Girl Scouts praise decision

Staff report

Trefoil Integrity, a coalition of Girl Scouts opposed to the closing of camps, called the decision by the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio (GSNEO) not to sell Camp Sugarbush in Trumbull County an important step in the right direction.

However the pro-camp group demanded Monday that no camps be sold now because GSNEO has not completed a comprehensive, accurate and transparent review of data on the camps.

Trefoil spokeswomen Lynn Scholle Richardson and Corey Ann Ringle said in a joint statement that GSNEO’s reversal of its decision to sell Camp Sugarbush is further evidence of its failure to think through its plan to build “Leadership Camps.”

Though Richardson and Ringle said they applaud the decision to keep Camp Sugarbush open, they noted that according to the Oct. 20 news release on the matter issued by GSNEO said that “Camp Sugarbush is the recommended camp to retain because it is geographically located in an area that has experienced significant growth and also has potential for new members.”

But Richardson and Ringle said that according to U.S. Census information, Trumbull County, in which Camp Sugarbush is located, is ranked 16 out of 18 counties in the GSNEO’s 18-county region; and in 2010 was seventh in population of the 18 counties in the GSNEO council.

The county that grew the most from 2000 to 2010 was Medina County, close in proximity to Camps Ledgewood and Crowell/Hilaka in Summit County; and that Cuyahoga County had the least growth, but it has the largest population of any of the 18 counties by more than half, while Summit County was second in population.

Richardson and Ringle urged elected delegates to attend a special delegate meeting scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday at which a vote will be taken on several resolutions, including one calling for the immediate halt to the sale of local Girl Scout camp properties until the plan by GSNEO can be more fully evaluated. Another resolution would require that camps cannot be sold unless two-thirds of the council’s general assembly approves.

They said Camp Friends is a nonprofit charitable organization supporting the Girl Scout camp in the south regions of GSNEO, Great Trail Camp in Malvern issued a statement urging delegates to vote in favor of the two-thirds amendment. Without its passage, no GSNEO property is safe; there is no way to prevent the board from selling any of the properties at a whim including Ledgewood, Timberlane and Sugarbush.

Richardson and Ringle said those who support saving all camps until a re-evaluation with accurate data is conducted will gather at a camp-in Friday at the GSNEO offices in Macedonia, weather permitting. Also, they said, all are invited to a candle-lighting ceremony at 7 a.m. Saturday to ask for a blessing on the meeting.