Did'ya Know?
Mood:  happy
Topic: Celebrate Owasippe
Did'ya Know...?

...that The Blue Lake Township Board of Trustees voted against the request of the Chicago Area Council BSA for residential rezoning of
their Owasippe Scout Reservation? The Township Board followed the recommendations of many authorities and interested parties who have
provided facts and opinions against the rezoning proposal.

...that those other entities who came solidly down in favor of denying the rezoning request of CAC included the Blue Lake Township Planning Commission, Muskegon Area Planning Commission, Muskegon Soil and Water Conservation District, professional planning consultants retained by the Township, more than 2,500 individuals who petitioned the Township in writing, and more than 400 individuals who spoke or were present at the Public Hearing concerning the rezoning proposal
in January 2006?

...that the Owasippe Outdoor Education Center (OOEC) provided info, strategic planning, and suggestions to many of the individuals and grass-roots organizations who worked hard to achieve a "NO Vote" for the residential rezoning of Owasippe?

...that the Owasippe Staff Assoc invested $5,000 this year into the restoration and upgrading of the Stephen Fossett Sailing Base Outpost? The fleet is now up to 13 vessels with two more on the way by the Spring of 2007. THANKS to those who financially contributed!

...that parts of Owasippe are known to be ideal eco-habitats for the endangered Northern Copperbelly Watersnake (some found in nearby areas off-camp) and that the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Michigan DNR have a hunch that they may also reside in the Owasippe wilderness and would just love to find a live specimen living and breathing at OSR? Move over Massasauga Rattlesnake and Karner Blue Butterfly! There are indeed MANY reasons for camp preservation!

Keeping camps green - and in the green
Mood:  bright
Topic: Sale of Scout Camps
July 22, 2006
Chicago Tribune - Letters To The Editor

This is regarding "Greetings from Camp Not-gonna-open-again; As summer camps in the Chicago region dwindle, the ones remaining debate whether to stay open or sell out to real estate developers" (Page 1, July 9). The article accurately described the pressures that have increasingly caused camps to vanish under developers’ bulldozers.

A lasting solution that could serve as a model for communities around the nation is being explored right here in the Chicago region.

The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation is working with a number of Chicago-area partners to demonstrate practical choices beyond keep the camp and keep losing money running it, or retire our debts with a big check from a developer.

The ongoing loss of camp lands to development both reflects and reinforces unwelcome trends: "mouse-potato" childhoods, which create the conditions for obesity and other health issues; open space being
lost; and respected non-profit organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America finding it harder to serve urban and suburban communities.

It also represents lost opportunities to preserve natural areas: Summer camps typically involve intensive use of only a small fraction of the total camp acreage, and the buffer or light-use areas often include examples of rare natural communities, such as wetlands, oak savanna or prairie.

Several key reasons for this unfortunate trend were described in the article, including sprawling development pressure driving up land prices; competition from today’s subject-specific camps (music, sports, etc.); and changes in parents’ willingness to send their children to overnight summer camp. Working with conservation groups such as the Conservation Foundation and CorLands, and discussing the issue with non-profit camp owners, we’ve identified two additional challenges:

1. Lack of understanding of the options. Camp owners have not been aware of the full range of choices available to them as landowners.

2. A need to update camp activities with strong nature programs that can help today’s parents see new educational value in the outdoor camp experience.

On the first point we are now working to get the word out to camp owners that land ownership is not an all-or-nothing matter. For example, in Illinois and most other Midwestern states, landowners can
voluntarily "dedicate" land as nature preserves monitored by the state. A different option, one not involving any governmental entity, is to grant a conservation easement, which can be tailored to uses of the specific land in question.

The volunteer directors of non-profit camp owners take their fiduciary duties deeply to heart, and quite properly aren’t interested in allowing their organizations to bleed to death operating camps that run chronic deficits. Anxiety about that outcome can overwhelm concern about broader responsibilities, such as developing in young folk an appreciation for natural systems in a world waking up to inconvenient truths, saving the few remaining large parcels of open space for the public good and preserving safe havens for native plants and animals.

Fortunately better choices exist.

Judith Stockdale
Executive director
Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
Chicago

High Hopes for Owasippe!
Mood:  bright
Topic: Sale of Scout Camps
July 17, 2006
The White Lake Beacon
by Debra Carte

The party’s not over for the Owasippe Scout Reservation, not by a long shot, say Scouters and “Save Owasippe” supporters fighting to make sure the camp sees many more years beyond the 95 they celebrated last Wednesday.

“Save that banner and be prepared to put ‘100th’ there,” said Jim Schlichting, assistant development director for the Owasippe Outdoor Education Center (OOEC), as he pointed toward the large banner placed at the camp Wednesday to commemorate its 95 years of continued operation.

Schlichting and the OOEC, the non-profit organization working to preserve the camp as a year-round learning and conference center, have good reason to hope a sale of Owasippe can be stopped despite the Chicago Area Council of the Boy Scouts’ best efforts to sell it to a Holland area banker for $19.4 million.

The National Council of the Boy Scouts recently intervened in the contested business affairs of the Chicago Council and went as far as to dissolve its executive committee and appoint an interim one until elections can be held in January.

On Friday, the board of directors of the Chicago Area Council unanimously elected the executive committee proposed by the National Council and named John C. “Jack” Jadel as council president. Jadel replaces Lewis Greenblatt, who was asked by council to step down from the board. Jadel is the former president of the Northeast Illinois Council of the Boy Scouts, president of the National Eagle Scout Association and past president of Akzo America.

The good news of the shakeup is that National has charged the new committee with reviewing their predecessors’ business dealings and controversial decisions, including the pending sale of Owasippe.

That could mean three things, according to Joe Sener, chairman of the OOEC and one of 11 Scouters who prevailed in a lawsuit against the Chicago Council for violations of council bylaws and the Illinois Not-for-Profit Corporation Act.

“They could decide to go ahead with the sale, or entertain other proposals, like the OOEC’s, or not sell at all,” he said last Wednesday while attending Owasippe’s 95th birthday.

“National could see that the pending sale of Owasippe was an extremely hot issue for the [CAC] volunteers, and if that was going to be a
polarizing event, they wanted to see if the right decisions have been made.”

Sener didn’t hold back when commenting on how he perceives the past decision-making of the Chicago Council’s board.

“Deciding to sell all the capital assets of the council in order to balance the books is stupid,” he said. Sener is in his 42nd year at Camp Owasippe and served as chairman of the Chicago Council’s Owasippe Committee, but he and five others were considered by National to be “lightning rods” for the opposing parties in the Chicago Council dispute and were asked to step down from the board of directors and all committees.

Sener isn’t giving up in getting an open dialogue going on the future of Owasippe and has invited those now in charge in Chicago to learn more about the camp that’s served hundreds of thousands of youths since 1911.

“My plan is to continue to focus on Owasippe. Camping has been my life and my major contribution to the council,” he said. “I’ll let the executive committee do what they’ve been chartered to do and,
hopefully, bring some sanity to what’s been going on.”

The only member of the new executive committee to attend Owasippe’s 95th anniversary celebration on Wednesday was another of the Scouter-11, Jim Adamitis, who had joined Sener and nine others in a lawsuit against the Chicago Council. Adamitis would not comment on the review of the pending sale of Owasippe, but did say he believed there would
be a resolution.

“I am deeply of a mind that things work out for the very best for the council and for the community,” he said.

The Chicago Council’s Scout Executive, Jim Stone, said Wednesday at Owasippe that the council is accepting reservations from Scouters for the 2007 camping season, but “I can’t speak to beyond that,” he added.

How About A Capital Campaign and NOT A Capital Asset Sale!
Mood:  loud
Topic: Sale of Scout Camps
What is going to happen when the new Executive Committee goes up to Owasippe? I think that the entire board who votes should go and not only the new executive committee.

What a difference on how the property would look TODAY if they took the insurance money and rebuilt the dining hall at Carlen and the Lodge at Reneker. I hope that someone points out to the board that
the constant raping of the land and resources over the years along with no overt publicity campaign for camping and utilizing the property caused much of her appearance today.

Some of that BONUS Hoover money could make quite a difference towards Capital improvements for this property and would help in a partnership with the OOEC in allowing for the continued operation of the
facility.

It was refreshing to see that the NEW Executive Committee is comprised mostly of Bankers and not Lawyers, Insurance people or Real Estate
Developers. Bankers always seem to look at their bottom line more.

Maybe they will realize that Owasippe is Chicago Area Councils truly only appreciating capital asset that will never depreciate.

God Bless all of you, say a prayer and keep the faith!

