The BLC Blog

Hello Again BLC Parents,

It was great to see so many of you for a wonderful Visiting Weekend!

The Song Contest – as you probably know – was won by the Inters.

Camp has rebounded well from your visits. The traditional “slowdown” following Visiting Weekend was mild, if at all. Counselors maintained their energy and campers their enthusiasm. Laughter still abounds.

Our Seniors are home after multi-day trips to Boston (Sr A’s), Philly (Uphill C’s), and Montreal (Downhill C’s). The burden on trip leaders leading teenagers into cities is enormous, and we are thankful for their talents and efforts.

Next, our Inter B’s head to Cooperstown on Sunday to Monday. Some self-selected Inter A’s are taking a day climb to Giant Mountain (of the High Peaks, NY) on Monday. Our Sophs have half-day hikes on the schedule. 

Friday night was our annual Ten Year Party that Mieks Gersten hosted at our home. There were an incredible 60+ invitees.

Today was our Carnival, which included a Halloween theme with bunks dressing up together and prizes for the best/most creative costumes. Our older Seniors led the event with help from our older Sports Academy girls. 

Tomorrow features the final day of Olympics for our Sophs through Inter A’s.

This next week will have our Five Year Party with approximately 190 campers and staff invited. FYI, we also had 90 first-year campers this summer.

Also at some point this week, GREEN and GRAY will BREAK! As always, this is the most anticipated 4 days of the summer.

We will check back with you next week with final week plans and reminders about your boys’ return back to you.

Thanks for your support. We wish to reiterate, if you ever want to speak about anything – no topic is off-limits – please contact us. We will always speak forthrightly to our parents.  

Have a Great Week,

Richie G for Max and Andy

Dear BLC Parents,

This past week was a big one. Lots of action and even a bonus one day of Green and Gray. We now put Green and Gray away until some time in August when it will re-emerge for 4 more days. The score is Green: 6.5 and Gray 8. There were many well-played and close events, but the highlight has to be the Senior C basketball game that went into overtime on a 3 pointer with 3 seconds left by Ayden Khalid and then 3 baskets in the last 10 seconds of overtime: A tough basket with 10 seconds left by Max Frei put Green up by 1, then a well-defended basket with 6 seconds left by Cal Murphy gave back the lead to Gray, and then a long 3 at the buzzer- again by Ayden Khalid which won the game for Green. (You can see video footage from this event and many others on our @BrantLakeCampNY Instagram Page under the “G&G ‘22” highlights on our profile.)

ONE WEEK UNTIL VISITING WEEKEND! AFTER reviewing the below changes, updates, and reminders, we are asking EVERY FAMILY to please fill out this Visiting Day Form (linked here) by 12PM on Wednesday, July 20 (required for entry on Visiting Day). 

NEW! Testing & Submitting Test Results: Given the uptick in Covid in the NYC area, we are going to require proof of TWO negative antigen tests for all visitors.

For those attending the Uphill Senior C Graduation on FRIDAY, JULY 22:

1. Proof/photo of a negative rapid antigen test (can be a home test) MUST be sent to healthcenter@brantlake.com on Tuesday, July 19. Please include the names of the visitors (i.e. who the tests are for) and of the camper you are visiting in the email.
2. Proof/photo of another at-home negative rapid antigen test, taken on Friday, July 22 between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, MUST be sent to healthcenter@brantlake.com by 5:15 PM on Friday, July 22.

For those visiting on SATURDAY, JULY 23: 

1. Proof/photo of a negative rapid antigen test (can be a home test) MUST be sent to healthcenter@brantlake.com on Wednesday, July 20. Please include the names of the visitors (i.e. who the tests are for) and of the camper you are visiting in the email.
2. Proof/photo of a negative at-home rapid antigen test taken between 8:30 PM on Friday and 8:30 AM on Saturday must be presented to BLC personnel upon arrival for your visit Saturday morning. 

For those visiting on SUNDAY, JULY 24:

1. Proof/photo of a negative rapid antigen test (can be a home test) MUST be sent to healthcenter@brantlake.com on Thursday, July 21. Please include the names of the visitors (i.e. who the tests are for) and of the camper you are visiting in the email.
2. Proof/photo of a negative at-home rapid antigen test taken between 8:30 PM on Saturday and 8:30 AM on Sunday must be presented to BLC personnel upon arrival for your visit Saturday morning. 

If you have any questions, please contact office@brantlake.com or call 518-494-2406.

Review of Visiting Timing: Visiting on Saturday and Sunday will begin at 9:45 AM. Please do not arrive before 8:45 AM, but do keep in mind we will need to check your Covid test, give you your name tags, and give you a warm welcome and visiting expectations prior to 9:45 AM, which is when you will see your children. Visiting will end at 3:30 PM.

Families with Two BLC Campers: Remember, you may only visit for one day. You have a few options: split up parents, or have one son join you while watching the other son’s activity. Lunch hour will be together. We strongly hope that your sons will make their song contest rehearsals.

