News

Summer 2021 Update- 2/18/2021

Dear Hi-Rock Families,

This is the letter so many of you have been waiting for. It is the first step in getting our camp family back where we belong – on top of our favorite mountain, jumping into our favorite lake, hiking along our favorite trails and wishing upon our favorite stars. Today is the day we are opening registration for overnight summer camp 2021!

Don’t pack your trunk just yet! There are still many questions to be answered about this summer. We are awaiting revised guidance from the state which will hopefully allow overnight camps in Massachusetts to open. We are also continuing to monitor the coronavirus situation and working with camping professionals, medical experts, our local board of health, YMCA leadership and our board of managers to determine how and when we may open safely. But we are very hopeful and optimistic that there will be a way for us to reunite at our home away from home and we’re putting things in place to make that possible. Now is the time to reserve your spot and start dreaming about campfires, cabin chats and candlelight ceremonies.

We know some things will be different. Side hugs will become air hugs. The dining hall will become a collection of dining tents. We’ll be spreading out across our 1,000 acres like we have never spread out before. While things will be rearranged and reimagined, the most important parts will remain. We’ll be back together making friends, feeling the love of our Hi-Rock family, growing, thinking, laughing and learning together. And there will be no video screens in sight!

We’ll be keeping in close touch between now and summer to provide updates about what we know and how our plans are shaping up. As we have all learned, the impact of the coronavirus and measures we need to take to protect our community are ever-changing and hard to predict. We’ve prepared a frequently asked questions section on our website with up to date information about some of the key questions you might have right now. We’ll also host regularly scheduled family Zoom calls to answer your questions along the way. The first of these calls will be Monday, March 1, at 7:00 PM EST.

We know our camp plans will incorporate risk reduction recommendations from the CDC, the American Camp Association, the Association of Camp Nursing, and Environmental Health and Engineering Associates, along with adhering to guidance from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the MA Department of Public Health, our local board of health and our consulting pediatricians. These plans will include but not be limited to requiring all campers and staff to wear masks, treating cabin groups as distinct cohorts who will maintain social distance from other groups, adding handwashing and sanitizing stations and increased surface sanitization, daily health screenings, and pre-camp testing. We are working on fine-tuning details of other plans including testing during camp and pre-camp quarantines and will make those details available to families over the coming weeks. We anticipate needing to reduce capacity and we are capping registration at 50%, for now. If we need to limit capacity further, campers will retain their spot on a first come, first served basis. We do not anticipate providing transportation to or from camp this summer and we have eliminated one-week sessions to limit the frequency with which new campers enter the camp population.

Please note that any campers who experience COVID-related symptoms or who test positive while at camp will be isolated immediately and will need to be picked up and cared for by their parents or guardians until criteria for return to camp are met. This summer, families must ensure that they will be in a position to pick up their campers at any point in their stay.

As with 2020, there is no financial risk involved in registering for camp at this time given the uncertainties that remain. All payments and deposits will be refunded in the case that camp does not operate or a camper is withdrawn due to coronavirus concerns.

Please reach out with any questions you may have. We look forward to working closely with you between now and summer to get our campers back to camp and the outdoors.

Big Hi-Rock love to you all,

The Hi-Rock Team

2021 Summer Camp FAQs

2021 SUMMER CAMP FAQs

Updated 2/16/2021

Will there be camp this summer?

We are looking forward to welcoming campers back to Hi-Rock and are optimistic that camp will be open for the summer of 2021, but recognize that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and state regulations will necessitate changes to our program and potentially program availability. We will update this page and notify enrolled families via email of any changes as information becomes available.

When will you notify families if camp is canceled for 2021?

Due to the changing nature of the pandemic, Massachusetts guidelines for overnight camps may not be released until as late as March 2021, or later. We anticipate delaying formal decisions on the nature and type of programs we will offer until after these guidelines have been released. In addition to state guidelines, we will be closely monitoring recommendations from the CDC, the American Camp Association, the Association of Camp Nursing, and Environmental Health and Engineering Associates, our local board of health, and our consulting pediatricians as we make decisions about summer 2021. The safety of our campers, staff, and volunteers is our top priority. We understand the burden this uncertainty places on families and ask for your continued patience and understanding.

If camp is canceled or a child cannot attend, will families be eligible for refunds?

There is no financial risk to registering for camp now. If new policies, regulations or concerns related to COVID-19 prevent a child from attending camp their family will be eligible for a full refund.

What additional safety measures will be in place this summer in light of COVID-19?

Creating a safe environment for our campers, staff, and volunteers is our top priority.
We are prepared to adjust our operating procedures to reduce the risk of virus transmission. Changes will include but not be limited to requiring all campers and staff to wear masks, treating cabin groups as distinct cohorts who will maintain social distance from other groups, adding handwashing and sanitizing stations and increased surface sanitization, daily health screenings, and pre-camp testing. We currently plan to limit capacity to 50%, we have eliminated one-week sessions to reduce the frequency with which new campers enter the camp population and we do not anticipate providing transportation to or from camp. We are working on fine-tuning details of other plans including testing during camp and pre-camp quarantines and will make those details available to families over the coming weeks.

