News for everyone

Goshen Leader Update #8

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Hello Goshen Leaders!

It’s been a while! A couple quick updates for you:

  1. The deadline to request a refund for any scout or adult for any reason is June 15th, 2018. Please send those to myself at Philip.Barbash@Scouting.Org. Please do note that after that date, no refunds will be granted. This is a hard deadline. Apologies for the inconvenience! We do always have the option for you to switch out any youth or adult with another youth or adult by simply changing the name in your registration portal. Please refer to our refund policy here: https://www.gotogoshen.org/registration/. If you have already requested a refund via email, you are good to go. We will process and let you know when we do.
  2. If you are planning on taking the bus down, and have registered in the registration portal, you will receive an update email on logistics the Wednesday before your arrival. As always, you can get more information here: https://www.gotogoshen.org/information/transportation/.
  3. Please do not hesitate to contact your camp director for program/facility specific questions. Their info is listed on the camp’s webpage that you are attending near the bottom.
  4. Its not too early to be thinking about coming down to Family Camp here at Goshen during Labor Day Weekend. Information is here: https://www.gotogoshen.org/events/family-camp/. Registration is open!

My address now ends in Goshen, VA for the next two months. Feel free to contact me with any questions and as always, my previous update emails are here: https://www.gotogoshen.org/information/latest-news/.

-Phil

Goshen Leader Update #7

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Hello Goshen Leaders!

Phil Barbash here with a couple of updates. As always, I’ll try to be brief, but no guarantees:

  1. First off, we do have a payment deadline approaching one week from today, on the 18th of May. At 11:59 PM on the 18th, the price will switch to $440 per youth and $305 per adult. Please make every effort to get your youth/adults registered before Friday night!
  2. We are also about a month and a half out from our deadline for refunds. Please keep in mind that as our policy states, any refunds requested before June 15th, 2018 will be granted at an 85% rate. After that date, no refunds will be granted for any reason. I do apologize for our stern disposition on this, but there is quite a financial impact incurred from processing refunds of this magnitude. Please see here for more information: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/registration/.
  3. We WILL be offering Catholic Mass for all camps on Sunday evenings at the Camp Ross dining hall at 7PM. We were able to line up a few last year, but believe that we will be able to offer it all summer this year. We do recognize that this creates a conflict with the opening leaders meeting in all camps but Bowman and Marriott. Our Camp Directors will work with you to get you filled in on the information that was missed should you need to send your entire unit to Mass.
  4. We are still looking to fill a few staff positions, specifically but not exclusively 21+ year olds. Please do let me know if you have anyone that might be interested.
  5. For any Boy Scout aged youth that may want to spend an additional week at camp, we do have the provisional Trail to Eagle program at Camp Marriott during Week 6. Please see here for more details: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/camps-programs/specialty-week/.
  6. Memorial Day Weekend is right around the corner! Have any families that don’t have plans? Come on down and get a preview of how awesome Goshen is! Details are here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/events/family-camp/.

As always, all of the previous emails I have sent out are here if you need them: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/latest-news/. Thanks to all and please don’t hesitate to shoot us an email with any questions you may have!

-Phil

Goshen Leader Update #6

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Hello All Goshen Leaders,

Thank you for bearing with us through the early bird deadline. It was a busy week but I think we’re pretty much clear! A couple quick updates for all of you:

  1. We will have one more new adult leader orientation meeting this coming Wednesday, the 25th. It is located at 1301 Trap Road in Vienna, VA and will begin at 7PM. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS ONLY THIS ONE MEETING IN VIENNA ON WEDNESDAY, AND NO MEETING IN BETHESDA. This was my mistake in my wording last time I made the announcement. If you have already attended the first meeting, you need not attend this one and this meeting is for BRAND NEW ADULTS ONLY. It is mostly an open forum to get questions answered. If you have answers to all of your questions already, no need to attend, unless you want to pick up your hats.
  2. Speaking of hats, they are here! Feel free to stop by our office at 9190 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD during normal business hours (9-5) to pick up your hats for every youth and adult that paid at the early bird deadline. If you paid additional money to have your hats embroidered, those will be available for you upon arrival at camp. If the office is not do-able, feel free to coordinate with your district executive to pick them up and meet you at roundtable or another closer area. We will not be mailing hats.
  3. Please do keep in mind that all adults that are coming to camp for 72 hours or more do need to be registered in the BSA with youth protection training.
  4. Our Leaders Guide for Goshen is posted here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/forms-downloads/ as well as lots of other exciting forms. Keep in mind, each camp also has their own leader guide and forms unique to that camp.
  5. There are still opportunities for those youth at the Boy Scout level who are unable to come with their troop or are itching for a second week at camp to participate in any of our provisional programs (that means no adults required!). Check them out online at http://gotogoshen.wpengine.com.
  6. Finally, Memorial Day Family Camp weekend is right around the corner! Register today!

