Gettysburg Battlefield Resort
August Newsletter, 2022

“August is the Sunday of summer. One moment we are dragging our heels in the sand trying to hold onto summer and the next we are cheering for the start of school and the return of  pumpkin-flavored lattes”

Today as I sit down to write this month’s newsletter, it is HOT. Not just warm and humid like a typical Pennsylvania summer but H-O-T, as in “the devil’s armpit” kind of hot. My friend used to call days like today the “dog days” of summer, but today even the dogs are lying comfortably in the air conditioning of their RVs. Still, there is plenty of activity on the resort. The pool is full of children playing Sharks and Minnows in one end and in the other, lots of adults float by, not minding the occasional splash of water from a group of teens playing football in the middle. There is a line of families at the food truck, patiently waiting to order; grateful they will not need to be cooking in the heat tonight. There is an endless parade of folks exiting the store with ice cream cones of every flavor and size, and slushies are selling as fast as they can be made. Our beloved Pavilion, with her shade-providing roof and breezy fans, is full of members enjoying a variety of crafts, and the scent of glue and acrylic paint drifts through the air. The fans, the AC, the slushies, the pool – all great ways to beat the heat! How lucky we are to have all that we have.

This weekend we are to be reminded how easily things could have ended up very differently were it not for the brave men and women of WWII. We honor their sacrifices and celebrate the folks at the homefront whose patriotic efforts to support the troops and keep the homefires burning are unprecedented. There will be lots of re-enactors and all kinds of WWII relics on display, as well as a salute to the big band music of the 1940s from our very own Gettysburg Decades Orchestra! 

Next week is our Creepy, Crawly, Weird and Wacky Weekend! We have an all-star line-up of exciting STEM activities and some creeping, crawling friends for a meet and greet with all our members! Rumor has it there may even be a frog dissection class! Then it’s onto to GBR Goes Global, where we take a whirlwind tour worldwide, learning about different cultures through trying new foods, new art forms and new games! Next up, it’s one of our most popular weekends – Country Fair! During the week we will be making crafts you can enter into the fair on Saturday and even win a ribbon! You can even bring crafts you have made at home to enter! On Saturday, we turn the front field into our GBR County Fair, with a petting zoo, carnival games, funnel cakes and lots of fun! Enter your cake in the cakewalk and get a prize for the highest bid! All money raised from ticket sales and the cake walk benefit the Adams County Animal Shelter! Finally we are wrapping it up with an amazing concert from Chris Woodward and Shindiggin’! Last but not least, its our Murder Mystery Weekend! Come figure out who did it, why and with what!

In addition to our scheduled activities on the resort, the new concierge service has been well received by members and staff alike. We have made dinner reservations for families and couples celebrating a special occasion, booked carriage rides, facilitated online tickets for bus and ghost tours, sent several folks on a tour of Lancaster and families to many of the museums in town. Come see us in the sunroom, Thursdays through Saturdays. If you need recommendations for dinner, or something to do with the kids, or want to sign-up for a ghost tour or would like us to help celebrate a special occasion, please let us know! If you need help with CampersApp, we are here to help!