Archive for category: General

Hello Goshen Leaders!

Phil Barbash here with some more important updates for this summer:

1. Our early bird payment deadline is this Friday. At 11:59 PM on Thursday, April 30th, the price will switch over. Please make every effort to get your youth/adults registered to avoid the price hike.
2. We had a very generous donor come forward and replenish the supply of money for camperships. Thus, if you have the youth who are going to be in need, please have them continue to apply. We will approve the camperships as we have funds for and inform the applicants directly on how to register.
3. Some units have been asking questions on how making a payment online works. Please see here: www.gotogoshen.org/registration/registration-tips-making-a-payment/

COVID-19 Updates:

1. A couple of changes in how we operate summer camp this summer:
   1. We will no longer be having large group gatherings at camp. This includes but is not limited to flag ceremonies, campfires, and camp-wide events.
   2. We are moving in the direction of 1 person tents. At this time we are asking that all units begin the process of identifying how many tents could be brought to camp with them, in an effort to supplement the camp tents for up to half of the units adult/youth. We will have more information on this as far as how we are tracking it moving forward. Needs will be communicated on a camp by camp, week by week basis.
   3. We are looking at our options as far as daily screening procedures, food service operations, and transportation to/from camp. Rest assured, there will be more changes communicated moving forward.
2. Please continue to communicate with your doctors in order to get physicals signed. I understand that this is a challenging task and I am awaiting a response from BSA national on what, if any, decision is going to be made regarding part C of the med form.
3. If you are already interested in preemptively changing your unit’s week at camp to a later week, we have created an online form to do so here: www.gotogoshen.org/weekchange/

Finally, our refund request form is live and can be found here: www.gotogoshen.org/refund. Please remember that if we end up cancelling camp altogether, or the week your unit/youth are attending camp, we will issues a full 100% refund.

That’s all for now. As always, thank you for everything you do and keep the feedback coming on what you would like to see on our end. We will all get through this together!

-Phil

Hello Goshen Leaders!

Phil Barbash here with some more updates regarding Summer Camp and the ongoing pandemic:

1. Will Summer Camp 2020 happen?
   The NCAC Executive Board will throughly discuss summer camp 2020 during the next full board meeting. We expect an initial decision regarding summer camp after that meeting in mid-May.  There many variables to consider in this matter and the decision could include operate as scheduled, modify or shorten the season, or cancel the entire season. This is obviously a moving target, and we could have announcements out sooner than that.
2. Will the April 30th Early Bird Fee Deadline be Extended Again?
   At this time, we will not be offering an additional extension to the 4/30 deadline. Timing dictates the need to secure realistic attendance figures in order to begin ordering supplies and finalize staffing. We want to reiterate that should NCAC cancel any week, or the full summer, we will issue a 100% refund to all youth/adults who paid and registered for immersions camp. We do recognize that this may be creating a financial strain for some families In your, but please recognize paid attendance will be a significant variable in the summer camp decision making process.
3. Is there any information regarding Part C of the medical form?
   No new information is available at this time regarding Part C of the medical form. Legal and medical experts are assisting the BSA in the creation of a policy that offers flexibility, but ensures the safety of youth and adults who attend summer camp. We realize this is time sensitive. So, as soon as we know, we will let you know.

Please be aware our NCAC Enterprise Risk Management Committee has been working with our Camping and Outdoor Programming committee to create a new list of health and safety policies and procedures that will likely need to be implemented this summer pending our ability to operate. We will have that document available as soon as it is finalized. Please let me know if you have any feedback on this matter.

I would like to provide you with more definitive answers regarding the overall summer season. Unfortunately there are still to many unknown variables. We will continue to monitor this situation closely and provide you with regular updates. Until next time, stay safe and let’s all hope/pray that a summer camp season is the light at the end of the tunnel.

-Phil

Hello All,

I hope everyone is staying safe. I unfortunately do not have much of an update for you regarding COVID-19 at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and blast information as we have it. A few notes:

1. Please review our revised refund policy, as well as our updated early bird deadline and merit badge registration opening date. As a point of reference, every email I send out is listed here: https://www.gotogoshen.org/information/latest-news/.
2. Our website is fully updated with information for 2020. I do want to draw everyone’s attention to the forms and downloads page here: https://www.gotogoshen.org/information/forms-downloads/. The top of that list on the left has the adult leader guide for all of Goshen. Please keep in mind that there is one overall guide for Goshen and one for your individual camp. Both will have useful information and both can be given to parents in your units who want to know what to expect.
3. We are still looking for staff for the summer, specifically those that are shooting sports or waterfront inclined, and have reach the ripe age of 21. Please help spread the word and direct all applicants here: https://www.gotogoshen.org/information/goshen-staff/.

That’s all for now. As always, please let us know if you have any questions and thank you for bearing with us!

-Phil

Hello Goshen Leaders,

Phil Barbash here with a couple of updates with regards to COVID-19:

1. First off, at this time we are still planning on having Goshen Scout Reservation open this summer. We will let you know if that changes.
2. We will be extending the early bird payment deadline to 11:59PM on 04/30/20 until we know how this plays out. This has already been updated in the registration portal.
3. For the Scouts BSA camps, we will also be delaying the opening of merit badge registration to 04/01/20.

This message, amongst many others, is posted here: https://www.gotogoshen.org/information/latest-news/#top . Please be safe during these tumultuous times and let’s hope/pray for anyone affected by the current situation.

-Phil