Re: Summer Camp Trends
Anthony Mako (ajmako@NLS.NET)
Sat, 31 Jul 1999 20:36:14 -0000
----- Original Message -----
From: Cheryl Singhal <csinghal@CapAccess.org>
Subject: Re: Summer Camp Trends
> On Sat, 31 Jul 1999, Anthony Mako wrote:
>
> > ...As the Great Trail
> > Council camping committee has already discovered, solutions to this
> > particular trend are expensive. In our case, it means building a new,
bigger
> > dining hall for Camp Manatoc and not only upgrading the facilities at
Camp
> > Butler, but also building a dining hall and hiring a staff (Camp Butler
>
> Ummmm -- wouldn't it have been (A) Cheaper and (B) more user-friendly to
> have simply CLOSED reservations to out-of-Council troops?
Cheryl,
That's part of what's in the works for the 2000 summer camp season. There
are, however, other reasons for our camp to go with the more expensive
option. First, our dining hall will be 70 years old next year and barely
passes health department standards. Regardless of what other solutions can
be found to relieve the over-crowding problem, replacing the dining hall is
one thing that would eventually have to be done. At the other camp (which is
just on the other side of the property), there is no dining hall and no
longer an adequate food storage facility to accomodate summer camping in any
form (patrol cooking or dining hall). In order to open the camp for Boy
Scout summer camp, we would need either a dining hall built or a major
expansion to the present facilities.
> As I understand it, Councils prefer their Scouts to go to their camps.
> That being so, it sure seems simpler to get all the in-Council Troops in
> and then allow out-of-Council Troops to register. If In-Council fills
> all available slots, c'est la guerre. If they do not, they at least had
> first shot.
In the late-1970's to mid-1980's many camps went through a period of
declining attendance. Part of the solution was to open camp attendance to a
wider and wider area outside the local council. In Great Trail Council's
case, we started by phasing out the use of Camp Butler for summer camp and
concentrated on upgrading the fascilities at Camp Manatoc. As the camp
program and facilities improved, out-of-council troops discovered our camp
was preferable to theirs. At the time, there was room for these troops, so
the council opened the doors and let them in. Thanks to troops being able to
make reservations for the next year at the end of their week this year, the
slots fill up quickly. If you didn't go to camp last year, your chance of
getting in this year was pretty slim regardless of what council you're in.
Another interesting part of the problem involves cost. Camp Manatoc is 15
miles away from where my troop meets. Seven Ranges is about 40 miles away.
It actually costs us LESS as an out-of-council troop to go to Seven Ranges
than it would to go to Camp Manatoc as an in-council troop. Aside from that,
troop tradition plays a pretty big part since Troop 381 has camped at
Buckeye Council camps for summer camp since 1970.
> It wouldn't even take much extra effort from the staff. Application
> comes in; is it from IN Council? Y = red box N= blue box. When comes
> time to assign slots, open everything in the red box first. If you end
> up with Camp Yahoo only half-full for a week, you open envelopes from the
> blue box until you fill it up. If you end up with 6 slots at Camp Itchy
> the last week, yougo through the blue box looking for a 6-man Troop.
To some extent, that's what's already happening (or will be happening), but
it really doesn't solve the problem. In order to justify even opening the
camp, you have to have a certain percentage of the camp's capacity full for
each week of the camp season. The closer to 100% you are, the farther ahead
you'll be. So, even if you took reservations first-come, first-served,
in-council first, the goal would be to fill the camp as quickly as possible.
If your camp has a good program and is well known in the area, you have an
easier time of it.
Unfortunately, there will always be local troops who don't make reservations
in time and have to go looking in other councils for a place to camp. What
Great Trail Council is planning is to significantly increase the capacity of
the camp to provide more options and improve the program. As long as we're
willing to spend the money to do that and our neighbors aren't we'll have a
significant number of out-of-council troops camping here.
> Yes, I know, everything is simple to the man who doesn't have to do it.
(g)
YIS
A. J.
