2 October 2008
Trading in Your Dad’s Old Camp
Posted by admin under: Uncategorized; camps .
I was excited the other day when I heard that the BSA was going to create a new urban camp in Minnesota because it seemed to flow in the reverse direction of all the camp closures I’d been hearing about. Now we learn from Tammy Sakry at the Coon Rapids Herald that it was a little bit smoke and mirrors.
A 61-year-old tradition could be ending in Anoka County.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Northern Star Council (NSC) recently announced its intention of selling the 160-acre Rum River Scout Camp in Ramsey in three to five years.
The Scout camp is the only one in the metropolitan area north of the Twin Cities.
…
“We are (getting) ready for the future needs,” said Andrews.
Rum River has the lowest attendance of all the seven camps in the NSC, which is an area from western Wisconsin to the eastern border of South Dakota and from Columbia Heights north to Braham, said Andrews.
According to attendance reports, Rum River camp only had 5,943 campers in 2007.
Proceeds from the sale would be used to make improvements at other Scout camps in the state as well as help fund NSC plans to open the Northern Star Base Camp at Fort Snelling in 2010 to draw in urban boys.
So, basically they’re trading in an old camp to make a new one. Well, at least it’s a trade-in and not a complete loss, but I’m not sure the alumni of Rum River are going to think so.
Update: There was a meeting about the sale. It doesn’t sound like any minds were changed, but at least people got to have their say.
Top Boy Scout leaders had their hands full Tuesday night as more than 100 Scouts and their leaders packed a knotty pine lodge and crammed its doorways at Rum River Scout Camp in Ramsey. They asked why top leaders planned to sell the beloved camp where they and their children have enjoyed tenting, canoeing, and the BB gun and archery range.
…
Andrews told the boisterous crowd that the $24 million capital campaign underway is the largest in the country but wouldn’t raise the $32 million needed for the council’s long-range plan. The plan includes creating a $5 million urban base camp in an old plane hangar by the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Several Scout leaders said their Scouts and Cub Scouts wanted to be outdoors, not in an airport hangar. Asked one leader: “You are going to sell this camp to move us into a building?”
Jim Adams • Star Tribune • 612-673-7658
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One Comment so far...
Boy Scouts Rum River Camp Not For Sale | BoyandGirlScouts.com - News, Opinion, Advice Says:
30 April 2009 at 7:35 pm.
[...] selling Rum River Camp in an effort to pay for the urban base camp they were planning to build and to renovate their other camps. The council seems to be backing away from that decision after they received the money they needed [...]