YIS,
John Hosty

[ Note: Northwest Suburban Council is in the middle of a $4-million capital campaign drive to upgrade their Camp Napowan's dining hall and other facilities...which is a 5-HOUR DRIVE to Northern Wisconsin from their council office. ]

SPECIAL TRIBUTE FOR THE OWASIPPE SCOUT RESERVATION
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Celebrate Owasippe
as presented on Wednesday, July 12, 2006
at The White Lake Chamber of Commerce Dinner at Food Prep, Owasippe Scout Reservation...

LET IT BE KNOWN, That we are proud to join with the members, leadership, and generations of Boy Scouts of the Chicago Area Council and others as they gather to mark the 95th anniversary of the Owasippe Scout Reservation. This milestone is a reflection of the values and commitment to service and stewardship that each Boy Scout is instilled with year after year at Camp Owasippe. While the members of this distinguished organization celebrate 95 years of service at Owasippe, we offer our thanks for the many wonderful memories that this camp has provided to Boy Scouts throughout the Midwest.

The Owasippe Scout Reservation, originally called Camp White, was officially opened in 1911. Initially encompassing just 40 acres, the camp is now situated on 4,800 acres in Blue Lake Township in West Michigan. In the years that have followed since they first came together to found Owasippe, the scouts have adapted to changes in society, membership, and expectations, while remaining true and steadfast to the values on which the boy scouts were founded. Now in its 95th year of existence, we recognize that while many years have passed, we know that new generations of scouts will surely enjoy their experiences at Owasippe for years to come.

As we celebrate its history, those who have had the distinct privilege of attending camp at Owasippe remember the vision of those who came before. We are grateful to the people who established this camp as one of the last true sanctuaries of a bygone era where the values of self-reliance, community, service to others, and
conservation are made to endure in the lives of so many young people. Fittingly, as we look to the past, we also be cast an eye to the future and to the many ways in which the Owasippe Scout Reservation will continue to reach out to people across our nation.

IN SPECIAL TRIBUTE, Therefore, This document is signed and dedicated to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the Owasippe Scout Reservation. We commend everyone who has contributed to the success of this camp and thank them for the manner in which they have contributed to the wellbeing of generations of young people.
______________________________________
David Farhat, State RepresentativeThe Ninety-First District, State of Michigan
The Ninety-Third Legislature
At Lansing, Michigan

Cherish and Keep Owasippe
Mood:  energetic
Topic: Celebrate Owasippe
"For 95 years, we’ve been here. There aren’t many things that last 95 years and that says a lot about what this place offers. There are lessons learned here that can’t be learned anywhere else. We see it trying to be sold and we don’t know the fate of this land. We’re here to respect this environment, respect ourselves and respect the people around us. If we lose this to developers, then the things people have been doing here for 95 years will be lost.”
~ Eagle Scout Jason Darwell, age 17, at Owasippe's Anniversary Gala

Scouts to mark 95th year of Owasippe, but will there be a 96th year?
Mood:  not sure
Topic: Celebrate Owasippe
July 9, 2006
by Debra Carte
White Lake Beacon

The Chicago Area Council of the Boy Scouts is planning to celebrate next week the 95th anniversary of the Owasippe Camp Reservation, the
oldest and continuously operating Boy Scout camp in the U.S.

But the irony of celebrating 4,700 acres of pristine property the Scouts are working hard to sell for residential development isn't lost on residents here. Now that the Chicago Council has accepted an offer of $19.4 million for the property from Benjamin A. Smith III, founder of the Macatawa Bank Corp., many wonder if Owasippe will see a 96th year in operation.

"Save Owasippe" supporters, some 3,000 plus strong, are hoping a recent shake up of the Chicago Council's executive committee by the National Council of the Boy Scouts will benefit their cause to save the camp. The National Council has charged the new executive committee to review the pending sale of Owasippe, but what that review means precisely and whether the sale of Owasippe can be
stopped, are questions still unanswered.

The Chicago Council's request to rezone Owasippe for residential development was denied by Blue Lake Township officials who now find themselves named in a lawsuit brought by the council in May. The Chicago Council says it can't sell Owasippe to Smith unless the township rezones the property from a camp-use only designation to residential designations.

The Chicago Council claims the township's zoning of Owasippe has perpetrated an illegal taking of the property. A bench trial to decide the matter has been scheduled for March 20-23 and March 27-30
of 2007.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Council is inviting the public to celebrate 95 years of Scouting at Owasippe. The celebration is scheduled for this Wednesday, July 12, from 10am to 3pm at the
administration center, located at Russell and Silver Creek roads in Blue Lake Township. Boy Scouts and adult leaders are to be on hand
to demonstrate scouting skills, like cooking, Native American games, pioneering, first aid and orienteering.

