A Message From Mark Purcell

CAMPING IN THE CENTRAL ONTARIO ADMINISTRATIVE AREA

There are a lot of changes that are happening in Scouting in Canada.

What you are doing in your Group…doesn’t change.
What you are doing in your Area…doesn’t change.
Most of the things you do in your Council…don’t change.

What does change is how we do things from an administrative standpoint. One of those changes is with the camps, where you book them and how it is done.

Hi, my name is Mark Purcell. I am the Facilities Co-ordinator for Scouts Canada in the Central Ontario Administrative Centre. My job is to help you go to camp. I manage the booking database for the eleven camps, and two Scouting Centres that this office is responsible for.

I have worked for the Toronto Council for a number of years, in various aspects of camp operations. I was a volunteer for many years and was on Summer Camp Staff as a teenager. As a young adult, I started working in camps and have spent a lot of years in camps and camp operations.

While I know the camps of the Toronto Council very well, I am working on getting to know all the other properties just as well. From what I have seen, we have some very nice camps that can be used in a variety of ways. Each camp has a unique feature, which I believe all youth should experience. I have always believed that the youth we work with should have the best camp experience they can. One of the ways to do that is to try other camps. I will be making suggestions to you, when you call, of other places that you can camp, if the camp you want is not available. The camps are there to be used and, since we have so many, there is no reason to stick with just one camp.

Which camps are they and where are they located?

• Blue Springs Scout Reserve near Acton
• Barber Scout Camp near Guelph
• Camp of the Woodland Trails near Milton
• Charl’Bro Scout Camp near Owen Sound
• Everton Scout Camp near Guelph
• Goodyear Memorial Scout Camp near Orangeville.
• Haliburton Scout Reserve near Haliburton
• Manitou Scout Camp near Burlington
• Mohawk Scout Camp near Kitchener
• Wildman Scout Camp near Barrie
• Woodland Trails Scout Camp near Aurora

The two Scouting Centres are:

• Brampton Scout Hall
• Leathem Scouting Centre located in Woodland Trails Camp near Aurora.

One of the challenges of amalgamating all of these camps into one database has been how to do the bookings. Everyone did it differently. For Central Escarpment, you filled in a form and sent it to the office, hoping that you got what you wanted. In Toronto you called in and spoke with someone on the phone. In some cases you just sent a partial payment, in others a full payment, in some you paid after camp. Some camps you could book a year in advance, unless you were out of the local Council, then it was three months in advance. Others you could book almost a year and a half in advance. Some were first come first served; others you could be bumped if a group in the local Council wanted it. How do I take all of these and make them one system? How do I keep track of it all?

Lets look at some of the basic questions:

How do I book the camps?

All bookings, for now, can be done in several ways

• By phoning the office at (416) 490-6364 ext. 233 if you are in the Toronto calling area
• By phoning the office at (800) 263-0930 if you are calling from outside the Toronto calling area
• By phoning “1-888-Scouts Now”(1-888-726-8876) from within any of the three Councils of the Administrative Centre’s Area. (If you call this number from outside the Administrative Centre’s area, you will connect with the local Administrative Centre.)
• Send me your request by e-mail at COAC_Camps@scouts.ca
• Fax me your request at (416) 490-6911.

If you e-mail me or fax me I will respond to say whether you have the booking or not. In all cases I will follow up with an invoice or permit as confirmation. If you book by phone, the person on the phone will confirm your booking verbally and will follow up with the invoice or permit.

How do I pay for camp?

Camp can be paid for:

• By credit card (Visa or MasterCard)
• By cash
• Money order
• By Group cheque.

How do I know it is booked?

• If you book and pay with a Credit Card, a permit is sent out to you confirming your camp.
• If you book the camp and wish to be invoiced, an invoice will be sent confirming that you have tentatively booked. If it is paid within 30 days, I will send out the permit confirming your booking.

How much of it do I have to pay up front?

We would like all facilities to have a fixed fee. There will also be some per person fees in some circumstances.

• The full payment is due on invoice.
• For Lodges, Villages, Sites and Adirondak Shelters, we hope to have a fixed price regardless of the number of people you have.
• For bookings of fields a $200 non-refundable deposit will be required to hold the booking and the balance of the fee ($2.25 per person daily rate or $4.00 per person weekend rate) is due within 2 weeks of the event.
• If you rent out the whole camp, a minimum fee will apply depending on the camp. The final fee will be determined based on the daily or weekend rate that applies to your camp booking.
• With 13 facilities to book and keep track of, following up several times for payments can be a problem.

What does the minimum fee mean?

In some circumstances, a minimum fee needs to be charged. For example, if your Venturer Company wants to rent Doe Island at Haliburton Scout Reserve for a week, and there are 5 of you, you would have to pay the minimum fee of $2,500. This site will hold 60 people, so the minimum fee we expect would cover the cost of 25 people renting the site. This structure helps to ensure the best possible usage of our camp facilities and helps guide groups to sites which are most suitable to their needs. This same sort of fee would cover the cost of the lodges and sites we could have booked at any other camp if you wanted a certain area of a camp or a whole camp, to yourself.

How far in advance can I make bookings?

Bookings are generally done from a year to 18 months in advance. As of January 1 you can book up to August 31 of the following year. For example, January 1 2005, you can book up to August 31, 2006.

Can I be bumped?

No. Once you have made the booking it is yours, unless payment has not been made within the specified time stated on your invoice.

What about the camp rules?

The camp rules are fairly standard at all the camps. There are some minor additional ones for certain camps but the same rules apply at all of our camps and conference facilities. These rules are available on the website or from the Central Ontario Office

Are these the only places we can camp?

Not at all. We have three other Administrative Centres in the province, which handle other camps. There are also Conservation Areas, Provincial and National Parks. I book the facilities for Central Ontario; you would have to call the other Centres for the other Scouts Canada Camps. Please refer to the Canadian Camping Directory located on the National Web Site at: www.scouts.ca.

What forms do we need for camp?

There is a guide on the Toronto website, www.gtc.scouts.ca, as well as in the Central Ontario Office called Camping Rules and Procedures. This book will let you know about the paperwork you need to complete and where to find it, the camp rules, the emergency numbers and locations of the closest hospital to the camp. I urge you to have a copy of it and the Camping and Outdoor Activity Guide. They will provide you with all the information you need to have a successful camp experience.

Where do I find information about all the camps?

Information, maps and directions can all be found on the websites for a number of camps. Just go to the individual council websites for the links to those camps. They are:

Central Escarpment: http://www.scouts.ca/cec/index.php?Camping_&_Campsites 
For Manitou, Goodyear, Mohawk and Everton

Toronto: www.gtc.scouts.ca
For Woodland Trails and Haliburton Scout Reserve

Blue Springs Scout Reserve: www.bluespringscamp.on.ca

Wildman Scout Camp: www.campwildman.org

We are currently working on a website which will have all the links in one place and we hope to be able to offer on-line booking as well.

Please contact me after September 1st and I will be happy to assist you with any camp booking that you wish to make in any of our 11 camps and 2 Scouting Centres