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Fact Box

About Bald Eagle Boys Camp

According to its Web site, the Bald Eagle Boys Camp is a private, non-profit organization, sponsored by the Mennonite church and interested individuals.

The camp assists boys 9-19 in age by:

- helping them form a positive view of themselves and their problems.

- aiding them in respecting others and building healthy relationships.

- encouraging them with self-help and problem solving skills.

- teaching them that education is a positive, useful part of everyday life.

- facilitating the rebuilding of healthy family relationships.

- emphasizing spiritual values through daily interaction with positive role models.

EAST LIVERPOOL - Kids and a guide with the Bald Eagle Boys Camp took a rest at Broadway Wharf in East Liverpool as part of their 142-mile journey via canoe along the Ohio River.

The camp itself, based in Mill Hall, Pa., is a year-around Wilderness Camping Program providing residential treatment for troubled boys, according to Brian Martin, the camp director.

"We often do trips like this canoe trip away from the camp itself to help the kids learn to function as a group and as a team," Martin said.

The 10 boys and Jesse Wagler, the group chief, rowed their four canoes toward the pier at Broadway Wharf for a brief pit stop.

Wagler handed out some of the day's food rations to the kids and all took a rest from the journey.

The final destination is New Matamoras, Ohio, along the banks of the Ohio River between New Martinsville and Newport. The trip is both on the river and on the land, occasionally hiking from one point to another.

Once in New Matamoras, the group will travel 30-some miles inland to the site of a new boys camp. They will have with them symbolic gifts of an ax and a tarp map of their journey.

"The new camp they hope to have open in the fall," Martin said. "We've been fairly involved in their start-up in an advisory role, and we are a member of an association of camps."

The Bald Eagle Boys Camp started in 1995, and its mission is to provide quality care in a wilderness camp setting for troubled boys and their families without regard to race, ethnic origin, religious creed, or economic status, according to Martin. The camp officials work with parents, referring agencies, and schools to address the unique needs of each child.

"Each kid on this journey has his own behavior and attitude goal changes that they need to address," Martin said. "Working on a goal like this and getting them focused is a good way to deal with such problems."

The Pennsylvania camp is licensed to hold a maximum of 40 boys at one time, and they are split up into four groups of 10 kids. Canoe trips are popular and take place along the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers as well as the Ohio.

Kids are referred to the camp through a variety of ways including through schools, the court system or by family members.