Love is in the air and Camp Looking Glass is looking to spread some of that love in its Valentine’s Day drive-thru event.
It is one of a series of Spring 2021 CLG COVID-19 friendly events at the CLG site on Wilcox Road.
Originally set to take place this Saturday, the day before Valentine's Day, the event has been postponed due to potential inclement weather this weekend.
The event is now set to take place Feb. 27.
Organizers of the event include CLG parents and members of the Junior Auxiliary of Greenville.
Camp Looking Glass is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides recreational activities for people with disabilities and Jennifer Boyce serves as the executive director
CLG parent and board of directors member Hugh Retzer talked about the upcoming event and its significance as many activities that campers usually partake in have been hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Obviously a big part of CLG and what we’ve always done and tried to do is have activities and events for the campers that are involved. Unfortunately, with everything that happened last year, early on in the year we could kind of see that it was going to have an impact on what we were trying to do,” he explained.
Retzer continued, “Since we now have the land out on Wilcox Rd., we’ve been trying to schedule as many functions as we can out there and take advantage of the land — we’ve got five cabins up now and a main activity building and we have our pond.”
He noted 2020 would have been the year, ideally, to take full advantage of the land considering its many attributes.
Also, it would have marked CLG’s second year for the weekly camp it hosts during the month of June.
“But as things progressed with the Coronavirus, we saw that wasn’t going to happen and so we were kind of stagnant for a few months in trying to figure out what we could do,” Retzer said.
Along with beginning the regular circulation of a newsletter to keep CLG campers and parents updated, Retzer said they started meeting via Zoom for special occasions such as Halloween and Thanksgiving.
As great of an idea those Zoom meetings proved to be, the need to see one another — an integral part of the identity of CLG — was felt among the CLG family.
With campers unable to be around their friends and socialize with them, the Zoom events were a welcomed alternative.
However, Retzer said he and others thought organizing the drive-thru events would be a good way to somewhat fill the need, though not completely, for everyone wanting to get back together safely and while following CDC and social distancing guidelines.
CLG’s first drive-thru event was during the Christmas holiday.
According to Retzer, the event went really well and there were about four stops along the campground’s route featuring Santa Claus, hot chocolate and a gift bag.
“We didn’t want to bombard them with these things every month and we’re hoping to get back to the land and start doing things together as soon as we can, but we still felt the need to do something like this to keep everybody active and remind folks we’re still there and we’re still doing things,” he said.
He highlighted CLG’s long-running relationship with the Junior Auxiliary and its efforts over the years to remain active in its participation as the organization was a “big part” of the Christmas drive-thru event and will be in the upcoming Valentine’s Day event as well.
Retzer said there will be at least six stops along the road and possibly a photo booth for the drive-thru event if the weather is agreeable.
“I think we’ll still manage to pull off what we’re trying to do,” he said, adding that some campers from outside of the area are expected.
CLG parent Jackie Bailey and son Jachristian Hall, who attends Moorhead Central School, joined CLG in September 2018.
She said because her son does not get the opportunity to be with his friends as he ordinarily would, the event gives him, as well as her, a chance to partake in a “family day” event.
“It will be more of a safe family day event where we get to go to the camp and he gets to see it and hopefully, it will trigger some memories as to, “Hey, I remember Camp Looking Glass and I’m looking forward to when we can all be together,”” Bailey said, noting Jachristian has not been able to attend CLG since the pandemic arose.
She said that even if they can’t be together like they typically would, at least the opportunity to visit the camp and possibly see some familiar faces has presented itself.
As a parent who travels from Moorhead, Bailey said CLG is definitely worth the commute.
“It gives him (Jachristian) as a child with special needs the opportunity to go to a camp that will help build his self confidence and improve his social skills. Also, it’s a fun and safe environment and it has adapted skills that he gets to enjoy as a kid,” she explained. “It creates wonderful memories as well so that’s a good thing.”
She added, “From my perspective, it’s definitely worth the commute because of all the things he benefits from it.”
