Events: Camp rules

New Garden Airport in Toughkenamon, Pennsylvania, is one of a handful of airports around the country offering a respite to the usual craft-pool-dodgeball cycle. The picturesque rural airport outside Philadelphia hosts two weeklong camps every summer—for kids between ages 7 and 15—focused entirely on aviation and aerospace.

Each camp has about 80 kids, and every day begins with a flight briefing. Activities include model airplane building, presentations from rocket scientists and other aerospace professionals, and a trip to the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C. The day of our visit kids were sitting in the hangar, talking, fidgeting, and then laughing as the rocket scientist blasted off his bottle rocket inside the hangar. He asked if the kids wanted to see it again, and there were enthusiastic cheers of “faster” and “higher.”

The highlight of the week is a local flight, and sometimes kids are offered multiple flights. The airport’s flight school helps administer the flights, in concert with the airport administration that puts on the camp.

Jon Martin is the airport manager. He said the idea for the camp came about 10 years ago over a piece of pie at Perkins Restaurant with some local pilots. Martin said most of the kids’ parents don’t fly, and although most are local they come from as far as California for the week. Many are repeats. “When you get kids that come back from year to year you have to keep it fresh,” he said.

Martin puts on a barbecue for campers and parents on Thursday evening. They shut down the runway for an hour, fly RC airplanes, and do a big candy drop over the runway.

The camp’s success can be measured in the counselors. Almost all are former campers who come back to continue to be a part of the airport community. Martin said some previous campers have soloed at 16 and earned a certificate at 17. Some are now corporate pilots or at aviation colleges.

In addition to the camp, Martin was instrumental in building a fitness trail for the community that surrounds the airport. They also sponsor an airshow and other community events throughout the year.

“We don’t want to be a part of the community,” he said. “We want to be a pillar of the community.”

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