The-Press-News.com - Parents try to stop closing of Great Trail Girl Scout Camp

By LAURIE HUFFMAN
Special to The Press-News
NORTH CANTON — Called a “legend” by many, including Marie Hull-Green, a troop leader originally from Alliance, the Great Trail Girl Scout Camp in Malvern, founded in 1951, will close Oct. 1 — unless the 130-plus at a special meeting at the Girl Scouts’ South Region headquarters on Thursday, June 18, successfully convinced the board to reconsider its decision; a decision troop leaders said they knew nothing about until after the fact.
“It was apparent at the meeting that none of us knew anything about this until now,” said Lori Fomich, the parent of a Girl Scout whose troop uses the Great Trail Camp. “If the board had told us about this a year ago, we could have made a lot of progress already in addressing any problems at the camp.”
In an e-mail Monday, June 22, Chief Operating Officer Brittany Zaehringer said, “Based upon our user meetings last week, the Executive, Finance and Properties Committees are meeting this week to address issues at Great Trail Camp. Additionally, a list of repairs that can be done by others is being prepared to be shared with the supporters of Great Trail Camp for a meeting in July.”
Situated within a lushly-wooded setting in Carroll County, Great Trail is one of 14 camps the Girls Scouts of North East Ohio organization sent a letter to troop leaders last week announcing it will close. The organization said it also wants to sell or close Camp Lycopodia in Jackson Township.
“If this actually happens, our southern region will be the only region in Ohio without a local camp,” said Hull-Green and Fomich.
Many are rallying to try to prevent Great Trail from closing. Fomich attended a backyard meeting on Monday with about 30 people present, she reported, and the special meeting on Thursday drew people from across the county, including people from Alliance, Minerva and Malvern, as well as Jackson and Perry townships.
“I think we have a lot of support that would help us keep the camp open,” said Hull-Green. “People don’t want to see the legacy of Great Trail Camp end.
“The nearest camp to the South Region if these two are closed is Camp Ledgewood in northern Summit County. I think that will deter people who don’t want to go that far to a camp.”
Hull-Green indicated the board cited the following five reasons for closing Great Trail Camp: safety, usage, physical condition of the camp, security and recourses available to provide programming.
At the special meeting, troop leaders presented the board with a resolution stating their opposition, demanding the decision be reconsidered; urging funding through grants be sought for improvements; inviting the board members to talk with the Girl Scouts, volunteers, parents and supporters who are willing to help with fundraisinga and demanding a full disclosure of financial statements and estimates of maintenance costs at Great Trail. The resolution also requested if the Jackson Township camp is sold, the money be used to improve Great Trail Camp.
After the special meeting, Fomich reported one of the two board members present, Karen Soehnlen McQueen, board chair of the South Region, offered to go back to the board and explain that “the region would do what it could within its power to attempt to keep the camp open.”
Fomich said it appears the board will not change its decision to close Camp Lycopodia. She said McQueen also told those in attendance she could not speak for the entire board, but if they brought $500,000 in between now and Oct. 1, she was sure the board would not close the Great Trail Camp.
“The board is saying there is $750,000 worth of renovations that must be done at Great Trail,” Fomich said. “A committee is being formed now that will not only raise funds, but will also review this cost estimates to see if any of this work could be done any cheaper.”
Fomich indicated there are people also now looking into applying for grants to help with the cost of the improvements needed.
Hull-Green said improvements the board listed as priorities included a new water treatment system at the camp and a new swimming pool or repairs on the existing pool. She noted the committee will be made up of interested volunteers that plan to also get started in July with projects to improve the camp. Anyone who would like to help with camp projects is asked to call Jim Kananen at 330-864-9933 or 800-852-4474.
Hull-Green, who has 13 girls in her troop, said she took her girls on an outing at the camp recently and said they will go back there in July and September. She also reported Penny Hewett of Louisville, who has 23 troops under her as the service unit director, also utilizes the facility, along with an undetermined number of other troops.
Hull-Green recalled growing up in Alliance as a Girl Scout during her younger years, along with a large number of other girls from the Alliance, Minerva and Malvern areas.
“This is a nonprofit organization and the Girl Scouts has a mission to help girls. They can’t really provide the service the Scouts have offered for nearly 100 years now without continued help from their volunteers and supporters. The board was pleased to see the room was filled to standing room only with plenty of interested volunteers and Girl Scouts,” Hull-Green said. “They shared with the board that we need open communication, and I think they got the message. The board seemed open to seeing to it that communication going forward is improved.”
The Girl Scouts of North East Ohio organization serves 40,000 scouts in an 18-county area. The South Region serves four counties — Carroll, Columbiana, Stark and Tuscarawas. Great Trail Camp helps provide Girl Scouts with camping skills and offers participation in programs such as swimming, canoeing, archery and more.
Anyone who was not able to attend the special meeting on Thursday but would like their comments to be heard and placed on record may mail them in writing to GSNEO Board of Directors, 1 Girl Scout Way, Macedonia, Ohio, 44056, or may send them in an e-mail to governance@gsneo.org.