During the week of July 6-12, 126 campers and a volunteer staff of 53 adult counselors gathered on the grounds of St. Tikhon’s Seminary and Monastery to participate in the 43rd annual season of Saint Tikhon’s Summer Camp. The camp program allows Orthodox Christian children between the ages of 7 and 17 to grow in their relationship with Christ and each other by participating in a variety of educational and recreation activities. Children from all over Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York – and as far away as Virginia, Florida, and Texas – return to camp for a week of fun each summer.
A typical day at camp includes morning and evening prayers, meals in the Trapeza, religious education workshops, and activities such as field sports, swimming, boating, ethnic dance lessons, arts and crafts, and iconography.
The camp theme this year was ‘In The Beginning Was The Word’, and the campers’ daily workshops focused on the many ways the Orthodox Church uses Scripture in church services.
New this year was the Camp Carnival, which took place in the gymnasium each night after dinner and featured face painting, piñatas, a snow-cone machine, a photo booth, and carnival-style games. The event was a big hit among the campers, who enjoyed the small prizes of pencils, stickers, and bracelets they could collect at the games.
This season, the camp also brought back an old tradition– the morning Flag Ceremony – in which the entire camp begins each day bright and early by raising the flag, singing the National Anthem, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and reading the Campers’ Oath.
Campers are already looking forward to the next season, which will take place from July 5-11, 2015. Registration forms will be available on February 1, 2015 on the camp website at www.sttikhonscamp.org. (Article by Camp Director Kimberly Metz)
Physical Address:
178 St. Tikhon's Road
Waymart, PA 18472
Mailing Address:
Post Office Box 130
South Canaan, PA 18459
Phone: 570-561-1818