Hi-Rock Named One of the Best Camps for Teenagers

We are excited to share that we have been named one of the best camps for teenagers in the country by Summer Camp Hub! Check out the article we are featured in here: https://summercamphub.com/best-teen-summer-camps/

An Update from Hi-Rock and a Call for Support

Dear Friends,

We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. We know this pandemic has brought suffering to many and our thoughts are with you.

Right now, we are putting camp to bed for the winter. In a typical year, we would be fondly remembering thousands of youth, adults and families who joined us on the mountain. We would be closing cabins where campers and counselors had filled every bunk and shuttering windows from which giggles and whispers had been spilling all summer. A whole new batch of campers would be calling Hi-Rock their home away from home and countless new friendships would have taken root. This year has been anything but typical.

We are writing today to send an update and to ask for your help. The pandemic required us to close our doors in March and to make the gut-wrenching decision to cancel youth summer camp. By late July, we had secured permission to welcome families through a very limited campground model. It wasn’t our usual Family Camp with gathering for campfires and activities, but it was a chance for families to enjoy the lake, the trails and the stars.

While it couldn’t replace youth summer camp, it was the elixir so many needed – an antidote to months of lockdown. Campers brought their parents to camp and helped them feel at home. Parents learned to sail from their children. Longtime camp friends reunited at a safe distance. Once we opened the doors, we couldn’t say all was right with the world, but things were certainly a lot better.

Again and again, we have heard from families that of all the things taken away by coronavirus, losing summer camp was the greatest loss for their children. We are learning that pandemic-related restrictions may be taking a great toll on the social-emotional health of youth. We believe kids will need camp more than ever, once restrictions are loosened. Our work now is to ensure that we will be ready for them.

Limitations on our operation have placed Hi-Rock under serious financial strain. We have seen a dramatic reduction in revenue coupled with immovable fixed costs. The challenge facing our community now is to get through this in a position of strength. Many of you have already stepped forward to make contributions to help see us through these challenging times and for that we are very grateful. The gap we need to fill to cover our critical costs remains wide. We are writing to ask all members of the Hi-Rock community to help us bridge this gap.

By supporting us now, you make Camp Hi-Rock possible for the future. By making camp possible, you give kids power they might not find anywhere else. You give them the power of connection to others, to nature, and to a bigger world. You offer the power of peace by relieving the pressures of their everyday lives. You open a window to powerful new perspectives and make space for creating memories that give strength for a lifetime. You introduce them to counselors whose power to influence and inspire will be unlike that of other adults in their lives. Your support makes the power of camp a reality for all children and families.

Please consider making a donation to the Annual Campaign to ensure Hi-Rock is able to continue to empower campers. You may click here to give online or mail a check to 544 East Street Mount Washington, MA 01258. We need your support to welcome campers back to camp with a program that meets the highest standards, safe and well-maintained equipment and buildings, and a talented, nurturing, and well-trained staff team. With your help, we can make sure Hi-Rock is here for all and forever.

With gratitude and Hi-Rock love,

An Open Letter to Our Hi-Rock Family

By a group of Hi-Rock Staff, Board Members, Alumni and Camper Parents

Dear Hi-Rock Family,

We stand in solidarity with Black members of our community and communities across the country to express our outrage and sadness over the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and countless other victims of police brutality and racial injustice. We say unequivocally: Black Lives Matter.

Our core YMCA values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility compel us to support and engage in the efforts of systemic changemakers to fight for justice and equity. As we explore what meaningful action looks like for Hi-Rock, we commit to keeping an open dialogue about our role in these efforts and to taking action with our board, staff and community. We reaffirm our commitment to making camp a more inclusive community where campers, staff and all who visit feel safe, valued, included, and welcomed.

We each have an important role to play in the fight to dismantle systemic racism. Let us not be silent in words or actions as we work to create a more just and fair world built upon dignity and equity.

We love you. We love our community. Hi-Rock is here for you.

Important Update about Camp Hi-Rock Summer 2020

Dear Friends,

I write to you today with a heavy heart to share our plans for summer 2020. A few months ago, the thought of a summer without camp was unimaginable. As the reality of the coronavirus pandemic set in, we began searching for answers about how we might give our campers time together at camp this year. A time that, for many, sustains them from one summer to the next.

Our staff and our Hi-Rock board have been digging deep in consultation with camp leaders around the country, the YMCA of the USA, the Massachusetts Camping Association, the American Camp Association, the Mount Washington Board of Health and local physicians. We have considered all available guidance from the CDC and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We have come to the conclusion that the best decision to protect our campers, our staff, their families, our local community and the communities far and wide from which Hi-Rockers travel, will be to suspend our overnight camp, day camp and BOLD GOLD wilderness trip programs for the summer of 2020.

