Dear Agawam Community,
Last Saturday, the Agawam Council Board of Directors and Leadership Team met and unanimously determined, with great sadness, to suspend Agawam’s seven-week camp program for summer 2020.
Yesterday, we sent the letter below to parents and staff sharing the news. As you may imagine, this has been a difficult choice to make, but it is the right decision for Agawam at this time.
Many alumni and parents have already asked “How can I help?” Agawam remains in a position of strength in these uncertain times and can weather this summer storm. That said, our losses will be substantial and take many robust years to recover.
We will be in touch in the coming weeks to share how you can help Agawam maintain our standards of excellence in youth development as we prepare again to serve boys from around the world in future summers on Crescent Lake.
Thank you for your loyal support. We wish you courage, joy, kindness, and good health.
In Agawam spirit…
“Chief” Erik Calhoun “Admiral” Peter Wilson, Jr.
Camp Director President, Agawam Council
May 26, 2020
Dear Agawam Parents,
It is with deep sadness that we share the news that Camp Agawam will be suspending our seven-week program in 2020. We are heartbroken and grieve the loss of this summer with your son and family. During a time when we have all experienced so much loss and distress, we know that camp has been a beacon of hope for many. This will be the first summer in Camp Agawam’s 100-year history without our storied program. It will be too quiet on Crescent Lake.
This spring, it became apparent that 2020 would not be the summer we all hoped it would be. Yet, we held out hope, because of our love for you all, and the immeasurable connections that we hold so dear. Like you, we understand that part of “seeking the joy of being alive” is having optimism that tomorrow will be even brighter than today.
We have deliberately sent this this e-mail directly to parents and not campers. We understand that there may likely be an emotional and difficult conversation in your home. We encourage you to view the short video that accompanies this message and determine how you would like to share our news with your son. Please reach out if we can be of any assistance as you support him: Video message from Chief.
Even as the pandemic unfolded these past few months, we held out hope that there was a way to keep our campers, staff, and communities healthy while holding on to the vital qualities of an Agawam experience. Along with our peer camps, our board of directors, volunteer medical professionals, and camp associations, we examined best practices consistent with federal and state guidelines. Increasingly, we reached the difficult realization that with the current protocols and requirements in place, to proceed with camp would yield an Agawam experience that would be profoundly different and not meet our program goals. One of the important things that defines Agawam – the closeness of our community – is the very thing that the virus prevents us from accomplishing.
Even as we suspend our core program, we continue to explore other options that might provide some kind of in-person small-scale programming at Camp, and ways to connect with all of you from a distance as we navigate this together in the coming months. You will be hearing more from us as we respond to developments and finalize plans to keep you and your family connected with Agawam this summer. In the meantime, we are also planning for summer 2021 and want to assure families that all enrolled campers and Senior Club for this summer will be welcomed back next summer.
Families will have the opportunity to roll tuition payments forward into future programming, summer 2021, turn them into a charitable contribution, or receive a refund. We will share a process for each of these choices in the coming days.
In Agawam Spirit……
“Chief” Erik Calhoun “Admiral” Peter Wilson, Jr.
Camp Director President, Agawam Council
May 8, 2020
Dear Agawam Family,
While we hope that we will be able to operate our program this summer, Camp Agawam continues to constantly monitor, evaluate, and respond to the best advice of public health officials, youth development experts, and constraints placed on the camping industry by policy makers. Our top priority as we weigh our options is to ensure the health and safety of our campers, staff, and their families. Much remains uncertain, and the situation is evolving rapidly. Each day brings new considerations. With the news of the day, we are sometimes disappointed as the road ahead looks less certain and sometimes buoyed by what we hear.
As we consider our ability to open for the 2020 season, we continue to fall back on our core values as indicated in the Woodcraft Laws – Beauty, Truth, Fortitude and Love. As we run through various contingency plans and what-ifs, we ask ourselves whether we can deliver on the Agawam experience. Can we deliver the magic – the essential and sometimes indescribable feeling that Agawam has provided young men for 100 years under the constraints required to ensure the well-being of our community?
We are grateful that the outbreak has been relatively mild in most corners of Maine thanks to aggressive social distancing since mid-March. Last week, Maine’s Governor announced a four-stage outline of her plan for the gradual reopening of the state’s businesses and activities. We will do our very best to keep our various community members informed as to how this plan, and other considerations might affect our ability to open this summer.
At the moment, there seems to be a pathway to opening residential summer camps with a target date of July 1, assuming the epidemiological situation remains positive. Here is what we understand about the situation and the steps we are taking to proceed:
- The 50th Main Idea and the 101st Camp Agawam season will be delayed. If we are able to open at a later date, we will share a detailed plan with all participants as quickly as possible.
- We eagerly anticipate the release of key pieces of information that will inform the best practices that we are committed to following if we open.
- From the State of Maine:
- safety checklist for residential summer camps
- additional guidance on the current 14-day quarantine upon entry to Maine
- further information about group size capacities
- From the American Camp Association:
- Camp Operations Field Guide for 2020 from the American Camp Association with guidance from a professional health and engineering consultant group and in consultation with the CDC.
- After receiving these two documents, we will test a comprehensive operational plan to see if we can safely welcome staff and campers to campus while maintaining the essential parts of the Agawam experience.
- We anticipate being able to announce a decision about the summer in mid-May.
- From the State of Maine:
Know that whatever decision we come to regarding the season, our commitment to the safety and well-being of campers, staff, and our community remains in the forefront of our minds. We know that being together at Agawam feels as vital as ever. We look forward to the day when we’ll be going back to Agawam with you.
In Agawam spirit . . .
“Chief” Erik Calhoun
April 2020
Dear Agawam Family,
It goes without saying that here at Camp Agawam we are all working through some very new and unusually hard issues. The current global pandemic is fluid and is changing daily – even hourly. It is testing our adaptability and our patience, and I imagine that everyone reading this is feeling similarly. I want to make sure that you hear a few things from me directly. First, and most important, is that we are planning for Camp Agawam to be open the summer of 2020. We have been hiring staff, reserving campsites and doing all we can do to make sure that we are ready for campers to arrive on opening day.
I know that Camp Agawam is vital to the lives of many members of our community. With that in mind, we continue to evaluate options for the summer so that we can be adaptable to circumstances that we simply cannot predict. We hired an extra (third) nurse for summer 2020 and are evaluating our healthcare plan in accordance with advice from a variety of professional organizations. Thus, while it is our primary goal and expectation that Agawam be open for the full summer, we are equally committed to doing anything possible to create an on-site Agawam experience this summer. All of this is with the firm understanding that the safety and well-being of our campers and staff will always be our first priority. We expect to be able to share a more detailed plan by May.
With all of the uncertainty out there in the world I feel very lucky to be a part of the Camp Agawam community. I went to Agawam last weekend just to walk around. There was still some snow on the ground and the lake still frozen. All in all, it was quiet and beautiful – too quiet. As I walked around camp, I closed my eyes and imagined all the sights and sounds and pure joy of the summer. I simply cannot wait for Agawam to be full and alive again.
We will continue to post fun camp related items regularly on social media (Facebook and Instagram). The COVID-19 crisis is a true test of our collective compassion and resilience and presents true opportunity to live and breathe the Agawam values and Woodcraft Laws that we hold so close to our hearts. My wish for you is that you have good health and peace in these uncertain times, and that you will meet any adversity you might face with truth, beauty, fortitude and love.
In Agawam Spirit……
“Chief” Erik Calhoun
