Our Place Summer Adventure Camp

05/22/2023

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a very tedious person. Even writing her name drains one's energy; she's like a fascist black hole.So what is the best way to respond to someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene? Should we ignore her, and those of her ilk, and hope that she will magically disappear? Are thos...

05/22/2023

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who earned two Ivy League degrees, has apparently decided that making Florida schools and universities the laughingstock of the country is good politics. The Republican already went after public school teachers with his “don’t say gay” bill, championed an effort to p...

05/22/2023

Robert C. GrantWarren Burger, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Supreme Court, 1969-1986, said and wrote:“The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the …

05/20/2023

Truth, oh truth. Where are you

The New York Post dropped a bombshell report last week: amid a nationwide influx of migrants, nearly two-dozen homeless veterans were kicked out of hotels where they were being temporarily housed in order to make room for migrants in upstate New York.The story, which was based on a claim by a vetera...

05/15/2023

James Comer claims he has a whistleblower who will make ‘Watergate look like jaywalking’, but is yet to deliver“This is a very serious investigation,” James Comer, chairman of the US House of Representatives’ oversight committee, told the rightwing channel Newsmax recently. “The allegati...

05/14/2023

The sociologist Matthew Desmond believes that being poor is different in the U.S. than in other rich countries.Why do so many Americans live in poverty? Because so many rich people benefit from it.This is the thesis of the lauded sociologist Matthew Desmond’s new book, Poverty, by America. The bes...

05/14/2023

Watch out ..
Your voting rights are next

With respect to 2024 and beyond, the possibility that a future Republican president might create a national voting police force is terrifying.In an increasingly unsafe and, frankly, unhinged America, …

05/13/2023

Think about it

Here's what it means to be a Republican voter in the year 2023.If you vote for a Republican, you’re selecting someone who—once elected—is unlikely to support your views on the issues that matter to …

02/09/2023

Civility disappeared at State of the UnionWhat has happened to our country, that we no longer respect the office of the president of the United States? Have we stooped so low that we have to heckle …

01/17/2022

It is a sad, sad day for me. I have to tell everyone that OPsac is no more. We will no longer share our summer adventures with some of the greatest kids in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

21 years ago, we decided that our communities deserved the best programs for our kids. We began with our adventure camp sharing adventures that no other camp would even think about. We went paintballing, river rafting, to major amusement parks, to the zoo, the aquarium, Port Discovery and more. Each day was a new adventure.
Camp grew from 36 kids the first year, to more than a hundred campers a day, and continued that way until the recession of 2007, when our daily count of kids dropped to about 50. But the next summer, we began to see growth. We bought new buses, planned more trips, and had more fun.
Then came the dreaded virus, Covid 19, and our lives were changed forever. We continued camp for the summer of 2020. We all wore masks, we sanitized the buses daily, we had everyone use hand sanitizer every time they got on the bus. And we were blessed with no covid related issues for the kids or our staff.
By January of 2021, I became much more concerned about the health and wellbeing of our campers and staff. I spoke with several doctors and their advice was to not have camp. At that point, vaccines were not available for kids. The number if infections was growing daily. I was not comfortable with the problems we could face, because with more people suffering illness and the absolute impossibility of keeping kids socially distanced, (try that in a pool or playing soccer), I was afraid of spreading the virus from the kids to parents and grand parents not to mention staff. So, we decided to take a year off.
In the fall of 2021, my wife and I talked about camp and the toll it had taken on me physically (I’m not a youngster anymore). Because the buses sat for a year, they needed major work. Most of the places we wanted to go were still closed or running with limited programs. Even our favorite swimming pools were limiting entry. I prayed long and hard. I did not want to disappoint the kids. They deserve a summer camp program that exceeded everyone’s expectations.
By early December 2021, it became very obvious that the of work we would have to do, and the time it would take was next to impossible to accomplish.
So, by Christmas, we made the hard decision to end our program. Honestly, that decision hurt.
I want to express my thanks to the more than 4,000 unique kids we had in camp, more than 2000 families, and the more than 200 people that made up our staff. It was an honor and privilege to share years with you, and I can only hope and pray that we had a positive influence on all of you. We accomplished our goals of providing an adventure camp to challenge the kids to do things they had never done, to go places they had never been, and to learn to care about the other kids in camp.
At 75 years old, it is time to step back and enjoy my days as a grandfather.
Thank you for the privilege and opportunity to share your lives and I hope that we all learned to care about one another.

07/13/2021

THIS IS ONE OF THE TIMES I HATE TO BE RIGHT....

WASHINGTON — The U.S. has seen a string of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to summer camps in recent weeks in places such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, in what some fear could be a preview of the upcoming school year.

In some cases the outbreaks have spread from the camp to the broader community.

