Campers kick off summer

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This article was published 25/05/2021 (1938 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SOURIS, NINETTE — Rain joined the pandemic in subduing most people’s long weekend, but some campers still managed to make it out to kick off summer in as close to a normal manner as possible.

Although the province issued a “stay at home” emergency notice to Manitobans Friday, current regulations allow for gatherings of household groups.

And that is exactly what was seen at campsites in Westman, including Victoria Park Campground in Souris, where a scattering of campers were set up in sites on Saturday.

Included in Saturday’s campers was the Burton family of Deloraine, including patriarch Cody, matriarch Sharah and their two kids, Braylee, 6, and Chloe, 2.

This is the family’s first season out in a new camper, and while they’d hoped to camp alongside others, provincial health regulations prevailed.

Other than preventing them from gathering alongside others, Cody said the pandemic hasn’t affect their camping experience too greatly.

“It’s been great,” he said while gathered with his family around a campfire, adding that aside from some rain, it was nice to get out of the house for the weekend.

In Ninette, camper Elizabeth Smoke said her family booked two neighbouring campsites in order to get together for the weekend.

Or rather, a version of “together” that complies with the province’s COVID-related health measures.

“We have to be more careful to distance,” Smoke said.

The family’s two households divided themselves accordingly between the two sites, and while they weren’t able do certain things as a group, such as prepare meals, they were still within talking distance throughout the weekend.

A little rain got into Smoke’s tent overnight Friday, but other than that she said the weekend’s sojourn in nature proved an enjoyable experience.

With people discouraged from travelling and facing weeks-long quarantine in the event they leave the province, more people are looking within Manitoba when their vacation days come up.

So described Turtle Crossing Campground and RV Park owner Mark Kovatch, who noted recreational vehicle sales have gone through the roof since the pandemic started.

Long weekend bookings are filling up throughout the summer, he said, adding they’re poised for a busier summer than usual.

“We actually have a lot of people from Brandon coming this season,” he said, adding that although the campground is just a short drive from Brandon down Grand Valley Road, it still offers an escape.

“It’s a sanity thing for a lot of people,” he said.

At 65 acres in size and situated along the scenic Assiniboine River, he said there’s plenty of room for people to safely go for walks and not run into other people.

Last year started off similarly busy, until an outbreak of COVID-19 was reported among staff at Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods pork processing plant.

This, he said, resulted in a number of cancellations from people worried about visiting the Brandon area.

Now that more is known about COVID-19, including how to avoid catching the virus, Kovatch said people appear more comfortable spending time at a campsite.

Asessippi Beach & Campground owner Karen Goraluk reported a similar boost in people “stay-cationing” during the pandemic.

At least, usually.

Last week’s announcement of tightened health rules and the subsequent “stay-at-home” emergency alert scared away most campers for the long weekend, with bookings dropping from 21 to only three.

But she expects this to be an anomaly, and that people will be antsy to get out of the house and take part in the various things the great outdoors has to offer.

“People are wanting to go out because they can’t go anywhere else,” she said, adding that a silver lining to current travel restrictions is that people are discovering what their home province has to offer.

The Asessippi area has various lakes, historic sites, mountain bike trails, golf opportunities and other draws to keep people busy while physically distanced.

“We’ve got things to do,” Goraluk said.

“People like it because there’s lots of room.”

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB