Not going to Council Camp = Not Supporting Council?

[Joni4TA]

We flip-flop every other year going in-council and out of council. This seems to work for us and keeps everyone happy.

[Stosh]

Those councils who tend to complain about units not being "loyal" to the council's camp are generally running a camp program that doesn't compete with what other camps are going better. No one goes OOC unless they believe/know the OOC camp is superior in some way over their own camp. Why else would they go?

 

I have $200 to spend on camp, why shouldn't I be allowed to be THRIFTY and get the best bang out of my buck by going to what I believe is the best camp for my dollar?

 

For years I believed our local council was the best. Things changed and we went elsewhere. This past year we gave the local council a look-see and we have since decided that next year we will again go OCC.

 

Stosh

 

 

[eagle77]

Our troop has not been to our council camp in over 8 years and if the program doesn't change it will be much longer. I had a discussion with our council's SE on the last WB course that we ran. I told him that it was cheaper for me to take my scouts over 500 miles away to another camp then it was to send across the county to our camp.He said cost isn't everything (how soon professionals forget that a scout is thrifty) The added plus was the boys got awhole lot more out of this then they ever would at our camp.What was even better is they the scouts told me this.Our camp has become nothing more then a merit badge mill. It is overcrowed and offers merit badge classes all day long and night, many of the badges I feel are for the off sesson. I want my scouts to go to camp and take advantage of the special activities that are there for them. You guys can do the sit down badges at home or add it to the troop program through the PLC. Summercamp is and always should be a fun and learning expierence not a get as many badges as possible week.

[mikecummings157]

We've been going out of council for 8 years now and are thrilled with the camp we selected. Our council tries to guilt us into coming back every year or two, but there's nothing they can do to force us to go there.

 

Bottom line; we're trying to provide the best program for our boys and staying in council doesn't allow us to do that.

 

Selling popcorn and promoting FOS is enough support for us.(This message has been edited by mikecummings157)

[BulldogBlitz]

i had 6 years of summer camp (that 7th was the pinnacle for me with philmont trail crew). 5 of those years were at the council camp. my first summer camp (also at council) was rough. i remember it well. the next year our leaders said "we'll go elsewhere". we did. i wondered why. i didn't understand it. i do now, but didn't then. i had fun at both camps. we returned to council camp. things had changed (which i see was the reason). the long and short of it, as a boy, it didn't matter to me that i wasn't getting 5 merit badges. i was having fun. i was being a boy, period. then again.... i did stay as a tenderfoot from 81 until 83. advancement wasn't fun. i did kick it in gear though when a leader finally sat me down and asked me what i thought i was doing, but i am glad that i had that time to just enjoy and learn new things without the aim of "must be Eagle by 14".

 

whoops...back on topic... going out of council for summer camp doesn't mean you don't support council. telling everyone that will listen that you'd never ever consider going to the council summer camp does mean you don't support council though. i'd prefer to try to fix what is considered broken rather than going outside (on a regular basis).

[Stosh]

I have always wondered by it was important for the troops to support the council camp. Shouldn't the council camp be supporting the troops? When that doesn't happen, we go elsewhere where the troop is supported.

 

Stosh

[NeilLup]

"whoops...back on topic... going out of council for summer camp doesn't mean you don't support council. telling everyone that will listen that you'd never ever consider going to the council summer camp does mean you don't support council though."

 

Here are some things. Would you consider these not supporting the council?

 

1) You sold MYYYYYYYY camp!!! I'll never, never, never go to yours!!!

2) Working as Program Director for a camp from an adjoining council

3) In connection with 2, consistently and always taking your unit to that camp

4) In connection with 2 and 3, doing every thing you can to recruit units from your council to go out of council to that camp

5) In connection with 2,3 and 4, for a 50 boy very wealthy active Troop, "generously" contributing $500 to FOS from the Troop treasury and then refusing to allow a family FOS campaign.

 

You get the idea. In the case above, there were over 10 units recruited to go to this "competing" camp which is, by the way, an outstanding camp.

[Eagle92]

Having gone to and worked at a variety of camps. Here are a few observations.

 

1) You need a motivated, enthusiastic, and honest staff. It starts at the top with the Camp Director and

goes all the way down to the first year CITs. I've seen camp with decent food and fair facilites

outperform a cmap with brand new facilities, catered food, yet had a very poor camp director which

affected the rest of the staff.

 

2) Develope an active program outside of the MB classes. Busy hands are happy hands.

 

3)PROMOTE, PROMOTE, PROMOTE! If you've had problems in the past and actively worked on them to improve, to point that there is a major turnaround and you are now attracting OOC units, then promote the camp to your own council.

 

4) Use the OA members. Even if their units go OOC, they still do their ordeals and workday at the council camp. The members will see the improvements going on and it will get back to the youth and adult leaders..

 

 

[JakeH]

I work at my council's summer camp. I know of alot of troops that go out of council for there summer camp experience. And does it dissapoint me? Yes. But, if your council is not making any attempts to reclaim the troops that are going out-of-council, i.e.- they don't try to improve camp, don't try new things or ask you why you are going out-of-council, I can understand completly where you are coming from. If that is the case, then it is up to the camp staff along with the council staff to fix the camp and promote it, etc, etc.

[elfdream]

We have a lot of OOC troops at our camp. We have a small council and a small camp but we apparently have established a good enough reputation to bring these people in. In fact we had some reps from a neighboring council show up to see what it was that we were doing that made their troops want to come here. The thing is we don't go 'looking' for OOC troops. They just show up.

 

We also get the 'We go to an out of council camp every other year and we picked you this year" kind of traffic and we have a few troops in our council that do the same thing. They seem to balance each other out.