As always, all of my previous emails are posted here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/latest-news/. Please check them out if you are new and need some questions answered. Looking forward to seeing you all soon! Let the countdown begin!

-Phil

Goshen Leader Update #5

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Hello Goshen Leaders!

Phil Barbash here, with a couple of updates:

  1. First off, if you are a unit or provisional who has just recently signed up, feel free to go and take a look at any/all of my previous four update emails. They can be found here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/latest-news/.
  2. The early bird payment deadline is one week from today. As of 11:59 PM on Friday the 13th, the system will switch over and every youth and adult will be charged the full $400/$265 amounts respectively. PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THURSDAY NIGHT TO REGISTER.
  3. Every youth and adult that pays by the early bird deadline will receive a hat. You do have the option in your registration portal to embroider that hat with your unit’s name and hometown. Please be checking your email frequently if you have chosen this option as we will be contacting you shortly to confirm what you want embroidered on the hat. Hats will be available for pickup during normal business hours, 9-5:30 Monday-Friday at 9190 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20814. You do also have the option to coordinate with your District Executive or other volunteer to bring it to you at a closer location, or you can always pick up at camp. We will not be mailing hats. ALL EMBROIDERED HATS WILL BE PICKED UP UPON ARRIVAL AT CAMP.
  4. We will have two new adult leader orientation meetings on the 18th and 25th of April at the Marriott Scout Service Center (9190 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20814) and Andrew Chapel (1301 Trap Road Vienna, VA 22182). Both meetings will begin at 7PM and end by 9PM and you need only attend one of them. THESE ARE FOR BRAND NEW ADULTS ONLY. YOU NEED NOT WORRY ABOUT THEM IF YOU HAVE BEEN TO GOSHEN BEFORE. Most information given out will be basic information. Due to the nature of the meeting, no call in number is available but if you have specific questions, feel free to shoot them over to me. Most of the session is Q and A.
  5. There is now a 3% convenience charge for credit cards in your registrations portal. We recognize and apologize that the timing is not great on this. There is, however, no added charge for e-checks. Feel free to use a paper check and pay your amount in the system, as the system will walk you through exactly how to input the check into the system.
  6. As of now ANY LEADER COMING TO CAMP WHO IS STAYING FOR 72 HOURS OR MORE MUST BE REGISTERED WITH THE BSA AND HAVE GONE THROUGH YOUTH PROTECTION TRAINING. Please factor this accordingly into your unit’s plan.
  7. Please continue to check your individual camp’s webpage for new postings (many documents have been updated including the Merit Badge pre-requisite list).

That’s all for now. As always thank you for coming to Goshen and feel free to shoot Sarah or myself an email with any questions you may have!

P.S. Memorial Day Family Camp Weekend…still accepting registrations. Don’t miss out!

Get Ready for Camp: Leader Orientation Meetings

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Join us for an information session to make sure you and your unit are prepared for Goshen. These meetings are intended for leaders that are BRAND NEW to Goshen. We’ll give a brief overview of how camp works and answer any questions you may have.

The first orientation meeting option will be on April 18 from 7pm to 8:30pm at the Marriott Scout Service Center (9190 Rockville Pike) in Bethesda, MD.

The second orientation meeting option will be on April 25 (this is a new date from what was previously published) from 7pm to 8:30pm at Andrew Chapel (1301 Trap Rd) in Vienna, VA.

Pick whichever meeting is closest to you. It is the same meeting, just in two different locations for traveling convenience.

Goshen Leader Update #4

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Hello Goshen Leaders!

Phil Barbash here, dropping in for a few reminders:

  1. If you are new to these emails, welcome! All of my previous emails can be found here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/latest-news/. Please do take a second and see if there was something that you missed
  2. Please remember that every youth and adult must have a med form when they get to camp. Our med form has an added diclosure insert that can be found here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/forms-downloads/.
  3. Don’t forget about Family Camp During Memorial Day Weekend! It is right around the corner!
  4. For those of you that are new to Goshen, every youth and adult that registers by the early bird deadline will receive a hat. You do have the option in the registration portal to add your unit’s name and hometown to that hat for an additional cost. If you choose to embroider your hat, those will be available for you upon your arrival at camp. If not, your hats will be available for pick up at our office in Bethesda come April 13th. More details to come.
  5. If you have youth who have applied for a campership or have earned a popcorn voucher, they should have received a letter via email that has a code on it, with which to apply the discount. Please let Sarah know if you have youth that did not receive.
  6. As per usual, we will be hosting two adult leader orientation meetings for NEW ADULTS ONLY on April 18th and April 24th. The meeting on the 18th will take place here at our office at 9190 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20814 and the second location is TBD. I will shoot out notification when I have a firm location.

That’s all for now. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions!

Goshen Leader Update #3

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Hello Goshen Leaders!

