By Josh Squirrell
In rural Wayne County, OH, an abandoned camp is the home for the annual Killbuck District Klondike derby and at least one of the local district’s Boy Scout camporees. In recent months, the camp’s buildings and trails have started to deteriorate, signaling a problem. Arrowmen from the Sipp-O Lodge, part of the Buckeye Council in Canton, OH, noticed these problems and are looking to change things for the better.
The Killbuck District OA leadership started to plan a series of service projects to benefit the camp. These projects include rebuilding a totem pole, clearing and rebuilding the trails that connect the campsites and building a ceremony shed. The current totem pole was a donation from a Scouter whose father had carved for the council and lodge for years. It is around 20 years old and is in rough condition as the paint is almost gone and the inside is rotted out. The lodge’s objective with the new totem pole is to cut down a dead tree in the camp and host a service day to carve, construct, paint and erect the new totem pole. To improve the trails, a service day was held where Sipp-O Arrowmen cleared all of the trails of debris and tree limbs. They also outlined the trails that connect each campsite. This small camp is used for the majority of the Killbuck District ceremonies. These include Cub Scout crossover, Arrow of Light and OA call-out ceremonies. Sipp-O Lodge is constructing a shed to store old regalia that is only used in outdoor settings. This will allow units to hold their own ceremony programs and will eliminate the problem of insufficient regalia storage. The final planned project will be to build a brand new Brotherhood circle as one of Sipp-O’s chapters is looking to have brotherhood ceremonies at our upcoming district camporees.
As explained by the Killbuck District chief, "Peewee is a lost camp of Buckeye Council, and I see a lot of potential in this camp. Every year we host a Klondike derby here, and our officers help with an orienteering course. We have recently discovered a ‘lost’ Brotherhood circle, and we plan on redoing this circle and the call-out circle and using them for ceremonies like they once were."
These projects combine to create the chapter’s largest service project and Sipp-O Lodge’s first large project to start our second century of service.