The pool project is fully funded, said Peter Swift, Camp Susque director standing on the pool patio beside the pool which will soon be filled with 189,000 gallons of water.

The pool was funded through donations from supporters of the camp.

Additionally, Swift told the crowd, the camp was able to receive funding from the local businesses utilizing the Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credit through the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

It is a compressed schedule and there is a good chance it will be completed next month weather permitting, according to Davis Swift, Camp Susque director of operations. He noted there are a few more separate permitting processes needed, such as from Labor and Industry, Department of Health and Department of Agriculture.

Dozens watch as the ribbon is cut at Camp Susque on a new 1.2 million dollar pool project during the PM Exchange event. A large crowd gathered for the event for the pool that will open this summer. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“Our previous product we built was a big walking cooler freezer combination,” Davis Swift said. It serves as an emergency food distribution center for food pantries, he added. The Neighborhood Assistance Program helped to cover the cost associated with the freezer or cooler and a backup generator.

This pool is expected to fill a significant public service need. Besides offering a cooling off spot for the summer campers, there will be aquatic safety taught and a lot of free public events utilizing the pool.

“We’re very thrilled how the community has come together to support us in a project that seemed unattainable,” said Tim Bryant, a Camp Susque board member. The camp was founded in 1946 as a nonprofit, non denominational camping ministry.

“We’re really thankful it’s going to provide a lot for the community in our summer camp program,” he said, also adding the Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credits with local businesses helped make the project a reality.

“We’re hoping the weather cooperates and we can actually be ready to open the pool this summer,” he said.

Peter Swift, right before the ribbon was cut, thanked the large crowd that came out to the ribbon-cutting.

“It is a few weeks from completion,” he said.

“The next big step is to plaster it and then put a lot of water in it and finish the concrete work.” “We were hoping that we’d have more concrete done by now but it has been wet, except for tonight.”

Swift joked some about the sun appearing for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“There is a bright yellow thing up in the sky,” he said. “We haven’t seen that in a really long time,” he said.

Not only did Swift thank everybody who attended to watch the ribbon-cutting but also those who participated in this process over the last two years.

“This is the largest project that camp has ever done,” he said.

It is a project that has probably impacted every building on the camp, he added.

“You’ll see dirt in a lot of places because trenches had to be dug for the new power lines and the new water lines, and a new well going in.”

The work has impacted and upgraded almost every building on the camp.

There was a slideshow that was in a tent set up showing the many sponsors of the project and also the sponsors of Camp Susque.

Swift said he was thankful for the Neighborhood Assistance tax credit program and for the people who made it happen.

“I can announce that we are fully funded,” he said.

Unless there are any major unexpected expenses in the next three weeks the camp should be completing the pool project, he noted.

Lycoming County Commissioner Marc C. Sortman said “to see the glory of this place is just phenomenal and this addition is wonderful.”

Commissioners Scott Metzger, chairman, Sortman, vice chairman, and Mark Mussina presented Camp Susque with a certificate of commendation and appreciation.

The commissioners in attendance included Metzger and Sortman. The commissioners as a whole issued a sincere thank you for the camp’s commitment and dedication.

In August 2024, Camp Susque stood by their neighbors during the flood by remnants of Hurricane Debby with food, clothing and fundraising.

State Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, noted that he was here when the pool was starting to be built.

“Peter told me what it was going to look like,” Hamm said. “He was pretty accurate. It looks exactly like he told me it was gonna be.”

It will be an amazing pool for the youth who come here and to know that it was completely covered without having to take on debt is just incredible because our community has invested in our youth,” Hamm said.

“My girls came here and enjoyed camp,” Hamm said, adding that “they’re more than just a camp.”

Going back, he said, “when COVID struck in 2020 it was Camp Susque who opened their doors to our kids.”

“They said ‘if you need internet come here and use it if you’ve got to do your schoolwork because you can’t go to school and you’re home and you have a computer and you live in rural Pennsylvania where there’s not very good wifi – come here and you can use our’s.'”

“Aug 9, last year, when our community was struck with a significant flooding event, it was Peter who was standing down there asking ‘how he could help? and what Camp Susque would do?'”

“And they were right there with us every step of the way in Trout Run,” Hamm said.

Camp Susque is more than just a camp, he said.

“They are a part of our community and mean so much to so many of us,” he said, presenting a citation.