The Camp at Findley has shuttered its youth residential camping operations for 2025. Submitted photo

CLYMER–The Camp at Findley, located at 2334 Sunnyside Rd, Findley Lake, has faced its share of challenges over the past few years.

This year’s hit? Camp officials have announced that summer youth camp programming will cease for the 2025 season while the board of directors determines the camp’s future plan.

Camp Findley’s rich history began in 1936, when it was acquired to host Bible Conferences and leadership training. However, in 1971, the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church assumed camp management, and in 1974, the Western New York Conference purchased the camp outright.

The Upper New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, a congregation dedicated to community and faith, once proudly owned and managed the summer camp nestled in the heart of nature. In 2016, the organization arrived at the difficult decision to close the camp’s summer programs and put the property up for sale, signaling the end of an era for generations of campers.

As a result, a grassroots initiative led by a dedicated group of alumni and supporters to acquire the camp and establish a new 501(c) non-profit organization named The Camp At Findley gained momentum.. In March 2018, a newly created not-for-profit organization, The Camp At Findley Life Ministries Inc., officially purchased the camp.

Starting in April 2022, the camp’s tax-exempt status faced a significant challenge and was subsequently altered..

In a March 28, 2024, Post-Journal story, Don Blakeslee, the camp board chairman, said the camp has been engaged in a legal claim to attempt to regain its former status.

“They didn’t really give us a reason,” Blakeslee said. “We sent two people to meet with them, and they said, ‘Where are your lawyers?'”

The town’s attorney, Tad Wright, provided information regarding the revocation of Camp Findley’s tax exemption in 2022 and said, “In 2022, it came to the town’s assessor that Camp Findley had entered into a 15-year residential lease with private tenants. Upon investigation, the assessor also determined that various buildings at the camp were being advertised as short-term rentals available to people visiting the area,” he said.

Wright went on to say that, accordingly, the assessor revoked the tax exemption for the property.