Note, a change in plans: We have decided to end visiting at 3:30 PM even for those visiting two campers. We feel that ending visiting for everyone at the same time, including for those with two campers, allows for our traditional end-of-visiting waterfight- which takes precedence over the extra hour of visiting. Sorry, we hope this is not too disappointing.

Senior Visiting 

We ask you all to PLEASE WEAR MASKS when indoors with others. The health of our camp community depends on it. 

Senior A’s: On Saturday, Senior A’s will be taken by bus to either Tops in Bolton Landing or the municipal center off of exit 20 in Lake George, leaving camp at 10:30am, so you can expect them at approximately 11:15am. The bus will pick up Senior A’s (along with the Uphill Senior C’s) at the same locations at 8:30pm to bring them back to camp. If a parent of a Senior A has never visited Brant Lake Camp and would like to, they can come to camp at 10am on Saturday for a visit before taking your son out of camp for the day.

Uphill Senior C’s: On Saturday, all Senior C’s will be taken by bus to either Tops in Bolton Landing or the municipal center off of exit 20 in Lake George,leaving camp at 8:30am, so you can expect them at approximately 9:15am. The bus will pick up Uphill C’s (along with the Senior A’s) at the same locations at 8:30pm to bring them back to camp.

Note, a change in plans: The graduation ceremony for Uphill Senior C’s and their parents/siblings will take place at BLC’s “Chill Vibes” (lakeside) on Friday, July 22 at 8:00pm (instead of 8:30pm). 

Downhill Senior C’s: On Saturday, all Senior C’s will be taken by bus to either Tops in Bolton Landing or the municipal center off of exit 20 in Lake George, leaving camp at 8:30am, so you can expect them at approximately 9:15am. 

Note, a change in plans: Downhill C’s and their parents/siblings are invited back to BLC’s “Chill Vibes” (lakeside) on Saturday at 6:00pm for a cookout, followed by the graduation ceremony from approx. 7:15-8:30pm. 

Conflicts with visiting a sister at Point O’ Pines: If you have a Saturday visiting day conflict with Point O’ Pines, you may visit your BLC camper on Sunday, July 24 instead. We will have full visiting day programming for them.  If you need assistance working out a conflict, please let us know.

In Case of Rain: There will still be visiting on Saturday and Sunday, but the timing and, of course, activities, will be adjusted. If the forecast looks bad, we will contact you with the adjustments on/about Wednesday.

Again, we are asking EVERY FAMILY to please fill out this Visiting Day Form (linked here) by 12PM on Wednesday, July 20 (required for entry on Visiting Day). If you have any questions, please contact office@brantlake.com or call 518-494-2406.

We also wish to share two articles. Hope you take time to read them. The first is a Washington Post opinion piece by Dr. Leana S. Wen, which dovetails with BLC’s thinking around Covid. Additionally, some of you may have seen the interesting article on the importance, history, and evolution of summer camp in The Wall Street Journal last Saturday. 

See you soon!

Richie G

Hello BLC Parents,

Two weeks have now passed and camp is moving on all cylinders. While each day seems like a lifetime for the first few days to a week, now the next 2 weeks until Visiting are likely to fly by quickly.

Not much to report. We are healthy, the weather is good, the lake has warmed (some), and activity still abounds. Our Seniors will take their first overnight trips this next week. We have had a few intercamp games and tournaments. We will have each group take at least one day trip out of camp before visiting weekend. We have had a brother-sister/brother-brother visiting, and on the 4th of July all our groups had a social interaction with Point O’ Pines.

Morale is high! We have secured places twice a week where only our counselors can go for socializing and relaxation. On their days off, counselors are free to go where they wish with us strongly encouraging outdoor events.

Many of you have had your first phone calls and hopefully they were informative and positive. Feel free to contact us to discuss if you have any areas of concern.

Visiting Day Reminders: Only parents and siblings are allowed this summer. Families may visit on either Saturday or Sunday. Proof of a negative test taken the morning of Visiting will be mandatory (rapid at-home tests are permissible). We will also expect you to test 3 days prior to visiting. (If you happen to test positive, we will arrange for you to visit after you recover.) 

“Pro Day” for prospective campers are on for the Thursday and Friday afternoons prior to Visiting Day. Check in with Jen@brantlake.com if interested!

Until next week –

Best wishes, 
Richie G

Hello BLC Parents,

We hope you have had a good week. We have had a very good one here at BLC. Lots of playing, smiles, laughter, less homesickness than most years (and those cases dissipated quickly or have become far less frequent). We have had tons of activities and fun.

I told our counselors during orientation that the goal for the first few days of camp is no hospital trips and that they would likely feel overwhelmed, but for the past 104 years, a sense of calm and consistency will emerge anywhere from day three to day eight. We have had no hospital trips and a feeling of calm emerged this year on day 5 (Thursday).

