Facilities

Details

Published on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 02:57

Camp Shehaqua is in Hickory Run State Park, nestled in the Pocono Mountains. Directions to Camp Shehaqua

Cabins and Campground

Each family gets their own cabin assigned. Depending on the size of the family, the cabin will have 2 or 4 beds, with space for more on the floor. Eight cabins are grouped around a lodge, and together they form a unit. Camp Shehaqua is made up of 5 units. Click here for a map of the campground.

If the parents agree, children 7th grade and up can sleep in one of the lodges with other kids of their group.

Each unit has restrooms with running water; the only showers are located between Unit 1 and Unit 2.

The cabins have no electricity or water. The doors are barred with wooden bolts. The windows are covered with mosquito screens, and on cool nights plastic covers can be lowered over the screens. Inside the cabin there are 2-4 beds with plastic-covered foam mattresses, and some shelves.

At the center of the camp is the Dining Hall where all the participants meet during meal times. Depending on which cabin and unit your family sleeps in, it's a 5-10 minutes walk from the cabin to the Dining Hall. Other buildings include the Recreation Hall, Office, Crafts Cabin, Infirmary, and Nature Lodge, all located a short walk away from the Dining Hall.

On arrival day you can drive with your car to the unit where your cabin is located to unload your personal belongings. After that, please park the car in the area assigned for it by the camp staff.

Dining Hall

The Dining Hall is the social center of the camp. All participants meet outside the hall before meal times for a song and announcements, and then line up for the food that is served buffet-style. Some meals are eaten by groups, some by family.

At any time of day you will be able to help yourself to a beverage in the Dining Hall. Water, Lemonade, coffee, tea and hot and cold water are available and free. When you register at camp, you will be given souvenir plastic mugs to use during your time at Camp and to take home with you. To reduce the amount of garbage and to save on operating costs, we are not supplying disposable cups during Camp. If you lose your cup you will have to purchase a new one to replace it. Supplies of extra cups are limited.

Each family has a small storage place (the size of a milk crate) reserved for them at the entrance of the Dining Hall. This is where you can keep your plastic mugs, flashlights, rain coats, umbrellas, notebooks, etc.

The Dining Hall is also the place where campers can hang out after the evening activities. Lights out at the Dining Hall is usually around midnight. Some board games are available, but we encourage you to bring your own card games.

Leave your pets at home

This is a park rule: no dogs or other pets are allowed at any time. They are not even allowed for a day visit, even if they are on a leash. Please make other arrangements for them during camp.

Parking and driving during camp

Once you have unloaded your personal belongings at your cabin, please park your car in one of several central locations (we'll tell you about these when you arrive). Plan to walk to and from all the activities, unless you have a medical condition. The camp roads are small, rough and narrow. They cannot handle heavy traffic. CAUTION: There is a 5 mph speed limit on all the roads of camp. For more information about it, please click here.

Fishing and other activities

We have not planned any fishing expeditions, but we are very close the Lehigh River and other good fishing locations. If your family wants to do this on their own during our free times or before or after camp, you are welcome. You will need to contact the Park Office regarding a fishing permit. This is the park's website, with a phone number and email.

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Daily Schedule

Details

Published on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 02:51

Family Camp is planned around the family. The kids participate in activities and the parents staff the camp. To keep camp costs low, each parent signs up for an assignment that usually does not take up more than three hours per day. Short descriptions of these staff assignments can be found here.

The kids are grouped by age for most activities:

• Twinkles (Pre-K, K)
• Stars (grades 1–2)
• Moons (grades 3–4)
• Suns (grades 5–6)
• Comets (grades 7–8)
• Supernovas (grades 9 and above)
• Quasars (age 17 and above)

The families start each day with a short prayer service together with the other families in their unit (see more about units in Facilities), and then head to breakfast in the Dining Hall. After breakfast, all the kids attend presentations based on the Divine Principle. We offer optional discussions and other activities for adults.

Songs are sung before each meal and activity. We encourage you to bring your own guitar to camp. We provide songbooks with guitar chords, so you do not need to bring your own.

After lunch, the kids participate with their groups in crafts, sports, hiking, or service projects. Older kids assigned to groups will lead their groups to the various afternoon activities. The second half of the afternoon is free time. Weather permitting, the swimming pool is open during this time. Lifeguards are on duty whenever the pool is open.

There is a volleyball field next to the Dining Hall. Dodge ball is very popular at Camp Shehaqua, and other sports are offered depending on the availability of sports coordinators.

Special activities are planned for each day after dinner, such as a candlelight prayer, games, campfire singing or talent presentation. Many of these activities are done by groups, and parents are encouraged to participate or assist in them with their children. Click here for a sample schedule from a previous year.

