Camp Argo cancels season due to virus

ORANGE — The popular Camp Argo had all the safety protocols in place to open this summer, but the governor’s flip-flopping on opening dates for camps – and other twists created by the coronavirus pandemic – led to a decision to cancel the program this year, the camp director said.

“That was a real dig in the kidney there,” camp director Jason Nevis said of the date changes.

Nevis said Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration changed camp opening from June 22 to June 29, then back to June 22. By the time Lamont went back to June 22, Nevis already had shuffled around campers, causing a hassle for parents, he said.

But the “cherry on the ice cream,” Nevis said, was when Lamont changed the opening dates for hair salons to June, right before their May 20 planned reopening.

Nevis said it showed him the governor can do anything last-minute, and that just doesn’t work in a summer camp business that runs on preregistration and is counted on for child care by working parents.

“We are working to increase day care and open summer camps that should be some help for parents. We’re in a tight fiscal situation; revenue has collapsed, but we’re trying to ramp up child-care programs. There is a chance we can allow sleep-away camps, but the key piece of doing that is testing,” Lamont said during a webinar conversation last week with Hearst Connecticut Media columnist and editor Dan Haar.

Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said last Friday that the administration has remained in communication with the camp industry, but cited testing as a potential roadblock to reopening, as many camps may not have access to adequate testing.

In a letter to parents this week, Nevis wrote: “It is with a heavy heart, that we have made the very difficult decision to postpone our time together until next year, Summer 2021.”

Nevis told the Register he would rather pick up again next year with all the pieces in place to sustain Camp Argo. The camp is a relatively small one – there

were about 80 campers last year – and has a positive reputation. The camp runs in one-week sessions.

With social distancing, health protocols and other necessary measures in effect because of COVID-19, Camp Argo would have looked quite different this year for campers and staff.

This year there were to be fewer campers in each group — about 10 compared to 14 — staggered arrival and departure times and a pre-screening