No mess hall, daily temp checks, fewer kids: Welcome to scout camp in the COVID era
For Boy Scouts, summers often mean packing up for camp, roughing it in the woods and perfecting skills with Scouts from around the area.
But Scouts in Kansas and Missouri returning to camp over the next few weeks likely won’t find their summer filled with dining hall skits and water polo games that they’ve grown used to.
The Heart of America Council, which oversees Boy Scouts from Kansas and Missouri, delayed the start of camps to July 5 to prepare new rules for social distancing and reducing the risk of spreading coronavirus.
Camp sizes will be cut in half to accommodate smaller class sizes and everyone will wear face coverings in group settings. Health pre-screenings, daily temperature checks and symptom questionnaires and a new “rapid response” procedure will be used to isolate anyone who may be sick.
And rather than gather in the mess hall, where campers often crowd together to share stories and play games, all meals will be served grab-and-go.
Alan Sanders, director of support services for the Heart of America Council, said the organization expects to lose about 50% of its expected annual camp revenue after reducing the number of Scouts who can attend. Other campers decided not to attend either because of coronavirus concerns or new scheduling conflicts, and in some cases whole troops pulled out.
The various camps the council hosts around the area make up about 30% of the organization’s local budget. H. Roe Bartle, the largest of the camps held in St. Clair County, Missouri, has hosted between 8,500 and 9,000 people each year, Sanders said. More funds will also be directed to buying personal protective equipment for staff and cleaning equipment for camps to sanitize quickly.
In February, the national Boy Scouts of America organization filed for bankruptcy after facing about 300 lawsuits from men who said they were sexually abused while Scouts. But Sanders said the decision to reopen camps was not based on finances and camp fees were reduced because of the shortened experience.
“We wanted to give an option to our families,” Sanders said. “We’re hearing from families all the time ‘Hey, my kid hasn’t been out of the basement, he’s been on the computer.’ They’re tired of the Zoom calls.”
Sanders said his two teenage sons’ troop has met virtually several times since operations went online around March, and they’re excited to head back to camp even after discussing the safety procedures they’d need to follow. One of his sons recently finished a soccer camp in Raytown and thought it would be easier to social distance on a campground compared to the field.
Others like Robert Coates aren’t willing to take the risk. Coates, who leads Troop 1027 in Kansas City, knew his troop wouldn’t attend camp because he and the two leaders in his group are older than 60.
Even with new procedures, Coates said the eight kids in his troop and leaders would still be interacting with other campers. For instance, he said while most campers will have the option of sleeping in tents alone, some will still need to be shared with campers told to stay six feet apart and sleep head to foot.
“You tell kids things and they aren’t always going to adhere to it,” he said. “We just don’t want to take that chance.”
Tim Helton, who leads a troop in Smithville, said the majority of his 65 Scouts and leaders will attend H. Roe Bartle this year. Because his troop has about one leader for every two Scouts, he expects they’ll be able to monitor campers and make sure they follow safety precautions.
Because his troop will attend a camp later in July, Helton also said they’ll be able to learn from previous sessions to keep their campers safe.
Since March, Helton and other troops have met virtually and tried to help campers continue earning badges without direct supervision. They spent several weeks constructing Rube Goldberg machines in their homes and posting videos for other troop members to see and have also met through video chat during individual backyard camping sessions.
“It’s quite different because we don’t have interaction between Scouts,” he said. “Just getting to play games and stuff, we don’t get to do that.”
Kevin Herndon’s Springville, Kansas, Cub Scout troop is in a similar situation. He has tried to keep the attention of about 86 kindergarten through fifth-graders over video chat through virtual camping and other sessions, but skills like knot-tying are difficult to teach remotely.
About 17 of his fourth- and fifth-graders will be attending camp this summer. A majority of the campers who planned to attend pre-pandemic dropped out either because of coronavirus concerns or new scheduling conflicts, Herndon said.
On top of camp-wide safety procedures, his troop has told kids they won’t be allowed to high-five, and they’ll be equipped with hand sanitizer to use throughout the day.
He knows it will be difficult for young kids to pay attention and follow rules all the time, but he hopes camp will allow them some sense of normalcy during their summer.
“We’re going to try to social distance, but they are kids,” he said. “We have to keep that in mind.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 2:28 PM.