Camp Hoffman's Larkin Pond update
July 15, 2024
July 13 Update:
We are excited to announce that we are now able to open Camp Hoffman's Larkin Pond to swimming! We are looking forward to spending the week cooling off at the waterfront—for day camp families, please be sure to send bathing suits, towels, and any other swimming necessities with your child each day.
To ensure a safe swimming environment, we will continue to test our waterfront bacteria levels per the direction of the RI DEM and DOH, and will notify camp families if there are any further changes.
On July 11, 2024, Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England temporarily closed the Larkin Pond waterfront at Camp Hoffman to swimming due to high bacteria levels. These levels are tested regularly throughout the summer, and we are confident that the waterfront will be open again very soon.
Camp Hoffman remains open.
Some of you may have seen news coverage saying otherwise—this news was an error issued by the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH) and has since been rectified.
We have already sent another sample to the state testing labs and are awaiting results. We will inform camp families of the results as soon as we receive them. Last summer, we installed three high-volume aerators in Larkin Pond to keep water from becoming stagnant, which we hope will clear bacteria quickly.
Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England follows all state protocols and recommendations regarding waterfront testing. Bacteria levels of Larkin Pond at Camp Hoffman are tested every Wednesday throughout the summer, and we receive the results on Thursdays. Campers have been swimming this week, but have not been swimming since we received the results.
Warmer weeks, like we had this week, can cause increased bacteria growth. Large amounts of rain can cause stormwater runoff from roads, parking lots, and other surfaces to transport contamination to bodies of water. Unfortunately, this is an issue that many freshwater and brackish areas of water deal with throughout the summer.
While swimming is not permitted with high bacteria levels, kayaking and canoeing are still permitted. When the waterfront is closed, campers have an opportunity to participate in other water-based activities on land like playing in sprinklers and playing water games. During water-based programming during certain sessions of camp, we make appropriate adjustments to the programming to fulfill all water-based promises.
More information can be found on the Rhode Island Department of Health website.
If you have any further questions about this, please contact GSSNE Customer Care at CustomerCare@gssne.org or 401-331-4500.
If you currently have a camper registered for Camp Hoffman summer camp, this information was also emailed to the email addresses used to register your camper and was posted in Rallyhood.
