Responsible parents of prospective campers should demand objective third-party affirmation of a camp's safety, health and management standards' The assessment agency that commonly springs to mind is the ACA (American Camping Association). NOW, NOW. DID YOU HONESTLY THINK INDEPENDENT LAKE CAMP WOULD LINK ITSELF TO ANYTHING COMMON?

We do belong to the ACA, appreciatively using their publications and resources. But pursuing their accreditation would be contrary (and, we often worry, stifling as well) to our original and unassailable camping philosophies, programming and operating standards. Independent Lake Camp raises the bar so far above the base-line criteria of groups such as the ACA, that it would be almost "damning ourselves with faint praise" to seek this generic level of approval.

In addition, much as we'd like to show off as the only maverick thinkers in the camp industry, as concerns the ACA, we are the rule rather than the exception. According to ACA's own statistics, of the 10,000 summer programs in the USA, only 2,200 are accredited. ACA is not a government agency - it is a trade organization which is voluntary for camps to join. ACA itself has always been up front about this. (However, the Pennsylvania Department of Health is a government agency, and it examines and heartily approves us.)

What we and our ILC parents infinitely respect are the outside agencies that do pass judgment on us: the thirty worldwide camp referral agencies whose existences depend on unimpeachable assessments. These agencies not only painstakingly examine our site and operation every summer - they follow-up with parents and campers. All thirty firms have, without exception, found our performance exemplary.

Additionally, our insurance company is A.M. Skier of Honesdale, whose standards and methods of inspection make us wish the ACA were our overseeing agency! We are happy to give you Skier's phone number should you wish to talk directly with them concerning their rigorous safety standards and how we enthusiastically live up to them. In addition we are one of only a few camps in the USA that has a Certified Camp Safety Director on staff and in residence.

Our campers and their families, and our staff and administration, learned early not to brand ourselves on our rear...jean pockets. Let others flaunt a solitary label; ILC bathes in substantive, official commendations. We proudly invite you to check out our Seals of Approval, and on their basis - plus personal referrals, references and your own thorough inspection of ILC - choose to gift your child with the enlightening, exciting summer with which we have been providing our safe, healthy and delighted campers for ten thoughtfully-conceived, ground-breaking, independent years.