Pine Forest Camp

Deep within the wooded regions of Greeley, Pennsylvania is Pine Forest Camp. Known as one of the oldest camps in the United States of America, it has been owned and operated by the same family over four generations in a rural area.

In 1931, Hughie and Selma purchased a camp high in the mountains of Greeley and quickly changed the name to Pine Forest because of the towering pine trees that surrounded the site. Hughie was a teacher and gifted athlete who was the original captain and co-founder of the famous 1918 Philadelphia SPHAS basketball team that is celebrated in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

During the first-year camp enrollment was a mere 25 children. In the years that followed, it grew rapidly adding a wide variety of activities and attracting children from across the United States and the eventually the world.

In 1946, their son Marvin returned from a Navy tour and became involved with the camp. Within the family, Marvin, his parents, his wife, sister, and brother-in-law all became directors of the camp until 1984 when Hughie and Selma’s grandson Mickey along with Mickey’s wife Barbara took on the management and continued to expand the range of activities and the facilities. Keeping strictly to tradition, they remain directors today.

Building on the success of Pine Forest, in 1961 and 1963, the Black and Halpern families founded two brother and sister camps. They were named Lake Owego for boys and Timber Tops for girls, located just one mile away from the main camp.

The camp organization has received extensive recognition and many awards over the years after seeing four generations of campers and more than 86 consecutive seasons. Deeply seated with tradition, the camp also retains its same motto of “Every Child Here is a Winner”.