This season, Keen Lake Camping & Cottages Resort is celebrating its 70th year of hosting family memories in Waymart. With a passion for providing an incredible camping experience on their private 90-acre lake, the Keen family has a rich local history that includes eight generations of family involvement and two generations of operating as a premier camping destination in the Pocono Mountains. James & Dorothy Keen started the campground back in 1954, and today, three of their seven daughters maintain the core operations of the resort: Jennifer Wertz, JimAnn Petroski, and Janet Keen. Together, they’ve continued in their parents’ footsteps of creating a welcoming atmosphere of relaxation, reconnecting, and gathering as family at Keen Lake. 

Generations of Keens have called the lake home since 1815. In the mid-1800s, the canoe-shaped lake took on a different form with the construction of its famous dam and trestle to support the passage of the new steam engines, changing it into the butterfly shape it maintains today and forming the iconic ‘Hermit Island’ in the lake’s center. There are many similar touchstones to local history all over the property, such as the The Schoolhouse vacation rental, which originally served as a schoolhouse for the local area in the mid-19th century, and the Pre-Civil War Barn rental, which was built as a blacksmith shop around the same time. (The barn still has its original beams, and you can even see where horses used to nuzzle at the woodwork on the interior of the building!) And much like the lake itself, the Keen family is part of the story of Waymart through years of service to local boards, committees, and county functions. Even today, the sisters remain active in local and extra-local business and marketing endeavors for the region.

Jennifer credits a great deal of the resort’s success to the community she’s been a part of her whole life. “Waymart and Wayne County are my home,” she says. “We succeed together, and we are invested in lifting each other up. What we have here is special, and it’s been such a joy to share it both with our friends and neighbors and with the folks who travel from hours away to experience what we grew up with. Camping is good for the soul, and so is being part of a place that welcomes you like family no matter where you come from.” 

You’ll hear no disagreement from JimAnn. “Everything we do here is about family,” she says with pride. “We have people working with us whose parents were employees too. Two of our summer employees are girls whose mom worked for us in the 90’s, and we have a brother and sister who have been a part of our team for six years. Our own family has certainly been a part of our journey. Our sisters—Judith, Jane, Joyce, and Jeanne—although not owners have jumped in to help whenever we have asked. Our daughters and sons have also been part of the team and our grandson/nephew Teddy has joined the activity team. All of these wonderful souls have contributed to our success.”

And for her part, Janet believes the thread that runs through it all is that the lake brings people together around the same things that it did 150 years ago. “Our guests are what make us special,” she admits. “We’ve played host to generations of families, and we all have pictures of our grandparents and great-grandparents boating and enjoying the same things by the lake that our guests do today. Our memories are incomplete without the camping families with whom we shared our childhood.”

With seventy years in the books as a premier destination in the Poconos, Keen Lake Resort and the Keen sisters show no signs of slowing down. In recent years, the campground has expanded to include gorgeous lakeside glamping tents, renovations to several vacation rentals, improvements to the grounds and beach area, among other upgrades. Still, Janet maintains that the lake and the people will always be what draws families from near and far. “You feel like family as soon as you get here, both from us and from our other guests,” she says warmly. “That’s what makes this place sparkle.”

For the most part, we associate Memorial Day with a long weekend, spending time with friends and family, and especially in our neck of the woods, enjoying the turn in weather it represents to the warmth and sunshine of the arriving summer. However, amidst the having fun and making memories, it’s good to pause and appreciate what the day truly means for all of us.

In the slower spring months, I’ve had the privilege of going through a long-forgotten truck that belonged to my Grandpa.   I’ve discovered all sorts of treasures that connect me with my Keen ancestry.  While I knew that my great, great grandfather and great, great uncle wore the blue in the Civil War, it was still exciting to find images of Captain Mathias Keen and Warren Rix.  Of course, I knew that Captain Mathias’s great grandson, my Grandpa Neil (James Neil Keen) had served in the navy during the Great War, I didn’t countenance what a great sacrifice this amazing grandfather of mine had made until I unearthed letters home to his mother and father and his “Sissy,” my Great Aunt Edith.  While I know he was at the “front” during World War I, I don’t have any idea where he was stationed.  I do know his letters home were filled with love for his family and yearning to be by their sides when opportunity next provided.   Much of his correspondence was given up to stories of camaraderie with fellow brothers-in-arm.

My Dad continued the family tradition of service to country and was stationed in US Occupied Japan during the Korean conflict.  My father didn’t speak of this time of his life, at least to us, his children.  His time overseas showed up in dinners such as Sukiyaki or a visit from a lovely Japanese woman who created origami swans that delighted us.  His stories of service were stories about the man with home he served.

And now two of my beloved nephews, both sons of a proud Marine, are serving—one in the Navy, the other in the Air Force.  They have collectively served in South Korea, Bahrain, and both have been assigned to areas where they cannot tell us where they are as a matter of national security.  They, too, have been separated from their loved ones for significant periods of time—a theme which runs through all of my families’ military experiences.  Yet they also speak of the new family of brothers they have gleaned through their service.

During the next two weekends at Keen Lake, we will have the privilege of honoring my family members as well as those of countless men and women who have served their country.  On Armed Forces Day, we will tip our hats and cover our hearts as we pledge our allegiance to our great country and thank my nephews, Michael and Matthew who presently serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. The Simpson VFW 4712, Walter Paciga Post will be here on Saturday, May 18 to commemorate Armed Forces Day.  (Click link for Full Activity Schedule)

On Memorial Day, my family will honor Warren Rix, who died in the Civil War as well as all of our brave men and women who have not returned to our shores or their families having fallen on the battlefield.

The “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed in December 2000. It asks that at 3 p.m. local time, all Americans “voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence” as a way to help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day.  Keen Lake will observe this moment of silence throughout the park on Monday, May 26 at 3 p.m.

Camping Mamas have always been in my wheelhouse.  I grew up under the tutelage of my own camping mama—Dorothy.  She and my dad built Keen Lake stone by stone, electric pedestal by electric pedestal. Our family—eventually 7 daughters—were part of the work required to build the park.  We ironed more bed linens for cottages, cleaned more bathhouses and picked more stones out of fields than we liked.  However, we clamored for our mom’s buttery potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil and baked in pits created by our removing the largest stones in those fields.  Our mom always managed to manifest moments that were satisfying or delightful and which balanced out those challenging chores. As I age, I find great contentment in calling upon those memories that allow me to remember my mother with joy.

Creating a special day for moms at the lake has been one of my honors each year.  I’ve again called upon my mother as my muse.  She enjoyed being pampered with a massage and always joined us whenever a Paint and Sip was on the agenda.  The image we chose this year (see above) was a reminder of my mother, who loved the outdoors, the water, and above all being able to cast a line.  She loved homemade cards and gifts and watching her children and grandchildren play.  We look forward to welcoming all the camping mamas who will join us this weekend and send warm hugs to those who will be elsewhere.

–Jan Keen

Click here to check out our activity schedule for this weekend!