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Holden Village To Welcome Summer Guests Again

Chuck Hoffman
Holden Village staff are excited for the last of the deep snow to melt and for their summer guests to arrive in June, after several years of mine remediation.

Holden Village, a retreat center at the tip of Lake Chelan that’s been mostly closed due to mine remediation work, is ready to fully re-open.

Years of work and $500 million finally stopped copper mine pollution from reaching Lake Chelan. Holden Village had to nearly shut down in 2012 to make way for remediation workers. Mostly only Holden staff have been at the village with a few visitors.

Chuck Hoffman is co-executive director of Holden. He said it’s now time to reclaim the retreat center and its interfaith mission—a place to be together, hike and worship.

“We are excited to have our guests back,” Hoffman said. “And I think there is a lot of really good energy with folks. I know we’ve done a couple of events around the country over the winter and we know the enthusiasm to be back in the village as guests and regular programing is really exciting for folks.”

Hoffman said Holden’s summer season is nearly sold out. He hopes guests will notice all the improvements the staff has made to the facility during its closure.

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.