History

By Nathaniel Ching and Claude Aubert

The Beginnings

The Shehaqua Family got its start in summer of 1995, when a group of Unificationist families (about 40 people) decided to spend a weekend camping in tents at a private campground in eastern Pennsylvania. The parents wanted to provide religious education for their children in an outdoor setting. Each family pitched their tent at their own campsite and brought their own tent, camp stove, and food, but all parents worked together as lecturers and crafts coordinators to organize the education and activities for their kids. A nearby dammed up creek served as a swimming hole, and yarn and sticks were used as simple craft supplies. One highlight from that first camp was a hike on the Appalachian Trail in the pouring rain, ending at a lake with the sun coming out. Everybody had a great time and decided that they should do it again the following year.

By Sally Sayre

Some of the trademarks of Shehaqua have an interesting background that many new members of Shehaqua Family are not familiar with. Even some veterans may not remember where things originated. The compass rose logo that was featured for many years on our T-shirts and is still present on our website, our mugs, and other places was created in 2000 by Steve Martin. He and his wife, Lydia, and their daughters were members of our very first camp in 1995 and continued to attend for several years until the family moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland. Lydia grew up in Allentown and they were members of our local small group before small groups were a recognized part of our church structure. Steve was working as a graphic artist at Majestic which designs and manufactures team uniforms for major league sports.