In the meantime, I wanted to share the proposal that Lynn (president of FOCH) sent on our behalf to council yesterday. This gives a rough outline of the plan that we have for saving Camp Crowell-Hilaka, from short term solutions to our long term plans.
We know that they have recieved it, but no feedback as of yet.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that the board will allow us to continue working on this problem!!
To the Board of Directors, Girl Scouts of North East Ohio
After having carefully considered the presentation on Crowell Hilaka July 20th, the members of the Friends of Crowell Hilaka ( FoCH ) have committed to several initiatives that we believe will dramatically boost camp usage.
Our proposal: Give us 18 months. Keep the camp open that long, and we can put programming in place that supports the GSUSA mission of girl leadership , bring the camp usage up, and, as word spreads, may well increase overall membership . These are outline below.
The most immediate questions we have for you are these:
Can an open House for Crowell Hilaka be held either the last weekend of September or the first weekend of October?
We can tie it in with the various events going on in the village of Richfield which is celebrating its bicentennial this year. IF we stress the GSUSA program "Girls Go Tech" and tie it in with the heritage of inventor James Kirby ( see attached FAQs) we have a program that will raise regional interest on several levels. We would especially like to involve the Inventor's Museum & Hall of Fame in Akron.
With a target date to "show off" the camp, all the girls who have been clamoring to go out and help save the camp will have the opportunity to clean, paint, trim trails, etc. Teams of older girls can function as tour guides, hike leaders, and historical interpreters.
FoCH would like to request permission to hold its Kick-off meeting at camp on that same weekend. We would of course pay rental on whatever site we use.
Re: the proposed council fund for FoCH - who would have access to the money and/ or records ? Would designated FoCH members be able to view the account at will? Would we be notified of deposits ? Would the council send an acknowledgement letter to the donor or would we?
The Hard Hatted Women group continues to express interest in making repairs/ showing our members how to do the repairs. However, they need to have the membership issue addressed; and they need to know that the work they do will benefit Girl Scouts for a long while to come.
Proposed FoCH initiatives;
Marketing - we are very pleased that the GSNEO website now features the camps. We have noted a major increase in the helpfulness of the registration staff when calling to check on site availability. a 100% improvement!
- we are compiling a PDF on Camp Tips available to leaders free on the FoCH website. This initiative is being led by Gold Awardee & doctoral student Rachel Oppenheimer and certified archivalist Niki Krause.
- developing a resource bank of experienced adult campers that can help troops plan their campout and then accompany them on the weekend. This is already started - we expect to expand.
- FoCH members are prepared to visit SU meetings to promote camping.
- just from within our own group we can generate enough funding to pay for some advertising for the proposed tech /historical open house. We would not have to dip into GSNEOs budget for that. A small committee has formed to research venues & costs.
Program - available immediately : letterbox/geocache hybrid based on the extremely successful "Treasure Hunt" feature of the first two Cadette/Senior Summits which were held at CrowellHilaka. With permission of the council, FoCH can easily underwrite the costs of a permanent, professionally done display which explains the GPS and compass navigational systems. As increased funding becomes available we could even provide GPS devices to be borrowed while at camp.
- as mentioned above, the proposed Open House event. Granted there is only a short time to pull off a large event. I myself organized the first Cadette/Senior Summit - a more complex program - in only slightly more time. The key is getting capable volunteer help. One of the main benefits to the event would be to give the girls some way of helping at camp. As word is spreading, troop leaders are joining FoCH - not just volunteering, but begging and demanding to be allowed to help save the camp. Energy is very high.
- there are more ideas in the pipeline - backed up by experienced leaders - but these are the most immediate or time-sensitive.
Repairs & Expenses-
-The first consideration is safety. The list provided did not prioritize, but it did look to us as though the lower dam and the water treatment would need to be tackled first. We believe the projected costs of the listed repairs to be very low. Based on a comparable plans at BSA camps, an overhaul of the water treatment system may be closer to $ 1,000,000 than to $ 10,000. Given the go-ahead, we would be pleased to begin soliciting donations, but naturally, donors would want some assurance that the property would stay in possession of Girl Scouts.
-Unless there are restrictions in the original funding of the Beaumont Pool complex, the feeling among our group is that we can live without the pool indefinitely.
- we understand from the ODNR report that the dam classification is likely to be downgraded to Class II. Even so, it may be necessary to work with ODNR to effect an emergency, temporary lake drainage; if it was deemed that the first priority would be water treatment.
Long Term - 3 & 5 year plans: There are many wide ranging ideas within FoCH. Some themes:
Allow each camp to focus/promote its unique aspects instead of every camp providing every experience
Developing ways to bring inner city and / or low income girls out to Crowell Hilaka
Develop short, i.e. afternoon length, programs at camp at favorable costs
Investigating "Green" architecture for any new construction
Bring girls more into the council decision making process
Respectfully submitted via e-mail ,
Lynn Richardson, interim president FoCH
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