Executive Scout leaders from the Chicago Area Council are planning to attend the celebration and will be available for questions from the press and the public. Local elected officials are to also be in attendance. A short program is scheduled for noon on Wednesday.

# # #

PS: A dinner with the local chamber of commerce is planned for Wednesday evening at the Ad Center, a tradition that continues since they arranged for the donation of the original 40 acres in 1910.

[Note: Owasippe has already begun to entertain reservations for 2007 section camp sites and family camp cabins from units already at camp this summer. Early attendance projections prior to the opening of camp pointed toward an increase in campers for this summer over 2005. The reality of that is dependent on the willingness of leaders to promote Owasippe and to maximize their Scout participation. You can't fit too much more above 4,000 into Camps Blackhawk and Wolverine over six periods. So, we are faced with a moment of
decision over whether Camp Carlen should open and for how many periods or whether the council should just maintain the status quo. The last time Owasippe had over 4,500 campers is when Camp Carlen was open to Scouts for four periods and to Webelos and Junior Leaders Training for the other two weeks. - RK]

Scouts who sued get birthday salute
Mood:  quizzical
Topic: Celebrate Owasippe
Friday, July 07, 2006
By John S. Hausman
MUSKEGON CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

It's not every day that controversy arises over a seemingly benign proclamation recognizing a Boy Scout council's 95 years of service.

But it happened Thursday at a Muskegon County Board of Commissioners committee meeting.

Commissioner Nancy Waters asked fellow commissioners to approve a resolution recognizing the pending 95th birthday of the Chicago Area
Council of Boy Scouts of America, owners of the Owasippe Scout Reservation in Muskegon County's Blue Lake Township.

A letter from the council requesting such a resolution had gone to all county commissioners and other local government officials in Muskegon County. But the deceptively routine request came at a time of intense controversy over the council's wish to sell the beloved, beautiful, undeveloped property to residential developers.

Many area residents and the township's government oppose the plan, and the Scout council has sued the township seeking to force a rezoning of the property to allow its controlled development.

Most commissioners sought to separate the "happy birthday" resolution from the camp development dispute. "We're supporting the Boy Scouts," said Commissioner Louis A. McMurray.

But Commissioner Chuck Buzzell, whose 2nd District includes the Owasippe area, disagreed. "How do you separate it?" he said. "The council is suing Blue Lake Township. Many, many people in my district
are violently opposed (to the council's plans)."

Yet the township's supervisor, Don Studaven, spoke from the audience in support of the resolution. "My first reaction (on reading the
council's letter) was, 'The heck with it -- they're suing us,'" Studaven said. "The first thing I said was, (they've) got a heck of a lot of nerve."

"Then I said, 'That's class. ... Our township will do a resolution. I think it's a class act." The resolution then passed on a voice vote, with only Buzzell audibly voting "no."

?2006 Muskegon Chronicle

National Scouts order review of Owasippe
Mood:  happy
Topic: Sale of Scout Camps
July 3, 2006
by Debra Carte
The White Lake Beacon

"Save Owasippe" supporters are wondering if a sale of the 4,800-acre Owasippe Scout Reservation in Blue Lake Township can be stopped now that the Boy Scouts of America National Council has stepped in to restructure the contentious executive committee of the Chicago Area Council of the Boy Scouts and has asked a new committee to review the
pending sale of Owasippe.

The Boy Scouts of America National Council has decided it’s had enough of the infighting between its Scouters in the Chicago Area Council and has stepped in to install a new executive committee
there - one that has now been charged with reviewing the pending sale of Owasippe.

What a review of the sale means is still unclear. But the possibility that the new executive committee could kill the deal made by its
predecessors to sell Camp Owasippe’s 4,748 acres for $19.4 million to a Holland banker is a huge ray of hope for Scouters and “Save Owasippe” supporters.

While anything is possible, the Chicago Council’s attorney, Devin Schindler, said Friday, “it’s unlikely” the new committee will take steps to prevent the sale of Owasippe. “National (Boy Scout Council) understands we have a binding contract, but that doesn’t mean 100% of Owasippe needs to be developed. There are a lot of options,” he said.

While Schindler wouldn’t divulge details of the contract the Chicago Council has with Benjamin A. Smith III, founder of the Macatawa Bank Corp, the contract is contingent on the rezoning of Owasippe for residential development.

