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.
Copyright © Camp Squanto Alumni Association. All rights
reserved.