We have had great weather. Nice days and cool (a few cold) nights. We’ve completed the necessary physicals, and our many first year campers have “learned the ropes” and are fully assimilated into the groups. Thankfully, Covid has stayed away. Friday marked our first day trips and intercamp game, and the start of our counselor days off and nights out. This next week, we have some trips and more intercamp games for our Seniors. We look forward to brother-sister visiting and co-ed events with our sister camp, Point O’ Pines this week. We plan all to be outdoors and Covid-sensitive – but, of course, will also need some good fortune.

KEY STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION

To clarify for you all, our extensive key staff that is available for you to contact if needed is:

Frosh, Soph A’s, Soph B’s, and Junior A’s

Director: Andy Berlin (andy@brantlake.com)

• Frosh & Soph A’s grouphead: Mani Cadet (mani@brantlake.com)
• Soph B’s grouphead: Alexa Minion (alexa@brantlake.com)
• Junior A’s grouphead: Jon Rothman

Junior B’s, Inter A’s, and Inter B’s

Director: Max Gersten (max@brantlake.com)

Assistant Director: David “Cuts” Cutler (cuts@brantlake.com)

• Junior B’s Grouphead: Joe Patrick, and Assistant: Thea Gersten (thea@brantlake.com)
• Inters Key Staff: Rhods Dafydd, Tarik Hamer, Finlay Mann, Jake “Swirls” Bernstein, and John Vaslowski

Senior Camp

Assistant Director and Head Counselor: Zach Cohen (zach@brantlake.com)

Administrative Assistant: Nick Maske (nick@brantlake.com)

• Seniors Key Staff: Tom Finnigan, Joe Russack-Baker, Kofi Hope-Gund, Evan Allred, Gonzo Crespo, Cole McKissock

Office and Health Center

Assistant Director and Office Administrator: Jen Gillet (jen@brantlake.com)

Health Center Coordinator: Julia Hall (healthcenter@brantlake.com) 

VISITING DAY UPDATE

This is a conundrum. As you surely know many camps have canceled their visiting day this summer. We have made the decision to HAVE visiting day. There will be some adaptations, a couple we are announcing below (to give you time to plan, or adjust plans, accordingly) and others we will communicate to you next week (i.e. more of the specific logistical details). We look forward to welcoming you; and, of course, your children look forward to seeing you. 

No one has a perfect view on how to best deal with Covid. No one can please everyone all of the time. We make decisions as best we can, looking at the best information available and using our intuition and judgment/experience as camp directors. My good friend Jim Delany, former commissioner of the Big Ten, says often to me that the 90-10 decisions are easy, the 55-45 decisions are not.

(Preliminary) Adaptations to Visiting Day:

• There will be mandatory testing for parents prior to coming. (Additional details and logistics to come later.)

• The day will be completely outdoors. We have plans if it’s raining (not a change in date/rain date) that we will alert you to closer to the day should the forecast indicate it’s likely.

• Parents that have two or more campers at BLC can only visit one day (either Saturday or Sunday) this summer, but their visiting day will end at 4:30pm instead of 3:30pm. (We will make an additional adjustment for those who have one of two/three campers in Senior Camp; we will contact those families separately to provide that information.) 

Adjustments to Senior Camp Visiting Day 

• All Seniors will be allowed to leave camp during the day on Saturday. There will be expectations for all when out of camp.
• Senior A’s parents will not visit their sons at camp. We will deliver your sons to you by bus on Saturday morning, and pick them up that evening to return to camp. (Details of the drop-off/pick-up locations and exact timing will be worked out with you at a later date.) If you have never been to BLC before, we will give you the option of picking up your Senior A on Saturday morning and getting a tour of camp. 
• Uphill Senior C’s will not be allowed to leave camp on Friday night. We will have an outdoor graduation ceremony for our Uphill C’s at 8:30pm on Friday, which we welcome and hope the parents of our Uphill Senior C’s will come and attend at camp. On Saturday, we will deliver your sons to you by bus in the morning, and pick them up that evening to return to camp. (Details of the drop-off/pick-up locations and exact timing will be worked out with you at a later date.)
• Downhill Senior C’s will not be allowed to leave camp (for dinner or to sleep out) on Friday night. On Saturday, we will deliver your sons to you by bus in the morning. We will have parents drive their kids back to camp on Saturday night so they can attend the outdoor graduation ceremony for the Downhill Senior C’s at 9pm on Saturday. (Details of the Saturday morning drop-off location and exact timing will be worked out with you at a later date.)

As a reminder, Visiting Day for Frosh, Sophs (A’s & B’s), Juniors (A’s & B’s), and Seniors (A’s, Uphill & Downhill C’s) is on Saturday, July 23. Visiting Day for Inter A’s and Inter B’s is on Sunday, July 24.

Of course we are open to your positive and negative feedback.

Speak to you next week!

Richie Gersten, Executive Director
RichieG@brantlake.com