Fall 1994

Letter from the President's Desk

There is no Letter from the President this issue. Tom has requested that we reprint the letter of resignation from Camp Director Ken Palladino to the Scoutmasters of the Old Colony Council.

"It is with great regret and saddened heart that I am reporting to you that I will not be serving as your Camp Director at Camp Squanto for the 1995 Summer Season.

As you may recall, I promised all of you that I would write to you to explain my decision as to whether I would be returning as your Director. All that has transpired these past months have weighed heavily on my even contemplating returning to what was once the finest camping operation in the East.

As you know the Supervisor of Camps was forced to resign after 30 years of service because of the direction being forced upon the Camping Operations. I was almost dismissed myself several times because I was bold enough to take a stand against staff reductions. It seems that the Executive has been given unlimited authority to do as he sees fit. He certainly does do this and in the process leaves you and me out of the decision that directly affect us.

The Plan which was recently voted by the Board is nothing more than a rehash of the plan of 1991 designed to eliminate the previous Executive and President. This present plan calls for the destruction of the only significant money making operations in the Council. Simply stated the Camps over all these years have been forced to subsidize the Central Office with their better than average salaries rather than being funded by the Central Office as Nationally mandated.

This past summer was one of pure frustration for me. It saw the destruction of the Greatest Food service ever available to any Scout camp. The High Elements were ordered removed in anticipation of staff reductions. The new Staff Village was closed by the Executive (NOT THE BOARD OF HEALTH) because he insisted on not spending a penny on the Leader/Staff latrine(The Ed Swirbalus Memorial). Money for this facility as well as new Winter Cabins at Child and Squanto and improvements for the Training Facility at Child were supposed to come from the modular gift monies which were explained by Joe Piche as last summer. The Council decided that these projects were secondary and not one penny of the $180,000 gift to the Camps was ever spent on the Camps.

To compound matters, Camp Squanto just suffered one of its greatest losses in its history. Our Ranger and good friend, Brian Bishop, resigned and is no longer at Camp. You only have to see what happened this past summer to realize why he could not continue to accept what was and what was not happening.

The horrific manner in which the staff was treated before Camp opened, coupled with the fact that our Camp Ranger is no longer, Mr. Briggs our Camp Director of 22 years is no longer, our dear friend Woody is no longer, our Supervisor of Camps is no longer, and the list goes on, can only lead me to believe that my tenure as your Camp Director could only be one of constant battle with the Council Executive and his chosen few. My purpose is to conduct the best Scout Camp possible and not simply have you and your Scouts or my Staff be considered nothing more than a huge milk bag on the Camp cow to be milked anytime the Council needs money. This is totally unacceptable to me.

I would never ask you not to attend our beloved Camp. I do ask you, however, to demand and insist that we return to the high caliber operation to which we are accustomed. Also demand that all the negativism generated by the lies and deceit be reversed. Demand Communication. Demand that Brian be returned as Ranger. Demand that the Staffing pattern which is necessary and to which you are accustomed be held and maintained. Demand that those responsible for the huge cuts in food be kept back at the Council Office. Demand that the Camp that has taken so many years to achieve greatness with all its new records be restored to its greatness.

I deeply regret that I will not be your Camp Director in 1995. I wanted this in the worst way for all our Scouts and Staff and the Council.

I will be more than happy to discuss anything with any of you at any time. You can well imagine that this letter will generate a response from Council Officials but the truth is easy to defend.

My prayers and best wishes are for all of you to continue with the wonderful work you do for our young men and women.

The 1994 Staff of Camp Squanto thank you very much for the support you have given them. Let's hope that something can be done to restore the confidence and Programs and growth to our beloved Camp Squanto in the future, Right now, our Scouts and Programs are at serious risk and I ask you to try to understand the reasons for my not returning.

Thank you.
Ken "

Ed Christopher's Awards

Each year there is an essay writing contest at Camp Squanto. The essay must describe your views on what makes a good leader and what the "Spirit of Squanto" means to you. This years winning essay was created by Jen Burton. Congratulations Jen!

