only for one week.
Families who had registered for the cancelled programs are able to request a refund, transfer fees to next summer, or donate to support our ministry this summer. Our site will be open for cabin rentals and retreats for the remainder of the summer and into the fall.
While we hoped it wouldn’t be so, the effects of the pandemic have impacted Summer 2021 as well as Summer 2020 at Skye Farm. With a full year to prepare and more determination to see camp full and thriving than ever, we expect to be back in full swing for Summer 2022. We hope you’ll join us.
