# # #

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mail your staff application to the attention of the CAC Camping Department, 1218 W Adams, Chicago 60607-2802, or fax it to Chris Townsend at 312 421-4725.  Any questions, call 312 421-8800 x227.

 

2008 Camp Directors:
------------------------------
Reservation Director - Chris Townsend, CAC Director of Camping
Assistant Reservation Director - Pete Klaeser
Camp Wolverine - Ryan Gust
Camp Blackhawk - Mike Brus
Camp Reneker - Beth Rychtanek
High Adventure - Charles Sommerville

# # #

 

I have finally received a response from the Council (Brock Bigsby) regarding the OSA-sponsored Staff Development Program.

It appears to no longer be our responsibility.

- Ron Derby

 

>>>> from Brock Bigsby...

 

"Hello Ron,

I apologize for taking so long to respond.  The CIT program is going to be the responsibility of the reservation management team.  A letter was sent to Michelle O’Connor notifying the OSA of the change.

Thanks",

~ Brock L. Bigsby
Assistant Scout Executive
Chicago Area Council
Boy Scouts of America
1218 W. Adams Street
Chicago, IL 60607-2802
312-421-8800, extension 202
Fax 312-421-4726
brock@chicagobsa.org

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CIT Training A Longstanding Labor Of Love
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/24/2007

 

Further confirmation has been received of the OSA being dismissed as the CIT Program sponsor and administrator, a responsibility they had taken on since 1980 that we can recall, when director of camping Jim Chandler and camping chairman Steven Horvath requested their services.

It's been a labor of love and a service that the OSA and its members have been proud to host, administer and fund.  My guess is that there have probably been at least 500 young men who have gone through that staff orientation and mentoring program since then...another Long Green Line.

 

There has been no reason given to the OSA for this change in administration.  Your guess is as good as mine which suspects political foul play.

 

On behalf of all of the men and women who played a role in the recruitment and training of our young staff apprentices over the last 2+ decades, it has been our pleasure and honor to have been mentors, coaches and counselors to Owasippe's CITs and to have shared much of what was handed down to us by legendary Owasippe staff so that a proud tradition of quality Scout camping could carry on.  Thanks to those volunteer staff trainers for their time, dedication and talents.  Thanks to those parents who allowed their sons and daughters to be part of a good program and some great campstaffs.  Thanks to those CITs who believed in a dream and who cared to serve their fellow Scouts and to deliver "All The Wealth of Earth And Heaven".

 

So may Scouting's bond of friendship seal our loyalty to the camp so dear to memory, Hail - Owasippe.

 

~ Ron Kulak
Past Director
Counselor In Training Program
1982-2002

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

# # #

 

September 16, 2007
by Debra Carte, Staff Writer
The White Lake Beacon

 

With an October trial date fast approaching, the Chicago Area Council, Boy Scouts of America is exploring its options regarding the Owasippe Scout Reservation should its bid to get the property rezoned for residential development for a subsequent sale fails.

 

The Beacon learned last week that the Chicago Area Council is in preliminary talks with the Boy Scouts’ National Office to offer Owasippe in Blue Lake Township as a possible site for National Scout Jamborees beginning in 2014.

 

That could mean National would possibly acquire or lease the property on a long-term basis for jamborees that gather together as many as 40,000 Scouts and their leaders every four years, and retain the property for camping in non-jamboree years, according to Greg Shield, spokesman for the Boy Scouts’ National Office.

 

The Chicago Council’s attorney, Douglas Dozeman, wouldn’t say on Thursday how that possibility affects a purchase agreement the council has with an investment banking group in Holland, Michigan which has offered $19.4 million for Owasippe’s 4,748 acres if it can be rezoned for development. The council’s efforts to get the property rezoned to facilitate the sale has included a lawsuit against Blue Lake Township which heads to circuit court on Oct. 16.

 

Dozeman said getting the zone change they need for a sale is “by no means a sure thing,” and the Chicago Council is looking at its options in case the zoning bid “falls through.”

 

The Boy Scouts have been holding their National Jamborees since 1981 at Fort A.P. Hill, an Army training facility in northeast Virginia. The Scouts will be returning to Fort A.P. Hill for their next jamboree in 2010 for their 100th anniversary, but it may be their last one there.

 

The Department of Defense has indicated to the Scouts that demands on the U.S. military and training requirements may mean the Scouts will have to look for an alternate site to hold their jamborees.

 

The Scouts’ National president, Rick Cronk, issued an appeal on Aug. 1 to Scout executive councils across the country for suggestions on possible future jamboree sites. Shield didn’t know on Thursday how many other Scout councils had submitted surveys, but he confirmed that the Chicago Council had submitted a survey and that they were in a “very preliminary phase” of discussions with Chicago. The deadline for submitting site recommendation surveys was Saturday.

 

Shield said the National Office is looking for a long-term site that fits several criteria, including that it be a large piece of land that is attractive and capable of handling the needs of over 40,000 Scouts. The property has to have lake access and access to highways and major airports. The community would have to have sufficient infrastructure to provide for medical and communication needs.

 

The National Scout Jamborees are 10-day camping events.  At Fort A.P. Hill, the Scouts used approximately 3,000 acres of the Fort’s 76,000 acres. The Owasippe Scout Reservation, the oldest continually operating Boy Scout camp in the U.S., consists of 4,748 pristine acres of forest, lakes and streams.

 

The property adjoins several other camps in rural Blue Lake Township, including the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, YMCA Camp Pendalouan, and Camp Gerber, owned by the Gerald R. Ford Council, Boy Scouts of America. The advantages of bringing the Scouts’ National Jamborees to Blue Lake Township would extend to all of Muskegon County and counties beyond.

 

“It could be beneficial,” said Blue Lake Township Supervisor Don Studaven, “but we’re still facing a court date next month.”

 

Copyright © 2007 White Lake Beacon

# # #

 

100% spring-fed Lake Wolverine on the Owasippe Scout Reservation.

Nestlé Waters North America confirmed Friday that the spring waters of the 4,800-acre Owasippe Scout Reservation were tested in June as a potential source for the bottling of Ice Mountain Natural Spring Water.  Deborah Muchmore, the public relations official representing Nestlé Waters North America, said scientists from the engineering consulting firm, STS Consultants, Ltd., were at Camp Owasippe in late June conducting a site walkover which included the taking of water samples.

 

Muchmore could not say whether the owners of the Owasippe Scout Reservation, the Chicago Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, had requested the exploratory studies, or whether Nestlé had been the one to initiate contact with the Chicago Council.

 

The Chicago Council’s attorney, Douglas Dozeman, didn’t know the answer to that question either, but he did confirm from Chicago Council officials that Nestlé had been testing at the Owasippe property.

“There are no current plans to do anything with that (water study),” Dozeman said. “It was an exploratory thing to see what was there and what the options are.”

 

The Chicago Area Council is in the midst of litigation with Blue Lake Township over the rezoning of the Owasippe Scout Reservation. The Chicago Council wants the property rezoned for residential development and sued the township last year claiming the property’s current zoning, which limits uses to camping activities, was an unlawful taking of the property. The Chicago Council has an offer of $19.4 million for the property from an investment firm in Holland if it can be rezoned.

 

Dozeman did not know if the Chicago Council is considering selling portions of Owasippe to Nestlé.

 

Friday morning the Chicago Council and Blue Lake Township were in 14th Circuit Court for a hearing on a request by the township to have the case against it dismissed. Dozeman said the judge did not render a decision on Friday. A court trial on the Chicago Council’s lawsuit is set to begin on Oct. 16.

 

Camp Owasippe, established in 1911, is the oldest, continually operating Boy Scout camp in the country. It’s the home to one of the last remaining large stands of oak-pine forests in Michigan and a number of endangered and threatened species.

 

Lake Wolverine, the pristine lake that’s smack dab in the middle of Owasippe’s 4,748 acres, is 100 percent spring fed. The springs empty at Gus Kopp Dam and flow under Russell Rd.

 

An engineer has estimated the flow in the creek to be between 5,000 to 10,000 gallons per minute, well above the 400-gallon per minute rate Ice Mountain was issued a permit for in Mecosta County in 2002.

A lawsuit, brought by a group called Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, sued Nestlé Ice Mountain in 2003 to stop the withdrawal of spring water. The group won, but Ice Mountain was later granted a stay of the order after the company threatened to lay off its 120 employees at the bottling plant.

 

Earlier this year, Nestlé showed interest in installing a spring water well at the headwaters of White River in Monroe Township in Newaygo County. Nestlé decided in April not to move forward with that project. White River flows into Muskegon County through Blue Lake Township and empties into White Lake in Whitehall and Montague. Environmentalists here were fearful of the impact the spring water well would have on the White River.

 

Upon its decision to abort the White River project, the company said it was looking for a site with water consistent with the mineral composition and taste that “consumers of Ice Mountain expect and appreciate.”   Is the water they’re looking for at Owasippe?

 

Blue Lake Township officials hope not, but are getting prepared just in case it is. The township’s planning commission began working on an amendment to the zoning ordinance months ago to prevent the mining of water in the township. That draft amendment has been approved by planners. Planning Commission Chairman Lyle Monette said last week public hearings on the zoning change would be held soon and the recommendation would be sent on to the township board.

 

Jim Cordray, a member of the planning commission, said he expected Nestlé would “hit someplace else” after deciding not to pursue the site at the headwaters of White River. If it’s the Lake Wolverine, Quaking Bogs areas Nestlé’s looking at, Cordray said they’re getting into some environmentally sensitive areas that would probably even raise eyebrows at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

 

Just before engineers for Nestlé visited Owasippe in June, the Chicago Council’s president, Mike Hughes, issued an open letter to Blue Lake Township residents proposing to move the camping facilities near Lake Wolverine north to near Big Blue Lake.

 

The Chicago Council did not respond then to the question of why they would undertake the expense of such a relocation, but could interest from Nestlé in areas near Lake Wolverine explain the move?

 

Dozeman denies that’s the case.  “That has had nothing to do with our decision to relocate,” he said.

 

Hughes and the Chicago Council’s Scout executive, Jim Stone, did not return calls for comment.
 
Copyright © 2007 White Lake Beacon

# # #

 

Here is a prior background story from the Chicago Tribune about Nestle's mining of Michigan's water resources:
http://www.waterissweet.org/nestle/water_war.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Nestle says no to Owasippe water
---------------------------------------------------------------------
www.Mlive.com / Muskegon Chronicle
by Jeff Alexander and Lynn Moore
August 27, 2007 17:28PM

 

Officials at Nestle Waters North America said Monday the company
will not pump spring water from the Owasippe Scout Reservation in
Blue Lake Township.

 

That announcement came after a published report said the water
bottling company tested spring water at the 4,800-acre scout camp
in June.

 

Nestle spokeswoman Deb Muchmore said company scientists spent one day collecting spring water samples at Owasippe. But she said Greg Fox, Nestle's Midwest natural resource manager, decided to drop Owasippe as a potential source for spring water for Nestle's Ice
Mountain brand.

 

"We have no interest in moving any further at this site," Muchmore
said. She said she did not know specifically why Nestle dropped the
Owasippe site from consideration.

 

In April, the company dropped its controversial plan to pump spring
water from a site near the headwaters of the White River, saying the
water had the wrong mineral composition for Nestle's purposes. That
decision came after two years of investigation, which included Nestle
installing a series of water wells and conducting pump tests.

