AED machine at Camp

Thanks to a very generous financial gift from a former Camp Hanover staff member who wishes to remain anonymous, an AED machine has been purchased for use at Camp Hanover.

This potentially life-saving machine is one more step in our mission to create as safe and healthy "a place apart for renewal and growth" as possible for all those who camp and retreat with us. The machine will be conveniently located in the library where it can easily be accessed by anyone in the central part of camp. Though we hope that we never have to use it, the AED machine will add another layer of emergency readiness to all of our programs.

We thank our donors for their understanding of the importance of having this "first responder" always at our fingertips. They have made a huge contribution to the overall safety of the camp.

In the picture, the Camp Hanover staff has just received an orientation to how the machine works...that's L to R: Bob, Cindy, Incy (with AED), Katherine, Lisa, Marly, Jody, and Larry.

A little corner of God's creation

On a cold blustery Saturday in February, 11 members of Providence Forge Presbyterian Church spent the day helping to take care of a little corner of God's creation, Camp Hanover. Many willing hands cleared the site for a new longhouse to be built this spring, cut up and hauled off many branches and logs left over from the hurricane last August, cut a stack of logs into splitable sizes, and downed several potentially dangerous dying trees. Session member, Jane VanDyke, provided a delicious lunch meal to keep the energy level high. All together the group provided over 60 hours of volunteer service to Camp Hanover. We thank God for a safe and productive day filled with good-natured ribbing, lots of laughter, and much hard work.

Let the camp office know if you and your group would like to volunteer time to the glory of God at Camp Hanover.

Winter 2012

The Maintenance Staff at Camp Hanover includes the Site Manager, Larry Covington, and Maintenance Assistant, Jim Marston. Both of these positions are part-time and these employees work with a number of volunteers to accomplish the formidable task of maintaining the buildings and grounds at our Camp.

One of the current projects that our staff and volunteers are working on is upgrades to existing bathrooms. The upgrades to the Sr. Pool bathrooms include ceramic floor tile, painting, light fixtures, mirrors, and doors. Our thanks go to volunteers from Fairfield Presbyterian Church who contributed both time and money to make this upgrade possible. Below are photos of this recent upgrade.

Additional bathroom upgrades planned to be completed before the next camping season includes both the Boy’s and Girl’s Winger Bathhouse. Although the staff is planning to provide much of the labor required, we are currently looking for donations of volunteer time and money to complete this project. Upgrades to the Knoxwood and Adventure Camp bathrooms are also planned and we would welcome assistance on these projects as well.

We are also pleased to announce the completion of upgrades to both porches of Knoxwood Lodge. Through donations of volunteer time and funds from Three Chopt Presbyterian Church and Susan Cady (a longtime friend of Camp Hanover) the Knoxwood porches now are equipped with ceiling fans, rebuilt light fixtures, new receptacles and fresh stain. With the recent addition of heaters to these porches, these fans will help to more evenly distribute the heat and also provide a cooling breeze in the summer. The rebuild of the light fixtures included replacing the aging wiring & sockets, painting the fixtures and installing compact fluorescent bulbs. This lighting upgrade not only increases the available lighting on these porches but it reduces the cost of electricity for lighting!

Executive Director position at Camp Hanover

See the position description for the new Executive Director position at Camp Hanover.

For more information contact The Reverend Patrick Dennis at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Announcing the 2012 Summer Camp Director

Camp Hanover is pleased to announce the hiring of its 2012 Summer Camp Director, Marly Spence! Marly is a long-time camper, pathfinder, counselor, and staff of Camp Hanover. For the past 3 years she has served as its Traveling Day Camp Director and Hospitality Coordinator. Marly brings a wealth of experience, passion, creativity, good humor, and faith to this position. She shares, “God has used this place in a big way to form my faith over the years. I look forward to supporting this summer’s staff as they continue to carry out God’s mission in this place.” Keep her in your prayers as she works, dreams, prays, and prepares for Camp Hanover’s 56th summer of building Christian community.

Fall 2011 Newsletter

The Fall 2011 Newsletter is now available for download:  Fall 11 Newsletter (1.09 MB).

A Day of Service at Camp Hanover

Recently 17 members of Three Chopt Presbyterian Church spent the day at Camp Hanover "adopting" Knoxwood Lodge as their project. Adopting a building at Camp Hanover involves donating at least $500 toward the upkeep of the building and offering at least 50 hours of service. What a joy it was to have such a joyful and hard working crew swarm over Knoxwood, giving well over the requested 50 hours of labor. At the end of the day this group of volunteers had "wrapped" both porches in plastic to create a more energy efficient building for the winter; rewired, painted and rehung 12 fifty year old light fixtures; wired and hung two new ceiling fans on one porch (they've committed to returning and hanging two more fans on the other porch); painted two entire exterior walls of the lodge; and after all that work still left things clean and swept.

Footsteps in Service. July 17-23. Reflections by Rev. Greg Wood

Any week of camp starts off with a few doubts and fears: Who will be in my group? What will we do? What if…?  “Footsteps in Service” adds another layer: What if I can’t do what they ask me to do? What if I don’t like doing this?  What if we have to spend the whole week digging ditches for drain tile?

In spite of the fears, we set off for a week of service in Pulaski, Virginia.

Pulaski is a small town in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia that in April 2011 took a direct tornado hit.  Nearly half the homes suffered damage, over half of these had significant damage.   This summer, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Town of Pulaski, 2 Presbyteries, and a number of different churches joined together to repair a home at 301 State Street.  Before repair even started on the tornado damage, there was an electrical fire and the house was condemned.

A living memorial for Joan Bell Norfleet

On Sunday afternoon, April 17, a new grill at the Norfleet pavilion was dedicated. The gift of the grill was made possible by gifts from family and friends as a living memorial for Joan Bell Norfleet.

Approximately 40 members of the Bell and Norfleet families and their friends were part of the beautiful afternoon of remembering Joan and her love for Camp Hanover. This generous gift provides those who use Norfleet pavilion with a convenient and effective means for cooking out meals. It will be a constant reminder of Joan's lifelong association with Camp Hanover, first as a camper, then a staff member, and later as an advocate for the ministry.

Her two children, Sarah Norfleet Baird and William Norfleet hosted the event.

2010 Annual Report available for download

Learn more about the impact Camp Hanover made in 2010, and see how your donations of support were used.