Archive for category: General

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 13^th, 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 18^th and 25^th 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!

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 13^th. 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 18^th and April 24^th. The meeting on the 18^th 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!

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!