Director Jud's Blog

Millar Vietnam Adventure: Part I, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and The Mekong Delta

Monday, March 21, 2016: New York City to Tokyo

The seat belt sign was on and our captain announced that “we are preparing for take-off.”  Moments later, the Bowing 747 was airborne and the Millar Family Adventure to Vietnam had officially begun. This leg of the trip took Molly (7), Wyatt (9), Anne. and I approximately 6700 miles from New York City to Tokyo, Japan.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016: Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City

Fourteen hours after taking off in NYC we arrived into Tokyo, Japan’s Narita Airport. It felt good to stretch our legs and have more space to move. After a two hour layover we boarded a flight from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City.  Six hours and 2,600 miles later we were on the ground. In a blur we traversed baggage claim, visa confirmation, immigration, customs, money exchange, and, finally, a taxi to the Historic Rex Hotel in city central Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City at midnight.

Huntingdon County has a wide array of scenic beauty and natural wonders, but it also has some hidden treasures that fly under the radar.  Stone Mountain Adventures in Oneida Township is a private summer teen camp where teens ages 12-17 from across the U.S. and world are able to explore and take advantage of what the area has to offer.

The camp, located on Old Hawn Road at the same site as the Horsepower Farm therapeutic riding program,was started by Biff and Pam Hayes-Houldin in 1983. The founders continued operations until son Judson Millar and his wife, Anne, and his wife, Anne, assumed operations in 2007.  One of the most important things Millar hopes to impress upon the campers and counselors is family, which isn’t simply a concept that’s touted in brochures, but executed daily. “The kids see me and my wife, and Biff and Pam, who no longer run it, but they still help out, and they see my kids, Wyatt and Molly, they see a three-generation family,” said Millar. “We want to be a positive role model for the teens.”

For Stone Mountain Adventures camper turned counselor Ali Sanzo, the area and the camp is “literally the best place” she’s ever known.  “It’s small and everyone feels like family,” said Sanzo. “Jud and his family make it a point to make it feel like family.”

SMA Wakeboarding  Summer Camp is excited to present a new 2015 wakeboarding video.  The video was filmed by our awesome camp counselors Sarah "Fisher" and Ellie "Babs" Phillips otherwise known as "Fish and Chicks Productions." The video features our fabulous campers and wakeboarding staff.  As you can see, we had a lot of fun making this video and we hope you have as much fun watching it!

Enjoy!

Stone Mountain Adventures Teen Summer Camp is excited to announce that it is installing new espresso machines in each of the camper cabins for summer 2016! SMA is committed to improving its camp each year and feels this will greatly improve the quality of programming offered to campers. While SMA is generally a "high energy camp," over the past few years campers have started to drag a little and look tired at times during the day. SMA feels that by providing its campers with the opportunity to "self-caffeinate" when needed the teens will have more energy and thus more fun. And fun is what SMA is all about.

Returning camper Mathilde Van Doosselaere feels this is a great fit for SMA: "I'm really excited that there will be an espresso machine in the Mattawanna cabin! Just when I thought that SMA couldn't get any better it does!"

10 Tips on How to Prepare (You and) Your Child for SMA Tween Summer Camp – My Kid is Signed Up for Stone Mountain Adventures, Now What? 

1. opefully committing to SMA Sleep Away Summer Camp wasn’t traumatic for your tween or you. Have your child look over the camp’s website and/or catalogue. Does your child know what to expect? Which activities is your child excited about experiencing? Are there any activities that concern you or your child? Be sure to talk about this at home and, if necessary, with the camp’s personnel.
2. Read the camp’s packing list. Read it again. SMA Overnight Teen Summer Camp is place to get dirty. Don’t bring your favorite jeans or new clothes/equipment unless absolutely necessary. Follow the camp’s packing list. Don’t over pack. Layers are important especially if your child’s camp is susceptible to colder days and/or nights.

The snow has finally melted away and it's time to go rock climbing! Though we've had a relatively mild winter, our beloved Donation Rocks Climbing Area is messy with leaves, sticks and branches. With that in mind, a Donation Rocks Spring Clean Up day hosted by Ken Hull is being held Saturday, April 2nd from 9am to noon. We plan to remove debris and do some trail work as well. And did I mention climbing... the plan is to do some spring clean up work in the morning and climb in the afternoon!  

We are all so excited for Stone Mountain Adventures 2016!  The snow has finally all melted at camp and with the sunshine we had last week we even have a few tulips that have popped up and are in bloom!  I looked at the calendar and by my estimation there are just 100 days until the start of Stone Mountain Adventures 2 Week Teen Summer Camp First Session 2016

Argentina Habitat for Humanity Global Village Trip, February 2016!

Here is second of two blog post Q&A with 2 former SMA Teen Rock Climbing Summer Camp Staff Patrick McManamon and Jason Criswell.  Over the 2015 / 2016 holidays these climbing partners embarked on a rock climbing trip that took them to Red Rocks, Nevada and Joshua Tree National Park in California.  Both Jason and Patrick are from Huntingdon, PA and were friends before working together at SMA 2 Week Adventure Camp. As we learned in the Part 1 of this blog post, they both first rock climbing at SMA Teen Summer Camp.  By the end of our conversation I was ready to go climbing!

