Camp Lackawanna director Mykela Bricka (top photo, back left) coaches youths in a game of GaGa Ball during an open house event held on April 24. Above, Caitlyn Buswell (back, left) and Daniel Goonewarden (back right) guide a craft session.
Story by Rick Hiduk / Photos by Rick Hiduk and Abbey Gomelko
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The weather couldn’t have been nicer for folks visiting Camp Lackawanna at Vosburg Neck in Wyoming County on Saturday. Camp staff provided tours of the grounds and engaged children in a variety of activities.
In addition to conducting a summer camp program for children, Camp Lackawanna also has cabins for group rentals and families to come and enjoy acres of woodlands and the Susquehanna River.
According to camp director Mykela Bricka, the venue has been utilized in numerous ways, including a women’s wellness retreat, a sewing guild weekend, continuing education programs for companies, and Live Action Role Play events (aka – LARPING).
On Saturday, youngsters made crafts with beads under the guidance of arts and crafts director Daniel Goonewardene and counselor Caitlyn Buswell before taking part in a fast-paced game of GaGa Ball. Afterwards, they joined others at the campfire circle to roast marshmallows and hot dogs.
Camp Lackawanna was founded in 1962 by the Lackawanna Presbytery as a place where kids and adults could go to focus on team building and spiritual growth. Those basic tenets still drive the programming, which is becoming more diverse every year.
Assistant program director Katie Phykitt was hired last year, but COVID greatly reduced activities at the camp in 2020, so she was not needed. She was happy to learn that the camp still needed her this summer and is looking forward to working with Bricka.
“She’s been so creative in reaching out to the public,” Phykitt said of Bricka.
The camp season will kick-off with an all-ages Family Camp June 24 to 27 and wrap up the season with Camp Olympics August 1 to 7 for youths ages 7 to 16. In between, there are specialty camps concentrating on music and the arts and a Night Owls camp focused on the forest creatures that come out at night.
For more information, interested readers can log on to www.camplackawanna.org, or reach out to Bricka at camplackawanna.director@gmail.com or 570-836-3444.