From staff reports

MILROY — The Hartman Center Retreat and Conference Center has announced that it is going to sell its outdoor ministry facility, located at the base of Straley Knob on Old U.S. Route 322 due to the inability to hold spring retreats as a result added financial difficulties due to COVID-19.

According to a news release from the Center’s advisory committee, a Hartman Center celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to evening on Saturday.

“It will be a chance to reunite, remember, pray and say farewell to a place that has been the center of countless lives for generations,” the news release says. “We will worship, sing, laugh and enjoy each other’s company under the blanket of God’s sky.”

The event will include a picnic and s’mores.

According to the release, effects of the pandemic “made it impossible to both sustain the camp and maintain the financial solvency of the conference itself that serves over 180 congregations.”

The property is being prepared for sale.

“It was a difficult and painful decision that understandably will cause great hurt to countless people, especially children and youth who looked forward to time at the ‘Sonshine Place’ every summer,” the release says.

The Hartman Center states it has been bringing youth, families, and adults close to Christ since 1932. The Hartman Center says it has served as a “place of spiritual refuge and reconnection, a place of personal discovery, a place to build lifelong friendships, and a place where many have made a commitment to serving the church as a career calling.”

The camp is comprised of 192 acres of open and wooded areas, with easy access to nearby streams, hiking trails and state parks. It is located 10 miles north of Lewistown and about 20 miles southeast of State College.