Fall 1995
Letter from the
President's Desk
We begin this issue with a letter sent to the council
President. We have, for the second time in 6 months offered to
purchase Camp Squanto. The following is the letter sent to the
President making him aware of our serious intent to purchase the
property and having the Council still maintain responsibility for
Scouting activities on the premises. The CSAA would merely be the
property owners. Read on!
As you will recall, at the May 1995 Executive Board meeting I
told you that the Camp Squanto Alumni Association was seriously
interested in purchasing Camp Squanto and leasing the camp back
to Old Colony Council for the conduct of their scouting
operations. At the time, you summarily dismissed the idea of
initiating negotiations and stated, :Camp Squanto is not for
sale.: Although I believe that the issue should have been brought
to the attention of the entire Executive Board, your verbal
rejection was enough to convince me that it was not possible to
pursue this proposal any further.
In light of recent developments, however, particularly the
proposed sale of a portion of Camp Child for significantly less
than its full market value, I believe it would be in the best
interest of the Board, the Council, and its membership for you or
your designees to begin negotiations with the CSAA regarding the
sale of Camp Squanto. I also believe that these negotiations
should begin as soon as possible.
Without going into great detail, it is clear that the sale of
Camp Squanto to the CSAA is far more beneficial to the scouters
of Old Colony Council than the sale of a portion of Camp Child to
a golf course developer for less than market value. Selling Camp
Squanto to the CSAA will not only raise revenue for Old Colony
Council's debt reduction and endowment plans, but would retain
usage of both camp properties in their entireties for the present
and future youth membership of the Council.
Let me remind you that the concept of selling a camp to its
Alumni Association and leasing it back to conduct scouting
operations is not unique. At least one other council operates its
camp in this fashion and it has proven to be an ideal
relationship for the council and its membership. I believe that
the sale of Camp Squanto to the CSAA would be equally
advantageous.
I know you are as anxious as I am to raise money for the
Council and preserve the integrity of our invaluable camp assets.
Therefore, I look forward to meeting with you and other members
of the Executive Board to begin negotiations regarding the sale
of Camp Squanto. Please feel free to contact me.
Very truly yours,
Thomas J. O'Brien,
President
Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting of the CSAA was held on August 6th at Camp
Child. 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.
Our Curator of the Casoni Museum forwarded his report. He
reported that the Casoni museum is still growing and he has been
keeping up with the delivery of items. We do not at this time
have a replacement home for the museum since we were asked to
leave Camp Squanto, but we are still actively searching.
By a vote of the voting members of the CSAA, Mike Warner was
re-elected to the open five year Trustee position. He ran
unopposed.
Tom O'Brien explained the happenings of the past months. He
explained the course of events leading to the current proposed
sale of a large tract of land at Camp Child and how this may
affect Camp Squanto. A general discussion followed.
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 3rd 1996, see you
there!
Council in the Red Again
Well it appears that this year is no exception to the rule.
The OCC is again running in the red. After removing two CSAA
members from the Executive committee for failing to raise their
annual donations (after only 2 months), the board continues to
keep members who after 10 months have raised almost nothing. At
the last Executive Board meeting, it was reported that at that
time, the Council has over-extended itself another $50,000.
Our question continues to be the same as yours; "When
will the Council become Fiscally responsible?" Year after
year we hear of a lack of funds, short falls etc. the bottom line
is that Council cannot follow a budget and continues to operate
in the red.
With a generous offer from the CSAA for the purchase of Camp
Squanto, while still allowing the Council to operate the camp, it
seems that their fiduciary responsibilities compel the Executive
committee to truly explore our offer.
Annual Auction
We had another great showing at this year's Auction. There
were many items donated from our generous members to help raise
capital for the CSAA. Once again Mike Warner sold anything that
wasn't nailed down as well as some things that were. Donator
extraordinaire, Skiddy Casoni showed up with a carload of hand
crafted items. Also this year Frenchy Doulette appeared and even
auctioned the shirt off his back.
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.
Membership
The Association continues to need 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.he CSAA is still growing. With over 750 members
the Association is still looking for new members who want to meet
old friends or make new ones. Our membership committee is
searching for past members of the Camp Squanto Staff, Scouts and
Scouters.
