Ontario overnight summer camp pivots focus to offer unique getaway
For the second year in a row, summer camps in Ontario are adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sparrow Lake Camp in Severn Bridge, Ont. sat empty in 2020, but this year with so much uncertainty leading into the summer, the decision was made to pivot from its traditional program to renting cabins to families in need of a unique getaway.
"We've sold out five of our sessions now, and the sixth is one cabin away," said the camp's executive director Brendan Turner.
Several of the families staying in the cabins said they were there to escape the GTA. The cabin rentals also attracted families looking for an alternative to expensive summer vacations.
"Campgrounds are not available. Cottages are very expensive. How do you get out of a house when you've been in a house for a year?" said Jennifer Barrow, who is staying in a cabin with her three young children and husband.
"This just fell in our lap, and it's perfect," she added.
The camp offers everything from canoeing, paddle boarding and rock climbing and for many children staying there, it's their first time at a traditional overnight summer camp.
Special COVID-19 measures are in place to ensure safety, including fewer campers.
"All of our activities are outdoors, arts and crafts are in a screened-in pavilion, so we're able to do it much more safely and comfortably than we would if we had 500 kids in and out over the summer," said Turner.
Sparrow Lake Camp said the decision to open the cabins to families has been so positive it may consider making it a permanent fixture when traditional overnight camp for children isn't in session.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.