What a great time we had, hosting over 50 veterans and their families from five different states. They paddled the Schuylkill River, hiked and fished, listened to great music, ate delicious food, and made new friends, all the while celebrating the beauty of the natural world and the great outdoors. Many thanks to the following people who made it all possible: Tim Minnich, for his generous contribution to breakfast and his cooking wizardry,

Ann Marie Schnur and her husband Mike and grandson Mike who helped so very much i every single aspect of the weekend, Jesse Bierand his wife Caroline Dineen Bier, who made the longest drive, from Ohio, with Petunia the Pig, stuffed with ice in the truck in a big bag…muchas gracias!

There was Deborah Rubin Cooperand her organization that she belongs to, “Women who Care,” who donated our delicious Saturday evening dinner.

Then Marie-Aline Cadieux and her husband Hannes Dietrich, who made us speechless with their gorgeous before dinner cello music;

Mario Kovach, Rebecca Kovach, Carl Steven Clendenning and Ruby Clendenning for sharing their beautiful, fun-loving children with us;

Amy Cook who brought a whole van load of Veterans from the VA Hospital Out patient;

Frank Russo, the famous Port Clinton barber along with John M. Lasota, and Doc, who played very entertaining music Saturday night. Then there was Judy Schofield Terwilliger on fiddle and Matt Wlasniewski on guitar from Crow Hill Bluegrass Band who gave us the best breakfast entertainment ever as well as Judy sponsoring a weekend breakfast! Susan McCartney made dozens of deviled eggs, our neighbor, Paul Sleva lent us his massive homemade pig roaster, and probably more who I have forgotten but still greatly appreciated. 

Thank you to Rita Ann Kraft and Sara Bernhart for their clean-up help and we thank the Boy Scout Troop from Oreland, PA who generously gave River House PA’s a reduced rental fee of their beautiful camp. Also, a special shout out to Charlotte Cecil Raymond, Patti Lee, and Chuck Diehl, who generous contributions made this weekend happen. And last but not least, tremendous thanks to my wonderful husband, Todd Gladfelter, who helps in every way possible and never stops helping. Could never do this without you. River House PA plans to make this fall camp-out an annual affair, our signature event, we so enjoyed the camraderie. Many many thanks to all and especially to our Veterans who came out to celebrate with us. We love you!! PS- Look for a feature story about this event and our Veterans this week in the Reading Eagle as well as next Sunday? in the Philadelphia Inquirer.