If you are aware of anyone wishing to be placed on our mailing
lists please send a card with their name, current address and
phone number and mail it to the CSAA at the address on the front
of this newsletter.
Ed Christopher's Awards
E1ach 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 |
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Senior |
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Tony Daguanno |
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Junior |
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Matt Kavanah |
Leading Scout Award |
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Bill Prince |
Leadership Essay |
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Brandon Morris |
Congratulations for a job well done to these exceptional
people. We hope to have the winning Essay in our next issues.
Volunteers
The CSAA is run entirely from the donations of its members.
These donations are not only money but time. The Trustees of the
Association have been asked to do more for the Camp and the CSAA
members in general. In turn we are looking for volunteers to help
in other areas of the CSAA's operations.
There are currently openings on several committees. Some
committee leads are available as well. If you have been offering
ideas, now is the time to help make them come through. If you
have been waiting before getting involved, our offer to purchase
Camp Squanto may well be that opportunity.
All interested parties are asked to mail their interest to the
CSAA or contact a Trustee directly.
Offer to Buy Camp Squanto
The following is from the proposal letter mailed to the
Executive Board. The CSAA has offered $1 million dollars for the
proprerty at Camp Squanto. We have a partnership which allows us
the opportunity to save Camp Squanto and the Council in one
action.
As of now, this proposal has not been accepted. We do,
however, remain open to dialog with the Council at their option
and we intend to again forward this offer in the future.
"As you know, during the meeting you held on September
7th at Camp Child, I delivered a proposal from the Camp Squanto
Alumni Association to purchase Camp Squanto and lease the camp
back to Old Colony Council for the conduct of their scouting
operations. Although you were reluctant to allow me to present
the proposal at the meeting, you agreed to put it on the agenda
for the next Executive Board Meeting, which I believe is
scheduled for this evening. You also made a point of mentioning
that there was no dollar figure in our proposal. This letter
addresses that issue in an attempt to initiate negotiations on a
proposal that benefits every scout, volunteer, and member of Old
Colony Council.
At this time, the CSAA is prepared to offer one million
dollars for the purchase of Camp Squanto. As I briefly mentioned
at the meeting on September 7th, I envision that the sale could
include a buy-back option which is particularly attractive in
light of other proposals Council has received that do not and can
not include such a provision. Obviously, the purchase price
reflects the lease and buy-back options and the details of this
proposal need to be worked out in further negotiations.
You also had a question about our plans regarding the use of
the camp property. Currently, it is our intention to begin
creating cranberry bogs on a portion of the camp property
commonly referred to as the "Ortolani Land." It is my
understanding that you have already considered this possibility
and realize that such a project would not effect any of the
scouting operations. I also anticipate that the cranberry bogs
will be created in piecemeal fashion starting at the corner of
the property farthest away from the center of the camp and that
at any time Council has established itself financially, it can
repurchase all or part of the property. It is also possible that
a percentage of the revenue from the newly created cranberry bogs
could go toward Council operations. It is these and other issues
that we need to sit down and discuss as soon as possible.
It is our intent to put together a complete and detailed
proposal which will include the appropriate maps and diagrams. It
has only been two weeks since the meeting on September 7th,
however, and such a detailed proposal will take some time to put
together. We would also like to begin soliciting your input so
that we can craft the proposal in a manner acceptable to the
Executive Board of Old Colony Council.
John and Marc, this proposal is clearly better than any
proposal Council currently has on the table, particularly because
it allows Council to preserve all of its assets while improving
Council' financial situation. I have heard from a number of
volunteers who are excited about our proposal and look forward to
an Old Colony Council that is debt free, financially secure, and
in possession of both of its scout camps. To that end, I strongly
urge you and the Members of the Executive Board to abandon all
asset sales and begin serious negotiations with the CSAA
regarding the sale of Camp Squanto. I look forward to hearing
from you in the very near future to start the negotiation process
and protect our assets for future generations of scouters.
Very truly yours,
Thomas J. O'Brien
CSAA President"
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newsletter, please call Mike Warner, Newsletter Editor.
Maintained by John Mileris.
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