Camp Northward on the move

    If you’ve driven past the former Camp Northward, you may have noticed the entrance sign into the camp no longer stands where the camp was for 67 years.  The sign and the camp have found a new home.
    Camp Northward began in Grant County in 1941 and in 1953 Mrs. Jessie Oldham donated 7.5 acres in Shoemakertown to Camp Northward where it remained for the next 67 years.  
    In 1995, the camp leaders realized their time in Shoemakertown was going to come to an end. They were expanding and needed growing room.  
    So they began a building fund, and in 1997, they began looking for land following the flood. In 1999, they purchased 90 acres of land on Broadford Road. Now, in 2020, they have fully transitioned from Shoemakertown Camp Northward to Broadford Road Camp with a tree house village, primitive camping, a lake, paddle boating, canoeing, a zip line and the addition of Cedar Lodge in 2017.
    Under the leadership of director Nathan Derico and office manager Valerie Young, Camp Northward meets the needs of hundreds of kids each summer through one-, two- and three-day camps, full week camps and two special needs camps, one for youth and one for adults.  With the money earned selling the original property, the new site for the camp will able to expand and “move forward to building a bright future in ministry in the community” states Derico.   
    Derico also went on to say “Our goal is to help kids grow in their relationship with Jesus.”  The camp gets a great deal of support from approximately 40 churches in the surrounding areas.
    When asked what will become of the former property, Derico stated he “does not have permission to discuss it as of now, but good things will be happening.”