 

A couple of quick updates from your friendly neighborhood Goshen Director:

 

  1. First off, we have a new Camping Assistant! Her name is Sarah Moses, which will be a familiar face for those of you who have been coming to Goshen for a little while now. She will be helping out with the administrative end of Goshen, as Calicoe has now moved on into the world of raising her newborn. Please welcome her to the team!
  2. For the Boy Scout leaders, AS OF MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH AT NOON, MERIT BADGE REGISTRATION WILL BE LIVE IN YOUR REGISTRATION PORTAL. Please do keep in mind that we are not a “first come first served” system with Merit Badges, so it’s not a game of fastest finger. For the few badges that we have that do have space limitations, they are prioritized by age, and then by rank. For all of the rest, we will make room for your scouts. To register, simply click on the scout’s name in your registration, scroll down, and create his class schedule. Please keep in mind that a scout must be paid in full to register for merit badges.
  3. Most of our website at http://gotogoshen.wpengine.com has been updated to include Program Schedules, Leader Guides, etc. Please peruse the website when you have a chance so that you can obtain all of the information that pertains to you.
  4. Please do not forget about Family Camp Memorial Day Weekend! If you have families that do not have plans during the last weekend in May, come on out and see Goshen. Registration is live, and we are excited for this brand new event. Registration is also live for our traditional Labor Day Weekend Family Camp event as well. More information can be found here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/events/family-camp/.
  5. The deadline to apply for Camperships has now passed. However, if you submitted applications after the 1st, or have yet to submit applications please continue to do so. They will be prioritized by those that were received before the deadline first, but we will continue to allot funds as we have them.
  6. If you notice something is incomplete with your registration now, it is because we have now added a field for gender, such that we can plan accordingly for family scouting. Please do fill this out for each scout/adult.
  7. Please do obtain the BSA med form from our website only, as it is the one that has our additional disclosure insert. It is located here:  https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/forms-downloads/.
  8. If you have Boy Scouts who are interested in a second week or cannot go the same week as the rest of the troop, please do not forget about our provisional STEM program here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/camps-programs/stem-challenges/ , or other provisional opportunities here:  https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/camps-programs/provisional-camp/.

 

As always, thank you for all that you do and please do not hesitate to let Sarah or myself know if there are questions.

-Phil

Goshen Leader Update #2

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Happy New Year Goshen Leaders!

 

Phil Barbash here. Just wanted to drop you all a note and give you a couple of updates. I’ll do my best to be brief, a trait I’ve never been accused of having:

 

  1. We currently have 145 units signed up to attend Goshen Scout Reservation in some capacity. This is a 25% increase year over year which is great! It does however, mean that if you know of units that have not yet made their deposit, they should do so quickly. Camp PMI can no longer take new reservations during weeks 1 or 3, and Ross is getting close on Week 1. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE YOUR DEPOSIT, YOU DO NOT NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IT. There will be room for your youth/adults that has already been allotted.
  2. For those youth that need a little extra financial assistance with their camp registration, we do have camperships available for in council units only. It is an online form that is located here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/registration/. The deadline to have these submitted is February 1. I have already seen a few of them come through.
  3. For those of you who have youth that may be looking for a second week at camp, please do keep in mind that we have a few specialty programs that may be a good option for them. Trail to Eagle at Camp Marriott Week 6 has plenty of openings for those youth who want to be on the fast track to Eagle. It is all provisional which means you DON’T NEED TO SEND ADULTS. Of course, provisionals are welcome to attend Camp Marriott any week and will follow the normal schedule. We also have 2 co-ed, STEM weeks. The first of those is for Webelos only and is during Week 3 at Camp Olmsted. The second is for Boy Scouts only is and is during Week 6 at Camp Olmsted. Boy Scouts attend provisionally, Webelos do not. All youth will have the opportunity to build their own Quadcopter to take home with them. More information is available here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/camps-programs/stem-challenges/.
  4. Speaking of Co-Ed, we will be offering our Family Scouting program this year at our TWO WEBELOS CAMPS ONLY. For those packs that are attending, feel free to register female youth for Goshen, provided they are registered in the BSA. This will not yet apply to our regular Boy Scout merit badge program.
  5. Our med form for Goshen is located here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/forms-downloads/. Please keep in mind that it has an additional page in comparison to the national BSA med form that needs to be signed by a parent/guardian or adult participant. It does NOT need to be signed by a physician.
  6. We are still looking for staff to join the amazing team at Goshen! If you know of anyone who has the summer off (I think we all do) and is at least 14 years of age, they can apply here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/information/goshen-staff/. We will be hosting interviews this coming Saturday and next Saturday in our office from noon to 3. We will contact you after your submission to schedule an interview. Salary is commensurate with age and experience.
  7. Finally, we have opened registration for BOTH of our family camps. That’s right, we have 2 this year! One will be during Memorial Day Weekend and the other during Labor Day Weekend. More information is available here: https://gotogoshen.wpengine.com/events/family-camp/.

 

Well…I tried to be brief. Too much fun for that going on at Goshen! As always, please feel free to shoot me an email with any questions you may have. Happy New Year!