In order to be a good leader, you do not have to be boisterous, overpowering or overbearing. You must be willing to listen and have the sound mind to give advise. the best solution to the problem. You must be an overall person - your personality should be unique to yourself. You cannot be a good leader if you continually follow others.

The "Spirit of Squanto" is a feeling that is uniques to each and every one of us. It lives in our hearts and souls in every word we speak, every thought we have and every sight we see here at Camp Squanto. For myself, the "Spirit of Squanto" became involved when I was 7 years old. I remember walking up the path between the two deers thinking I just received my official welcome to Camp. I have so many special feelings because of this camp that have and will be in my heart for many years. Today I reflect on the "Spirit of Squanto" as many feelings that have helped shape myself and many people into what we are today. When there are troubles in my life and I need something to turn to for comfort I can always reminisce about my times here at Camp Squanto.

The "Spirit of Squanto" is a feeling everyone that steps into camp feels, from the time they enter until the time they leave. But, it does not end there, each and every person that carries the spirit inside of them uses it in everything that they do no matter in or out of camp.

The "Spirit of Squanto" is passed onto each person by another. For the staff and the many people that have dedicated themselves to Squanto, they are the ones that pass the spirit on to others in their own unique way.

"Take only your memories, leave only your spirit" so that the "Spirit of Squanto" will always live on.

Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the CSAA was held on August 6th at Camp Squanto. the meeting was called to Order at 2:16 PM. The Secretary's and Treasurer's Reports were read and accepted. There were several reports from committees and they are each recounted below.

Curator Paul Chapin reported that the Casoni museum is still growing and he has been keeping up with the delivery of items.

Kevin Guarino, Post Advisor, reported that the Post has taken on several projects for the Camp. Among them were the Scoutmaster's Dinner, refurbishing camp signs and various group activities. Kevin presented the CSAA with the Post's Charter.
Bill Gilbert and Tom Walsh received the Silver Deer for their continued support and work for Camp Squanto

Camp Director Ken Palladino reports that to date there have been over 1350 campers attending Camp Squanto this year. He thanked the Staff for all their support and help.

Tom O'Brien announced that there are 3 main goals directing the CSAA:

· Long term planning for the future of Camp Squanto
· Raise funds for projects at camp
· Provide an information vehicle for Alumni about Camp and each other

Tom explained the introduction of the Plan to cut council costs and his involvement at the May 19th meeting. Presently we have 3 objectives

1. Keep Ken Palladino as Camp Director
2. No reduction of Staff or operating budget
3. Keep both Brian Bishop and Joe Piche at Camp

Door Prizes were awarded at the close of the meeting. Those remaining partook of snacks and the Annual Auction.

The next Annual Meeting will be on August 5th 1995, see you there!

Election Results

There were three candidates for the open Trustee position in the CSAA.

Bill Bassett
Dana Billings
Fred Wickles

Each candidate was afforded the opportunity to speak about their qualifications and desire to help Camp Squanto. By a vote of the voting members of the CSAA, Bill Bassett was elected to the five year Trustee position.

Congratulations Bill, we know you will make significant contributions to the Camp Squanto Alumni Association!

T-Shirts

This year marked the first year that CSAA T-shirts were available for sale.

We ordered 100 of these T-shirts and have completly sold out. Thanks to those of you who purchased one, we'll surely do this again next year.

Each year there are several awards presented to individuals who show Scout and Squanto spirit. These awards are voted upon by the entire staff and as a Peer to Peer award, it demonstrates who goes the extra mile for others. These awards are funded by the Edward Christophers Fund and disbursed by the CSAA. This years winners are:

Staff Leadership and Squanto Spirit Award

Chris Emord

Leading Scout Award

Dan White

Leadership Essay

Jen Burke

Congratulations for a job well done to these exceptional people.

Museum Closed

Citing "reasons of security" the Old Colony Council has ordered the Casoni Museum closed and its contents removed. Curator Paul Chapin has found temporary storage for the more than 3000 items formerly housed in the museum, but this is only temporary!

It grieves us to think that the donations and history of Scouting now sits in boxes. There was no discussion about security measures despite the fact that new doors and a security system had been installed. We felt that our Council would be pleased to display so much memorabilia about Scouting.

