Order of the Arrow
Discussions for OA Members and those interested in Scouting's Honor Society. Also includes a private sub-forum for OA Members only.
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LATEST POSTS
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By InquisitiveScouter · Posted
Nah... let's just log it and get some quick cash. Who cares if the forest is gone, erosion starts, half the camp looks like a disaster area, and wildlife habitat gets destroyed? -
Work at finding liaisons with other youth groups, including maybe church groups and such. Put together a cooperative or two with local outdoor and sporting stores that run programs for climbing and so on. If feasible, work with local professional groups to use the site for spot training opportunities. Make serious cooperative out reach to local colleges and schools to develop teaching sites at the camp. All things that could be workable, or so it seems to me. Setting rates would need to be fair, and not made to maximize any profit The main thing would be to simply keep trying new ideas and finding cooperative options Corporate weekends might be offered where they could use the sites for company gatherings. The goal woould be to make the property viable, but also to have the community see it as an option. Working with unions might be viable, both in the city and at camp facilities. Union does training at the camp and the camp gets things fixed professionally. Be creative, and if it does not pan out, try other things. Some camps may have the type of location to grow Christmas trees, so that becomes part of the prograam and support. If the camps have unique locations with interesing geograpy, or in our case a fscsimile fort, offer it for movie sets; maybe even incorporate it as part of the MB program to do that. Keep that "can't" at bay. -
Specifically what adjustments would you make? -
"As a business the camp is a sunk cost that councils have to pay to maintain and monitor 365. " And here is where some relatively easy adjustments could make huge differences. Weak, or political proxies on a Council BOD is useless. A SE or as seems not the name local CEO, who has little or no concern for the actual membership is a waste of expense and also of time. Scouting has always, in theory been a Community based organization, as its history shows, and it early connection with the YMCA, etal proves. As many training courses, local, and at PTC have suggested; you will get little help from others if you do not ask. But asking just for money is likely a poor method. Community respect, visible viability of local units, and yes, in this case, making real outreach to the broader community to "share" the facilities often donated in early days by people that cared. People mostly still care, especially those that recognize the sad media focus on negative, and find ways to show otherwise, or that it is being worked on for a better way, and a safer way; one that can be a model outside the Scouting families.
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Brad Tilden made several speeches last year about this. National knows this. I remember Brad saying basically "No airline flies a plane with 1 or 2 passengers and only once in a while." A lot of camps sit empty 40 weeks out the year without program, nay, it might be MOST camps sit empty 40 weeks out of the year without program. Additionally, every council I am aware of does a horrible job of getting units to camp the 40 or so unused weekends year. As a business the camp is a sunk cost that councils have to pay to maintain and monitor 365.
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