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About Family Camp

Details

Published on Wednesday, 16 May 2012 02:42

Shehaqua Family Camp was started in 1995 by a small group of Unificationist families to provide a vision of community of faith for our children. Since then it has grown from a small gathering of families camping over a weekend in tents to a three-week program for hundreds of people in rustic cabins in the Pocono Mountains. We now already have the third generation of campers attending, and some of the kids whose families attended the early camps are now part of the camp staff. Family Camp is an ideal place to get to know other families. Lifelong friendships have started at Shehaqua Family Camp, and several campers even have met their future spouse there.

Shehaqua Family Camp offers families a spiritually enriching experience through presentations, nature, sports, crafts, music, and social activities. The content presented during the various lectures is age-appropriate Bible stories for the younger children, and basic Divine Principle—the teachings of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon—for the older kids. (For more information about the philosophy behind Shehaqua Family Camp, please read “Our Mission”—see menu bar on the left.) Shehaqua Family Camp welcomes people of all faiths.

For the whole family

What sets Shehaqua Family Camp apart from most other camps is a program designed for the whole family, not just children of a certain age. While lectures, discussions, and some of the activities are separated by age groups, there are many activities that the family can enjoy together, which will help them to strengthen their family ties. Based on their shared experience, families usually leave camp with a renewed appreciation for each other.

Families also have a chance to bond among each other, creating a community that feels like an extended family—with many aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews. This is why most families keep coming back every year.

All the adults share the workload of running the camp, giving everybody a more personal stake in a successful outcome.

Bring your friends and relatives

Family Camp is a natural place to introduce your friends and relatives to the Unification movement. Adult guests can participate in discussions, and their children can attend the relevant workshops.

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2012 Fees

Details

Published on Saturday, 21 April 2012 14:10

Family Camp is organized by staffing the camp with the parents who attend. Because of this, we are able to make the fees lower than if we had to pay for staff. However, we also have to organize Camp after people register, but before Camp begins. So, in order to encourage you to register early enough to allow us to organize everything, we have stepped prices, with discounts for paying early. We ask that everyone not only register before the deadlines, but also pay before the deadlines, because: (1) When you have paid, we know that we can count on your coming, and (2) We need to have money before Camp to pay for equipment and expenses that come before Camp.

Schedule of Deadlines

These deadlines are independent of which session of Camp you attend.

1. May 31: Pay by this deadline, because the fees rise the following day.
2. June 30:
   • Pay by this day if you missed the last one, because the fees rise again the next day.
   • We spend money or make commitments we cannot change by this date. Up to June 30, we will issue a full refund. Any cancellations after this date will receive no refund. This policy is the same for all sessions of Camp.
   • Let us know if you are changing weeks.

Donations for Families in Need

If you would like to sponsor a family or families in need to help them come to Family Camp, we encourage you to either make a donation of any amount through the payments page of the registration system, or directly sponsor someone you know by contacting the Registrar. Donations will be kept anonymous. Unfortunately, this is not tax-deductible.

Paying by Check

If you would like to pay by check, write it to "Pocono Family Ministries" and mail it to:
Shehaqua Registration
21 Aberdeen Terrace
Middletown NJ, 07748

Weeks 1 and 3

For additional information on registration policies or fees please review the policies page.

You can potentially save HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS by registering early. To get the early bird discounts, you must have completely paid for all attending members of your family by the deadline.

Week 2

You can potentially save HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS by registering early. To get the early bird discounts, you must have completely paid for all attending members of your family by the deadline.

Week 1.5

Weekend prices are approximately half of week prices. All weekly pricing rules apply.

2012 Spring Gathering Fees

Details

Published on Sunday, 25 March 2012 11:13

There are four possible activity tracks a person can take:

1. Home Base - stay at Shehaqua, no rafting or paintball
2. Rafting and Paintballing. Ages 12 and up only. Wetsuits, paintball equipment, and paint provided.
3. Rafting and another exciting Shehaqua activity instead of paintball. Ages 12 and up only for rafting. Wetsuits provided.
4. Family Rafting trip. A tamer rafting trip for children 4 and up. A parent MUST come along. Wetsuits provided.

New pricing deal: If you bring a friend who has never been to a Shehaqua Family program, you get 10% off. Also, anyone who hasn't been to a Shehaqua Family program gets 10% off. Email the Registrar for more details and to get this deal.

The family maximum is the max total price a family has to pay for the Home Base program. It does not apply to rafting / paintball prices. Immediate (nuclear) families only. You also need to email the Registrar to get this deal.

Here are the EARLY BIRD prices for each of these activities:

There are two deadlines you need to watch out for:

• April 22: Early bird price ends. All attendee prices go up by $10 after April 22, except the home base price for children 5 and under. And the family maximum for the home base weekend goes up to $150.
• May 6: You cannot register after May 6 for any trip that includes rafting.

You must pay by April 22 to get the early bird price, and pay by May 6 to be considered registered for rafting. Also, there will be no refunds after May 6.