The Chicago’s Council is 0-3 in its effort to gain approval for its rezoning application that would divide Owasippe’s pristine oak-savanna forest into quarter-acre to 10-acre lots. The camp is the oldest operating Boy Scout camp in the country and is home to a variety of endangered and threatened species of wildlife, including the Bald Eagle, Karner Blue Butterfly, Eastern Box Turtle and
Massasauga Rattlesnake.

Blue Lake Township planners, the Muskegon County Metropolitan Planning Commission and the Blue Lake Township board have all denied the Chicago council’s rezoning application. They contend that a large development would endanger wildlife and over-burden its already fragile infrastructure.

The Chicago Council sued Blue Lake Township in May before the township board’s vote on the rezoning took place. The council is alleging that the township’s zoning of the property to a designation
restricting its use to camp activities only constitutes an illegal taking of the property.

Last Monday, 14th Circuit Court Judge William Marietti set the dates for mediation and trial. Three mediators, appointed by the court, will review the case on Feb. 9 of next year and will forward a recommendation to Marietti. A bench trial is set for March 20-23 and 27-30 of 2007, beginning at 9 a.m. Judge Marietti’s courtroom is on the 4th floor of the Michael E. Kobza Hall of Justice in Muskegon.

In another courtroom in Chicago on Friday, lawsuits that pitted Scouters against the Chicago Council for violations of council bylaws and the Illinois Not-for-Profit Corporation Act were to be dropped in exchange for a settlement arrangement initiated by the Boy Scouts National Council. National gave the Chicago Council two options: either accept the plan of reorganization or lose its charter and all
of its assets, including Camp Owasippe.

Chicago decided the second option wasn’t an option. The council’s executive committee was dissolved and a new interim one was set in place to handle the council’s affairs until its next annual meeting in January. In the fallout, six Scouters have gone into “sabbatical,” according to Jim Stone, chief executive officer of the Chicago Area Council.

Those six include the executive committee’s controversial president, Lewis Greenblatt, whom a Chicago judge ruled had violated the council’s bylaws and Illinois law as alleged by the Scouter 11.

Robert Bork, spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America National Council, said the six Scouters were “lightning rods” who were asked to step down. In addition to Greenblatt, two others from the former executive council were asked to resign - Dennis Chookazian and Brian Kasal. Three from the Scouter 11 didn’t escape National’s ax, either. They include Joe Sener, Larry Strickling and Rita Egan. According to Bork, any of the six could be renominated to the committee in the future.

Bork said National’s purpose in intervening in the Chicago Council was to “turn the mess around,” and not to interfere in its business decisions and the review of the pending sale of Owasippe.

Don Studaven, Blue Lake Township supervisor, isn’t anticipating the Chicago Council will drop any lawsuits his township is involved in anytime soon. “They haven’t put the sale on hold and they haven’t stopped their attorneys,” he said. “As far as Blue Lake Township is concerned, we’re being sued and we’re proceeding in the same manner.”

But Jim Schlichting, assistant development director for the Owasippe Outdoor Education Center (OOEC), believes a review of the sale of Owasippe by the new committee is a ray of hope his organization can
bask in [www.ooec.org].

“A whole lot of things have come together,” he said. “A zoning decision by the township board is something that has come up at the same time as the executive board is being changed. We wonder, at this time, if the executive board has addressed whether to go ahead or stop (the sale). There’s a real possibility it could go either way.”

OOEC wants to put its own offer on the new committee’s table. Its plan is to keep Owasippe as a camp that would include a year-around learning and conference center. There would be no need for a zoning change for that. “One of our goals is to be invited to sit down at a table and present our plan. It’s a way to put a lot of the past past
us,” Schlichting said.

Copyright ? 2006 White Lake Beacon

Rick Cronk, New BSA President Takes Position
Mood:  loud
Educate And Inform Our BSA Leadership!

The inside back page of the Life section of a recent USA Today has an interview with Rick Cronk, the new president of the BSA. Right now at
least, the article is also available online at
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-23-cronk-interview_x.htm

Let Mr Cronk know how strongly you feel about Owasippe's preservation and how important it is for this grandaddy of all camps to continue in service to our youth intact and unaltered. Get him up to speed about CAC's governance problems and unfair dealings with its volunteers at...

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream
Atn: Retired President Rick Cronk
5929 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618