| Northeastern Pennsylvania Council #501 | |
| Type: | council |
| Owner: | Boy Scouts of America |
| Headquarters: | Moosic, Pennsylvania |
| Country: | United States |
| F-Date: | 1990 |
| Chiefscouttitle: | President |
| Chiefscout: | Jennifer Rogers |
| Chiefscouttitle2: | Commissioner |
| Chiefscout2: | Rick Stritzinger |
| Chiefscouttitle3: | Scout Executive |
| Chiefscout3: | Kevin Bishop |
| Website: | nepabsa.org |
Northeastern Pennsylvania Council, with headquarters in Moosic, Pennsylvania, formed in 1990 from the merger of Forest Lakes Council and Penn Mountains Council of the Boy Scouts of America. It covers the metropolitan area of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The council serves Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Wayne, Wyoming counties, and portions of Susquehanna county.
The council is geographically divided into two districts to serve scout units:
The council manages two camps: Goose Pond Scout Reservation, located in Paupack Township, Pennsylvania, near Lake Wallenpaupack, and Camp Acahela, located in Tobyhanna Township, Pennsylvania, near the confluence of the Lehigh River and Tobyhanna Creek.
| Goose Pond Scout Reservation | |
| Type: | campsite |
| Location: | Paupack Township, PA 18438 |
| Country: | United States |
| Coords: | 41.4044°N -75.2728°W |
| F-Date: | 1920 |
| Chiefscouttitle: | Camp Director |
| Chiefscout: | Dave Srebro |
| Portal: | no |
Goose Pond, the lake around which the whole camp is based, is a 42-acre glacial lake surrounded by hardwood and evergreen forest. The total area of the camp is 542acres which includes the lake. The camp is located near the northern end of the Pocono Plateau, Scranton.[1]
Goose Pond Scout Reservation has been in continuous operation as a boy scout summer camp since 1920.[2] Its resident Boy Scout summer camping season runs seven weeks from late June through mid August. During summer camp, a staff of scouts provide merit badge courses that scouts can attend during the week. Registration for the summer program typically starts at the end of the previous season.[3] The summer camp conducts the Voyager Program to offer High Adventure experiences to older scouts and the Pathways Program to give first-year campers scout skill training. During the non-summer season the camp supports events such as Order of the Arrow Ordeal weekends, Cub Scout programs, unit weekend camping, council leadership courses, and the Klondike Derby. The camp also supports a high and low COPE Course throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall seasons.
In addition to the primary buildings, there are various other smaller structures such as the Croom Family Pavilion across from the dining hall, the Dan Beard Cabin scheduled to be completed for 2021, the Jim Naticchi Pavilion at the Scoutcraft area, the Cook's Cabin for the kitchen staff, the shower house, and the pump house. The shower house, renovated in 2014, features individual shower/restroom rooms.
William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt attended a Wood Badge course at Goose Pond in September 1992 by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Boy Scout Council, at which time he signed a structural support beam in the camp dining hall. Since Mr. Hillcourt departed soon afterward for a trip to Sweden, during which he died on November 9, 1992, the camp claims its Wood Badge course was the last official US Scouting event attended by William Hillcourt.[2]
Goose Pond Scout Reservation's annual summer camping program has been continuously conducted since 1920. The camp claims its summer camping program is the fourth longest running Boy Scout summer camp program in the United States.[4] [5] [6]
Early in its history, Goose Pond Scout Reservation often sent hiking contingents to Daniel Carter Beard's Outdoor School 12 miles away in Lackawaxen Township, Pennsylvania. The camp is in the process of incorporating the last log cabin (Dan Beard's 1926 Kiva style headquarters cabin) from this site into its own facilities.[7]
| Camp Acahela | |
| Type: | campsite |
| Location: | Blakeslee, PA |
| Country: | United States |
| Coords: | 41.119°N -75.634°W |
| F-Date: | 1919 |
| Chiefscouttitle: | Camp Director |
| Chiefscout: | Bryan Fisk |
| Portal: | no |
Camp Acahela was founded in 1919.[1] The camp is located in the village of Blakeslee, PA on a peninsula formed by the joining of the Lehigh River and the Tobyhanna Creek. The camp has a total area of 242 acres covered by a variety of landforms and vegetation, ranging from heavily wooded ridges and cliffs, to wide open parade fields, to shady groves of ancient fir trees that provide a wide variety of camping opportunities year-round for every type of Scouting unit. From 1919 until 1991 the camp hosted a boy scout summer camp program. Since 1992 the camp has offered an annual Cub Scout Resident camping program during the summer months, starting in late June. The resident program provides cub scout packs with five-day and three-day options, as well as day camping experiences.
During the non-summer season the camp supports other events such as Order of the Arrow Ordeal weekends, council training courses, and Klondike Derbies. The camp is available for weekend camping reservations. Its location offers weekend campers access to many activities in the Pocono area.
| Lowwapaneu Lodge 191 | |
| F-Date: | January 1, 1991 |
| Chiefscouttitle: | Lodge Chief |
| Chiefscout: | Shayne McAuliffe |
| Chiefscouttitle2: | Lodge Adviser |
| Chiefscout2: | Mike Minello |
| Chiefscouttitle3: | Lodge Staff Adviser |
| Chiefscout3: | Dave Srebro |
| Website: | http://lowwapaneu.org |
| Portal: | no |
Northeastern Pennsylvania Council is served by Order of the Arrow Lowwapaneu Lodge 191. The name "Lowwapaneu" contains the Lenape words for "north" and "east." The lodge's number is based on the date of the Lodge's first charter: January 1, 1991. The lodge's original totem was a totem pole that depicted the totems of the six predecessor lodges that merged over time to form Lowwapaneu Lodge: Acahela Lodge 223 (Bear), Quekolis Lodge 316 (Whippoorwill), Gischigan Lodge 223 (Rattlesnake), Monsey Lodge 543 (Wolf), Kiminschi Lodge 542 (Maple Leaf), and Amad'ahi Lodge 542 (Two Indians in a Canoe). In 1996 the lodge's totem was changed to a fire surrounded by a four-color Circle of Life.[8]