The following is the first in a two part blog post Q&A with 2 former SMA Teen Adventure Camp Teen Adventure Camp Staff Patrick McManamon and Jason Criswell.  Over the 2015 / 2016 holidays these climbing partners embarked on a rock climbing trip that took them to Red Rocks, Nevada and Joshua Tree National Park in California.  Both Jason and Patrick are from Huntingdon, PA and were friends before working together at SMA 2 Week Teen Summer Camp.  Ironically they both started at SMA Teen Rock Climbing Summer Camp  in the capacity of "Maintenance Boys" before moving up the ranks to camp counselor, rock climbing instructor, wakeboarding boat drivers among others.  Others that have held that position over the years include Alex and Peter McDowell, Brenton Mitchell, Thatcher Houldin and Zack Reed to mention a few.  I recently sat down with Jason and Patrick to chat with them about their trip and we did a Question and Answer session which got all 3 of us excited about rock climbing!

 My time in Argentina has been incredible. After a nine-hour flight from Miami, Florida, I arrived into Buenos Aires in a foggy haze of sleepiness and navigated customs and immigration. From there, I boarded a flight to the second largest city of Argentina called Córdoba. My four-hour layover in Córdoba, a university town, allowed me to explore the city’s downtown before boarding another flight to my final destination, the mountain town of Mendoza.

The FrozenFat weekend was named as one of the top 10 winter activities to enjoy in Pennsylvania by Visitpa.com, the official tourism website of Pennsylvania.

As I write this I am 35,000 feet above the earth and traveling 600 miles per hour heading to the southern hemisphere. According to our pilot we just passed the equator and are now over the State of Roraima, Brazil. I am on the second leg of this journey and currently 5 hours into a 9 hour flight from Miami, FL – destination Buenos Aires, Argentina!

I am traveling to Argentina to participate in an International Habitat for Humanity Trip led by SMA Teen Adventure Camp co-founder and former co-owner James “Biff” Houldin, who also happens to be my step-father. Joining us on the trip will be 11 other folks including my mother Pam Hayes-Houldin who co-founded SMA Teen Summer Camp with Biff in 1983.

Biff has been leading International Habitat for Humanity trips for about 8 years and has led trips to Hungry, Romania, Portugal, Costa Rica and other locations. This will the first trip he has brought to South America. In a recent conversation, I asked Biff how he got interested in leading Habitat for Humanity International Trips 

Fri, Feb. 12, 2016 from 6-8 p.m.

at the Jefferson Community Center, 3501 N. 2nd St.

The Summer Camp Teen Expo at Newton South High School, scheduled for tonight, Monday February 8 at 5:30 has been postponed to its published snow date of Tuesday, February 9 from 5:30-8pm.   School is canceled which automatically pushes events to the next night.  We are able to reach all of our families so they will know about the date change and all of our advertising has the published snow date. 

On Monday, February 8th SMA Teen Summer Camp Director Jud Millar with travel north Boston, MA to attend a summer camp fair and meet with perspective camp families.  Officially called the Annual Teen Summer Program Expo,  this event will be hosted by Abby Shapiro and her awesome team at Camp Source.  Attending this camp fair is a great way to find the perfect summer experience for your teenager.

If you only read one Blog Post on the internet this week, read this one!  Emily Fichandler first attended Stone Mountain Adventures Teen Summer Camp with her brother Matt in 2010. The first two summer she was here she ate her meals with the other campers in the farmhouse as the Rhino Dining room was not built yet.  Emily is from Philadelphia, PA and is one of the longest tenured campers in SMA history.

My name is Emily Fichandler and I have been at SMA for six years and can’t begin to describe how much this place means to me. My first year I arrived nervous but hopeful and I arrived feeling exactly the same way this year. I never know exactly what to expect form an SMA summer because every experience depends on the people – the new campers, old friends, and especially yourself. I have learned that what you get out of SMA directly reflects the effort and energy and love you bring. At camp this session I have started noticing tiny things that bring me the most joy – quiet moments in the van, the ground clouds on an early morning run, the secret smiles thrown across the circle at evening meeting.

Stone Mountain Adventures (SMA) is a Teen “Summer” Camp located in central PA serving kids ages 12 to 16. Established in 1983 by Pam and Biff Houldin, SMA continues to offer outdoor adventure activities, water-sports, traditional sports, community service, and creative arts. As a Teen “Summer” Camp our season typically runs from mid-June to the end of August. 

Like many areas in the Mid-Atlantic we recently experienced a huge snowstorm that dumped 22+ inches of snow here at camp. While cooped up inside drinking hot chocolate by our wood stove watching the snow accumulate an inch an hour someone suggested “Maybe we should start an SMA Winter Camp” and that's when the brainstorming began.

What Activities would we offer if we started SMA Teen Winter Camp?

Even in the knee deep snows of winter it is not too early to start planning for the summer.

The Greenwich High School PTA is holding its 27th annual SummerFare Camp Expo from 6 to 8 p.m. this Wednesday in the high school’s student center. SMA Horseback Riding Teen Camp Director Jud Millar will be there!

The snow date is scheduled for the same time on Thursday.

More than 100 exhibitors will present materials and talk with students and their parents about programs that focus on academics, music, outdoor adventure, performing and visual arts, sports, technology and travel abroad, among other topics.

The event is free and open to the public.

The past two winters in central PA were epic with near record snowfalls and cold temperatures... this winter not so much.  Even with minimal snow and unseasonably warm tempatures Fat Bike riders from around the Keystone Stage and the Northeast will descend on central PA this weekend for the 6th Annual FrozenFat Mountain Biking Festival!