We are currently exploring the possibility of running family camp for several weeks this summer. Giving our campers the chance to share Hi-Rock with their families might be a silver lining to otherwise cloudy circumstances. If we determine that an extended family camp program will be an option, we will be in touch with more details over the coming weeks. We do plan to run our regularly scheduled Family Camp program from August 24 – 30.

Because this may be difficult news for children who were hoping to attend camp this summer, we will not be publicizing the cancellation of summer camp until tomorrow, May 29. We hope this will give parents a chance to share the decision directly with their children and allow them time to discuss it as a family.

This is a sad day, but I am comforted by my knowledge that camp friendships are especially strong ones. We build them with the understanding that geography might work against us. We have camp friends all around the world and we find ways to stay connected. Even when we are not connecting often, it helps just to know our camp friends are out there.

The novel coronavirus is presenting great challenges to YMCA Camp Hi-Rock but we have an extraordinary community with a deep passion for and commitment to the work we do, the ways in which we change campers’ lives, and the very special space we have the privilege of calling our home away from home. We will get through this, together.

Big Hi-Rock love to you all,

Jessica Speer-Holmes

Executive Director

Virtual 5k Run/Walk

HAPPY 176TH BIRTHDAY!

Usher in summer and enjoy our first virtual 5K Run/Walk in celebration of the YMCA’s 176^th Birthday!

Gather those you’ve been living with or challenge yourself! Choose a Fun Run/Walk (1 Mile) or a 5K. Run, walk, stroll or roll! Everyone can participate whether you’re training for another race or just want to walk a little further.

Complete your Run/Walk between Fri June 5, Sat June and Sun June 7. You get to decide when you be active.

Participation is Free! Donations to support the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA Covid-19 Fund so that the Y can continue to serve our community are accepted.

Once you’ve completed our Virtual Run/Walk please email jroyce@cccymca.org with your Race Results and a photo that includes your race bib, Y logoed gear, a birthday hat, your treadmill brand or a landmark from your race route.

Click here to register: https://runsignup.com/Race/CT/NewHaven/CCCYMCAVirtualRunWalk.

Click here to print your Race Bib: CCCY Race Bib

For more information please email Josh Royce jroyce@cccymca.org

Camp Hi-Rock Update 5/6/2020

Dear Friends,

Hi-Rock is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation around the world and close to home. Our hearts go out to anyone directly affected by the virus as well as everyone struggling with how to protect themselves and their loved ones. Just as the bonds of sharing camp sustain and bind us between summers when we are apart, they connect us now during this time of social distancing and isolation.

As we look forward to summer camp season, we are preparing to run our summer programs and hoping we will be able to do so. We are currently closed through at least May 18 due to the non-essential business closure in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with our year-round team working from home. Decisions about when and how we will reopen will be carefully made based on how far our region has come in its response to the virus and with guidance from national and state agencies and Y leadership. We will update our camp community as the shape of summer becomes more clear. We look forward to helping our campers and their families shift from fear and separation back to courage and connection when we can next be together.

These difficult times are a reminder of how much camp matters. We can’t wait to have campers outside playing in teams, whispering in cabins, doing unit cheers in the dining hall – and through it all, finding out more about themselves and each other. We know that we may have to adjust the way camp happens but that no matter how things may change, camp spirit will prevail.

These unprecedented times have prompted us to explore new ways to bring our community together while staying in our separate homes. We’ve had a great time reuniting with campers, their families, staff, volunteers, alumni, donors and other members of the Hi-Rock community from all around the globe and many generations through Facebook, Instagram and Zoom. If you haven’t already, please join us. Campers who don’t have their own social media account have been participating with their parents. We would love to see you there.

We are incredibly grateful to all of you who help make camp possible. Thank you for your commitment to Hi-Rock during this difficult time.

Sending you Hi-Rock love,

Jess Speer-Holmes
Executive Director

Save the Date- Virtual Talent Show

After the success of our virtual campfire a few weeks ago we would like to gather again, this time to share our talents!

We are looking for acts from current, past, or future campers and staff! Please let us know you would like to perform when registering or by emailing our camp director, Heather, heather@camphirock.org.

To participate in this event you must register in advance. You can register by clicking here, a link to join the event will be sent out Saturday afternoon to those who register.

2020 Open House Dates

Drop by Hi-Rock to meet the camp directors, take a tour of camp, talk with our knowledgeable camp staff and enjoy a meal at our beautiful waterfront!

May 30, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

June 14, 2:00-4:00 pm

If you can not attend an open house but are interested in learning more about Hi-Rock please email info@camphirock.org to arrange a camp tour!