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Girl Scouts historian hails decision on camp
MACEDONIA
It is wonderful news, said Trudee Davis, of the reversal of the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio’s decision to close Camp Sugarbush in Trumbull County.
“I can’t wait to see the faces of all those little girls. They were afraid they weren’t going to have a local camp,” said Davis, of Austintown.
Davis, historian of the Eastern Region of the GSNEO, said she had planned to go to the Oct. 29 meeting of the GSNEO Board of Directors, where the issue of closing camps was to have been discussed.
However, at a meeting Monday, the board voted to retain Camp Sugarbush after several meetings with the master planners, Brandstetter Carroll Inc., during their sites analyses, according to a statement issued Thursday.
In April, the board voted to close five of its seven camps, including Sugarbush.
The decision to remove Camp Sugarbush from the to-be-closed list came because the board “decided to give the master planners and property management experts the flexibility to consider and incorporate the visions, wishes and recommendations of our membership,” said Dan A. Bragg, GSNEO board chairman.
However, at its Monday meeting, the board voted to move forward with plans to sell other camp properties. Requests for proposals for Camps Great Trail, Crowell/Hilaka, Pleasant Valley, and Lejnar will be released by Dec. 1, officials said.
In explaining their decision to keep Camp Sugarbush open, officials said GSNEO requires more buildable space than Camps Ledgewood and Timberlane have to accommodate the ideas expressed at Town Hall meetings in August.
“While the two properties [Ledgewood and Timberlane] have significant acreage and usable space for programming, GSNEO wants to ensure that their unique features are protected while we expand camping experiences for our girls,” officials said.
Camp Sugarbush also is located in an area that has potential for new members, said Richard T. Parker, Brandstetter Carroll architect and project manager for GSNEO’s master plan.