Spring 1994

Letter from the Presidents Desk

Dear Friends,

I want to thank you all for your patience in waiting for this newsletter. I know that a number of you are anxious to receive this issue but, as many of you are aware, the past few months have been rather tumultuous at Camp Squanto and the efforts of the Board of Trustees of the Camp Squanto Alumni Association have been focused on protecting the camp staff and facilities and insuring the 1994 camping season began as scheduled. For now, we have been successful in our efforts and can now turn our attention toward informing our membership of our activities over the last months and about the past and present situation at Camp Squanto.

First let me report that the 1994 camping season has begun and it appears this season will live up to the standards and expectations set throughout the history of Camp Squanto. The entire staff is in place and the Camp Director, Ken Paladino, with the support of many others, has done an excellent job in preparing the facilities, staff and camp for a fantastic season.

Unfortunately, there were times this spring when I felt that the 1994 camping season would be in jeopardy. As the events have been explained to me, the problems began in April when the new Scout Executive, Marc Posner, redrafted a business plan for the OCC. The overall goal was noble, the elimination of the more than $385,000 debt incurred by the council. A review of the plan, however, reveals that most of the burden of paying this debt will be at the cost of program, staff and facilities at the camps. In fact there is one sentence of the plan which is particularly troubling for those of us who believe that Camp Squanto is a valuable asset to the Old Colony Council. It reads' "Again, the dilemma must be addressed over Old Colony Council existing for the purpose of the program of the BSA or the purpose of maintaining land." Clearly the authors of this plan believe that a reduction of the camp facilities, staff and budget is the best way to reduce the Councils continuing debt. Regrettably, the authors forgot that Camp Squanto has always been a source of positive revenue for the Council and indeed one of its main attractions.

The question remains; What will happen to Camp Squanto? We believe there are better ways to reduce the Council's debt than to deplete the resources at Camp Squanto. It needs to be preserved as one of the Council's most valuable assets and is in the long-term best interests of the Council to support its facilities, staff and program.

Please read the various announcements and articles in this edition of the Newsletter so that you can be up to speed on the activities and events of the New Plan of the Old Colony Council and the Camp Squanto Alumni Association. We need your help more than ever so first, please come to the Annual Meeting this August and second, continue your financial support of the CSAA. I look forward to seeing most of you at camp throughout the summer and at the annual meeting in August. Have a great summer and camping season.

Very truly yours,

Thomas J. O'Brien
President

Position Available

This is the second and final notice of the open seat on the Board of Trustees. In accordance with the Camp Squanto Alumni Association's By-laws, this year marks the first election of a new Trustee to the Board of Trustees.

Any member of the CSAA is eligible to be nominated for this position as this is an open seat on the Board.

If you are interested in applying or nominating someone for this important position please send your inquiries to:

Camp Squanto Alumni Association
P.O.Box 573
Marshfield Hills, MA. 02051

Election of this position will be by the voting members of the CSAA on August 6th, 1994 at the Annual Meeting.

Excerpts from a Letter

The following are excerpts from the letter sent to the Executive Board of the Council in reference to the implementation of the new Plan. We received much critisism and praise for this letter and felt that you should have a look for yourselves. For more information please see New Plan pg 3.

Over the past few weeks, a series of events transpired which I believe seriously harm Old Colony Council and, in particular, the two scout camps operated under the auspices of the Council. It has not been my policy, or the policy of the Board of Trustees, to get involved with the business of the Executive Board, however, recent events have prompted me to write to you and the other board members to inform you of a very alarming situation and ask for your support at the Board Meeting.

As some of you already know, our new Scout Executive, Marc Posner, has been given a mandate to immediately reduce the debt incurred by this council. It is my belief that the objective is best accomplished through a group effort and should include the opinions and comments of the entire Executive Board.

It is my understanding that on or about April 19th, 1994, the Scout Executive re-drafted a business plan for the Old Colony Council. The Scout Executive brought the draft plan to the attention of approximately five or six people on the Executive Committee.

I would ask that you vote to immediately table the plan until the end of the summer camping season. This will give everyone an opportunity to examine and improve the plan and will prevent disruption at both camps during the upcoming season.

Annual Meeting

As you saw above the next Annual Meeting of the Camp Squanto Alumni Association will be August 6th at Camp. This years' meeting has a number of differences from previous years. Chief among these changes is the election of a Trustee.

However the most important part of the meeting is getting together. We need your input and help, the Association has come a long way thanks to you. We want your ideas as to how to make the CSAA an even more special and inviting group.

Auction Coming Soon

We are still looking for items and assistants with the running of the Annual Auction. We are presently searching for Scouting Collectibles for this years' Auction in August. At this time we have secured some fine collections of Squanto patches, a hand painted figure of Lord Baden Powell, a large collection of sports cards and more.

The fine donations last year went beyond what any of us expected and we are hoping that others out there will help repeat that performance.

Please look around the house for items that you feel you can part with and help us to help Camp Squanto through the sale of those items.

