Summer is (almost) here!

In our last update, we announced that the BC government was lifting its ban on overnight camps for children and that conditions and guidelines would be released soon. Well, we received the guidelines earlier this week, and after considering what was required to run overnight camps under COVID restrictions and how late it is in the year, we have made the hard decision to not host overnight camps. We know that some will be very disappointed about this. Still, an honest evaluation has led us to decide that we do not have the resources to run overnight camps safely.

The good news is that we have been planning day camps for months, and as of now, registration is reopened for our July day camps! We are excited to host two weeks of day camps in Williams Lake this summer! In addition to this, we still will have Family Camp at Camp Likely on the August long weekend.

If you are interested in day camp, please find more information here or register now!

One last thing - if you are 15 years or older and would like to help out at camp this summer, we have opportunities for you to join our staff! Staff training will be held at Camp Likely from July 12-18.

Thanks everyone for your patience and understanding as we make the long journey out of this pandemic together. I can't wait to see you this summer!

In Christ,

Brian

Overnight Camps on Quesnel Lake?!?

In case you haven't heard yet, our Provincial Health Officer announced yesterday that she is lifting the ban on overnight camps for children and youth this summer.

While of course we are elated by this news, it also means that we have a lot of details to figure out, and a lot of work to do in a short period of time. New guidelines won't be released until next week and at that point, we'll be able to get back to the drawing board. The announcement made it clear that there will be limitations on the overnight camps that do run, and an overnight camp will require a drastically different plan and a much larger staff than our day camp plan.

That being said, we're hopeful and expecting to have overnight camps. As it stands, our plan is to shift our planned camp days to overnights and not run day camps in Williams Lake. As excited as we were to do that, we simply don't have the resources to do both.

If you didn't make it through the rest of this post here's the most important point: overnight camps are coming to Camp Likely! We'll talk again next week with more details. Thank you for your patience and understanding! If you're looking for something to do in the meantime, consider applying as staff this summer!

We're Back!

It's been a long year folks, and are we ever excited to be back! Thanks so much for being patient while we try to figure out how to handle another challenging summer.

There have been a lot of changes since the last time we were able to have camp. If you haven't heard yet, Kate has moved on as Camp Director as her family welcomes their third baby into the mix! She is sad to leave Likely behind but is grateful for all that she learned about leadership and following Jesus, and feels so blessed for all the people she got to meet, work with, and serve along the way! We are so grateful as a camp for the faithful, effective leadership that Kate provided over the past 6 years.

I (Brian) will be stepping into the role as Camp Director. I live in Chilliwack, BC with my wife Lois and our 3 kids: Jack (4), Barnaby (2) and Nora (8 Months). We have a very busy house, but we sure do love it. As a family, we feel called to camp and have been involved full-time at a camp in Chilliwack since 2012. I'm super excited for the privilege to serve with Camp Likely and am looking forward to being a part of God's work at Likely this summer.

Speaking of which, summertime is coming soon, and we're eager to get back at what we love doing best: loving kids and sharing Jesus in a safe and inclusive camp environment. This year will be different from anything we've ever done before, and we're working hard to offer some awesome day camps that feel like Camp Likely. Due to the current COVID restrictions in BC, we aren't able to have overnight camps for kids, and since our camp is quite far from most people, we won't be able to run day camps on the site. Because of this, the board has decided to run day camps in Williams Lake, with a special family camp on-site at Camp Likely during the August long weekend. As we all know by now, COVID is an ever-evolving situation and will most certainly change again before summer. Rest assured that we will meet or exceed all public health requirements and as always will prioritize the safety of our campers! Watch the website and this blog for our upcoming safety plan and for more information on how we will reduce the risk of COVID at our camps.

Thanks, everyone for your support and patience in this time, we look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Brian Piccioni