The clusters have come as the number of newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. has reversed course, surging more than 60% over the past two weeks from an average of about 12,000 a day to around 19,500, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The rise in many places has been blamed on too many unvaccinated people and the highly contagious delta variant.

03/31/2021

Gordon Ramsay recently shocked his TikTok fans by announcing he’s “turning vegan,” only to reveal at the end of the video that he’s going vegan … for lunch. But regardless of how much meat he is or …

03/25/2021

No one is more disappointed than me to have to share the fact that OPsac 2021 will not be happening this summer. I will share with you the reason why in a short paragraph, and then offer a rational explanation, if you want to read more.

Summer Campers are among those highest at risk for covid 19. I can not guarantee the safety and health of your campers. OPsac is one of the safest camp in all of York County… bumps and bruises and a couple of stitches, and one kid who needed an emergency appendectomy. I have talked with immunologist, pediatricians, my GP and my Oncologist, who spoke with the specialists at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Each one advised me NOT to have camp this summer.
The reason is simple… the number of people exposed to this disease today is about 5 times higher than last summer. And even with 50 % of the people receiving the vaccines, asymptomatic spreading is much higher. And as is true in any classroom, when one kid gets a cold, 10 more catch it. A vaccine for children will not be ready till late this year. Each of our campers comes from different families, from different towns, and attend different schools, dramatically increasing exposure.
I have spent many nights lying awake, trying to decide what was more important… the kids getting a break or their health. If one camper, just one, were to become sick and suffer the consequences, I would be distraught. And complicating this disease, children are at risk for Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a serious condition that appears to be linked to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

YOU CAN SKIP DOWN TO THE LAST TWO PARAGRAPHS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THE REASONING.

We spend a lot of time together, playing, laughing and driving to our adventures. These are the risk factors for summer camps.
The more people a camper interacts with (and the longer the interactions), the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread – so local camps are the safest.

Lowest risk: Small groups of campers stay together all day every day, remain six feet apart and do not share objects. All campers are from the same local geographic area.

More risk: Campers mix between groups but stay six feet apart and do not share objects. All campers are from the same local geographic area.

Higher risk: Campers mix between groups and do not remain six feet apart, but are from the same geographic area.

Highest risk: Campers mix between groups, do not stay six feet apart and are not from the same geographic area. This is us.

Outdoor playgrounds: like Annie’s Playground, Springetsburry Playground, Miller Park… The risk of using outdoor playgrounds varies. The risk is higher in communities where there’s ongoing spread of COVID-19, and at playgrounds that draw a crowd, which makes social distancing very challenging.

Amusement Parks: Hickory Falls, Adventure World, Hershey Chocolate World… campers tend to stay closer together in lines; laughing and screaming causes higher exposure to covid droplets,

Swimming Pools : Shenny’s, Codorus, pool, Conowingo pool… splashing, dunking your friends, each of these activities get the kids closer together, laughing and screaming.

START HERE

Last summer, we had about 1/4 the usual number of campers. But the exposure rate was much lower because more people were staying home. We were careful to wear masks, sanitize hands, and stayed as far apart as we could. I am just not sure with the higher exposure rate, more moms and dads working, having dinner with the neighbors...that our campers will be safe from the disease. And if one older brother or sister does not follow the strictest guidelines, like they do in school, the disease could be passed to the child, and then on into camp. I also have to consider the counselors, Mr. Ford and me.
Please understand, I have been researching and talking to specialist since last November, when the second big surge hit. I have vacillated between camp and safety for endless hours. And each time I have reached a decision, another call, another news report… and I start over.
I know this is disappointing. I know the lack of a good camp will be difficult for some parents. I know it will cause issues. And some people will think I am being TOO cautious and will not agree with my decision. I have and always will, err on the side of safety.

For more than 50 years I have had the honor and privilege to work with thousands of kids, helping to become better adults. In order to do that, I must do everything I can to make sure they do in fact, grow into adulthood.

Mr. Bob

02/21/2021

🙏☮❤

12/19/2020

12/19/2020

At this time of year, I get caught up in the spirit of giving. That's not a bad thing. But I need to remember, this is also the season of receiving.
In Hebrew, Hanukkah means dedication. It celebrates the re-taking of the Temple from the Greeks in the 2nd century BC. The Jews celebrated receiving their Temple back.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, savior for Christians. We received grace.

Give as many presents as you want, celebrate your faith. But don't forget to receive the gift given to you.
To all of our friends, our campers over 21 years of OPsac, to all of the people who run the places we go to each day of camp, to the parents, celebrate the reason for the season.
Hanukkah Sameach
Merry Christmas
Accept the joy that is offered
Work for the Peace we all need

Mr. Bob

12/12/2020

Researchers from the University of California San Diego looked at the orbits of bodies in our Solar System and computed how they fit together and interacted.