The resident camp for girls has long been Camp Kelly’s most popular program.
It is proving that again in 2017.
With the start of the camping season still two months away, United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania is pleased with the pace of registrations for its expanded summer offerings at the former Camp St. Andrew in Wyoming County, said Michael Hanley, the organization’s chief executive officer.
“Pretty much all of the traditional programs are moving ahead, especially on the resident girls side,” he said. “The girls resident camp is going to fill pretty quickly, I think, so folks really need to get in on that if they are interested.”
United Neighborhood Centers acquired Camp Kelly from the Diocese of Scranton in November after leasing the facility and taking over operation of the annual girls resident camp and girls and boys basketball camps there last summer.
In releasing this summer’s lineup in January, the organization said it was adding a third week of resident camp for girls and reviving the long-dormant resident camp for boys.
Hanley said the first week of girls resident camp, scheduled July 9-14, actually filled up within hours after registration opened Feb. 1 and now has a waiting list. The second week, set for July 16-21, is almost full, while spots remain for the third week, July 23-28, he said.
UNC officials are working to get the word out about the boys resident camp, a once-popular program that the diocese discontinued more than 20 years ago because of flagging interest.
The parents he has spoken to are thrilled UNC is bringing back the camp, which will be held July 30-Aug. 3, Hanley said.
“We are hoping to grow that and provide an opportunity for boys outside of just the boys basketball camp. ... It’s really a missing piece up there,” he said.
There are still openings for the basketball camps — two sessions for girls July 9-14 and July 16-21 and one for boys July 30-Aug. 3 — but those tend to fill up at the last minute, Hanley said.
In the meantime, UNC has raised about $125,000 for its Camp Kelly capital campaign, which has a goal of $500,000 to repair and upgrade cabins, bathhouses and other camp facilities, Hanley said.
The priority is renovating the bathhouses, which UNC hopes to complete by July, but nearly all of the buildings need some level of work, he said.
“We’re doing the renovations we can with the money we have,” Hanley said. “Depending on how fast the money comes in is how fast the renovations are going to get done. Some of them may not happen before this camp season, so we are targeting the fall and maybe even next spring.”
Contact the writer:
dsingleton@timesshamrock.com
570-348-9132
MONDAY UPDATE brings Times-Tribune readers up to date on past or pending stories of interest. To offer a suggestion for a Monday Update, please email metrodesk@timesshamrock.com with “Monday Update” in the subject line.