After several dark summers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Camp Wakpominee is in its second summer running a new week-long scout camp. The camp’s success could be a model for other scout councils looking to revitalize their summer programming.
Camp Wakpominee is alive and well, the waterfront is bustling and campers rush around to play gaga ball. Just three years ago, it wasn’t clear the camp’s future could get this bright.
While the campground’s 1,000 acres have been around for a century, the pandemic forced the Twin Rivers Council to cancel resident camp, where scouts stay for a week with their troops to sail, swim, craft and shoot.
Now, Wakpominee is back in action and it’s Ben Viscosi’s first year.
“I like the food better here than at Rotery. I have been learning to save people from the water and I’ve been learning a lot about trees,” said Viscosi. “I’ve learned how to pitch a tent. Be more responsible, learn to be a leader.”
He’s among 308 campers, volunteers, and staff spending a week at camp. But right now, he’s focused on skeet shooting.
“It’s a very great community, here. Everyone is really nice. I don’t know what else to say,” said Viscosi.
16-year-old Clayton Stanton has been a scout since he was in the third grade. Today, he’s learning how to operate a ham radio.
“I have a passion for radios. My dad owns a bunch of CB radio stuff so I’m like, ‘why not learn about radios and all that stuff. I can help him do it and then help him set it all back up because he took it down for a while,” said Stanton.
Today’s radio lesson is one of many activities run by volunteers – Twin Rivers Council President J.P. Garvey says Wakpominee’s success is due in no small part to the generosity of its volunteers.
“It couldn’t have happened without the framework that the adult volunteers have put into place," Garvey said. "Some of our volunteers, they're 60, 70, bordering on 80 years old, and they're in our kitchen, you know, in the dining hall, they're out at handicrafts. They're teaching ATV to kids, and they're really putting in the time and effort to help create that space so that the next generation can get engaged with the community."
He adds the camp is at capacity – to say he and other council leaders feel vindicated would be a dramatic understatement.
“The most special part about this summer was proving that it wasn't a one-off, quite frankly," Garvey said. "This model hasn't been tried before. We're on the cutting edge here, and we didn't know if it could be put together a second time. So, to have it be put together a second time again with this incredible team of volunteers, where we not only met but exceeded last year's goals and created a little bit more space at the camp for some other scouts to join us, was an incredible feeling."
Camp Director Bob Clark has seen the camp through thick and thin. Today, he’s filling in at the trading post.
“I mean, during the heyday this camp used to recruit heavily from out of state. We get units here from Florida, from the Midwest, and from New Jersey and Philadelphia, and we kind of lost that, so maybe we can get that back,” said Clark.
On top of the pressure for a return to form, rumors had spread that the camp had been sold.
But now, following national trends within Scouting America, Camp Wakpominee is co-ed. Garvey adds that move came with its own challenges but was well worth it.
“We're so glad we made the investments, and to see young girls learning how to shoot a bow, learning how to, and some of this case, some of our scouts are learning how to swim for the very first time ... there's some incredible experiences that we offer here at summer camp that are different from some other summer camp programs, and we're excited that the kids that are interested in those get to come out and experience them,” said Garvey.
Many of the campers at Wakpominee came of age during the pandemic have no notion of what the camp was like prior to COVID.
Garvey says there’s a parallel to be drawn to Wakpominee’s revival.
“Digital life is an integral part of our society these days. During COVID, we kind of lost the counterweight to that, though, the great outdoors, which is what we're here exploring, experiencing today, and we think they're both important. And our job is to give that experience in the outdoors that people aren't getting on the day to day. Right? Not every day can folks from Albany, or Schaghticoke, or even here in Fort Ann. A lot of people, families, even here in rural communities might not camp at all over their summer. So, we’ve created an experience here that kids might not have if it weren’t for Camp Wakpominee, if it weren’t for the scouts,” said Garvey.
