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Plans are underway to explore potential providers for summer day camp programming following direction from Township of Blandford-Blenheim Council.
With only two known day camp options within the municipality, including one in Plattsville that is run by the local church and another near Wolverton that is run by a rural group, staff are now looking to expand programming options.
Trevor Baer, Manager of Community Services, brought forward a report seeking Council direction to release a Request for Information (RFI) to gauge interest from external organizations in providing day camp programming within Township facilities for the 2027 summer season.
The report stated that the two locations that could be utilized for programming include the Plattsville Memorial Community Arena and surrounding park space, as well as Princeton Park and Princeton Centennial Hall.
The RFI will work to gather information about what kind of camp programming could be offered to the community, the level of interest from service providers, and what potential partnerships or rental models may be available. It will request details on proposed programming, target age groups, staffing, space requirement and potential financial arrangements for use of facilities.
During the meeting, Councillor Tina Young asked if the RFI would be sent to any existing camps directly or if it would be issued as an open call.
“It will be put out publicly like a tender,” Baer responded. “We would tell people that it’s out and approach Oxford County to let them know too. We will try to put it out to as many people as we can to spread the news, and get it out on social media.”
Young then suggested taking the opportunity to engage with the public to see what residents are looking for in a day camp.
“I think we have a lot of families who work outside of our township, like Kitchener, Waterloo or Cambridge, and they tend to find camps in those areas because they’re going that way anyway,” she said. “[We could] find out what would be appealing to keep them at a camp here in town, and ask what they’re wanting.”
Young said it could be helpful to see whether residents would be interested in something beyond a traditional day camp with crafts and games, such as a sports-centred camp or STEM-focused camp. She said it would be useful to see what people want before they enter into an agreement with a specialized camp that children may not be signed up for.
Both Mayor Mark Peterson and CAO Josh Brick agreed that it would be a good idea to do a survey while they have time to do and see what kind of needs there are.
“I think a large part of this process that Council will be tasked with is approving criteria to assess future requests for interest against. That type of feedback and data that we get through a survey would probably form a large part of the basis for creating that criteria, so that makes a lot of sense in my mind,” said Brick. “If there’s any sort of specific item members of Council would like to see in that survey, we’d love to hear them and we’ll make sure that they’re included.”
Like Young, Brick thought it would be a good idea to partner with local schools while they’re still in session so that something can be sent home with the children.
Councillor Nancy Demarest said that with the information they receive, they could ask for more specific responses (in regards to camp themes or operating times, etc.) to the RFI rather than keeping it more generalized.
“We could say, ‘We’re looking specifically for these things, but it’s not limited to these things,” she said.
Council later approved staff’s request to release the RFI, and it’s expected to go out between August and October 2026.
As for engaging the public about their wants and needs for summer camp options, a survey is already live and can be found here: https://form.jotform.com/261543882663061
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
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