If you know of any locations which might serve as a museum of Scouting history, please contact the Paul Chapin or the Trustees of the CSAA. It truly is a shame to have all this history locked away from the Scouts who so enjoyed it.

Annual Auction

We had a fantastic showing at this years Auction. There were many items donated from our generous members to help raise capital for the CSAA. Once again Mike Warner and Paul Chapin sold anything that wasn't nailed down as well as some things that were.

Thanks to those of you who attended we raised enough money to continue to fund things like this newsletter. Especially with the happenings at camp recently this communication is extremely important. Thanks to all and hope to see you there again next year.

Post News

The members and officers of Post 25 have been keeping very busy. It remains the largest Active Post in the Council and is always looking to grow.

The Post is very active and has several overnighters planned for the coming months. They really contributed this year to making the camp more beautiful and ready for the scouts by holding several "work days" at camp. This year the members donated their time repairing, painting and remaking the direction signs around camp.

Happenings at Camp

The Trustees of the Camp Squanto Alumni Association are distressed at the resignation of Ken Palladino. We believe that Ken did an outstanding job of running the camp this past summer and that his resignation will have a devastating effect on camping activities next summer.

We are even more distressed at the apparent lack of concern from the Council Office over several issues. The closing of the Casoni Museum; the resignations of the Director, Supervisor of Camps, Ranger and others; the registration of only 11 troops for next years season at this time all indicate a disastrous turn of events.

We will continue to keep you informed of happenings at Camp over the winter. We will continue to strive to keep Camp Squanto the quality camp we are all so used to.

Social Calendar

Still bringing you more hellos from our friends at Squanto, here are some more folks who have been spotted at Camp recently.

Tom McDonough and his father joined us once again. Tom went looking for Handicraft but found it had moved across the street.
Brendan Conolly finished another splendid year as Program Director and made it to the Annual Meeting to help Kevin Guarino spend some of his money.
Todd Edwards arrived in time to outbid all others for an original Squanto Squaker Neckerchief. Todd is working in the computer field, no surprise there!
Ken Doyon flew in to the Annual Meeting. He's doing great and sends his hellos to all.
Bill Gilbert brought the family down to Camp at the meeting. He joined in the fun at the Auction. How much did you bid?
Skiddy Casoni once again appeared with a carload of handcrafted items for the Auction.
Dave Casoni was there with a "Taste of the Sea". He brought two lots of lobsters in for auctioning.
Al "Woody" Woodman was there kissing all the women and keeping the rest of us in line!

This is not a complete list and there will be more next time. It really was a pleasure to see and talk with these folks. Hope to see you there next time!

Silver Deer Award

The Silver Deer has been a long standing tradition at Camp Squanto. This award, delivered on behalf of the camp, recognizes the dedication and achievement of those who work to better the camp and its attendees.

Each year some are chosen to receive this medal which requires the individual exhibit the following qualities:

· Set the Example for scouts and scouters to follow. One who lives the Scout Oath and Law.
· Exemplary service to the betterment of Camp Squanto.
· Leadership and demonstrating the skills of leadership to others.

This year we have three recipients.

Bill Gilbert
Kevin Pelton
Tom Walsh

Each of these people have given of themselves over the years in each of the above described ways and more. Please join us in congratulating them on receiving an award they most richly deserve.

Membership

We had an incredible response over the summer of people wanting to be a part of the CSAA. Although we thank all of you for responding, our membership committee is rather, ahh, swamped (and that's putting it mildly!).

Please keep those responses coming and we will be posting names next time of those we can't find.e welcome original submissions for articles. Articles should pertain to Camp Squanto or the Camp Squanto Alumni Association in general. Articles should be typed.

If you have questions or would like more information about the newsletter, please call Mike Warner, Newsletter Editor.

Contributions

The Association has more need than ever to raise capital. With the drastic changes at camp we hope to be able to assist in many ways to return the quality program to Squanto. Any amount you can spare will be appreciated and put to good use, as well as being tax deductible.

Maintained by John Mileris.
Copyright © Camp Squanto Alumni Association. All rights reserved.