Here are some of the great stories of events that have happened recently right here in our Council. Catch the spirit folks, there are some great things happening and you can make it grow. Be sure to check the bottom of the page for listings of recent Award Recipients.

Special Edition CSPs Go On Sale to Benefit Camps

     JANUARY 2008 - MOOSIC, PA - Northeastern Pennsylvania Council has unveiled a new initiative to raise funds for special projects and equipment that we badly need at Goose Pond and at Acahela. The Wildlife Series promises to be one of the best patch sets our council has ever had. Below are images of the first two patches in a new series that will be offered annually. Two beautiful wildlife designs will be released each year during 2008, 2009, and 2010 featuring the animals that can be seen at either camp. The patches for 2008 are pasted below:

Click on each of the images above to view larger, high resolution images of these patches. Click here for your order form.

What a terrific way to show your support of our camps! And there are three ways to do it!!

Order the Special Limited Collector’s Edition

Each patch will have a Limited Edition run of only 200 collector’s patches. These will differ from the standard patch in a number of ways. First, each will have their own serial number, stitched right on the front of the patch. Second, they will come on a Special Collector’s Edition Card suitable for framing, which will be numbered and signed by the artist. Lastly, with only 200 produced, these are bound to be very valuable in the years to come – true collector’s pieces! You can even request a specific number in the run – if it’s available, it’s yours. (Orders will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis.) You can even subscribe to get the entire set and lock in your number so that all your patches have the same number! Special Edition patches are only $25 each – a bargain and a real help to our camps!!

Order the Standard Edition Patch

Regular editions of the patches will be offered as well. They won’t carry the special serial number and we won’t limit production, but these attractive patches will be another great way you can show and WEAR your support of the council’s camps. As official council CSPs, you are authorized to wear these beautifully embroidered patches in place of our regular Council patch. And at only $7 each, every Scout and Scouter can easily show their support and enthusiasm for our council. Plus they would make outstanding trading patches as well! Order as many as you like – we’ll make each year’s editions as long as there is demand for them during that calendar year.

Subscribe for a Complete Set

You can even subscribe for a complete set of patches – get one each of the Special Editions and one each of the Standard Edition patches – all shipped at one time!

Reserve Your Number by E-mail

We’re setting up a special e-mail address to allow you to reserve your Collector’s Edition number – camppatch@nepabsa.org . As of Tuesday, January 22^nd, you can send in the number you want to request – and we’ll hold it for you (if it’s available) pending receipt of your payment. You have to act fast! We’ll only hold your requested number for 4 days pending arrival of your payment at the Council Office – after that, the number is back up for grabs. Remember, numbers will be assigned on a first-come, first served basis.

Here’s Your Chance

As your Ranger, I know so many of you have been concerned about our camps and have been supportive of all the hard effort we together have put into The Pond and Acahela over the last four years. Many of you have asked what you could do to help and have wished for something like this. Well, here’s your chance! Every Scout and Scouter now has an opportunity to show the pride we have in our camps and to do something that will make a difference.

Click here to print an order form and get more information on the program. Please look them over and place your order today!

Welcome Tom Slavicek, Our New Council Executive

     DECEMBER 2007 - MOOSIC, PA - Northeastern Pennsylvania Council is pleased to announce the arrival of our new Scout Executive, Tom Slavicek, who began his tenure on November 19, 2007. Tom most recently has served with the Narragansett Council in Providence, Rhode Island where he was the Director of Development.

     Tom brings a wealth of experience to our council on both the professional and personal levels. Tom is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honoree in the Order of the Arrow and has served as a volunteer in a number of capacities - in other words, he knows what it's like to be in the trenches with the rest of us!

     Bryan Fisk, our Council President, has said, "Our Council is poised to make some remarkable progress during the coming years." Already Tom has implemented a number of changes underscoring his conviction that communication is a vital component in helping us reach our goals together. Focus groups, forums, newsletters, and even this new website are all the first steps is making sure our Council is meeting the needs of the units it supports. It's Tom's goal to see Scouting restored to being the preeminent youth movement in our area. Welcome aboard Tom!

Surprise Donation of Service Snowballs into Serious Roadwork at Camp Acahela

     NOVEMBER 15, 2007 - CAMP ACAHELA - BLAKESLEE, PA - There is a song that says, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going..." and the same can be said for a round of improvements that recently took place at Camp Acahela before the onset of Winter. Ron Santora, Scoutmaster of Troop 281 in Dallas mentioned to a client of his that the roads at Camp Acahela were in dismal shape and that the Council didn't possess the heavy equipment needed to make the improvements. His client, Al Roman or A-1 Construction quickly offered his grader and a backhoe, as well as the manpower to run them. Knowing the equipment would be on hand to do the work, another anonymous friend of Scouting donated approximately 150 tons of stone which the machines were able to spread on the worst sections of the roads in camp. In addition to the road work, A-1 also dug a drainage ditch between the Blackfoot and Blackfeet campsites to carry water away from the roads and into Rabbit Run, the small creek that runs through the camp. This will keep large volumes of water from eroding the surface of the road heading down to the Lower Field.

     This work, added on top of nearly 300 tons of stone donated by Bob Burry, has dramatically improved the roads throughout camp. However, there is still much that needs to be done. Additional stone - about another 150 tons - is needed to finish the restoration work, and drainage work needs to continue to channel more water off the roads and into Rabbit Run. But that spark has grown into a fire of volunteer help bringing the assets we need to fix our roads. Locust Ridge Quarry donated machine time and an operator to help reposition the security gate entering camp and Pocono Transcrete has offered the concrete needed to set the gate in place. Come Spring of 2008, Papillon & Moyer has committed to compacting any additional stone road material put down.