Plans on Hold

We were planning to have ready for this summer several items such as a CSAA patch and the annual donation of the camp maps.

Due to the radical changes in the personnel, program and facilities that are now occurring in Camp Squanto since the implementation of a new plan we regret that these will not be possible this summer. The unstable nature of the Camp and Council have forced us to reassess capitol expenditures for the present time.

We earnestly hope to continue with these activities and programs when the Council is more stable. There will be more information about our plans for the future presented at the Annual Meeting.

Please come to the Annual Meeting and greet the newest member of tthe Board of Trustees. See you there.

T-Shirts for Sale

This year marks the first year that CSAA T-Shirts will be available for sale. They are green shirts with the CSAA logo on the front in white.

We ordered 100 of these T-Shirts and the cost is only $10 per shirt. We have already sold quite a few at the Camp's Trading Post so make sure you have one and buy it now!

Order yours now by mailing your order to the CSAA or pick one up at either Camp Squanto now or at the Annual meeting.

New Plan for Camp

Many of you are aware of the change of leadership in the OCC. The new Scout Executive, Mr. Posner, has begun an attempt to control the more than 25 year Council deficit. Unfortunately the methods he and the Executive Board are adopting call for the sale of Camp Child and the reduction of staff, program and maintenance at Camp Squanto. On May 19th the Executive Board was to meet to decide upon implementation of this "new plan" and our President, Tom O'Brien took some steps which will be related to you now.

Tom contacted Mr. Posner and expressed his discomfort with this plan which among many things, calls for the dismissal of the two Rangers at the camps. Mr. Posner explained that at this meeting the entire Board would vote upon this plan and invited Tom to attend but that he would not be allowed to speak to the Board.

The CSAA drafted a letter to be sent to the Executive Board members explaining our position to the members and asking that either the plan be vetoed or tabled until after the summer. On May 18th, however, Mr. Mangum, the President of the Council, called Tom and informed him that he was no longer "invited" to the Executive Board meeting. He also informed Tom that if he did appear at the meeting he would have to wait outside to talk to members at the meetings close.

Being rather disturbed by these actions and after reviewing the By-Laws of the OCC, Tom went to the meeting on May 19th. Upon entering the building, Mr. Mangum confronted Tom and told him to wait outside. Tom presented the By-Laws (Article 3, Section 3, Clause 6) to Mr. Mangum which states that any member of the council may attend any meeting of the council. The response was that Tom had "an outdated set of By-Laws" and that clause no longer exists. In order not to cause any trouble Tom waited until 8:30(a 2 hour wait) when members of the Executive Board became aware that he was outside and asked him to address the Board. Unfortunately the Plan was already thoroughly discussed and decided upon. Tom had been effectively blocked from exercising his rights under the Council's own By-Laws.

Several days later Mr. Mangum called Tom to explain the Tom was correct. The By-Laws were current. In other word the council had violated their own By-Laws. Tom expressed his displeasure but would not take any further action at that time.

The Social Calendar

Continuing our update from last issue here are some more folks who have been spotted at Camp in the past year.

Chris Corkery came to visit. He's stationed in california.
Bill Gilbert has been busy helping Brian around the Camp.

Once again our membership has increased!

Nicolet Ruth Bricknell
Daughter of Mr & Mrs Tom Bricknell

Post 25 News

The members and officers of Post 25 have been keeping very busy.

The Post was very helpful by preparing and serving dinner at the Scoutmaster's Dinner at Camp on March 30th. They are planning more weekend camping trips and Camp work days.

Camp Inspection

As we all know, every year the camps operated by the BSA are inspected for cleanlines, safety and program.

Each year Camp Squanto has consistantly received the highest commendation on each of these inspections.

This year we are all proud to say that, under the leadership of Camp Director Ken Paladino, the Camp and it's Staff have once again come through Aces! Camp Squanto was rated with the #1 rating of Quality Camp by the National Boy Scouts of America.

Congratulations to Ken and the Camp Squanto Staff, the best there is!

Contributions

The Association doesn't just need warm bodies, it needs cold hard cash. As we get older and more sure of ourselves, we will be running more events and opportunities to get together, but in the meantime, we are always willing to accept contributions. Any amount you can spare will be appreciated and put to good use, as well as being tax deductible.

Business Space Available

here is still advertising space available in the Alumni News. All proceeds from advertising space will go towards the printing and mailing expenses of this newsletter. Please support those who advertise in the Alumni News, remember that these are the businesses of fellow Association members.

If you are interested in advertising, please contact Mike Warner as to available space and rates.

Wanted

No big list this time! Thanks to you are list is shrinking and this is just a reminder. We are once again going through the mailing list (over 700 names) to see who we're still looking for. If you know of someone not receiving our mailing, please drop us a line with their name, address and phone number and we'll add them to our list. Better yet bring them along to the Annual Meeting in August!

Submissions

We 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.

Maintained by John Mileris.
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