 

# # #

 

For the complete print story, go to this weblink at Mlive.com...
http://www.mlive.com/muskegon/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1188312331176240.xml&coll=8

http://www.mlive.com/muchronicle/audio/20070519_timallen1.mp3

 

Dan Weikel, president of the LST-393 Preservation Association, said
the ship has received a $7,000 grant from the Community Foundation
for Muskegon County. The grant will allow the group to achieve a long-
sought goal -- opening of the ship's huge bow doors to the public.

 

On another front, Weikel said a fire suppression system has been
installed in the ship's berthing areas. It will allow groups to come
aboard for overnight stays, similar to the USS Silversides' popular
Overnight Encampment Program [ie. Owasippe's Submarine Outpost]. A potable water distribution system also is now in place throughout the
ship.  Both of these ends were greatly helped by an auction held aboard LST-393 last February. All told, it netted a little over $13,000 for the
ship's restoration fund.

 

The ship, which saw action during the D-Day invasion and other
campaigns near the end of the war, is one of only two such ships from
that era still afloat.

 

Weikel said work to open the ship's bow doors would begin during the
first week of June. It will entail the removal of what remains of a steel bulkhead, which was installed when the ship was converted into the car ferry Highway 16 after the war.  Once the bulkhead is removed, welds over the bow doors will be cut and the doors will be opened for the first time in decades. An existing landing ramp will be extended to a dock, allowing visitors to enter through glass doors onto the tank deck.

 

The job is expected to finish up in mid-July at a cost of about $14,000, Weikel said. In addition to the foundation's $7,000, the cost will be paid out of some auction proceeds and other revenue derived from tours, memberships and donations, plus events like reunions, USO Swing Dances and the summer "Movies on Deck" series on Friday nights.

 

All that remains is an on-board inspection and approval by the city's
fire marshal, which Weikel said should take place within the next week or so. The overnights should begin soon afterwards.  "Several people have said, 'as soon as it's approved, we'll sign up,' " Weikel said.

 

A walk-in veterans center has been created as well, complete with
comfortable furniture, a refrigerator, coffeemaker and a DVD player,
he said. On Wednesdays, any veteran who wants to be interviewed can
tell his or her story on-camera.

 

©2007 Muskegon Chronicle

 

[Note: Since the early 90s, Owasippe has been using this naval museum for its 'Submarine Outpost' and thousands of Scouts have enjoyed ship tours and overnight stays.  It's less than a half-hour's drive from a troop's campsite at Owasippe.  Some units go there and stay overnight the day before they arrive to Owasippe or on the day of departure.  ]

 

For the story in its entirety, go to...
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-
11/1178808304288770.xml&coll=8&thispage=2 ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CITs are paid a $25 per week training allowance for each week they are in training at Owasippe after the initial training and orientation week.   There are no fees to go through this training.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ON-LINE CAMP RESERVATIONS FOR OWASIPPE AVAILABLE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A new feature is now available on the Chicago Area Council Website.   Units can now place camp reservation requests on-line for 2007 Owasippe Summer Camp.

 

In order to access the on-line reservations, simply go to the
website - http://www.chicagobsa.org and click on the camping button on the left. This will then display a 'reservations' button which you should then Click on.  This will then display an appropriate form for your unit's registration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He will be missed but never forgotten around our council fire...as we
affectionately chant "Buddha, Buddha, Buddha...etc". All the wealth
of Earth and heaven is truly his.

 

It has bath and shower facilities, a full kitchen, a large dormitory type room plus several private bedrooms.  We believe its maximum capacity is roughly 24, but interested parties should check with the CAC Camping Dept to be sure of this number.  For more information and to make reservations, call 312-421-8800 x227. 

 

If you have the good fortune of camping at picturesque Owasippe during the Winter, you will also find an excellent and lengthy sled-run behind Ad Center and Tent City, adjacent to the Camp Wolverine archery range.  Owasippe is also perfectly suited for cross country skiing and other outdoor Winter activities.

