BUTLER, Ohio – In a press release dated June 25, the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio named Mohican School in the Out-of-Doors (MOS) as a partner for its project to develop a camp and retreat center at the former Hostile Valley Park in Wakeman Township, Ohio.
The 130-acre property was purchased by the Diocese on May 1, according to Camp and Retreat Ministry Project Coordinator Katie Ong-Landini.
“Through this project, centered in sustainable living and fidelity to the environment, the Diocese seeks to reach beyond the traditional limits of church and serve people throughout northern Ohio in a transformational way,” said Ong-Landini. “The new facility and its programming will provide an exceptional vehicle for land-based education, service to disadvantaged children, and both education for and practice of social justice.”
Plans for the center include camp facilities for 100 campers, a five-acre swimming pond, a central dining and meeting facility, three picnic pavilions, space for playing fields, private rooms for adults on retreat, a teaching and processing kitchen, and a working farm.
In identifying Mohican Outdoor School as a “key partner” for the Diocese, Ong-Landini noted, “The project has attracted a number of organizations that share a similar vision and are interested in jointly developing programs for the center.”
Other named partners include Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine’s The Urban Health Initiative with its partner, OneCommunity, the Oberlin Project, Veggie U, and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, which originally identified the Wakeman property as an appropriate site for the project.
The Diocese expects to have full programming available when the center officially opens in mid-2017.
According to Mohican Outdoor School Executive Director Tim Daniel: “Our partnering with the Diocese on this particular project not only represents a nearly ‘perfect fit’ of two organizations with very compatible missions who are collaborating with one another for all the right reasons, but also represents a whole host of possibilities and opportunities for MOS to advance its own mission in the years to come. We couldn’t be more pleased and excited.”
Founded in 1961 by visionary educator Ronald Reed, Mohican School in the Out-of-Doors is now in its sixth decade of continuous operation, providing environmental and outdoor education programs and opportunities in a residential setting to schools and the general public at its 140-acre campus adjacent to historic Hemlock Falls, in southeast Richland County, near Mansfield.
For more information on Mohican School in the Out-of-Doors, see www.mohicanoutdoorschool.org
