Salvation Army summer camp reopens

By Alberto Gilman
Posted 8/17/22

During the month of July, the Salvation Army Newburgh Corps Community Center celebrated the return of Star Lake Camp and were able to bring children from the local community to a fun and memorable …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Salvation Army summer camp reopens

Posted

During the month of July, the Salvation Army Newburgh Corps Community Center celebrated the return of Star Lake Camp and were able to bring children from the local community to a fun and memorable week of camp.

First founded in 1923, Star Lake Camp, located in Bloomingdale, NJ, has allowed the Salvation Army to provide kids from all over the New York State region to come and enjoy the great outdoors, learn new skills and to meet and make new friends. The summer camp returned after a two-year hiatus due to the current COVID pandemic.

Three camp sessions were made available for the children to attend during the course of three weeks.

The kids from Newburgh experienced Adventure Camp, STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] Camp and the Sports Camp. Each session would start Monday and end on the Friday of that week.

On the morning of the trip’s departure, nine new campers, with packed suitcases and smiles on their faces, shuffled into the Salvation Army Newburgh travel van, ready to head off for a week of fun and adventure at Star Lake Camp. Several parents of this year’s campers had attended Star Lake Camp as children and were excited to send their children to camp and hoped they would have a good experience like they did.

Parent Angela Agostini shared that this would be her first time sending off her son, Jeremy Scott Jr., to camp for the summer. While she said she was a little anxious, she was overall excited for him to experience the great outdoors. “He’s excited to experience the whole outdoor adventure. He wanted to pack when I signed him up,” Agostini said.

Parent Candyce Young would also be sending her son, D’Lorenzo Thorpe, to an overnight camp for the first time. Prior to even sending him, Young had the opportunity to check out the camp site with him and her family. “It was beautiful,” Young said. “I reached out to people on Facebook about the camp, and therewas nothing but good reviews.”

Prior to the departure, Captain Kelly Ross and her team helped administer COVID tests to the children, collected medications, made final phone calls and collected canteen funds that would be given later to the kids once they arrived at the camp. According to Ross, the camp was free of charge and transportation was provided to and from.

“I’m just excited for the kids, they have an opportunity to go to camp,” Ross said. “They’re going to be swimming, they’re going to be boating, they’re going to be doing ropes courses and climbing the rock wall.”

Parents who were still interested in sending their kids to camp and had additional questions had the opportunity to contact Ross at her office to learn more about the camp.

Agostini also wanted to offer a special thanks for the work that Captain Ross has done here in the Newburgh community through the Salvation Army. “Captain Kelly [Ross] she’s been awesome. She’s been amazing,” Agostini said. “She helps the community and she helps the kids to make sure they have a good time.”