 

 

Keith Kinslow can't bring himself to believe that this, the 95th
camping season at Owasippe Scout Reservation, could be the last.

The scoutmaster from Chicago will come to rural Blue Lake Township
Saturday for his 10th season of camping. He said he will not dwell on
the fact that a court fight now under way could result in homes
sprouting where only wilderness has reigned, and that his beloved
camping spot could be gone forever.

 

"We don't think that way," Kinslow said. "We can't think that way."

As campers like Kinslow prepare to return to the woods, attorneys are
getting ready for a court fight. On one side are attorneys for the
Chicago Area Council of Boy Scouts, which owns the camp but wants to
sell it. They have sued Blue Lake Township to try to force a rezoning
of the 4,780-acre property that would allow the sale of the property
for $19.4 million and the construction of as many as 1,278 new homes.

On the other side are lawyers for Blue Lake Township officials who
recently rejected the rezoning request, saying it would strain
township roads and services, destroy the nature of the township and
run counter to the wishes of township residents.

 

Round one of the fight will be Monday, when the two sides meet for a
pretrial conference in the courtroom of Muskegon County Circuit Judge William C. Marietti.   The Boy Scouts' attorney, Devin Schindler, said the circuit court lawsuit and a "mirror case" in federal court were filed because township officials have refused to talk to the Scouts. Trying to amend the rezoning request in an attempt to gain approval would be futile, he said.    "It's impossible to amend a rezoning request when you have no idea what specifically the township is looking for," Schindler said. "I have no idea why they won't talk to me."

 

Boy Scout officials say the current zoning represents illegal "taking" of the property because it denies nearly every "legitimate land use" and deprives the land of its value. The lawsuits claim Owasippe's zoning of forest recreation-institution is different from that of surrounding property and represents discrimination. They also claim the township's actions have denied the Boy Scouts their due process.

 

The Boy Scout Council claims lagging interest in camping has turned
the camp into a financial liability. The council has reported camp
operations have cost it $200,000 to $600,000 for each of the last
several years, and that an estimated $1 million to $3 million
investment is needed to repair camp facilities.

 

Kinslow said volunteers are keeping the camp facilities functioning
despite neglect from the council. He was among volunteers who spent
Memorial Day weekend -- and their own money -- at a camp work bee.
He called their efforts "a labor of love."

 

"Where else are these kids going to go when they start selling off
all these camps?" Kinslow said. A spokeswoman said no final decision
has been made about future camping.   The council has sold other camps over the years, leaving Owasippe as the only wilderness experience for Chicago-area Boy Scouts, said Ron Kron, a scoutmaster for a troop on Chicago's northwest side.

 

Kron, who has been camping at Owasippe for more than 20 years, said
he has a 19-year-old son who is working at the camp this year --
something he said he always wanted to do.  "I said 'Do it. You never
know what will happen with the camp,' " Kron said.  

 

"I've lived in Chicago my whole life, and you just can't see that
kind of stuff," he said. "I never thought there was such beauty three
hours away (from the city.)"   Kron will camp for two weeks in July,
taking in festivities that are planned to celebrate Owasippe's 95th
year, as well as quieter moments fishing on pristine Lake Wolverine.
He is hoping they won't be the last.

 

"No one really looks at it as what's best for the kids," Kron
said. "I had experiences as a kid that I still have memories of. It
just changes people."

 

©2006 Muskegon Chronicle

 

 

 

 

For more information on these places, other local attractions, as well as a calendar of events for the White Lake and Montague  Communities, go to http://www.whitelake.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checkout the new Camping MB Requirements on USScout:
http://usscouts.org/mb/changes/mb001-06.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*** NOTE: I am looking for your personal camp experience and troop stories from this summer at Owasippe, especially those "testimonials" for doubting-Thomas CAC board members who have been brainwashed to be skeptical of Owasippe's relevance and value to Scouting.