Excitement reigns at ALASA Academy, as they move their Children’s Summer Workshops to Beechwood State Park this coming July. The State Park, formerly Beechwood Girl Scout Camp, offers 200 acres of geological, historical, and ecological areas bordered by Salmon (Maxwell) Creek and Pond, Lake Ontario, apple orchards, and Lake Road in the Town of Sodus near Sodus Point. The grounds and buildings are perfect for enhancing the program components ALASA Academy has offered for the last five years.

    The opportunity to base the Children’s Summer Program at Beechwood is a blessing because it provides the Academy with solid, weatherproof structures to safely house the children during the unpredictable inclement weather in Upstate New York. For the past five years, the Academy has used the historic Shaker Main House at Alasa Farms as their Base Camp. After the Main House burned in January 2009, it has been difficult to provide the safety level that ALASA requires. The ALASA Board explored several options, with Beechwood having all the components necessary to improve current children’s offerings while continuing the quality of the programs that have been offered in the past.

    ALASA Academy will continue to offer the same programs dealing with stream testing, hiking, orienteering, fossils, identifying plants and animals, exploring self and surroundings, art in nature, and academic fun in the outdoors without technology. Beechwood, with access to the shores of Lake Ontario and Salmon Creek/Maxwell Pond, will enable additional program components such as kayaking/canoeing, expanded fishing and lake shore exploration opportunities. Beechwood’s pristine atmosphere of hardwood and pine forests will also allow for increased children’s creativity and understanding of the human/nature connection.

    Right now ALASA is busy working with volunteers at Beechwood to prepare the areas designated for program use this summer. As always with Not for Profits, there is a huge need for volunteers to accomplish this task. There has been no major maintenance done for the 10 years that Beechwood has been a State Park due to the lack of funding and the designation as a natural setting. To begin bringing Beechwood back to what it once was, trails need to be cleared and marked, brush needs to be removed to open up past sites, and some minor repairs and TLC needs to be made on several buildings. If you are interested in helping at all and have a few hours on the weekend, please contact Sharon Maher at 315-573-1470 for a schedule of times and days and/or more information.

    The ALASA Children’s Summer Workshops have always provided a week of enjoyment in the rustic outdoors for children from ages 5-16 and that won’t change with the move to Beechwood. The ALASA Academy staff and numerous volunteers are preparing now for the July 5th start of the 2010 Children’s Summer Workshops. Information and Applications are available now on line at www.ALASA-Academy.org or contact Sharon Maher at 315-573-1470.