Pine Cove’s In-Depth Guide to Closing Celebration and Pre-Registration at Youth Camp

We hope you had a great week! We are excited to see you back for closing. Upon arrival, we know you will be looking forward to seeing your camper and hearing about their experience.

Closing celebration will look different this year as we observe CDC and governmental guidelines for health and safety. It’ll look different enough that we’re actually not calling it “closing celebration,” but “camper pick-up” instead. However, we left “closing celebration” in the article title to avoid confusion for returning families. We’ll call it camper pick-up from here on out. 

The CampLife app will also have a post with more details for your specific camp(s) closer to camper pick-up on Saturday, but here are a few general things to know. 

Entering Camp

In order to ensure smaller groups on property at a time, we’ve staggered pick-up times for each region’s camps. This way,  if you have kids at multiple camps, you can go to more than one closing.

Rolling Pick Up Times

Central Texas

• Silverado: walk in pick-up from 9:30-11am, express pick-up from 11-11:30am
• Outback: walk in pick-up from 9:30-11:30am (express pick-up always available)
• Ridge: 9am-10:30am (express pick-up always available)

East Texas

• Towers: walk in pick-up from 9-10:30am, express pick-up from 10:30-11am
• Ranch: walk in pick-up from 10-11:30am, express pick-up from 11:30-12pm
• Timbers: walk in pick-up from 9-10:30am, express pick-up from 10:30-11am
• Shores: 10-11:30am (express pick-up always available)

Unlike in the past, closing will be more like this summer’s drop-off. Instead of everyone being there at one set time, parents can come and go within the pick-up hour. If you have more than one camper at camps with the same closing time, you can either divide and conquer with another adult, or go to one and then the other. 

As with drop-off, we encourage you to limit the number of people coming in the car for pick-up. Our normal activities will not be open, so there’s less to do while on property. 

If you did express drop-off, you were already asked if you wanted to do express pick-up. Express pick-up gives you an option of driving through camp and picking up your camper without needing to get out of your car. If you’re interested in doing express pick-up for your camper, email us at registration@pinecove.com by Friday afternoon during your week with the name of your camper(s) and their camp and we’ll get that info passed on to the correct camp(s).

Picking Up On Property

If you are parking, you’ll be directed to your meeting place once you park. We’re dividing people into small groups for CQ ceremonies and closing information – no large group indoor group gathering. CQ time is a time where counselors talk about character qualities they’ve seen in their campers during the week—and don’t worry, CQs aren’t going away! They will be done as parents arrive and pick up, rather than everyone all together watching the presentations as in the past. For those choosing express camper pick-up, you won’t miss a thing! There will be a digital copy in the app as well!

There will be a place to pick up meds (Please take them back! We don’t need them.) and to get luggage. Check lost and found in case your camper’s Crocs somehow didn’t make it into their luggage. The camp store will be open with reduced numbers of people allowed inside, and some camps will have outdoor kiosk store options as well. 

Simplified Automatic Pre-Registration

In an effort to serve our families well and prevent you from having to handle printouts, pens, and clipboards when you pick up your camper, we have made some changes! NEW this year: we’re guaranteeing another seriously fun summer by automatically pre-registering your camper for summer 2021. You will receive an email on Saturday morning with more details. There will also be staff to answer any pre-registration questions on property during pick-up.