New Camps News Page Brings You the News

This new Camps News page is designed to bring you all the news we have regarding the camps and items relating to the camps. Once you are here, you can return to the Home Page and get all those great links and other tools you've gotten used to. Just click HOME on the tool bars to take you there or Camp News to bring you here...

SPECIAL ALERT:

Road Restrictions at BOTH Camps Have Been Lifted!

AS OF MARCH 31, 2007 - The warmer weather over the last week has melted off almost all of snow here at Camp Acahela and at Goose Pond.  Roads at Goose Pond are in excellent shape and solid almost everywhere. At Acahela, there is some lingering ice in shady areas on Lower Road and the road was very soft as was the Lower Field itself over the weekend, but with continued warm weather, campers shouldn't have any problems in the weeks to come. For any questions regarding sites or access, contact our Ranger, Tim Bongard at (570) 335-0283 or e-mail him at tbongard@nepabsa.org .

New Geocaching and Orienteering Courses...

We established three Orienteering courses at Acahela in 2005 and they have become a real favorite of campers from all over. With three distinct levels of difficulty, the courses are designed to help Scouts (and Scouters) learn the basics of map and compass reading and give them a basic introduction to the sport of Orienteering. All you have to do is show up with a desire to learn, and we provide the rest including maps, checkpoint sheets, targets, and the three pre-established courses. Units desiring a more complicated or diverse layout can request it (two to three weeks advance notice is needed) and we'll set up a custom course for you.

New for Spring 2007 will be our Geocaching Course at Acahela. Participants will have to use GPS receivers to guide them to six different locations throughout the camp. Once at the correct coordinates, they will have to locate a cleverly camouflaged container which holds a special and unique card. A participant completes the course once all six stashes have been located and their unique cards collected. Sounds easy, but it can be challenging and you have to use your head. This course is also designed to be an introduction to the sport with additional information provided for finding targets set by geocachers off the camp property.

For those who successfully finish both courses, we plan on offering a free special issue patch for 2007. For more information on this program contact our ranger Tim Bongard at (570) 335-0283 or e-mail him at tbongard@nepabsa.org .

PS - If this program continues to grow and there is enough call for it, we will install similar courses at Goose Pond. Contact Ranger Tim if this is something you are interested in or would like to participate in helping set these courses up.

Trade Some Sweat for Free Camping - Plus "Flexible" Beaver Days at Acahela

Summer Camp will be here before we know it and to help get prepared both our camps will be offering some neat incentives for units who are willing to help out .

FREE CAMPING - At both the Pond and Acahela, any unit who comes in to contribute a good days worth of service to the camps with be able to camp in any of our platform or open sites for free.  You will still need to make reservations with Jan Shonener and file all the appropriate paperwork, but there will be no fee for the site you use.

FLEXIBLE BEAVER DAYS - Continuing a program we started last year, if your unit can't make it on one of the scheduled Beaver Days at Camp Acahela, you can pick any other weekend date during the Spring and make that your Beaver Day. Units will then arrange with Ranger Tim to do a selected service project that helps get the camp ready for the Summer.  And similar days may be arranged for Goose Pond if a unit would like to do the same there. For more information on this program contact our ranger Tim Bongard at (570) 335-0283 or e-mail him at tbongard@nepabsa.org .

There is plenty to do and lots of fun to be had. 

Play Hooky from Work and Come Join Us At Camp Acahela for the United Way Day of Caring in May

The Annual United Way Day of Caring hosted by the Wyoming Valley Chapter of United Way will be taking place on Thursday, May 10th starting at 9AM at Camp Acahela. This great day allows employees from a wide variety of employers to get out of the office or plant for the day and put their work hours in helping us get Camp Acahela awake from it's long winter's sleep. Your employer may be one of those already enrolled in the program. If it is, you may be able to come and join us here at camp. If your company isn't enrolled, this might be a great opportunity to get them involved in the United Way program.

Check this news page frequently...

This will be the first page you see when entering this site now, so that you can be aware of any new programs or events happening at either camp. However, that spiffy page with all those great links is still our Home Page. How do we do it? It's web magic, but all in an effort to make this site one of your favorite Scouting resources.