     Volunteers are still needed and we still need to get that additional stone (equivalent to 7 big truck loads) but thanks to one Scouter who heard the call, and several more who brought some priceless help to the table, the roads at Camp Acahela are well on their way to being the best they've been in more than a decade.

Click here for photo gallery

Council Dinner Celebrates Silver Beavers, George Meany, and James E. West Fellow Recipients

     NOVEMBER 2, 2007 - PLAINS TOWNSHIP, PA - The Northeastern Pennsylvania Council presented three of its Scouters with the prestigious Silver Beaver Award at the annual awards dinner held at the Tribeca Center. Ann Edwards of Pack 375 and Troop 285 in Duryea, Joe Fisne of Troop 73 in Throop, and Cindy Johnson of Pack & Troop 102 in Lake Ariel all received the Silver Beaver in recognition for their outstanding contributions to Scouting in northeastern Pennsylvania.

     Gary Edwards of Duryea was awarded the George Meany Award by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Labor Council for his service to Scouting and the Transit Workers Union, Local 164.

     Matthew Matyas of Troop 418 in Nanticoke, Ryan Ross of Pack & Troop 316 in Avoca, and Tony Seccia of the Endless Mountains District Committee were all inducted into the James E. West Fellowship. Tony was also honored as the Council's oldest and most tenured Scouter having joined Scouting as a youth in March of 1927 in New York City. Congratulations and thanks to Tony for his 80 years of continuous active service in the Boy Scouts of America.

Harvestfest 2007 Catches a Break from Mother Nature

     OCTOBER 29, 2007 - CAMP ACAHELA - BLAKESLEE, PA - It looked for a while as if Harvestfest 2007 was going to drown under a torrent of rain saturating the region. In the 24 hours before the event was supposed to open on October 27th, the Pocono Plateau was soaked with more than 3 inches of heavy rain, making preparations for the event a challenge. However, as noon approached on Saturday, the rains eased off, the wind died down, and the sun came out - along with more than 500 Cub Scouts and their families!

     Over the course of the next two days, more than 1200 visitors enjoyed a break in the weather and the festivities at the Council's annual Cub Scout festival which included a newly constructed rope bridge, two inflatable jump houses, two hay rides, and a variety of games and activities. Co-Chairs Cindy Johnson and Ryan Ross felt that this was one of the best events in recent years and have promised to continue to improve the event for 2009.

Troop 281 Flying High at CAPE Acahela

     OCTOBER, 2007 - CAMP ACAHELA - BLAKESLEE, PA - Troop 281 of Dallas, PA held a Space Exploration weekend at Camp - er, CAPE Acahela with many of the boys completing the requirements for the Space Exploration merit badge. Scouts arrived at camp and built model rocket kits purchased from Quest. Ranger Tim taught the model building class that guided 25 Scouts (and a few Scouters too!) through the assembly process on Saturday. The completed rockets were then flown on Sunday morning with many of the rockets flying to heights of over 800 feet. It was exciting field exercise and capped a terrific weekend of camping, model building, and  flying. Since then, over a dozen of the boys who needed to complete other work have done so and have received the Space Exploration Merit Badge.

     Space Ex is just one of the merit badges offered to units visiting Camp Acahela as part of an effort to expand the skills and talents offered by the Campmaster Corps and help make weekend camping programs more exciting and offer a greater range of services to visiting units. If you would like to learn more about this program and a similar program soon to be offered at Goose Pond, contact Ranger Tim at (570) 335-0283 or e-mail him at tbongard@nepabsa.org.

Click here for photo gallery

Service Project Fever Taking Hold at Both Camps

     AUTUMN / EARLY WINTER 2007 - CAMP ACAHELA & GOOSE POND SR - The old tradition of Scouting units doing service projects for their camps is making a come back in a very noticeable way at both Camp Acahela and Goose Pond Scout Reservation. "Units have really started stepping forward to help out at both camps, more than we have had in past years", said Tim Bongard, the Ranger for both camps.     

     Most recently, Troop 55 of Wilkes-Barre built a brand new rope bridge in the Lower Field at Camp Acahela, doubling the size of an earlier bridge. This was later used at Harvestfest in October 2007 and then again at the Two Mountains Polar Bear Weekend in February 2008. Troop 55 has plans to add a tower to one end of the bridge for next year's Harvestfest event.

     Even the Cub Scouts have gotten into the act and done some impressive work - more than what most parents would expect their young boys to do! Pack 155 of Trucksville did an amazing job cleaning up litter and other debris as part of an ongoing effort to tidy up the camp Maintenance Yard at Acahela. The boys spent a solid morning collecting litter, retrieving recyclables, raking, and undoing the annual damage done by our hungry, dumpster-raiding bears, earning service time towards their Cub Scout Leave-No-Trace Award in the process.

     Photos of both units at work are in the galleries below, but there have been many other units helping out. If you would like to participate, find out what you can do, or would like to adopt a lodge or campsite at either camp, contact Ranger Tim at (570) 335-0283 or e-mail him at tbongard@nepabsa.org.

Click here for the Troop 55 photo gallery

Click here for the Pack 155 photo gallery