Aloha & Lochearn
A Shared Commitment to Camp
The Aloha camps have long been part of life on Lake Morey and Lake Fairlee, offering young people the chance to grow in the outdoors and in community. What begins as one summer often becomes a tradition carried forward year after year. Campers become counselors. Campers and counselors become alums and parents. Parents send their children to camp. All along the way, our camps build confidence, lasting friendships, and a sense of responsibility for one another and for the natural world we share.
This is what Aloha, Hive, Lanakila, Hulbert, Horizons, and Ohana have offered for generations. And, as in any long story, every so often a new chapter will be added. Sometimes it’s because of a need to build something new. Other times, an opportunity appears that fits our mission so naturally it deserves serious consideration. Such is the case today, with Camp Lochearn on Lake Fairlee.
FAQs & FAST FACTS!
Q: Why bring Lochearn to the Aloha Foundation?
At the heart of every Aloha program is a belief that young people need real community, real independence, and real time outdoors. Camp Lochearn has offered that kind of experience for generations.
This is an opportunity for the Aloha Foundation to protect another thriving camp, as well as acres of pristine shoreline, and to extend the kind of impact the Alohas are known for: serving young people and families through mission-led camp experiences, while actively preserving and stewarding the natural surroundings that make these experiences possible.
Fast fact: Lochearn Camp occupies almost 90 acres along two protected coves on the SW corner of Lake Fairlee (next to Ohana!).
Q: Why now?
Last summer, Ron & Ann Scott, Camp Lochearn’s longtime owners, approached the Aloha Foundation with a generous offer and a clear hope for the future. As they began planning for their own retirement, they wanted to place Lochearn with a nonprofit steward that shares a deep commitment to camping and the land we share.
We’re grateful for the trust the Scott family has placed in Aloha, and we’re approaching this opportunity with the care an investment like this deserves. That means thoughtful review, clear planning, and true alignment between camp leadership and the Aloha Foundation’s Board of Trustees. We look forward to integrating Lochearn’s beautiful property and wonderful people into the Aloha Foundation’s ongoing growth and commitment to serving families, camping, and nature.
Fast fact: Lochearn Camp was founded in 1916, one year after Hive Camp.
Q: What about the financial side of things?
Because the Aloha Foundation will acquire the assets at a very attractive price, the acquisition improves Aloha’s financial position.
This transaction will occur over the next three years, financed through a mix of sources from Aloha’s financial assets. The goal is simple: to do this in a way that is responsible, sustainable, and consistent with the careful stewardship our community expects.
Q: Then, are you purchasing the camp because it’s a good deal?
No. This decision is an extension of our mission and values. The Aloha Foundation will protect a camp on Lake Fairlee, preserve a remarkable place for young people, and extend our impact of values-based camping.
It’s true the financial side is sound as well. Our community should know that we would not take on any opportunity that we believed would put the strength of our existing camps and programs at risk. The asset acquisition is carefully structured and planned with long-term stability in mind.
Fast fact: Lochearn campers stay in lakeside cabins during two 3.5-week sessions. The camper counselor ratio is 3:1
Q: What does this mean for camp in 2026?
For both Camp Lochearn and the Aloha camps, not much at all. Camp staff and leadership are focused exclusively on preparing for a powerful, joyful, safe summer.
Summer 2026 at all Aloha Foundation camps will be about campers arriving, settling in, seeing old friends, meeting new friends, trying new things, and going home feeling in earnest like the best version of themselves.
Behind the scenes, the biggest “new” thing may simply be camp people doing what camp people do best: swapping stories, comparing traditions, and learning from one another. And if we do it right, that probably includes a campfire and s’mores with all of our camp leaders together—old and new.
Fast fact: Lochearn’s Co-Directors, Erin and Tuffer Dow, have over 35 years of professional experience spanning camping, education, coaching, and fostering leadership skills in youth of all ages.
Q: What does this mean for camp after 2026?
An acquisition of the assets will not be formalized until fall 2026, after the camp season. We fully envision campers returning to the camp for years to come.
Over time, in collaboration with current Lochearn camp leadership, the Aloha Foundation will share its programmatic expertise and tenets of careful stewardship to sustain successful camp experiences at Lochearn and across all our camp properties. We look forward to learning from and with the Lochearn team throughout this process.
For Aloha families, alumni, and friends, the current day-to-day experience of camp remains exactly the same. The big picture truly is that more camp land stays camp land, and more young people can have the kind of summer that shapes them into the best versions of themselves.
Q: Does this mean the Aloha Foundation would be running three girls’ camps?
After acquiring Lochearn in the fall, the Aloha Foundation will indeed be providing transformational summer camp experiences to over 700 young women and girls! We think the 1905 Gulicks would be very proud—and probably a little impressed with what their legacy has grown into!
The truth is that these lakes have sustained three successful girls’ summer camps for over 100 years. The demand is very real for the kind of independence, growth, and appreciation of the natural world that camp fosters, and we feel fortunate to be able to help preserve that—for all our campers.
Over time, as the assets of Camp Lochearn are integrated into the Aloha family, our Trustees and leadership staff would work together to ensure that the camping opportunities we offer provide amazing experiences to young people while continuing to meet the changing needs of our families.
Q: Why is it important for the Aloha Foundation to maintain the Lochearn properties as a camp?
In addition to aligning with our mission and values and continuing to provide valuable camp experiences for youth, lakefront camp properties are precious. Once they’re gone, they rarely come back. We benefit greatly from the Scott Family’s desire to find a suitable buyer who wants to continue hosting camp.
Should the land be purchased by a developer or other commercial enterprise, Aloha camps, especially Horizons, Hive, and Ohana, become subject to the whims of a new owner—boat traffic, noise pollution, clear-cutting—we can’t know, or affect what happens next in our shared camp ecosystem. Preserving land and water for young people, for outdoor communities, and for camp culture is part of what it means to be a long-term steward of the land in Vermont, and on Lake Fairlee.
This is a venture that should benefit the environment, mission, and long-term health of the Alohas long into the future. Even better, it benefits the campers, families, and alumni of Camp Lochearn, and supports camp and continuity for what will be an entirely new segment of the Aloha Foundation community. We are overjoyed to welcome so many new faces and voices who share our ideals, and who value camp, courage, and community as much as we do.
