2022 UPDATE!
Dear camp families, friends, staff, and alumni,
Like so many youth organizations, Camp Wyomoco has faced mounting challenges throughout the past two years. The health and safety of our campers and staff have always been Camp Wyomoco’s highest priority. We made the very difficult decision to close camp for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. This was not a decision we made lightly, however, the safety and wellbeing of our campers, staff, and community remained our number one concern. After months of diligent research, it was determined that there were too many uncertainties beyond our control to ensure Camp Wyomoco could open and operate safely for the ’21 season. While we were saddened by this decision, we felt it was impossible to meet the mission of our camp while also safely managing pandemic conditions for both our campers and our staff alike.
It was our greatest hope that hiring, health, and economic conditions would improve for the coming 2022 season. Unfortunately, this has not come to pass. In light of these mounting challenges and due to rising costs, we’ve made the very difficult decision to halt the traditional residential camp program at this time. Under the current conditions, we felt we could not ensure the Camp Wyomoco experience so many of you know and love nor could we guarantee the continuing safety of our campers and staff. This was a devastating decision, and we are heartbroken that we won’t be welcoming campers back for our traditional summer session.
However, we’re taking this opportunity to turn some very sour lemons into lemonade. Moving forward, we’ll be exploring a variety of options for Camp Wyomoco for the upcoming summer and fall seasons, including weekend programs, family weekends, picnic programs in partnership with other local youth development programs, and potentially even limited overnight programming. Camp Wyomoco will also continue to function as our 4-H “home away from home” as we look to expand our 4-H programming at the camp facility. We’re also exploring the possibility of piloting outdoor youth education and outdoor veteran programs. And of course, Camp Wyomoco will remain a homebase for our robust 4-H Shooting Sports program.
In order to ensure Camp Wyomoco’s future, we’ll also be exploring a wide range of fundraising opportunities and assembling a strategic plan for all future capital projects. We hope to hold a camp town hall later this summer in which members of our camp and 4-H communities might come and share their visions for Camp Wyomoco’s future .Please be sure to join our Camp Wyomoco mailing list for any updates related to future camp programming.
And please remember that Camp Wyomoco continues to be available for rentals—please don’t hesitate to contact us should you be interested in renting our beautiful facility for weddings, family reunions, or even just a wonderful weekend getaway! We’re always especially excited to see our camp alumni return for a weekend of fun at Wyomoco.
We hope that one day we might return to a more traditional camp format, and we’re deeply sorry to not be welcoming back our camp cohorts for our usual slate of summer programs. We do, however, hope that you’ll join us for a variety of camp programs in the near future, and that you’ll continue to enjoy all the beauty that Camp Wyomoco has to offer.
The 4-H Camp Wyomoco Team
The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wyoming County
Last updated January 20, 2022
